Shanahan Strategy Inc.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Amateur Music Network is a nonprofit organization that I founded. It helps musicians connect with one another to join ensembles, play in workshops, form groups, locate teachers, and find new pathways to music-making.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Shanahan?

We needed a website that could help people meet one another.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed and built our website. We started with an extensive series of interviews to brainstorm what the website should do. This is a completely new idea for a web service. Although there are similar platforms online, I was starting from scratch and making it up as I went along.

Brian [President, Shanahan Strategy] got up to speed with my ideas and then translated them into a buildable design. It was a terrific process. He was very thorough.

At the beginning, he built a flowchart to design the web traffic flow and identify how users would interact with the site. He did a lot of research, showing me comparable sites so I could think about which unique services I wanted to offer. He’s been a terrific partner throughout the entire process, helping me to prioritize deliverables and design essential features.

We built a user experience that could put more music into people’s lives while still driving revenue for the company and developing a sustainable plan for the future. I had a pretty naïve outlook, but he guided my thinking and taught me a lot during that first stage. He has a deep understanding of websites’ revenue generation potential.

He also kept me focused as we started to work on the website. When I thought of a new idea, he figured out how to implement it or started a discussion about how I thought it would enhance the website. He kept me thinking in a constructive way.

What is the team composition?

For the last 8-9 months, Brian has been our project manager and point of contact for development of the website.

How did you come to work with Shanahan?

A mutual connection highly recommended Brian. When we spoke, I was so pleased with our conversation that I didn’t look any further. It was serendipitous.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent between $30,000—$35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2017 and the work is ongoing. Our completion date is March 1.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a personal web user, I build and manage my own small sites. Brian had to bring me up to speed so that I could integrate my WordPress component with the rest of this professional website. He taught me a tremendous amount about controlling that part of the site. He’s a really effective teacher. This was all over the phone and getting up and running with templates. He’s clearly helped me grow my own capabilities in a measurable way. I’ve learned a tremendous amount working with him.

How did Shanahan perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve relied on Brian to explain the project’s parameters and ensure that the development team delivers what they promised and makes fair accommodations. He’s been a real advocate for the project. When misunderstandings or disagreements occur, he goes to bat for me and keeps the project on track. We’re on the same page. By the conclusion of the project, the tool's capabilities will exceed what I could have imagined. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

His willingness to engage with the project through daily meetings for months on end. It’s hard for me to imagine a company that could offer better customer support or more direct involvement in the project. He cares about the project, has been responsive from the beginning, and is available when things needed to be addressed. I’m satisfied and inspired by our work together.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is called Kara, and it’s a bereavement organization that provides grief and emotional support for those who have lost loved ones. My role is executive director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Shanahan Strategy?

We had an out-of-date website, and we wanted to update that site with the goals of increasing our message, having better delivery of our mission and message, and making it a much more user-friendly experience for people trying to find our service.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They essentially took me from ground zero to a full rebuild. We basically scrubbed the old site and created a brand new website. I worked with Brian specifically, and he helped from the planning phase right through the end product. They had a good way of capturing what I wanted to do. Brian offered me some surveys to look through and discuss with him to determine how I wanted to create the website based on some of the current content that I really liked. I most enjoyed the process with Brian. He took me from the very beginning of thinking through the whole project.

We did an initial survey of what I wanted from the new website, some goals I had, the message I wanted to see, and other websites I liked. The whole project probably lasted about five months, from November through May, but those initial conversations helped me to understand best practices, and if there were other websites to use as examples of the look I wanted. I gained an understanding of the usability from the different functions, whether someone is using a tablet, desktop, or a phone to access the site.

The second phase was putting together a formal contract of what the project would look like and the number of pages. It was a pretty defined contract, and there was a good expectation of what both of us needed to do.

The third phase was the actual project phase, and I worked with him on a weekly basis. We had weekly calls, I would send content, he would update, and we would go back and forth. It was very interactive. Although it was a little time-consuming on my side, it was the right way to do it. If that wasn’t built into the process, it wouldn’t have been completed. Brian really held my feet to the fire every week to make sure we met and discussed the progress.

How did you come to work with Shanahan Strategy?

