SOLTECH

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business operations manager at an independent broker dealer company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We needed to revamp our internal website for our advisors. The main goal of the project was to enable every app we offered on the site to use single sign-on (SSO).

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SOLTECH helped us revamp our internal website using WordPress. They redeveloped it and assisted with the design. Still, our marketing and branding team led most of the design work. SOLTECH also worked with each of our vendors to make every app on our website SSO-enabled to make them easy to navigate. The website was designed to be a one-stop shop for our advisors, allowing them to access all the information and apps they needed in one place.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Renso, Raymond, Scott, and Thayer.

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

One of our employees had worked with SOLTECH previously at another firm and recommended them. The team was knowledgeable about websites and what we needed to do. They also had a strong technical background, so they seemed like a good fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent just over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from March–December 2024.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new website was launched last week, so it's still early to see results. However, we already saw an increase in website traffic. Overall, the quality of SOLTECH’s work met our expectations.

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

SOLTECH was very communicative and followed the plan they set in place. The team delivered the work on time and within budget. We mainly communicated through email and had weekly standing calls via Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SOLTECH was extremely organized and always on top of things. They were quick to respond, which was always appreciated. The team even worked on weekends if necessary, so they were very dedicated to getting their work done and doing it well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were all extremely busy and were pulled into multiple projects. However, they gave us the time we needed to get everything done, so we had no complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Hit the ground running.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the VP and general manager of Revver Digital, a subsidiary of OneWater Marine.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We needed help with staff augmentation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SOLTECH provides us with C and Azure developers to join the teams responsible for building mobile apps and cloud-based SaaS model applications. The team helped me fine-tune my job postings and vetted candidates. We've gone through initial interviews, and SOLTECH has scheduled all interviews for me.

We'd been looking for senior developers with thought leadership and communication skills who could self-manage and communicate. Based on that, SOLTECH has aimed for candidates to have thought leadership and communication skills, Scrum and Agile knowledge, and previous experience in teams like that, so they fit in quickly.

What is the team composition?

We've hired three different teams of developers. They've been spread across multifaceted teams for our various applications, from mobile apps to three cloud-based SaaS model applications.

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

A consultant we already had on staff was familiar with SOLTECH. They had an extensive database of people with the skill set we needed and were available to work. We were onboarding about 15 people at the time, and SOLTECH was able to jump in and help us staff our growth needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested $500,000 annually.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since SOLTECH provides us with senior developers, no training is involved, saving us enormous amounts of time. They integrate into our team very quickly and pick up cards in our sprint after shadowing one of my employees. Typically, they're up and running within two weeks of employment, translating into cost savings for us since their wages are also market-reasonable. Additionally, due to their expertise, they've met our expectations.

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

We track time against our sprints and use Azure DevOps, so each card is weighed with time, and they submit a billing invoice to me. I approve the invoice based on the work they've turned in and the QA check. Then, I put that against their bill, and that's how we track time and manage the project.

We use Microsoft Teams and Azure DevOps as our core communications. We also use Microsoft Outlook. We've also held traditional morning stand-ups and used video communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We've had a long, excellent relationship with SOLTECH. They're all proficient in English, which is even better. We've had a good track record because we've put them through rigorous testing before hiring them. We've had onboarding tasks that we've run them through to ensure they are who they say they are. SOLTECH has provided referrals, so we've been able to call pre-existing employers and get a good reference for each developer. We've had a very high success rate in placement.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's any fault of an individual or the staffing agency.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend testing SOLTECH's problem-solving and logical thinking against the other team members to see if they fit well. I highly recommend this to any employer.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Storage Post.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We needed help with our web app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We built an internal web app that controlled our internet and CRM systems. However, all of our internal resources that worked on it had left. The app ran on an old .NET version, so we needed SOLTECH to bring in an architect to migrate it from .NET Core 2.1 to .NET 6. 

From there, they introduced us to a software architect. We gave him access to our source code repository and backups of any needed database. His first step was building a local environment where he ran and updated our app. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–3 teammates from SOLTECH. Jim (App Architect) was our main point person, but a project manager and a QA specialist contributed to the project. 

