PlanBeyond

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the head of strategy for Program 11, a boutique content research, strategy, and development company based in Los Angeles. We do a lot of audience research in house, but when we are called upon to do product ideation research and analysis, we need more intellectual muscle. That's when we call in PlanBeyond.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PlanBeyond?

Our client was seeking to discover what premium features in their software would drive decision-makers to upgrade. Plus, they hoped to identify barriers to moving to a new platform. PlanBeyond had excellent solutions and ideas for how to achieve this quantitatively and qualitatively.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Laura Troyani suggested multiple solutions, and we landed on a MaxDiff analysis to help our client understand the degree to which features do or do not impact a purchase decision. Survey respondents were shown a set of features and asked to select the most important and least important in the purchase decision. The output let us compare the relative importance of features in the purchase process (e.g. we saw that feature X contributes 40% to the purchase decision while feature Y contributes 5%...and therefore we knew what feature(s) really moves the needle).

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

After helping us design the audit document and codebook, Laura contributed to the analysis and designed the discussion guide for our 1:1 interviews. She led a hypothesis workshop in order to develop this final discussion guide. From there, she designed and ran a survey in Qualtrics that was sent to more than 20,000 customers in the client database. She analyzed the responses and delivered them succinctly to our client, who was delighted at the clear opportunities the survey unveiled.

What was the team composition?

Our team at Program 11 was composed of me, a PM, and an interview. Laura did much of the client interaction. We worked directly with the leaders at the software company that hired us, as well as their investors.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client was engaged throughout the process and is eager to put the research outcomes into their product roadmap. They plan to hire us again for the next feature prioritization exercise.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was excellent. We kept one another up to date via regular syncs on email and ongoing comms via Slack.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

PlanBeyond was a great partner. Laura and her team deliver clean, actionable data. She is an educator at heart, helping all of us understand her process and how we should interpret the data.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

Nothing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work on the strategy team at a marketing firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PlanBeyond?

We have a client who produces a wide variety of infrastructure products that are used in large-scale construction projects. Our client wanted to gain insights and opinions from a selection of their current customers on order to understand strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities with regard to overall customer experience and product/service offerings.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

This project had a very tight timeline and we had limited internal bandwidth, so we needed a partner who could take the lead and get results quickly without sacrificing the integrity of the research methodology. I spoked to several potential partners, some of whom I had a relationship and some of whom I did not, and PlanBeyond was the best fit.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

PlanBeyond managed the entire research project including developing a discussion guide, conducting 21 qualitative interviews, providing ongoing feedback and insight to the client, purchasing and distributing incentives, and presenting the final report to the client.

What was the team composition?

We worked closely with the company's principal and she was very hands-on throughout this project. I believe she had other team members conducting interviews, but all of my personal interaction was with the principal.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've begun planning for various campaigns and the messaging and targeting is directly affect by the outcomes of this research program.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was very smooth. PlanBeyond was an extension of our team and was even responding to client emails.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was most impressed by PlanBeyond's ability to be nimble, yet diligent. They were able to deal with all curveballs and hit all deadlines.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

I cannot think of anything that could have been done differently for this project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Executive Director of Strategy at a marketing firm that supports a wide variety of clients across many industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PlanBeyond?

We hired PlanBeyond to facilitate a set of customer interviews for one of our key clients.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We discovered them through online searches, and after vetting a few different options, we liked their consultative approach and appreciated their willingness to jump into the partnership on a very tight deadline.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

PlanBeyond met with us and our client to understand the nature of their business, their customers, and the types of information the client was looking to gather. They then developed a comprehensive interview guide to serve as the backbone of 20 customer interviews. They provided guidance on how best to reach out to customers and solicit their participation, along with a point of view on how to handle non-responding customers (including incentivizing them to participate). PlanBeyond conducted each 1:1 interview and captured notes from every discussion, synthesizing their findings into a thorough report that extracted key themes, areas of opportunity, and potential actions along with all the verbatims.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a project lead and collaborated with her to coordinate communications and responses from the agency, but we also put her directly in touch with our client for more timely and thoughtful responses to questions that came up along the way.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

PlanBeyond helped us very quickly confirm many findings that had previously been gained from far more significant quantitative studies. They identified key areas of opportunity in areas including branding, marketing, product development, sales, and service. These learnings and analyses were incorporated into the client's strategic planning process to inform future strategies. Our client was very pleased with the output and found the analysis insightful and well thought out.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Extremely effective. PlanBeyond was very responsive and flexible as the project launched and evolved. Even though it was "our" project for "our" client, they took the lead as research experts and guided us and the client as if they were part of our own team. They offered a level of service and a final deliverable that exceeded what we would have been able to make ourselves.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Laura at PlanBeyond is a very effective communicator and showed an innate ability to "read the room" to understand a client's nuanced needs from this project. Despite our client being in a niche, highly B2B industry with customers not versed in market research or sharing opinions with consultants, PlanBeyond was able to lead over 20 meaningful conversations and generate thoughtful conclusions and strategic recommendations, all in about one month.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of an early stage startup offering a Job Search Management Solution for executives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PlanBeyond?