I’m part of an executive director round-table group. When we have challenges, we ask each other for input. I had asked the group if anyone knew of a really good web designer that was fair in pricing. One of the other executive directors highly recommended them. I contacted Brian as well as a couple other design companies. What I liked about him initially was that he was very responsive and helped me to understand the process from the beginning. The other firms didn’t always do that.

How much have you invested with Shanahan Strategy?

The out-the-door cost for the web design was $16,000 or just under $17,000. That’s with the annual web hosting fee. He built our platform on WordPress, and then he uses a certain hosting platform that we pay for through him.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in November or December of 2015, and we completed the website at the end of April or mid-May in 2016. I still have a contract with them for updates and fixes, so it’s still a continuing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We have much higher traffic now. I get a report every week, but unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of base data from the previous one, so it’s hard to measure. I know that we’ve seen a great increase in user interaction. In particular, we built an online service request form. We’re a self-referred organization, and people hear about us through friends or other organizations. We had a rudimentary online service request system before, but now with the new website it’s very easy to follow up with those online requests. The system is almost seamless now because of that. We’re able to respond to our clients much quicker, and that’s a huge thing.

How did Shanahan Strategy perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent, very timely and very organized. They held my hand when it needed to be held. They used a web interface tool, but I don’t know the exact name. We’d be on the phone, and Brian would be walking through the site with me, and that was really helpful.

What did you find most impressive about Shanahan Strategy?

I think his thoughtfulness in customizing the site for my needs was impressive. It’s one thing to find someone who can design a great site, but I think he was really interested in our organization, what we do, and the goals I had, specifically our mission of better serving those who suffer the loss of a loved one. He even thought about the theme for the site. He’s just very thoughtful about making sure the website represented my mission and had the look and feel I wanted, not just a typical template. I had hoped that’s what it would be, and it was. That’s what I liked the most, and it’s really reflective of someone who’s not just thinking about the product, but what the product is delivering to the public and my goals.

I think the thoughtful customer care is probably a piece. Even in our calls, I would ask him how he would feel about something if he were a person requesting our services. Those conversations happened regularly, and I thought it was really helpful to get his perspective.

Are there any areas Shanahan Strategy could improve?

I can’t think of anything that would have made the project better. They were super-flexible with me.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a large manufacturing company, and we have a global presence. I’m the digital experience leader.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Shanahan Design?

We needed to get our global websites on a common platform, with a common look and feel. We engaged Shanahan Design to help us do that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did both the frontend design and the backend for our websites, which are built on Drupal. Shanahan worked with us on some challenging aspects. Some websites were presented in more than one language, so there was translated content and language switcher capabilities included. They also worked extensively with mapping technologies and using mapping services to help our customers identify the locations of dealers and distributors.

We primarily worked with Brian [Shanahan, Founder and Principal], who was our one point of contact. He worked as a project manager, and he had a larger team behind him. We met with our team, ensured the project moved along, took information about our deliverables, and then went back to his team to get things built.  

How did you come to work with Shanahan Design?

I inherited a project from a different department in our company that was working with Shanahan. They had already started this work on the global websites, and then we had a reorganization internally. I became responsible for all the websites, so I came to work with Brian because someone else chose him. However, I was very impressed and happy to be working with him. He handles all the project management and kept the project moving, even through our internal transition in personnel, and that was fantastic. I’m super-pleased with Shanahan’s services.

How much have you invested with Shanahan Design?

We spent in the ballpark of $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with him in April of 2016, but he was already working with our company. The project lasted more than one year, and we completed everything in January or February of 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Shanahan built the websites for our regions around the globe. While I am responsible for the overall website situation, each of those areas of the globe had regional teams who were responsible for the content and keeping up the website after he built it. All those folks were absolutely complimentary of Brian and his team. We’re very happy with the way Shanahan Design drove the process to deliver an exceptional finished product and then continued to work on it. Some of the regional teams had questions or changes after the fact, and his support was excellent. They were very happy and pleased with his work.

The websites he worked with were all in various states of existence. They weren’t on a common platform and didn’t have a common design. Some still had a design we used several years ago, and some were more recent. His work to bring a common brand presence across these properties was very important. We benefit from having that common look and feel, and having our properties look more modern. I would say it inspires more confidence in our customers who come across these properties.

