Sutter Group

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that represents the commissioners, secretaries, and directors of agriculture in all 50 states and four of the US territories. Our members are appointed and elected government officials that advocate for agriculture in their state. Not only do they advocate for agriculture, but they regulate agriculture, so that puts our members in a very unique position where they're a friend, but they are also regulating. As far of my position goes, I’m the director of communications. I’m in charge of all our communication activities with the media, website, social media, newsletters, graphic design, and print and material development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Sutter Group?

The Sutter Group has done three things for us. They developed an animated video to introduce our strategic plan to our members and stakeholders, an animated and live interview video in celebration of our 100th anniversary, and now they’re working on executing a project to deliver a new website for our organization.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first video was entirely animated. The Sutter Group started with the script, which they wrote and executed almost perfectly from the very first draft. We only changed two words. They worked backwards from the script to develop the animation.

The website development has gone very well. The Sutter Group updates us constantly with the compositions. They started with the first set of compositions to show us what they’re looking at, and then we worked through a few rounds to arrive at where we are today. We just gave them the green light to move to development. I am not sure what technology they are using to build the website.

Most of our communication is funneled through their COO, John Sutter. For all of our projects with them, we carry them out over Basecamp which has been very helpful for us. He’ll assign the appropriate team members; at any given point, I may be communicating with three or four folks from the team.

How did you come to work with The Sutter Group?

I searched and found The Sutter Group randomly. They didn’t cold call or email me. I did a competitive process for all three of those projects, even though I had established a relationship with them by the end of the first one. Every time, they really delivered. I felt like they had a very customized response to my proposal and a fair budget. They pay attention to what the customer is asking for and try to deliver on that. It’s not a stock proposal that they’re providing.

How much have you invested with The Sutter Group?

By the end of the website, I think we will have invested $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our first video project with The Sutter Group was in May 2015. The current project for the website was awarded in December 2016 and will be completed in September 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our audience is generally 65-year-old males. With our first splash with them, to suggest an animated video was a little bit of a stretch and a risk, but we took it. Even though the video is 2 years old, it’s still being viewed. We’re still getting compliments about it from our sponsors, our board, and other stakeholders in the agriculture industry. I think it was widely viewed as a success by everyone who saw it.

How did The Sutter Group perform from a project management standpoint?

The Sutter Group did very well. Using Basecamp, they delivered on the timeline every time. They delivered on budget every time. A beginner’s knowledge of project management tells me that’s pretty damn good.

What did you find most impressive about The Sutter Group?

The fact that The Sutter Group can take a strategic plan and turn it into a script is remarkable. It all started with the first video we hired them to do about our strategic plan. Talking about a strategic plan in a video is already a challenge, and agriculture is such a complex issue to talk about, but they delivered on that script without any help at all from us. I feel like that’s a very good example of their work.

Are there any areas The Sutter Group could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. The Sutter Group is always so flexible.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with The Sutter Group?

If it’s video, I would recommend giving The Sutter Group your idea and letting them run with it because I think they’ll deliver on what your hope is for the end product. I don’t micromanage things. I let people use their professional expertise—I just tell them what I want and let them run with it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a national humanitarian organization. I’m a project director for the group. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sutter Group?

We were trying to develop some new internet-safety-related resources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sutter Group created an online training application from the ground up. It allows educators to learn about online safety issues and receive a certificate of completion. It is housed in an existing website array.

They’ve created original videos in high and low resolution, featuring one actor. Sutter Group's editing team implemented screen graphics into those videos.

Users can register and log into a tool with nine menu items. They need to complete eight of them before reaching the ninth, which is the certificate. Users watch videos in order to learn about an issue and take a quiz for the item. They have to get at least 75% of the questions right in order to proceed. Otherwise, they have to retake the quiz, which can be done as many times as possible. Cyber-bullying is one of our topics, for example. Sutter Group programmed the quizzes to report how many times a user failed and continued a test. Upon completion, users receive a certificate which can be emailed or printed immediately.

Sutter Group also developed a mobile video-playing application for us. We had a ridiculous one-week timeframe for it, but Sutter Group figured it out and put together a solution which solved our issue within five days.

I was in contact with two people; but, between the video and development crews, we worked with just under 10 resources from Sutter Group.

How did you come to work with Sutter Group?

We found them through general internet research.

How much have you invested with Sutter Group?

We have used Sutter Group for a couple of projects. The training tool has cost between $100,000 and $130,000. The initial quote was around $75,000, but the updates created by Sutter Group were around $30,000. Our mobile application had a $30,000 cost.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Sutter Group in January 2014. The first project took three months to complete. Much of that time involved Sutter Group waiting for our responses. The tool was launched by the beginning of Q2 of that year.

Our most recent project started in October 2016. The work for it was completed by the end of January 2017, but we have not closed the books on it since we don't have the green light for launching it. There has been a lot of tweaking based on content-related issues that we've heard feedback about. Because Sutter Group is our developer, they've had to jump in from time to time. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Over the past two years, we've had around 50,000 users log into the platform. A growing number of school districts have requested the implementation of our program into their programs. Many of these schools will have their own training portals, which can either directly embed a course or simply link to it. Schools have asked us to do both. This is picking up steam more than ever in 2017.