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

I’d known about SOLTECH for a while before this project. I hadn’t worked with them before, but I knew some of their teammates, so I contacted them. They had lots of expertise in taking over abandoned internal apps. Meanwhile, we needed someone who could learn how our app worked without any actual knowledge transfer or a lot of documentation. SOLTECH had an architect who could figure our app out and chart the course toward an upgrade, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent approximately $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement lasted from August 2022–March 2023. Beginning in April 2023, our internal resources took over the app again, although we still used the assets that SOLTECH created for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After upgrading the app to the latest supported version of .NET, we became compliant with the cyber frameworks we were required to follow. We also saw an increase in performance and streamlined our authentication flow. We got rid of the virtual machine we were using and became more efficient.

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

SOLTECH’s project management was fantastic. In the beginning, we had weekly meetings. As the project matured, we switched to biweekly meetings to discuss the project’s status, issues, and remaining work. They did a great job sticking to the schedule and budget — they managed the project so well that we added some functional requirements. 

In the end, we upgraded the app, took care of some technical debt, and burnt down some long-standing functional requirements. For tools, we used Trello internally and Microsoft Teams for unified communications and passing requirements back and forth.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Jim was great. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They delivered exactly what we needed, so I was happy with the project. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Always look for additional ways that SOLTECH can help you on your projects. Even though you start with a limited scope, you’ll develop a strong relationship with them as the project progresses. Given that, leverage that to gain even more value by the end of the project. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the EVP of operations for PriceMDs, a healthcare cost solutions company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We needed help creating a new CRM to manage our work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SOLTECH is developing a custom CRM platform for us. We were working with a different developer and left them. SOLTECH had something to start with and was responsible for finishing the project. SOLTECH's developer is helping us adapt the platform to fit our needs using PHP.

What is the team composition?

We work with two people from SOLTECH: Linda and Johannes.

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

We found SOLTECH through a Google search. We interviewed several companies and chose SOLTECH because they were straightforward, transparent, and had years of experience working with other clients. The team seemed able to get the job done the way we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $200,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with SOLTECH in June 2024, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SOLTECH is great at listening to us and understanding what we need. The team gives us good suggestions and options, offering helpful feedback. 

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

SOLTECH has met the timeline and budget for the first phase of the project. We meet twice a week via Microsoft Teams, and the team uses Jira for project management. SOLTECH is good at outlining invoices and breaking down work hours. The invoices are clear and show the work the team has completed and the cost.
Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Linda is wonderful to work with, and Johannes is also great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SOLTECH has a clear understanding and direction. The team keeps asking questions until they understand our business and figure out the best way to build our CRM. We struggled to work with the previous developer.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything SOLTECH can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a good andd clear vision of what you need because that will be the beginning of the project's road map. If you hand that to SOLTECH, they can take it from there.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm one of the managing partners of Hutrics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We needed software development services. We had specific needs in the space of HR technology. We knew what we needed upfront and were looking for a team to help us build it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially met with SOLTECH's developers and discussed all of our needs. The team reviewed what they could do and gave us a budget. From there, we moved forward with the development process. SOLTECH has built an app that provides a smartphone-enabled test and assessment platform for job candidates that employers can use to assess candidate quality as part of their hiring process. 

The team continues to work with us on a regular basis for software maintenance, upkeep, and any project launches we have.

What is the team composition?

We work with a team of about five teammates, including a lead developer, a senior developer, and three designers. We have main contact with two team members who work full-time. 

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

We found SOLTECH through a Google search.

How much have you invested with them?

Our spending is in the range of $200,000–$900,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with SOLTECH in July 2022, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our software has zero downtime, which is an important metric. This platform is our company's main product, and we've been able to launch our business thanks to the software. SOLTECH's work quality meets my expectations. 

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

SOLTECH delivers work on time for the most part. We communicate via phone calls, emails, and Slack and collaborate via Google Docs.
Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Ray (Solutions Architect) has led the developers throughout the project and does a phenomenal job. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

SOLTECH's flexibility is their biggest strength because our needs often change.