How did Shanahan Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They get an A+. We corresponded via email and regular phone calls. Shanahan was responsible for setting up that cadence of communication with the global teams. He worked with people for whom English was not their first language. He managed the whole process. I believe he used Basecamp, but it was a tool that all of us could use. He assigned tasks and ensured things were getting done on time. It was very well-organized. I appreciated him driving the people in our company to complete the work in a timely manner. Sometimes, in a big organization, that can spiral out of control. He did a great job of keeping us all focused and on-target.

What did you find most impressive about Shanahan Design?

The project management was really a big deal. Brian was in charge of this, allowing me to be able to focus on other work. That was incredibly helpful to me. In addition, it seemed that Shanahan had a genuine sense of caring and sincerity in wanting to deliver quality work for us. He cared about the pain points of the administrators. I came out of it feeling like he’s a person who truly cares about our business, our websites, and our customers.

Are there any areas Shanahan Design could improve?

No. I have none to note.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Cummins Rocky Mountain is a distributor in nine states—basically the western part of North America. We are the exclusive distributor for Cummins engines, both natural gas and diesel, and Cummins Power Generation generators, from really small units that go in an RV up to 3.5 megawatt generators that provide power or standby power for offices, construction, military, and so forth.

What is your position?

I am the Marketing Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Shanahan Design?

We had a consumer website that was actually giving us trouble communicating with our customers, as our website was primarily just a brochure site.

We had worked with two web designers prior to Shanahan Design, and they came up with classic marketing agency recommendations. That’s really where Shanahan Design brought a fresh way of looking at things. They were experts at understanding our business and the results we were trying to achieve. A power generator customer is hugely different from an engine customer, so the question was how to appeal to both on the same website. Shanahan Design worked with us on creating content that actually did just that. They made it different and new.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

When we originally hired Shanahan, it was just for web design. We had some pretty specific guidelines, and they helped us conform to them. We were able to have Shanahan Design not just do our website, but also build brand standards that we could push out globally. In the future, all distributor websites will use the same brand standards and the same look and feel that we were able to create with Shanahan.

We, of course, had brand standards before, but Shanahan Design was able to go through them and identify which ones didn’t flow right. At that time only 2% of our visitors scrolled down to another page. Shanahan Design brought a level of expertise that we had absolutely no clue about. In the end, we have measurements to show that success.

The other thing that Shanahan Design brought to the table was a background in our products and our services, so they could actually help out with a lot of content. When they didn’t know something, they would talk to experts in that area so they could really understand the market and what it is we wanted to do. They really worked with us as kind of a consultant.

They broke the work down not just from a design point of view, but broke it down from what our goals and objectives are. They showed how to really go after and target specific markets.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We have spent somewhere between $10,000 and $50,000 working with Shanahan Design.

What was the timeline of this engagement?

We originally had a six-month timeline. That is in no way a reflection of how Shanahan works. They originally thought this was something like a two to three month job. You have to realize that Cummins Rocky Mountain is part of Cummins, Inc. We are part of a 60,000-plus employee company that requires many levels of approval. There were certain things that we needed to get management approval on.

If the project was just for Cummins Rocky Mountain, we probably could have finished in two to three months easily. But we were coming up with this brand standard and design not just for the United States, but globally as well. As it wrapped up, it was a six-month project, although we actually ended up launching about three weeks prior to that six-month timeframe. This was great because we were actually able to have a live version for our end of the year meeting, rather than a production version.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics or other feedback from this engagement?

The site has a number of different ways that customers can reach out to us, whether it’s for quotes, rental units, scheduling service, or pricing parts. We don’t have the ordering piece quite set up yet, but that’s not really our fault or the fault of Shanahan Design. As I said earlier, we need to go through an approval process. I do think that within the next 18 months Shanahan Design will get us to the point where we’ll be actually able to sell parts online. I know that sounds so 2000’s, but for us, that’s a pretty huge thing.

Shanahan Design was able to get the call to action that we needed. Last week I had to do a presentation for management on this very thing. Prior to redoing our website, our conversion rate or our call to action was at about 0.5%. Of course, turning that 0.5% into sales drove the numbers down so much that it really wasn’t something that was easily measureable.

Now, for last quarter, January through March, we were at about a 9.5% conversion rate. The increase has been huge. We don’t have a clean way to actually relate that to the bottom line, but what I can say is that in that first quarter we ended with over $200,000 in sales. For something that we’re not selling directly on the Internet, that’s pretty impressive.

