HonestAI by GrayCyan

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm owner and director of imports - Exports Company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GrayCyan, and what were your goals?

Creation of 3 web sites {one of them e commerce website}. We are beginners in Canada ontario business we had already all the file graphics with an excellent french company in Indinesia.

SOLUTION

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

We sortlist 4 developers from our online searches. Gray -Cyan had nice people.frendly, young and cost estimate near to our budget and on the past projects.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a meeting to discuss the project.goals,objectives andour graphic image. We choose WordPress for our 3 websites.

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

A project manager and developer, 1full stack developer, 1 video derveloper, 1 technisian for the email addresses,

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Do to the COVID-19 we slowed down the project and just completed them we don't have yet the site traffic, client opinions or suggestions.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

we work very well with them on zoom meetings, email, and on the phone.

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

Courtesy.

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

They always made themselves available to help us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the general manager at a custom cabinetry company. We provide designs for the home and office as well as manufacture all products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GrayCyan?

Our website was a bit out dated and we wanted a new fresh look.

SOLUTION

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

We did quite a bit of research on which firm we wanted to use. Read a lot of reviews and spoke to a few companies. I was happy with the reviews from Gray Cyan and when I spoke to them, it made me feel very confident in our choice.

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

After a few idea and concept meetings, we were presented with a design that was beautiful and very close to what we were looking for. Some changes and tweaks were made, and some back and forth (mostly on my part as I was undecided on a few aspects).

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

We worked with 6 people, founder & CEO, head of sales and business development, lead software engineer, project coordinator, graphic designer and our project lead.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A design centre was created for us and it is working out quite well with out clients.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow was good, there was some back and forth, but we seemed to always work out any kinks. Our meetings were always fun and productive.

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

We were impressed with their professionalism and patience.

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

We would say that when providing our feedback, or changes we wanted to be made, some were missed, or forgotten. That being said, it was made very clear to us that our satisfaction was very important to them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

FlyFishDaBahamas.com is the official intermediary website for the fly fishing industry of The Bahamas. I am the founder of this website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GrayCyan?

We hired them to design our website.

SOLUTION

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

We found them by searching on google. We saw their reviews then called them. Had a pleasant conversation and they said that they would be willing to work with our budget. did an excellent if i might add.

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

We needed a website designed with a Bahamian identity. They whole purpose of the website is to connect those that enjoy the sport of flyfishing with the best guides, Lodges and Air B&B's throughout The Bahamas. They were patient and kind all through the process, taking in every detail we expressed about our industry, Logo, Pictures, Content etc.

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

There must have been a total of 4 People that worked with us in the process. someone helped with the content. someone helped with the media. Someone helped with colors and someone helped with training

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone in the industry is excited about this website. This is huge for our industry and as a result we're about to launch a major campaign on all major social media platforms

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

very effective

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

They have a willingness to work with us and our budget. They're very flexible and responsive.

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

No that I see. to be honest, their service was exceptional

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Vice President and General Manager with Velocity Business Solutions. We are a Managed IT Services company specializing in Help-Desk Support services, Network Design and Deployments, IT Security, Hardware & Software sales and services

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GrayCyan, and what were your goals?

We were looking to refresh our web presence and enlisted GrayCyan to develop a new website for our company. Our goals were to have a site that was easy to navigate and included a fresh and updated look with more current information on the product and services we offer.

SOLUTION

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

We searched online for vendors and narrowed it down to a few with which GrayCyan was in the mix. We felt comfortable with the approach laid out by Nish and his team on how the project run from start to finish. Ultimately this and pricing were key decision factors.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a kick off meeting, followed by several mock-ups and examples. After multiple revisions and a few changes in design along the way, we settled on a solution that worked for our desired deliverables.

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

We had several people during the project as it was lengthy in nature. Several Project managers and Design folks were involved along the way in addition to Nish.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

At the time of writing this review, it is too soon to provide any measurable feedback on the new site as it has just launched. We are hoping over time the customer engagement will increase along with our ability to service customers through the new contact method and detailed information the website provides.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Very professional, organized and easy to deal with.

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

They were responsive, attentive to detail, and super easy to deal with on multiple levels.

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

As with any project of this size and nature, there will always be little things that need adjustment. When we launched there were some broken links, but they explained to us in advance that due to the complexity of the site this might occur and their team were quick to respond to fix them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of the company and we work on industrial projects

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GrayCyan, and what were your goals?

Company web design

SOLUTION

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

online reviews. We trusted the 5 star reviews and decided to go with Graycyan for our startup's web design. If you are willing to use one of their predesigned templates, or if you are not a web expert, you might find them a good fit for your elementary jobs. However, if you have some ideas of the design quality and your web functionality, Graycyan is not the company to proceed with.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We started a contract with them for two websites. The timeline estimate they gave us prior to signing the contract was about 6 weeks to complete an initial version. Even in the contract they explicitly stated "deployment to live site: 8-9 weeks". We trusted them on all this, signed the contract late February 2021, and paid 2700 dollars up front. From the first meetings things started to go the wrong way. They took much longer than expected for every page.

