FAS Media

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Pluscrates are a hire purchase business. We provide Business to Business and Business to consumer hire of storage boxes. I am the Business Admin Manager, so I handle the day-to-day running of the business with a particular focus on Advertising and marketing and customer experience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire FAS Media?

Our website was designed when we first started in 2008. It was feeling outdated, and when we began to look at integrating our hire software with it, we discovered that the functionality, as well as the UI/UX was severely lacking. We also discovered that it was not ranking highly on search engines.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

FAS were engaged to redesign the site with a particular focus on functionality, usability and integration. We wanted our website to work as a shop first and foremost. As part of this project, FAS worked on getting us a WordPress plug-in for hire which was bespoke to our needs. They also took us from page 2 to a consistent number 1 or 2 via SEO and optimisation of our website.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

After a series of meetings with myself and the senior management team, FAS devised a 3-year plan to optimise our site. For the first three months, they used software to analyse where our customers were dropping off and redesigned these areas making sure that all "calls to action" were prominently placed. They worked on getting a plug-in to deal with the hiring aspect of the shop and communicated well with our external IT company to implement a straight-to-software solution. Within six months, we saw a huge improvement in website traffic and orders being placed through the website, with our monthly totals increasing tenfold.

Over the next few years, we continued to work with FAS to make ongoing improvements to our site and to ensure we kept our ranking on the search engines. Regular phone/zoom meetings were held to ensure we had regular updates on the progress and any issues that needed to be addressed from our end.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

In total, I believe we worked directly with two members of the team and a third freelancer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our website went from being an afterthought to a major part of our sales, advertising and marketing campaigns. We increased the orders being placed with end users, and even a few of our regular trade clients preferred to use it. Our customers loved the feel of the new site, the ease of use and the improved UI/UX. Although the straight-to-software solution wasn't realised in the end, this was not through any fault of FAS and in fact we still kept a lot of the functionality that had been designed by them and their programmer for the project. As a result of the successes we had with this project and the support we received from FAS, we have used them on several other websites as well as software development projects.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication and reporting from FAS was brilliant. We received regular updates on the progress of the project as well as regular reports on website traffic. Through our work with FAS we were able to increase our end-user sales and, as a result, our profit margin consistently. It has also been a great way of attracting other larger business-to-business customers.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

FAS are excellent at problem-solving. They employ a range of techniques as well as experience and expertise to investigate any problem I have thrown at them. Within a few days/weeks, I would always had a couple of options for solutions to my problem. I also loved the fact that they were forward-thinking. Not simply solving the problem set to them but also thinking about the future of the project and often making suggestions for future improvement and development that helped our business to develop and grow.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Occasionally I had to chase up our monthly invoices. Not the worst problem to have. I also know that they have automated this process a lot more by using accounting software, and we've not had many issues since they started using it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a dog walker and pet services provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with FAS Media?

I needed an easy-to-use website and good SEO for my business. To sum it up, I wanted a website that was user friendly and well designed. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

FAS Media has designed and created my website. They've worked on making it user-friendly and included all the information I provided. The team has also given me advice on what to include on the site.

Moreover, FAS Media has written the copy for the website and included photos, my logo, user-friendly forms, and information about the areas I cover. The team has also created my business cards.

What is the team composition?

I've worked with one person.

How did you come to work with FAS Media?

They were a referral. A friend had a good experience with FAS Media.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2021, and I still use them when I need something updated on my website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

FAS Media has delivered a well-designed website. Thanks to their work, I’m now fully booked five days a week and receive weekly leads and inquiries. Before working with FAS Media, I’d get 1–3 leads a month. Currently, I get 1–3 a week. The website has made my business thrive. When I meet new clients, I often get told they chose to contact me purely based on the website.

How did FAS Media perform from a project management standpoint?

FAS Media has delivered on time. The team has been extremely helpful and guided me through the process, as I initially wasn’t sure what the best approach was. It can feel daunting paying a larger sum of money for a website, but for my business, it has helped so much. They've used their knowledge to help me. We mainly communicate via email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Working with FAS Media was easy. At the start of the project, I gave them a rough idea of what I wanted, and they went above and beyond. Even now, when I want changes made, they’re always done within a few hours.

Are there any areas they could improve?

FAS Media has been amazing. No, there’s nothing for them to improve.