How did Sutter Group perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication has been good, and Sutter Group was clear about what they needed and when. I have no complaints in this regard. We received regular updates through Basecamp, while a few longer conversations which did not involve the whole team were handled through email. I also maintain good verbal communication with Sutter Group's principal. I could pick up the phone and call them whenever we couldn't get through using an electronic channel to solve whatever issue we had.

What did you find most impressive about Sutter Group?

Sutter Group is open to trying new things. To my knowledge, they hadn’t worked on similar training tools, but they specced it out, gave us an idea of how long it would take, and kept an open collaboration in order to determine the best approach. I have yet to present a potential project which they were unable to take on.

Are there any areas Sutter Group could improve?

Nothing stands out. Many of the issues we had were related to giving Sutter Group access to our servers. I can't speak to whether the stumbling blocks were on us or on them. There have been times when Sutter Group couldn't access a particular item, and we ended up implementing it ourselves since that was easier than fighting for security access.

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

They're a timely group and fairly good about predicting deadlines. If Sutter Group suggests that they need a certain amount of communication, then the project will work best if the client conforms to that. There have been times when Sutter Group told us that we should get back within 48 hours, and they were actually ready to move within that time, but we only got back to them one week later.

They're also good about communicating issues during any roadblocks and speccing projects out. Many of our issues proved to be content-related. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO and a co-founder of the company. Our objective is to provide customers with safe, sustainable automobiles that do not compromise their driving independence. At any given time, there will be around 20 people working on our projects, a lot of them as subcontractors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sutter Group?

We had pivoted and needed a new website which would reflect the company's direction. We were heading towards a more high-performance niche within the electrical vehicle business, so we were the niche of a niche.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The website had to stand out and convey our messaging. We explained how we were pivoting our vision for the company in the future. Initially, we researched a number of other companies' websites in order to see what was working well online and what stood out. We shared four or five websites for various companies, highlighting what we liked and didn't like about each one. The Sutter Group came back with a recommendation and a detailed plan for their vision. They took the strengths of the different websites we liked and integrated them seamlessly into our own website. After the launch, we've spent a bit here and there adjusting things and adding a few small features or additional video or written content. There are eight or nine videos on our homepage at the moment. The Sutter Group didn't handle search engine optimization or online marketing for us.

How did you come to work with Sutter Group?

The Sutter Group was in our building to visit another client. Their program manager happened to see our sign and wondered what we were up to, so he knocked on our door. He pitched his services, and we explored Sutter Group's website, looking at the work they'd done for their customers. Some of the websites they'd built were for large organizations, including NASA and one of the biggest construction companies in the US. We liked what we saw and felt that we would have a good fit.

How much have you invested with Sutter Group?

The cost of Sutter Group's work was about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We launched the website 13 months ago, in January 2016. The project timeline was two months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Sutter Group did a phenomenal job. They delivered a stylish, cutting-edge website that has earned us tons of positive feedback from partner companies and people in general. Our previous website had very little traffic. Since the relaunch, we've had a lot of success in breaking old records and getting publicity. We've seen a peak of 550 visitors per day, and we maintain an average of 70. Anytime we have a press release, or when we break an old record, we will see a spike. Some of this is driven through social media.

The feedback we've gotten has been really good, including from fairly large and well-established partner companies in Michigan. It's been a very good tool for solidifying relationships. Partners have seen our website and found that we know how to present ourselves well and professionally.

How did Sutter Group perform from a project management standpoint?

The Sutter Group is an extremely responsive company. We used email for communication, and their principal visited us on-site on a few occasions. He's helped us organize a mailing list, which has been very helpful. He also helped us organize a subscriber database using MailChimp.

What did you find most impressive about Sutter Group?

We were impressed by their responsiveness and the creativity. They took our vision and made it a reality, all within a phenomenal turnaround time.

Are there any areas Sutter Group could improve?

No. I think that Sutter Group is fantastic.

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

I would say that it's helpful for clients to come into the relationship with their own vision. The Sutter Group will do a great job of making it a reality.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the director of marketing at a cloud networking company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sutter Group?

When I started at the company, I was the only person in the marketing department. The marketing strategy at the company was to increase brand awareness. The company grew through acquisition. The company went from not being well-known to suddenly owning a top-5 tier 1 IP network.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Sutter Group helped me define the brand, build the brand elements, and build the foundation of all the marketing activities—branding, collateral, events, and messaging. They helped me with some social media graphics but not with social media. They mostly did the creative work. They were an extension of my department, which was me. I relied on them pretty heavily for everything.

Over the course of working there, we made 15 acquisitions with four or five of them fairly significant. In November 2015, we acquired a company, and the CMO changed. The person who hired me was the CMO that moved to another position, and we had a new person come in. Along with that, we had an additional two or three people that joined the staff.