Are there any areas they could improve?

SOLTECH can improve on being on time and on budget. The team isn't always right on time and on budget, but they work with us to remedy those issues.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear on what you want SOLTECH to build. The team will follow standard procedures and want to do a good job, so be ready to work on the project when approaching them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the VP of operations management and enablement for NanoLumens. I implement systems, design processes, and workflows for my company so that we can operate more efficiently.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We required help with a massive data migration. We were switching from a stale database system to a new system that would allow us to do robotic process automation and smart workflows. This new system would allow us to manage projects a little bit better.

Our company offers a unique and generous warranty for what we do, which usually causes many issues regarding support, inventory, and parts management. During this system change, our major challenge was migrating a lot of old data and old project information.

Simply migrating to a new system wasn't an option for us; we had to go back 15 years' worth of project data. Moreover, each of our projects is an engineering project because we're an engineer-to-order company. This means that each project requires a significant amount of engineering hours, which results in a lot of information necessary for proper customer support.

The new system needed to coexist with the old system, which would result in us paying for two systems. Due to all these challenges, we hired SOLTECH to help us out.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SOLTECH helped us with a massive data migration project, which required migrating data from a Quickbase custom-built app to a new system called SoftExpert. This new system was custom-configured, and a lot of historical data had to be migrated. Basically, this was a classical extraction, transformation, and load (ETL) project.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a salesperson and two database experts.

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

I did a Google search and spoke to several companies. None of the other companies showed the professionalism or care for what we wanted to do as SOLTECH did.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our conversation in March 2024, but the project didn't start until May 2024. The project was completed in July 2024.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SOLTECH delivered on the agreed-upon scope of work, which the salesperson managed very well. From the start, she captured the entire scope assumptions of the project very well, and the team was able to deliver accordingly.

I can also speak highly about the quality of SOLTECH's work. The data on our old system had a lot of flaws, so it had to be merged, appended, and cleaned. Still, they did all that for us. Sometimes, we didn't even know that there were problems with the data.

Additionally, we've benefited greatly from this project. Now that we have our data in the new system, we can turn off our older system and, therefore, save on investing in two parallel systems, which doesn't make sense for us.

The data on our old software was dispersed, so we had to search across multiple different places to find it. Now, our data can be found in a simpler and more summarized way, and it is easily searchable.

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

SOLTECH delivered work on time and below budget. We didn't use any project management tools; we simply used email regularly. The complexity of the project structure was fairly simple, so we didn't need those tools.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

I would like to give a shout-out to Raymond (Solutions Architect), who was the main database expert I worked with. I really appreciated the speed at which he developed the solution and the fact that he was very cost-conscious. He delivered great work and was able to understand what we would need later on to address unforeseen challenges. He basically complemented our work, so we were very happy.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I come from a software industry background, and I've worked with small and very large companies equally. It was impressive to see that SOLTECH's team displayed the same level of service as a large company; that's why I was attracted to them in the first place.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Engage with good sales professionals with the ability to capture scope assumptions because those will play out during the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of a software company that focuses on building solutions that help companies prevent and manage injuries among their workforce. We specialize in industrial workforces that employ physical labor. Our software helps companies understand how to prevent musculoskeletal injuries that occur in their workforce and manage those injuries when they occur.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

Our company was going through a pivot since we were initially focused on a different customer. Based on the market, we decided to pivot to an industrial customer. During that time, some key teammates left the company, and we needed to bring in quality engineering capacity to achieve the desired product for this industry. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially asked SOLTECH to perform an audit of our tech stack to have insights from a third party. The team provided a comprehensive review of our code, providing a lot of value and insight for our team that we didn't initially have. Based on SOLTECH's audit quality, we decided to engage further with the team and bring on some of their engineers to help us build the different features we needed to approach the industrial market. 

We've required SOLTECH to work with engineers with experience in our company's frameworks, including Ruby on Rails. Additionally, we have a web and mobile product and require engineers with mobile and web development experience. The team offers remote services since we're a remote company. 