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

3 people, a graphist and 2 technical staff

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

They explicitly mentioned they need 1 week for each page, although practically they spent 2-3 weeks on each page. They disagreed and confronted with many of our comments simply because they required a more careful design. Long story short, after months of work and meetings, they uploaded a first version of the first website (yet the coding to be completed). This was late June, 4 months after the start of the contract, everything already overdue, and yet we were not even close to complete the first website.

They did not share any of the designed content with us. So technically speaking, we paid 2700 dollars, our startup web design got months delayed (you realize what that means to the company's revenue), attended hours and hours of exhaustive and tense meetings and ultimately got NOTHING! We transferred the entire job to another company and they completed everything in 5 weeks at 30% of the cost Graycyan asked for. We only had one meeting with their design and technical team!

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We gave them some feedback about the poor functionality of some features on the website, such as a floating menu and they emailed us that "it requires extra coding resulting in extra charges, ... we peg the success rate at 65%". Basically, to fix a flaw in their own code, they would ask for more money, yet cannot guarantee it works.

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

See the comments above

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

Later after we completed the job with another company, they perfectly finished the same job at 30% of the cost Graycyan billed us. After months of back and forth, we finally decided to stop working with Graycyan and go with a different web design firm.

If you are looking for an honest review, I tried to share my honest review with you, unlike some of the other reviewers who are asked by the company to leave 5 star feedback. Please be aware of where you are investing and lower your expectations before proceeding with Graycyan.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an online Health and Safety Training and Compliance company based in Southern Ontario. Co-owner for over 17 years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GrayCyan?

Our company was created over 17 years ago. Because of a changing social and sales industrial environment, GrayCyan was able to address our web needs to be friendly, easy to use, and appealing.

SOLUTION

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

We looked for web designers that showed up online, using the tools we wished to emulate. We found everyone to be easy to communicate with, along with our needs and their expertise, everything flowed seamlessly. We spoke with different designers that did not show the interest and ability we were looking for.

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

After initial discussion and sales meeting, GrayCyan reviewed our existing site, and our needs for the future. Working with everyone from the sales team, to the owner, to the developers and designers couldn't have gone better.

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

I think we worked with everyone.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Working with NIshkam to better our web presence is ongoing and too early to jump up and down yet. That being said, our existing client base has nothing but great things to say about our new online training portal.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Easy to communicate with and proactive at needed times.

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

They were patient, and collaborative even when we had trouble explaining our unique business in the Canadian industry.

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

I don't think anything could have been done any differently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the office manager. I basically deal with set up, payments, and so on.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GrayCyan?

We wanted to create a workout program so users could find going to the gym as successful as they’d hoped. Crys, one of our founders, connected with a fitness trainer and decided to use his knowledge and expertise in the field to create a website together.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started out with just an idea; we’d never launched a website before. We got together and we discussed and brainstormed concepts. We wanted to make a workout website with videos, but we weren’t sure how to set it up exactly.

We contacted GrayCyan and they helped us through each of the steps to figure out how to take the ideas we had and bring them to reality. They delivered a fully-functioning website with hosted videos, an interactive frontpage, and a sales page. They also set up a domain, customized our email so we could communicate better, and showed us how to secure the videos so people wouldn’t rip them off.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Nishkam (Founder & CEO) and Sagar (Project Coordinator).

How did you come to work with GrayCyan?

Crys found them initially. He searched on Google for people in Canada and came upon them. He made a quick appointment through the telephone, and they hit it off from there.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost was $5,200.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021. We thought we would end in April 2021, but some of the content we needed wasn’t finished yet because of COVID-19 — a lot of the filming couldn’t be done because we needed certain permits. They were understanding of it, and they allowed us to finish and launch the site in May 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website hasn’t been actually promoted or launched, so I don’t have any metrics on that. However, we had a lot of success dealing with GrayCyan. The website itself looks fantastic, and the functionality works really well. We went through the signing up process, and it was very simple. I believe it's going to be quite a success when it finally launches.

How did GrayCyan perform from a project management standpoint?

They met every deadline we had for them even faster than what we’d thought possible. Once the videos were ready, we thought it would take about a week to host them, and they did it in two days. We also thought it would take them another week to apply the color scheme we had picked out, but it took them 2–3 days to apply it to the entire site. They beat our expectations on that front.

On the other side, their communication was very professional and prompt. They got back at us usually within a day about any changes to the website or questions that we emailed. We had a few Zoom meetings, and they went very smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very professional, but I was really blown away by the speed at which they were able to accomplish a lot of the ideas we had. Therefore, I would say it was their promptness.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Initially, I guess they assumed Crys had more knowledge about creating a website. Some of the first emails had terms that he wasn’t familiar with, so it’d be good if they didn’t assume people know what they’re talking about from the get-go.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a point person who communicates with them and has a little bit of knowledge about website development. That’s probably the key to being the most successful right up front.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Out & About Cannabis is a cannabis retail store located in Riverside South, Ottawa, ON.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire GrayCyan, and what were your goals?