We were looking for help doing some Marketing Research, Strategy work and an audit of some of our Marketing activities to date. We wanted to work quickly and cost-effectively since we are still in the launch phase.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I had worked with PlanBeyond in the past and had been very satisfied with Laura's services.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The work was broad and included market research, strategy work and auditing our progress to date. We wanted to have a quick and cost-effective project to confirm we were on the right track and get practical recommendations on next steps. Laura reviewed the competition landscape we had established and was actually able to uncover competitors we had missed. She then helped clarify our target segment and did some hands-on work crafting an interview discussion guide for the purpose of conducting prospect surveys. She also provided a very useful audit of our first web site version, with clear recommendations to implement. Finally she help craft our initial value proposition and messaging through the analysis of competition and initial prospect surveys.

What was the team composition?

Laura and I worked directly together

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to PlanBeyond, we have quickly confirmed all the outstanding validation points required to launch the business. We also have a clear set of next steps for our go-to-market, as well as very practical recommendations for the web site, the interview guide and for further work on competition analysis.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Laura was very easy to work with, turning around additional asks very quickly, and always spot-on in her answers and deliverables. When there was a need for clarification, she was proactive in seeking clarification and proposing options.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Laura has a broad set of marketing competences, which allows us to cover a lot of ground without having to go to other specialized resources. In addition to the quality of her work, what we appreciated was the time and cost-efficiency working with her.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

We would have liked to continue working with PlanBeyond on more tactical activities such as setting up ads and reworking our web site, but we understand that PlanBeyond focuses more on research and strategy work. Laura did provide us with great references for this type of work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Vice President for a consulting firm that helps large corporate and institutional clients design and implement programs to drive energy efficiency and sustainability.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PlanBeyond?

We were look to sharpen our 'sustainability' offering to multinational manufacturers. We needed to assess their understanding of the space, and to talk with their supplier-base who would be receiving mandates to be more sustainable.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A team member of mine, who engaged PlanBeyond previously, recommended them. After meeting Laura and coming to understand her framework for attacking the problem, I felt comfortable PlanBeyond's effort would accelerate and enhance any effort we might self-perform to do the same.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We hired PlanBeyond to do market research on the needs of the major manufacturers whom we knew and were otherwise representative-buyers.

What was the team composition?

I worked with one of the firm's Principals directly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was critical for our organization to catalog, in detail, the breadth and depth of needs of our potential buyers. Through PlanBeyond's effort, we were able to identify unexpected nuances among manufacturers and their suppliers (e.g. due to policy differences, European vs. Asian manufacturers ranked needs differently).

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Outstanding. PlanBeyond previewed the process and tools well; and then executed exactly within that guidance.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Laura excels at discovering comprehensive and differentiated fact-patterns, but the most distinguishing element--in my experience--was her gifted way of distilling, clustering and expressing (with simplicity!) those fact she finds.

Beyond the core output we scoped, PlanBeyond's findings helped the narratives we used within our company.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

For the service PlanBeyond delivered...no. As with any project, the tighter the requirements at the outset, the more specific and perfected the output will be.

We probably launched a bit too early--if only relative to our ability to activate the wisdom of the findings--nonetheless, for what we articulated PlanBeyond came through in spades.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Senior Market Analyst on the Customer Insights Team at Puget Sound Energy

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PlanBeyond?

Online focus groups to gather qualitative customer feedback about their energy needs and program ideas a utility could offer

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

PlanBeyond had done other projects for us in the past and was well-regarded by the teams that hired them.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The project was kicked off with a call among PlanBeyond and PSE staff from Customer Insights and New Product Development to discuss the background and goals of the project. PlayBeyond handled the discussion guide and recruiting in collaboration with PSE. They conducted a series of online focus groups with key customer segments and upon completion of the groups, presented the findings, insights and recommendations.

What was the team composition?

Laura and the focus group moderator were our contacts throughout the project

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to identify perceptions and needs, as well as program ideas that were of interest, and those that were of little interest. This allowed us to further develop the program ideas and test them through quantitative research. The qualitative work PlanBeyond completed gave insight into topics and perceptions we weren't even aware of, something that may not have been discovered through quantitative research.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had regular meetings to discuss the discussion guide and focus group planning. After each group we held a debrief to discuss what we heard and if any modifications to the guide were needed. This worked well and PlanBeyond was a partner throughout the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their interest in, and knowledge of the topic. Their collaborative approach and communication skills from beginning to end were impressive.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

This project happened during COVID so all meetings and focus groups were online. Despite that, communication and collaboration were great and I don't have any

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Owner and Principal of a scenic design and production company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire PlanBeyond?