We've hired internal engineers, and our engagement with SOLTECH is close to ending. At the beginning of our engagement, we informed the team that our long-term plan was to hire an internal engineering team.

What is the team composition?

We work with five teammates from SOLTECH, including Linda (Project Leadership), Ray (Solution Architect), a senior engineer, and two additional engineers; one works on mobile development, and one on Ruby on Rails.

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

SOLTECH was recommended by a teammate on our staff who had previously worked with the team. We looked at SOLTECH's work and saw they could be a good fit for this project.
How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $500,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with SOLTECH in January 2024, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've received good feedback from our customers regarding SOLTECH and the consistency and professionalism they bring to our meetings. The team has brought a structure that our customers really appreciate. The team does a great job and fills our needs well. We really appreciate our partnership.

SOLTECH has helped us clean up our various information sources. Our company is pivoting from one customer segment to another, and we have a lot of data in different places. SOLTECH has delved into our systems to aggregate relevant data and archive what isn't critical anymore, which has helped us focus on important tasks. 

Moreover, SOLTECH has done a good job of finding engineers in their staff with the expertise we require. Working with engineers who understand how to work within our languages is important for us. SOLTECH's teammates have integrated easily into our meetings and been productive quickly. SOLTECH provides value to our team. 

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

SOLTECH is good at setting precise expectations for delivery deadlines, which allows us to plan product feature rollouts with our customers. We communicate via phone calls, Slack, Zoom, and Google Meet. We work asynchronously through Google products and Jira. The team has integrated into our internal tools.
Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Ray and Linda are the two teammates I work most closely with, and they're fantastic. Ray has a good approach and a ton of relevant experience. He goes the extra mile to understand our business and makes suggestions that reflect his business judgment. I appreciate the value Ray brings in understanding our business needs and guiding the engineering team. Ray also provides updates that allow us to plan strategically.

Linda has dove into our product and the internal tools we use to manage development. She has spent a lot of time cleaning up different artifacts in those tools. Linda is also good at supporting our customer service. She's present at calls with our end client and reflects the high bar we have for customer service. She's strong at engaging with our customers and supporting operational work. Linda goes above and beyond to meet our expectations for someone in her role.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SOLTECH's responsiveness is impressive. The team has understood the stage of our business. We have different dynamics and needs to consider and require an agile team that moves quickly. We've changed our heading at times, and the team has done a good job reacting to that. SOLTECH brings positive energy to our meetings and strategic value in being able to assess the different factors to develop our business strategy, offering beneficial judgment.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything SOLTECH can improve. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Explain your business needs upfront to SOLTECH and kick off your engagement with them by going deep into who your customers are and the problem you're trying to solve. Expose your strategy to the team to get the most value from your engagement with SOLTECH. The more visibility you give to SOLTECH, the more they'll be able to provide insights about your business strategy and deliver better value.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Reviewer 1: I’m the director of IT for a 3D medical imaging company. 

Reviewer 2: I’m the VP and general manager of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

R2: We brought SOLTECH on board to assist us with some development processes and to ensure that the software pieces we had built internally were taken to the next generation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

R2: SOLTECH is our development partner. They collaborate with our internal resources, working with the software we built internally. SOLTECH helps us make continuous growth in our development environment. 

When we first hired them, our goal was to provide additional assistance and capacity to augment our internal team of 4–5 resources. At the time, we had an internal director of technology who created our workflow system, and SOLTECH provided additional resources for that teammate to help enhance that system. 

For their first project with us, SOLTECH assessed our workflow system. They conducted a stress test on the workflow system; they simulated tripling the amount of work going across the system. 

R1: SOLTECH has provided resources with expertise in project management, software development, and database development; overall, it's a complete team package. We’ve had much documentation transfer between our teams and discussions to deep-dive into our application and database. SOLTECH has learned about what we do. 

What is the team composition?

R1: We work with 5–6 SOLTECH teammates on any given day. We deal with a project manager, an application architect, and some of their leadership team, including Ann (Director of Business Development). 

