Knoxweb

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

New Landlord support site.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Knoxweb?

Full stack web build.

What were your goals for this project?

A tiered services site with monthly subscription, data, forms, and real estate related services

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Online and phone interview.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They did NOT build a functioning website.

What was the team composition?

Kevin - owner? James - 1at project manager Chris - 2nd project manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Devastating. 11 months and site not operational.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Contracted via internet. Not effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to do nothing and act indignant at your anger.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Almost a year and I don’t have a working site. They dealt with my constant concerns over lack of progress by switching project managers. The owner won’t take calls. They are not admitting to any wrongdoing instead of fixing problems and delivering on promises or admitting they can’t be fulfilled and working out a compromise.

Emails, questions, concerns - all ignored. Ridiculous excuses time after time, being told they are busy or were getting ready for a party (seriously, this was one of the excuses!) and I’m not their only customer!

Their “team” can’t seem to handle anything more than what you can build yourself with very little experience on Word Press. I know because I had to give myself a crash course in Wordpress and do most of what got done myself! 

So don’t be fooled by their attention in the beginning, their seeming desire to work with you at a price you can afford, and their speedy mock-up of a design (just a regurgitated Wordpress template).

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a nonprofit agency, and our primary work is in substance abuse prevention. We do a lot of advocacy work, education, and awareness around the issue, specifically with regard to underage drinking, prescription drug abuse, and tobacco. We’re regional within Knoxville, Tenn., and we’re a very small organization. We sound like we’re huge, but we have five full-time staff members including myself.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am the media relations and project director. So, my job is twofold. I do any PR work as well as grant management work as well.

Are you the person who decided to hire Knoxville Internet?

Knoxville Internet originally approached my director, and spoke with her about doing some work. I met them, along with her, and we discussed the needs that we had with our website at that time. After our initial meeting, I took over the project from there.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Knoxville Internet?

We had a pretty good content management system that was easy for us to use at that time. Since we’re so small and my job is so divided, I needed to keep something that was easy for me to use and manage for the website. But, the downside to that was that our site wasn’t very visually appealing. Also, it wasn’t very well organized or easy for visitors to use, and know where to find the information that they needed. My main goal was not only to make it more aesthetically pleasing, but to arrange it in a way so that people could find what they were looking for very easily. Also, it needed the common elements that other nonprofit websites had. I did quite a bit of my own research, looking at some best practices of nonprofit websites, where they had their donation areas, and those sorts of things to make recommendations and suggestions about what they should be. They took my recommendations and ran with them.

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting Knoxville Internet to work with?

They wanted to reach out to some nonprofits and donate their time and services. They wanted to get into the nonprofit sector and build websites for nonprofits. When they approached my director, we had the old website because we couldn’t afford to have it redone. They came in and said, “We’d like to offer our services to you. Take a look at our portfolio and see what you think. If you’re interested, we’d be happy to help.” After looking at their work, and you can’t beat free sometimes, we decided to go with them. They did a fantastic job. It definitely would have been worth much more money than the zero that we spent.

They did a great job. They designed the website for free. I had probably a million different recommendations and thoughts that I threw at them. They were very patient, and made sure everything was done the way we wanted. They were very patient with any revisions, and continued to provide support to us, free of charge. They’ve always been fantastic, professional, patient, and wonderful.

Did they provide any other services, such as Web strategies, advice, or training for you?

I went to their office, and they provided a brief training session for me on how to manage the website. The website is managed on WordPress, which I had used before with our prior website. So, it was a review, and some other odds and ends that they had added to the site. I suppose that’s what they would typically provide, such as the basics of how to use WordPress.

When was the latest milestone completed for that work? Does the WordPress site work for you?

It was completed earlier this summer. Yes, it does what we need it to do. I wanted to keep it simple on the content management end. With use being small, and all the responsibilities I have in addition to the website management, I couldn’t handle something that I would have to sit and play with for two hours to figure out. I wanted something that I knew and something that was simple to use. It does all that. It’s very easy to use. It doesn’t crash on me like two versions ago of our website did. That’s been very nice. We normally have an intern or two from the local university to come in and do some PR work and different things. I love it for them because I don’t have to sit there and explain too much to them. It’s easy for anyone on staff to use, not only me.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

When we first launched the new look and layout and showed it to our Board of Directors, they were very impressed. They liked the work, and thought it looked much more professional. That was good feedback for us. I haven’t received a lot of feedback from others, but we had good thoughts from our Board.

Is there anything unique about Knoxville Internet that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

I would say their customer service. They’ve always been willing to help, answer questions, and do what they can. That felt good to me, because we’re not a paying customer, but they’re willing to give me the same level of service that they give to everyone else. That’s very helpful for us, being such a small staff.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We manufacture commercial-duty pressure washing equipment. We do sales and service as well.

What is your role?

I am the owner, manager, dishwasher, and all-around boss.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for your work with Knoxville Internet?

I needed a worldwide presence on the internet with a focus on the Eastern US to try to sell our equipment through the internet. 

SOLUTION

How did you find them to work with? What was your process for selecting them?

It’s a local company that came recommended. Actually, they contacted me through the telephone, and that’s how we got started.

Did they build a website for your firm?

Yes.

Please describe their work?

I tried to capture a more masculine audience with my website and kind of a personal feel to it. Everybody that I talked just really, really likes the website.

Do you have any idea maybe how the website has increased sales or how many visitors you’re getting to the website?

We do average about 10 calls a day just from the website. That is a great sales tool. Many of the calls are not closed, but we do close many deals from the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Is anything else unique or special about Knoxville Internet that stands out compared to other vendors?

Just their personal service, they’re always willing to fix anything that I need fixed. They’re always available to make changes when I want changes made, updated information I want to put on pictures. They’ve been helping us to do our social media sites better. Overall, they’ve been a very good company to work with.

Looking back on the work, is there anything that you think they could improve upon or you might do differently?

Not really. No. I can’t think of anything right now.

When will the work be completed?

My website’s good right now until I want to make some more changes. I do have some new products coming up. I’m going to start promoting. When that happens, I’m sure they’ll be very instrumental in doing that for me.

Can you provide a general cost estimate to give a sense of the size of that initiative?

I would say it’s about $120 for the maintenance fee that they do monthly. Initially, they charge you for building the website. I really can’t remember how much that was because I’ve been with them for several years. They just kind of have me on the maintenance program. I’m happy with that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Owner of a Herladry Business

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

To develop our website and make it functional

SOLUTION

How did you select Knoxweb and what were the deciding factors?

Slick saleman confident that his company could do the job well and efficiently.

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

Develop the website. Develop the functionality Launch the website. Provide on-going support for a monthly fee

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

2 - Project managers 1 for the first 7 months. The other still responsible for the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project is only half done and not yet ready to be launched.

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

Promises with very little results. Never making deadlines.

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

Nothing

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

Knoxweb should not promise more than they can deliver. They do not possess the level of skill or professionalism they purport to have. Knoxweb should be more transparent with it's customers.

They may be surprised to learn that their clients would work around their limitations and maybe work through their limitations. Unfortunately they are not honest. Now when I call they no longer answer the phone.