We were looking to have a stronger hold on the scenic design category, and also begin looking to offering production services. We needed help understanding how we could improve our position against major competitors and also market ourselves better to enter this new service category.

SOLUTION

How did you select PlanBeyond?

I asked around and they came recommended.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

The completed a completed a competitive digital audit of other companies like us to provide a sense of who was out there, what they were doing, and how we could stand out. They gave some very tangible suggestions based on websites and messaging.

They also worked with us to review our sales processes, adding more formal approaches to how we evaluated potential customers so we could vet opportunities better.

What was the team composition?

We worked with their Principal.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're still incorporating their feedback into our marketing efforts. On the sales sides, we've enjoyed a much smoother customer assessment process. It's resulted in us being better able to determine if projects were right for us or not.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Seamless. The turnaround time on project deliverables was great. They are also really fast to not just respond to questions but responds with really comprehensive answers.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to adapt to our industry and work with who we are. We're in a unique category and they had no problems getting ramped up quickly.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

No, everything was good.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of global marketing at a global creative company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PlanBeyond?

We needed help conducting market research for a brand awareness study we’ve been doing for the past two years.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a methodology for running a year-over-year study in the US and Canada on brand awareness that gauges the reputation in the marketplace. The sample was marketing job titles, people working in marketing and B2B, and looking at the major metropolitan areas in both countries.

PlanBeyond also helped us recruit our panel. They found people to take a survey they created by hiring a company that helped us find the survey respondents and then validated them to assure they were the right type of people we needed to take the survey. They later helped us develop the survey questionnaire, which is very important because we have limited time to ask questions on our panel. After that, they programmed the survey, ran it, and kept it on the market as long as needed to get the levels of required respondents. 

Once the survey was closed, they analyzed the data, prepared a final executive summary, and provided us with crosstabs with all the raw data associated with the report. They oversaw the running of all market research for this initiative.

What is the team composition?

We only worked with Laura (Founder).

How did you come to work with PlanBeyond?

I’ve worked with Laura over the years. I respect her and trust her knowledge because she provides high-quality services and professional efficiency.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $60,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

They did two surveys for us, and each one of them took around three months to get done. For the total engagement, we worked with PlanBeyond through January 2020–March 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The metric we used to evaluate PlanBeyond was their ability to recruit the necessary respondents, which they successfully did. Also, their dedication to their data analysis and recommendations were thoughtful and detail-oriented.

How did PlanBeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

PlanBeyond was a good collaborator. I also involved her in key presentations to our executive leadership team — she was great in those environments.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was important to see how Laura collaborated with our crew because it was a team project with several people working on it; we had a lot of attention on this project internally, and PlanBeyond was a great partner. 

Are there any areas they could improve

I don’t feel like we suffered, but we did feel they were a little busy and overbooked. They still delivered to our expectations, but at times it felt that Laura had other things going on. If someone gets so busy, they can get diluted on some of their projects, and there was a hint of that.

Also, I think we have an issue with our survey panel and our sample size; that’s going to be challenging for us on future projects when we try to make sure we’re getting the right people to take the survey. I talked to Laura about this, and we’re focusing on it moving forward.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear brief of what you’re trying to accomplish, and be clear about your goals and success metrics.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the product development manager at Puget Sound Energy, a utility company that provides electricity throughout the greater Seattle area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PlanBeyond?

We hired PlanBeyond to help us with our marketing efforts. We needed help with customer research, as well as product design and strategy. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In terms of customer research, PlanBeyond arranged focus groups and did all of the qualitative research, meaning they recruited, managed, ran, and analyzed the results from the focus groups.  They also did quantitative research, which included recruiting the panel, managing the organization that would be running the survey, developing the surveys, building the questions, executing the surveys, and then analyzing the results. 

Another piece was taking all of the customer research that we developed and analyzing it. They came up with conclusions, made recommendations, and developed a high-level roadmap that we could take internally and execute against.

They worked heavily on scoping and determining the work we’d be doing. They helped us with thought partnership. Beyond that, they supported strategic marketing planning. They helped us think about different tactics that we could potentially take on. The team also managed a product naming exercise for us. Our company was trying to figure out the naming and branding for some of our product lines. PlanBeyond managed the process and delivered some recommendations.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with Laura (Principal). We sometimes worked with contractors or subcontractors from other organizations that she brought in; however, she was our main point of contact. 

How did you come to work with PlanBeyond?