We hired GrayCyan to design and build a website for us, with several pages, a blog, and e-commerce. Our goal was to create a beautiful site that was easy to navigate and that captured the true essence of our brand. It was also very important to be able to work on / modify the website individually, once "the keys" were handed over.

SOLUTION

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

We searched online for web developers who not only understood the cannabis industry but also had a strong aesthetic. GrayCyan consistently rose to the top of our list when searching for our website developer.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a kick-off meeting to describe our goals and objectives. Following that, we worked with the GrayCyan designer who scoped out the website concept. We loved what she created and approved her design. Following that, the designs were handed to the development team, who created the concept on WordPress. After some back-and-forth tweaks to the website and some live time with the actual developer to play with a few ideas, we landed on the final website product - which is wonderful and very easy to work on, if/as needed.

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

We worked with a salesperson (Armand), designer (Phoebe), project manager (Sagar), and the owner (Nishkan).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We are very pleased with the end result of our website. Customers have commented on how the site really reflects our brand and that using the built-in e-commerce platform is a smooth, straightforward experience (which was very important to us!). We also really appreciated the design concept they created. Both during and after the site construction, when we forgot to ask for or consider something, GrayCyan either proactively reached out to alert us of what we might want to consider… and/or very quickly responded when we realized a fast change was needed.

They went ABOVE and BEYOND to ensure the website was perfect. It was an enormous relief knowing they were willing to jump in to help at a moments’ notice… we really appreciated that “ownership” they felt for our business’ success. We also appreciated their training when it came time to “turning the keys” over to us – and that their team has consistently been a friendly, reassuring voice at the other end of the phone line. Thank you GrayCyan!

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

GrayCyan has a team of people who are consistently friendly, flexible, and who truly listen to customer requests and feedback. They were very responsive to emails and phone calls, as well as proactively providing updates.

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

The "ownership" that GrayCyan took to ensure the website was working well and exactly what we wanted, far exceeded my expectations. The team went above and beyond to ensure my satisfaction with the site. Not only that, the GrayCyan owner Nishkan personally reached out to offer specific considerations for the launch timeline as well as for compliance within the cannabis industry.

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

Out & About was a very particular client for GrayCyan - we had a very clear vision of what we wanted and wouldn't budge until we saw that exact vision come to life. Because of this, there were probably a few more back-and-forth tweaks between us, the PM, and the developer than normal - but everyone was always very kind, responsive, and committed to bringing our vision to life. This wasn't a negative - just an acknowledgment that we were a tough client - which GrayCyan handled beautifully.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a cannabis retail store, and I’m the manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GrayCyan?

We wanted to simplify our website to have more online sales.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built a functional and user-friendly website for us. We have a home page where we announce our sales, a section with more detail, photos, and descriptions about our company, and a shop menu that directs people to our stores and products, which is nice. All that was built with front and back end pages that they developed.

What is the team composition?

We worked with around two people from their team.

How did you come to work with GrayCyan?

They were referred to me by someone who worked with them before. We also chose them because they offered good pricing.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked from February–March 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We grew in our sales, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, the site has been used a lot more, and it’s been functioning well with no issues. Everything’s simple, easy, and when we had problems setting it up, they were quick in assisting us.

How did GrayCyan perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything was nice, and there was great communication. We mostly communicated through phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness was great for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on — I didn’t get any negative experience with them. We’d only recommend creating a little bit more interacting sites, with side menu features and more color.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director and co-owner of a cannabis dispensary.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with GrayCyan?

When COVID-19 happened, the government started letting us do online pickup services. We brought on GrayCyan to integrate a website with our POS system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built us a website that automatically knows how much stock is in our inventory. This allows customers to go online and order for online pickup. They can only order what’s available. That way customers aren’t ordering what we don’t have. If a customer comes in person to our store and buys 10 products, our inventory is automatically updated on the website.

GrayCyan built the website from scratch. They handled the web design in collaboration with my business partner. Their team showed different ideas, themes, and colors for us to provide feedback on.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Nishkam (Founder). He was my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with GrayCyan?

We were referred to them by the company that does our POS system. They gave me Nishkam’s contact information. I emailed him, and we took it from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $4,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project was from late September–October 2020. They did everything in a week or two.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website is good, and we’re happy with its design; it looks great. Their turnaround time is incredible. I asked them to add a new store we’re about to open, and they did it in a day.

How did GrayCyan perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly communicated through Zoom, emails, and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was very impressed with the overall speed at which they did everything. We were kind of in a scramble, and we pushed them to be on a tight timeline. We ended up being behind pace with them. We made this big push to execute quickly and it turned out they were waiting on us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for someone to build your site from bottom to top, they’re pretty good.