Skyhook Interactive

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the general manager of Evo Ultra Fit, a training and rehabilitation facility.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Skyhook Interactive?

Our initial goal at that time was education. We needed a website developed that would help our customers understand what we do. That site also had to integrate some e-commerce functionalities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Skyhook Interactive started with a simple customer-facing website with simple information. The project evolved into creating a virtual training platform. That has now gone through five or six iterations and has morphed into six different training platforms. When we say training, this refers to rehabilitation and therapy. Skyhook Interactive built the website from scratch using a version of WordPress.

How did you come to work with Skyhook Interactive?

Skyhook Interactive was a recommendation to us. I also did some work with other people, but ended up coming back to Skyhook Interactive.

How much have you invested with Skyhook Interactive?

We've spent around $40,000 during the course of our relationship with Skyhook Interactive.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them about 10 years ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our ability to interact with our users has become far more efficient, thanks to Skyhook Interactive's help. We're saving a large amount of time and that was the goal.

How did Skyhook Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

Skyhook Interactive did a good job in terms of project management. I generally communicated with one person. Their team made sure that they knew the scope of the project, and then we worked together to make sure that we all stayed on task. Sometimes, I was behind, sometimes delays happened because what we were building was one of a kind. Unforeseen problems cropped up, and we had to deal with them. The management of the whole process was a two-way street, a dialogue of making sure that everyone was getting what he or she needed when he or she needed it. That way, things got done.

What did you find most impressive about Skyhook Interactive?

They've been great and have worked well with us on a lot of different challenges. Skyhook Interactive created virtual services for us that were unknown in the tech world. They were literally building things from the ground up. Based on the nature of the work that we've done with them, they've done a good job.

Are there any areas Skyhook Interactive could improve?

I feel that's a challenging question simply because of the unique nature of our project with Skyhook Interactive. There were so many things that we could always say, "Well, we should do all of these things better."

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Skyhook Interactive?

It would help to have constant communication between the customer and Skyhook Interactive. You need to find a way and make sure that both the client and Skyhook Interactive are on the same page. Each person should be getting the pieces needed for the task at hand.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I have my own company, and I work with many clients. I do everything that has to do with a website: web design, SEO [search engine optimization], web development, coding, HTML, design, and content strategy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Skyhook Interactive?

I have really tough and very sophisticated clients. I manage 80 sites for one of my clients, and that’s a big thing. I couldn’t dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s myself, given the volume of websites I’m handling. I started off giving Skyhook one, then I went to two, and then I went to ten. Also, those sites change every minute of every day. They are big changes, like when I just moved 21 sites from different pages to scrolling sites. We had to change all the SEO, the templates, and everything. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Right now, Skyhook Interactive manages more than 70 WordPress sites for me, but those are just the ongoing ones. I do one-offs with them all the time. I use WordPress and many content management systems for different clients, depending on where they are. I occasionally work with other designers when I need two or three things designed at the same time. But, for WordPress, I try to stick with Skyhook Interactive because they know me and know what I'm after. They're ahead of the curve in multiple languages, such as Hebrew, Japanese, Mandarin, and Portuguese. They get on the phone with developers in various countries with me. They're smarter than I am when it comes to coding, especially when you have to do Hebrew backward, from left to right. 

How did you come to work with Skyhook Interactive?

I don't know how I found Skyhook Interactive originally because it was quite some time ago. I met the president, then I met the key person, my account manager. When I have a new vendor, I give them two or three projects and see how they do. Often, I give them two or three clients at the same time because I want people to be scalable. I needed to see if I can trust them with volume in the years ahead. When I did this with Skyhook Interactive, they were leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. They turned it around, it was done, and then I gave them more.

How much have you invested with Skyhook Interactive?

I have so many vendors, so I can't really say how much I have spent on Skyhook Interactive.

What is the status of this engagement?

I don't remember when the partnership began. I'd have to go back and search invoices. I don't know. I only save the billing for about three years, and I know it's been much longer than that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Skyhook Interactive has been an excellent and very competent partner. People come to me because of a reputation for reliability and "count-on-ability." I'm currently handling more than 70 websites, and I've never had a mistake or a glitch. I can't think of any greater success story than that from how I operate, given the volume I have. I work with good developers and good UX [user experience] people from Skyhook Interactive. They're good people: honest, down-to-Earth, and no hype. That's not a sales pitch, they're just the real thing.

I work with so many vendors and get all these sales pitches, which are great. But, then, when the deliverable comes, it doesn't quite match. I feel like I have to fill in many of the gaps myself. I don't need to do that with Skyhook. They're just truthful, honest hard workers. They don't have to do things 90 times with 70 phone calls. I'm sure other people have different criteria given what they're working on. For me, Skyhook Interactive is all about trust and reliability. For me, a great success story is when you can let go of that trapeze and know you're going to be caught. There's no need for micromanagement. Their turnaround time is my favorite thing in the whole world. With other vendors, I have to go, "OK, what's the ETA? What do you think? Is it a week or month?" I don't need to do all that follow up with Skyhook, which almost brings me to tears. You put it out there and they say, "Here it is. Do you want to review it?" They are very low maintenance and very fast, without any mistakes. What else could make me happy?

How did Skyhook Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

Because I've worked with Skyhook Interactive for so many years, they know who I am, how I work, and my attention to detail. I am very detail-oriented, and if somebody misses a comma, I point it out. They're so used to interacting with me through so many years that our email interface is, "Hey, Chris, can you swap this for this?" "Yep. Got it." "Thanks, bye." That's how quick it is. There's very little interaction because it's just zip, email, and it's done.

If it's a huge project like the one I gave them this morning [August 2016], they would say, "Next week," which didn't surprise me. Somebody else would say, "Well, this will take a month and we'll have to review it." They also have a very good support ticket for tiny things like if a link is broken. You just load it to their help desk, and it's done before you even finish sending the email.

What did you find most impressive about Skyhook Interactive?

I was working with them on another project the other day. That client said, "I need to write up and compare the value of one content management system compared to the other." I've worked with that client for years. They're an international consulting company, and they wanted to go with this other company. I asked Skyhook Interactive to do the research. I said, "If the client decides to go with this other company, I'm not going to be the person for them because I don't want to learn yet a seventh content management system and a new company. Could you write up the benefits without any agenda – no sales pitch – of the benefits of one group over the other?" They never mentioned Skyhook Interactive. It was flawlessly brilliant. I just said to the client, "You may want to look at this research and compare different content managers. Make whatever decision you think. I'll support it." Within one second, they were back knocking at my door. I did not do that paper; Skyhook Interactive did it for me. I knew Skyhook Interactive was familiar with the details of what the developers had to deal with when systems aren't fully built out. I needed that paper within five hours because it was an international client with different time zones. I wasn't even trying to close the deal. I couldn't have cared less if I had the company or not. But, that client closed the deal within two seconds after they received the paper. It was good. I know it was probably a bit of a problem for Skyhook to stop what they were doing to write this for me, but we have a long relationship of deep trust and regard. Plus, now that they're going to do it, it's going to be another big project for them, so it was probably worth their while in the end.

Are there any areas Skyhook Interactive could improve?

I can't think of any areas that they need to improve. I am grateful that they're there for me. They are my safety net. It's a huge part of my job that I don't need to worry about.