One of the things that I was asked last week was that if they wouldn’t have contacted us via the website, would they have still come in? I don’t know that. I do know that out of that group that we looked at, 21.6% were actually new customers. That’s huge. Again, our business has typically been about 75% business-to-business [B2B] and 25% business-to-customer [B2C]. Obviously with this site, we are going to see more of the B2C market. If we can do $200,000 in the first quarter, which typically is not our busy season, we could probably add $1 million in sales through just what we’re doing right now on the web. That’s pretty cool. We’re right now about a $400 million to $450 million a year company just in our nine states.

What distinguishes Shanahan Design from other providers?

I guess the best thing is that Shanahan is easy to work with and really listens. In the past, we’ve worked with a number of companies that thought they knew everything and that we were the dumbest people on the face of the earth. Shanahan Design, on the other hand, was very easy to work with. They ran with a lot of our ideas. If there was something they thought would work, they would bring that to the table but not try to overwhelm us.

Shanahan Design is in California, which means that we are at an hour difference, but we have some people on the east coast, a three hour difference. If Shanahan Design needed to be on the phone at 5:30 in the morning or 8:00 at night, they would do that. They were very accommodating that way.

Finally, if any problems were to develop, Shanahan Design would be there. In the past, other companies would say that they would fix the problem and send us an estimate on what it’s going to cost. Shanahan Design would say that it’s just part of the project and go ahead and fix things. Working with Shanahan Design is not like working with an attorney, where you are being charged by the minute. That wasn’t the case with Shanahan Design.

They were really organized. We used separate software to keep on track of everything, and at the end of our weekly calls, they would put action items out there and send us a little email telling us what they are going to do.

The other piece that I really liked is that Shanahan Design is a pretty small firm; I love working with vendors like that because we usually get better service. If we’re just a small fish, nobody really cares. That’s one thing that I think is really great about Shanahan Design. We were able to get a lot of their dedicated time.

Is there anything Shanahan Design could have improved or done differently?

I can’t think of anything that was really critical. I would say that if all of a sudden Shanahan Design had 15 projects going on at once, the size of the business might cause problems.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Brian [Shanahan, CEO of Shanahan Design] did two jobs for us: one on our main business, which is a consulting company established in Canada in 1980; and the second was for a management training business that we started about a year and a half ago.

What is your position?

I'm the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Shanahan Design?

We were trying to bring greater alignment between the two businesses and have a similar look and feel to both of our websites. Being able to incorporate things that will attract people's attention, either through graphics or clarity of message and structural organization were the things that I thought Brian brought particular strengths to.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

With both sites, there was an incredible amount of content that we needed to organize. With the management training business, we've got about 110 training events that come from 90-minute, Internet-based, on-demand learning programs to classrooms. The technical difficulty was being able to navigate through all of that data in a manner that's intuitive and easy to track and find. Brian did a great job of designing and building all of the information flow for that.

How did you come to work with Shanahan Design?

Brian's brother owned an equipment dealership in Northern California, and it's through that relationship that I met Brian. Brian and I met each other a number of years ago. When it became evident that we needed to create a new platform around the end of 2014, Brian and I started chatting.

I did speak with several other vendors. We had an Internet supplier we had been using for 20 years, but we felt they were not keeping up with the times. As a result, we switched to Brian. Brian is a very organized person who is able to communicate very well and understands very quickly the different things that we were doing.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I'd say they were in the $10,000 to $50,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

They were both task-oriented, agile projects and ended up lasting around 60 days.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Our online training business has grown tremendously since Brian's work launched. While we were the ones who developed all the content for the online courses and so on, Brian is the one that made that accessible to our audience in the website. We are tremendously grateful to him for that. 

What distinguishes Shanahan Design from other providers?

Brian has a very pleasing personality. He listens carefully and offers alternatives, but isn't pushy when it comes to the final decision. It was a very pleasant, easy, relaxed, and stress-free type of job. That's the kind I like to have.

Is there anything Shanahan Design could have improved or done differently?

I think that the only dilemma that Brian has is what scope he wants to take his business to. He has a lot of talent and ability, but he's going to face challenges as he tries to scale while still maintaining his impeccable quality.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Cummins Inc. manufactures, distributes, and services diesel and natural gas engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission solutions, and electrical power generation systems.