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

R2: We found them through a referral. 

How much have you invested with them?

R2: We’ve spent around $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

R2: We started working with them in April 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

R1: Since working with SOLTECH, we’ve saved time. They’ve brought more folks to the table to help us do the work, so development timeframes have shrunk, and we’ve produced more development pieces in a more timely manner than previously. 

SOLTECH has also been cost-effectve. In the long term, doing the same amount of work on the same software pieces would have taken much longer to accomplish. Moreover, SOLTECH takes a very thorough approach to learning about our business. 

R2: The quality of SOLTECH’s work has been outstanding — they’ve exceeded expectations. 

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

R1: They deliver on time and within the budget and communicate well with our internal team. We use Zoom and email for communication and Jira to collaborate with the SOLTECH team day in and day out. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

R1: What SOLTECH does best is listen to our needs and expectations. They understand what we’re trying to accomplish. SOLTECH isn’t just a development team or a contracted third party — we have a true partnership. Working with them is seamless; part of their team is working with us in the office right now. Overall, SOLTECH has met and exceeded our expectations. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

R2: There’s nothing specific they need to improve; they’ve delivered everything we’ve asked for. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

R2: Go in with your eyes wide open and be willing to share the good, the bad, and the ugly to ensure SOLTECH understands the work. In our case, we’ve shared all of that with SOLTECH and not hidden anything, which we’ve found to be the proper way to do things. 

Additionally, we’re reactive to our needs and with them to ensure the work being done is good. In summary, keeping communication channels open and being forthcoming and open to making changes without much red tape has been the key to our success with SOLTECH.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I lead Precept as the CTO. We’ve been in ministry for over 52 years in 190 countries with 90 languages worldwide. As a ministry, we utilize inductive Bible study techniques to allow people to read God’s word and understand what God is saying to them through the Bible.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We wanted to start a digital transformation within the organization. Specifically, we wanted to reach a new generation with our products. To do this, we needed to build an application to teach and meet people where they are in their journey in life so they can have their own experience with God.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially looked at SOLTECH to build the app for iOS and Android in a technology stack that could be extensible and standardized to develop our future products off it. First, we completed extensive research on the marketplace and the group. We wanted to connect and help them understand the business case.

SOLTECH has been able to process the project; they understand the data and the application we want to build. We’ve presented them with our high-level architecture and some rough base code.

Currently, we’re doing a staged rollout to ensure the systems will operate with the volume we anticipate.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with eight teammates. However, we’ve transitioned into a continued maintenance team, going from eight to two people to support the app.

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

We went through a complete round of research. First, we selected ten vendors and built an internal scorecard to drop them down to five. Then, we did a technical and functional RFP; we discussed it with those five vendors and reduced them to three. SOLTECH was one of those final three companies.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $1.8 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our partnership in September 2022, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our senior leadership team and board of directors are very thankful for SOLTECH’s engagement. They’re a very intentional partner; they listen to us and are flexible in their approach to help us achieve our objectives. Overall, we’re thankful to be on their team.

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

Linda (Project Leadership) is a solid project manager. She’s helped us ensure we keep the lines of communication open and stay as close to schedule and budget as possible. In fact, we’re very happy with the budget side. We’ve had some things come up, but SOLTECH’s team has stepped up and done a phenomenal job of delivering.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review? 

Johannes (Application Architect), Daniel (Project Lead), and Renso (Solutions Architect) have been very helpful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Every one of their team members practices active listening, which is a lost art. Active listening is crucial to understanding and empathizing with what we’re trying to do as a business. SOLTECH understands our goals and where we want to move forward with the product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although they’ve brought creative solutions to the table, we’d like to see the options sometimes. However, we know the project was time-boxed and compressed, so maybe they do this in regular practice. Due to the time we had to work through the project, we didn't have the option.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should know where you want to go upfront. You want to make sure that they can be focused and deliver what you need. They will have questions that need to be answered, things that will come up, and the need for solutions. If you’ve tactfully relayed a direction to them, they’ll be solid partners.