Solspace

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sales of Burl Audio

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Professional Audio Electronics Manufacturing

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Solspace to accomplish?

• Make an interactive "configurator" on our website
• Calculate pricing for customers
• Convey technical information

SOLUTION

How did you find Solspace?

Referral

Why did you select Solspace over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Solspace were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Burl Audio is a high quality audio company providing equipment to the best studios around the world. The B80 Mothership product is highly customizable interface with many permutations and limitations which we needed to show in an easy to use customer interface. This project was incredibly complicated, and needed to help the end user understand the modular, customizable design. 

SolSpace was tasked with helping to develop a web based "configurator" based on the capabilites and limitations of the product, as well as calculate retail prices.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The team far exceeded our expectations, and previous experience with website design and development. We came to Sol Space because we needed an expert team to follow through on a very complicated concept. We launched the "configurator" with great success in a timely manner. Any delays in the project were a result of our inability to feed information to Solspace in time. The configurator is a very important part of Burl Audio's website to this day.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

This project was expertly managed by SolSpace. We had consistent meetings and all our concerns were addressed quickly and efficiently.

What was your primary form of communication with Solspace?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The report between the team is remarkable. Mitchell is a perfect leader who knows when to step in and lead, and when to let his team take over. They were fantastic.

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the head of web for a global digital business optimization consultancy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our website was 6 years old. As part of a multi-agency effort to rebuild our web presence from the ground up, Solspace was contracted to upgrade our CraftCMS and to build new code and a data layer to support the new information architecture and UX specifications delivered by our strategy agency. The new code and platform delivered immediate improvements in our Core Web Vital scores and we saw organic search results recover almost immediately. 

SOLUTION

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

Solspace has been our ad hoc development partner for over 4 years. After delivering proposals for how they would recommend we change our front-end code, we were finally able to coordinate business and brand strategy with their proposal to fully redesign the site.

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

At a critical point in the strategy consulting phase, Solspace was brought in to meet with us and the strategy agency to define CMS and specifications for template and page components. At the time of handoff to production, Solspace then worked with our internal Genpact project team to define phases of template and component development to launch the new site.

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

There were about 5 team members working primarily with us. A lead architect, 2 developers, a project requirements manager and a rotation of specialists to perform testing and QA.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We continue to see a 24% organic traffic uplift almost 4 months after launch.

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

Genpact hosted daily standups with Solspace to align on progress and dependencies. Solspace managed the development timeline through ClickUp.

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

Solspace has deep expertise in CraftCMS, but their breadth of web development practices allowed them to understand the needs of our enterprise business needs and respond in an agile way.

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

Continue to improve in the scope of web platform and CMS coverage.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Marketing and Communications Director as well as the Deputy Secretary of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, taking care of administration and educational projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our website needed updating and some special coding was necessary to enable features that we wanted to implement.

SOLUTION

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

We had worked with Solspace in the past and had excellent results with them.

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

Our website is based in Expression Engine, and as a template environment, there are many limitations, especially with the membership database features. Solspace did an in-depth review of our site with an eye toward our limited non-profit budget and came up with a reasonable estimate and scope of work. They were right on target and on time.

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

Mitchell Kimbrough is my point person and always reliably available and able to talk through issues with timely resolutions and suggestions that don't break our budget. He has a very capable staff who assist and having Solspace in our back pocket has given us a feeling of tremendous relief, as we have had very negative experiences with a different web company in the past.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcome has always been very positive and the deliverables on time. As a result, we can move forward confidently, knowing we have this kind of excellent web support.

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

Their management style is highly communicative, with questions answered in a timely fashion.

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

Solspace is a an impressive one-stop-shopping type of company, so if I need something that might have to be uniquely coded to fit a request, I know they can handle it. We can talk it through and reach an agreement as to what can and cannot be done, and I am confident that it is always the right answer.

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

Having come from a terrible experience with a different web company, Solspace has emerged as our go-to for all of our web needs. I have never had a negative experience.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner and lead UX / visual designer for our design studio. Our client work is across many industries and ranges from traditional marketing websites to complex web applications. I am personally responsible for completing or overseeing all phases of a project, from initial research and discovery through design. As a design-focused studio, I am also responsible for hiring outside development firms, or coordinating with existing developers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have hired or partnered with Solspace on many projects over the last 15 years. The projects have included large commerce redesigns, software development and marketing websites. Projects goals included increased conversions and traffic, improved performance and more.

SOLUTION

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

Throughout my career Solspace has been our go-to for web development services. They bring a quality of work, transparency and communication that is unmatched. Many even refer to it as "relief" ... the feeling that you're in good hands. They know what they're doing and do it right. Just as importantly, they are quick to communicate if something is not the right fit, or if an issue arises and how long it will take to fix. Along with this, they are fun to work with. As someone who has personally interviewed their own customers, some even called them family.

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

The scope of work has varied across many projects. Solspace's role is generally to take our completed designs and handle all front-end through back-end development, API development and maintenance, depending on the project requirements. Technologies have included CMS development including Craft and ExpressionEngine, API integrations and custom solutions. Process has varied as well, though Solspace does excel at creating project plans and handling project management.

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

I have worked with 8-10 members of Solspace's team across different projects. Their positions included the president, project managers and many developers with a variety of skillsets.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While we have many projects to look back on, a recent commerce project saw excellent results on conversion, increased sales and improved performance. While I cannot share specific details, it is safe to say that these improvements exceeded client expectations.

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

Having worked with many agencies and freelancers over 20+ years, I can say there are few companies that are as reliable as Solspace. What I've found most refreshing is their ability to communicate when something is delayed. While it is impossible to avoid some hiccups in the development phase, the most important thing is to know when and why these arise and how they'll be fixed.

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

The combination of Solspace's capabilities with their project management makes for an amazing experience. Their reliability and consistency makes for a great relationship, project after project. They are also a very creative development firm, and often offer up clever solutions to both design and development challenges.

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

If you can't tell from this review, I'd be hard pressed to find a complaint.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Product of Here Comes The Guide

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

HereComesTheGuide.com helps you find your ideal wedding venue and provides expert resources to assist couples in planning their perfect wedding.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Solspace to accomplish?

• Ongoing website maintenance
• Implement various new functionality projects as needed

SOLUTION

How did you find Solspace?

Online Search

Why did you select Solspace over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Craft developers

How many teammates from Solspace were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Moved our complicated CMS from Expression Engine to Craft. 
• Implemented and customized Meilisearch. 
• Created custom Mapbox maps. 
• Moved our image files into AWS. 
• Coordinated with our database developer to move us into the cloud.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

On time, on budget, functions correctly

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes, they deliver on time. They communicate well and are good at collaborating. They are good at estimating cost and timeline (and communicating when and why those things might change).

What was your primary form of communication with Solspace?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They are large enough to offer a variety of team members for our needs but not large enough that we disappear in the shuffle. We feel taken care of and they understand our business needs at a high level.

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

No