We worked with them on another large project that they were subcontracted on. They did a lot of analytics and customer research, and we had a great working relationship. Laura had amazing work products and really understood what we were trying to do. From there, we just expanded and started working with her on more projects and opportunities.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $400,000–$500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with PlanBeyond in September 2017. I stopped working at Puget Sound Energy a few weeks ago; however, they still have an ongoing partnership with PlanBeyond.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One piece of work that Laura did for us was fully implemented, and now it is a successful and very important launched product. Her work created the baseline for all of our marketing campaigns and product design — we really integrated it into the organization. 

They not only delivered a really good product but also just went above and beyond in terms of the client relationship and being a partner. We kept giving them a lot to do because we were really happy with their work — it was just really superb.

How did PlanBeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

Laura was an excellent and proactive communicator. She was always on top of everything; she’d send schedules, tell us how on track we were, where we were in the process, what more to do, and go through costs.

I’m not sure what tools they used; however, what’s important is that they were regularly on top of communication and presented visuals.

What did you find most impressive about them?

PlanBeyond was a thought partner, and that’s the most impressive aspect. Oftentimes, when you have consultants, they just worry about the contract or their piece of work. However, Laura thought a lot more expansively about our needs and pain points, and she tried to understand our organization. 

Their work product was really good, thoughtful, and analytical; however, the fact that they understood the environment that they were executing against and knew how to deliver results in that environment is what made them really successful. They understood how and in what environment their work would be implemented — that’s why we were successful together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were no areas where they could improve. We gave them so much work, and they were one of the best contractors I’ve worked with. We liked working with them.

Any advice for potential customers?

People would be lucky to work with PlanBeyond. Their strategies and ability to design meaningful work really delivers a lot of impact to organizations. Just be very collaborative with them, and lean on their expertise — it will only benefit your organization.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am an executive director in Leadership Tomorrow, a nonprofit whose mission is to cultivate, educate, and inspire community leaders. We’ve been around for 40 years and have brought people together from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to enhance their understanding, commitment, and courage in addressing tough community needs. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with PlanBeyond?

As a small nonprofit, we only had a staff of five people, three of whom are working part-time. We did not have the communication expertise and only relied on volunteers to help us with our marketing. We needed to align our program description with our participants' experience, and PlanBeyond’s Laura (Principal) offered to do that for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Laura began with a competitive audit where she looked into other leadership programs' digital presence and websites around the country. After she identified their messages, she conducted a key stakeholder interview with our most recent participants, sponsors, and donors. 

Based on what they told her about our program's outcomes and benefits, she created a positioning statement and brand tenet that we now use everywhere. It is on our website and in our recruitment materials for next year’s class. We’re using it with sponsors and funders to help articulate the value of supporting our program.

What is the team composition?

We only worked with Laura.

How did you come to work with PlanBeyond?

Laura was a participant in our class. She felt that, while the experience was fantastic and definitely prepared her to be a stronger community leader, our program's description didn’t match what she underwent entirely. She, and her agency PlanBeyond, then offered to help us better align the way we describe our program with the actual experience of the participants.

How much have you invested with them?

Laura did the work pro bono, but the value was $24,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

She worked from July–October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve never had the full services of a real marketing professional. Nobody has identified the benefits that people are getting from the program and articulated it in a really clear, concise way so we are beyond thrilled with what PlanBeyond offered us. Laura did an incredible job.

She gave us a product that we could use immediately, providing us with the language and tools to change our website, as well as the enthusiasm, motivation, and confidence to make those changes. The information she got from her competitive research was also really credible due to her being a third party. 

We’ve gotten great feedback on our changed website structure and materials. People who are looking for information about the program on the website would say everything was clear. Our staff of five and board of 30 people have all agreed that Laura has done a remarkable job and much preferred the way she articulated our program outcomes. 

How did PlanBeyond perform from a project management standpoint?

Laura was amazing. She kept me and another staff member in the communication loop, and she was on top of all the deadlines. She drove the process very quickly, doing national and local research and write-ups over a four-month period. 

Another thing of note is that Laura was really flexible with our approach. We help cultivate antiracist leaders in the program so we recruited a person of color to conduct the interviews with the people of color. This ensured that the participants felt comfortable and could speak their minds freely.

We primarily communicated through Zoom and email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Laura is so smart and positive. At any given time, we have 21,000 things to do as a small nonprofit and it can feel onerous to have another thing on our plate. However, she handled it in a way that was really fun and generative. With her decisiveness, she could put into words the things that we couldn’t. I would recommend her without hesitation; she was amazing to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. We’re really 100% pleased.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Hire her; you’ll be really happy that you did. Laura is really talented, knows what she’s doing, and is a great deal of fun to work with.