What is your position?

I am the Marketing Manager for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Shanahan Design?

We wanted to increase sales through our SEO rankings.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Shanahan Design managed our Google AdWords campaign and redesigned our website, among other services.

How did you come to work with Shanahan Design?

We found them through a referral.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

In the first year, we engaged in a complete website redesign. In the following years Shanahan Design offered maintenance services for us, so cost has varied a lot.

What is the status of this engagement?

We continue to work with Shanahan Design. We started our relationship 3 years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I'm very satisfied with their performance. We've received many more website visits and are able to more easily track sales resulting from requests made online. Shanahan Designs has made a large impact on our bottom line.

How did Shanahan Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very good at explaining the work done, step-by-step. Shanahan Design is very professional and they have a good turnaround time.

What distinguishes Shanahan Design from other providers?

The quality of work is high and they're always available when we have an issue. We only have to email or call them.

Is there anything Shanahan Design could have improved or done differently?

No, we're very happy with everything we've received from Shanahan Design.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The company is Skyline Emissions. We work in the diesel emissions retrofit business.

What is your position?

I'm the Chief Financial Officer of the company. I look after technology as well.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Shanahan Design?

Essentially, Brian [Shanahan, founder and principal] helped us with a couple of things. He helped us redesign our website for several of our different brands. We have two or three different businesses, and he helped structure the websites to bring them into greater alignment. For one of one those businesses, he built the site from scratch and helped us integrate an e-commerce aspect to it. He also set us up with a few vendors who could provide us with backend integrations. He handled all of that.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

While he was doing the design and development of the e-commerce site, he was also consulting on the marketing side of our business. He helped us structure our social media strategy and our marketing content, and all those pieces of the business.

How did you come to work with Shanahan Design?

We were introduced to Shanahan Design through one of our ex-employees who had worked with Brian Shanahan in the past at Cummins. Brian has done a lot of work for Cummins, and we were confident because of the similar natures of our businesses that he could do the same for us.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I would put it between $10,000 and $50,000. He came within our budget.

What is the status of this engagement?

Each of the projects lasted around two to three months, primarily in 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Direct results are not something you can easily measure. We feel we have a great website. It’s modern and its mobile compatible. You can easily navigate it on a cell phone, tablet, or computer. We’ve had several interviews with customers, and the feedback they’ve given us regarding the new website has been exceptionally positive. Brian made the purchase process very simple, and we haven't had any difficulties. Overall, it was a great implementation.

How did Shanahan Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They have consistently delivered on time and on budget.

What distinguishes Shanahan Design from other providers?

We are a small company and want our service providers to be very hands on. I found Brian to be very flexible and accommodating to our needs. His turnaround is very good, so you get a response very quickly. He takes ownership of his projects, and if there's a problem, he picks it up as if he's part of the team. That's what I liked about him.

Is there anything Shanahan Design could have improved or done differently?

I've not really faced any issues with the project so I don't have any negative feedback or constructive feedback at this time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company was a Cummins engine distributor in California. We sold service engines and provided product support for the diesel engine market throughout California; both power generation, truck, marine, etc. The company had seven branches and about 250 employees. We started a division called CleanAir, which designed and distributed diesel emissions controllers.

What is your position?

I’m retired now, but I was Executive Vice President of the parent company, and then Chief Executive Officer of CleanAir.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Shanahan Design?

It’s a fairly complicated sales process and we needed marketing tools, including a website, print media, and trade show advertising that was cohesive and could deliver a lot of information.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Shanahan fully redesigned and then managed both companies’ websites. They worked hard to make sure our search engine optimization was strong, and that we showed up for relevant Google searches. They took our website from what was basically a brochure, to an interactive site that had a lot of customer touch points and provided a lot of information.

They also did our branding work and helped us cohesively develop a brand that looked the same and felt the same across multiple products, multiple applications, and packaging materials.

How did you come to work with Shanahan Design?

Shanahan had a connection with one of my colleagues at the parent company of CleanAir, and his work was submitted along with five or six other vendors. Shanahan’s work clearly stood out, and it was a unanimous decision to go with him.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was budgeted in the $50,000 to $75,000 a year range.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

For both companies, both the engine company and the emissions company, Shanahan Design did a wonderful job of bringing brand alignment to all our various products. With multiple branches scattered all over the state, it’s really easy to have different brand touchpoints. He did an excellent job of getting us to look and feel the same across all platforms for both companies.

From a website design standpoint, he took us from a simple brochure site to an interactive website that gave us the opportunity to both register the interest we were getting from customers, and use it as a tool to reach back to those people who had some interest. Instead of being a mail order and direct mailings company, which is where we came from, we ended up getting the majority of our leads via our website after Shanahan’s work.

What distinguishes Shanahan Design from other providers?

I really think Shanahan took the time to learn the business, and learn the competition. Shanahan Design became more of a strategic partner than just a tactical partner. I think that’s the biggest compliment I can give them. By the end of our work together, we were bringing Shanahan into our product meetings so we could get their input on marketing from the outset.

Is there anything Shanahan Design could have improved or done differently?

I think, like most small shops, occasionally they would take on more than they could handle, but they always found a way to get it done.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Cummins West was exclusive distributor for Cummins engines and generators and Allison Transmissions in Northern California and Hawaii.  Cummins West had 400 employees and operated nine locations throughout California and Hawaii.

The engines, generators, parts, and service support was provided to a customer base that was largely industrial, serving the markets of heavy-duty trucking, transit buses, agriculture, construction, power generation, and commercial marine vessels.

What is your role at the company?

I was the director of strategic marketing at Cummins West during the engagement with Shanahan Design. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Shanahan Design?

Cummins West needed an increased web and overall brand identity, but we were tied to some strict brand standards enforced by the corporate brand management group at Cummins Inc. 

We had the need to reach our local customers and provide localized content that helped them manage their business. With the web platform provided by Cummins Inc., we had no way to update content effectively or reach our local customers with even very basic information like our store hours, key contacts, or phone numbers. Concurrently, we had the need to communicate updates on very important regulatory developments that impacted our customer base. 

We were faced with a challenge of not having the right platforms in place to communicate the most basic of information to our customer base let alone keep them updated on very complex regulatory developments. We needed an integrated solution that looked great, was functional and met the very strict brand standards of Cummins Inc., but most importantly delivered qualified customers to us through strong content marketing. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

The project was initially purely web design, and that project lasted approximately eight weeks. However, after the success of that project, Shanahan Design became our go-to design and marketing company, handling print collateral, print advertising campaigns, pay-per-click campaigns and various website upgrades for several years.  

How did you come to work with Shanahan Design?

After a few attempts to work with the in-house web development team at Cummins Inc., it became clear that if we wanted the we redesign project completed quickly and to the level of professionalism we needed it to, we would have to use a third party. We reached out to Shanahan Design on a referral as we knew they had done work in our industry. 

Brian [Shanahan, principal and founder of Shanahan Design] was able to understand our needs quickly and, more importantly, ask us the right questions forcing us to scope the project correctly and with an attainable time frame. The exercise of scoping the project during an initial consultation with Shanahan Design was so valuable, we didn't see the need to talk with any more designers during the selection process.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Shanahan Design during the course of three to four years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Our initial project was a complete website redesign, in which Shanahan Design worked with the branding team at Cummins Inc to make sure all brand standards were met.  Brian worked closely with our internal marketing team to ensure we were providing valuable content for the site. Shanahan Design integrated the content that was provided to them and, in many cases, improved it and understood our business quickly and how various business units could be cross promoted through the site. 

The website relaunch, which grew into numerous other projects, no doubt (supported by metrics) had a significant role in consistent addition of new customers and establishing ourselves as the local market share leader for industrial engine sales and service in our area of responsibility. 

The initial project was complete within eight weeks and, in that time, we had a completely redesigned and functional website that delivered the content needed to our customers while meeting required brand standards. More importantly, it looked great and delivered new customers to us.

What distinguishes Shanahan Design from other providers?

It is not an embellishment to say that during a three- to four-year engagement with Shanahan Design, not a single deadline was missed.  Each project was delivered on time and on budget. 

We were always proud to release the marketing material we created with Shanahan Design as each piece elevated the level of professionalism for our company. 

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve or things you might do differently?

I'd like to give you some sort of criticism, but I can't think of anything. That's why we worked with them for so long.