The Sutter Group’s level of involvement changed a little bit. My new boss rebranded the company and redid the website, and they were not involved in either one of those. However, they still provided a lot of support on collateral development. When we again acquired a company, we had to rebrand everything, and they were instrumental in it. They did not do any copywriting, but they did do proofing for me—when you’re one person writing all the content, it’s great to have another set of eyes look at things and proof them for you. They really built our brand guide. They created a style guide for me, and this is the new branding work we did because the firm that was hired never delivered a style guide. The Sutter Group created the style guide for us. I used them a lot on the creative work.

For the external website that was redeveloped, my boss at the time wanted to use her agencies, so she did that without Sutter Group’s involvement. They were a huge help to me in developing our intranet site by doing the functionality and design work. On the intranet site, we didn’t need any SEO [search engine optimization] done. It was a WordPress site. We repurposed it from the company we acquired, but it lacked a lot of functionality. The information would appear, but it wasn’t done well. They helped build the functionality and the design of it. We also added a new award, so they built the functionality of allowing employees to submit someone’s name and having the write-up go to a certain person through email.

How did you come to work with The Sutter Group?

I did consulting work, and the firm I was consulting with was using Sutter Group. When I got my job with my last company, I had contacted them at that time. That’s when I started with them and kept building the relationship as time went on. For me, they were highly responsive, they turned things around very quickly, and their work was pretty thorough.

How much have you invested with The Sutter Group?

The cost was $200,000 per year.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working in the company in July 2013 and collaborated with Sutter Group pretty much right away. My understanding is that they’re still working with the company. I think they’re doing all the fulfillment of events for the company. I think they’re still doing printing functions for them, and they’re helping them create a lot of collateral. The company just acquired another company in January, and there’s a lot of new products, so Sutter Group is again working with them on the rebranding of all those materials. I think they’re still doing a lot with the intranet as well. I was in the middle of a fairly decent sized project on the intranet for a specific department in the company that wanted to use it as a SharePoint, and they had created the functionality that allowed them to do that. I don’t know where they are with that. That project might be over by now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When the new branding work was done, we parted ways with the firm who did the branding work. I was involved, but I wasn’t the lead on that project. I’m not sure what happened, but that company left. That work that was done was okay. We didn’t have a full array of logos and brand colors weren’t documented. My boss liked to use a lot of her own people, and we had a situation where we created banners for an event. When all the materials came in, I felt it was of an inferior quality. The banners were ripped, and colors from a table cloth bled. There were just all sorts of issues.

I turned it all over to the Sutter Group who identified how the colors weren’t right. We reordered all the banners, table cloths, and branding material. They were great in cleaning everything up, developing the style guide, and identifying everything. I was continued to work with them, but it was instances like that which convinced my boss that we should keep Sutter Group. She was somebody who came in, changed everything, and liked to use her own agencies. The fact that they could turn things around, deliver things on time, and at a very reasonable rate convinced her that they were definitely a partner to keep.

How did Sutter Group perform from a project management standpoint?

I had dedicated resources. They don’t have account directors or anything like that. I don’t know if that’s something you require. You’re really interfacing with John Sutter [COO, Sutter Group]. As far as estimates and timelines, they were really on top of them more than I was at sometimes. They’d contact me and let me know there was an event coming up on this day, asking if I had all the collateral I needed. I eventually turned over all my fulfillment to them too. I did 55 events last year, and it was getting ridiculous that I had to pack boxes, so I turned everything over to them.

I can’t speak highly enough about Mary Ann, the office manager. I would recommend her to anybody for any position. She is just phenomenal and on top of things. She contacted me, calling about upcoming events, and if I was all set for it as far as what I’m going to send and deadlines.

There were times in our company where they didn’t take the deadlines as seriously, but when you’re dealing with an event, the event is coming whether you like it or not, and it’s going to happen on that date. They were just great about staying on top of that and making sure that we were looking for the least expensive way of transporting things by not having to pay rush charges, and I appreciated that.

What did you find most impressive about Sutter Group?

I would say their turnaround is a great aspect. I worked for a company that was incredibly fast paced and understaffed. It might be the way all companies are today. We needed stuff turned around in an instant, and they went above and beyond to do those things. To give you an example, we had an event in January and had acquired a company. My boss decided she wanted to add their product set to our banners. The show was starting that weekend. I brought it to them on Wednesday, and they redid, printed, shipped, and delivered those banners to Hawaii on Saturday. One box didn’t show, and they stayed on that box, getting it delivered by Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. That’s the part I’m most impressed by.

Are there any areas Sutter Group could improve?

The Sutter Group has adhered to our brand standards. For example, we have a president’s club every year, and we wanted a poster made and sent to all the offices. I wanted it to break the brand standard. Sometimes they struggled a little bit with moving away from the brand. I couldn’t fault them for that, but I had to push them to create something from a clean slate. The logo had to be there, of course, but the brand colors didn’t have to be reflected in the lettering.

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

I’m not sure how big your project for Sutter Group is, but be aware that they are a small shop, which allows them to give personalized and intimate services. But then again, if you have a really big project, just make sure that they have the staff lined up for it. John has lots of resources. Like any agency does, there are lots of people you can bring in on a freelance basis. That would be my only thing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Ajinomoto Windsor is a frozen food manufacturer for both the food service industry and consumer channels like groceries and supermarkets. I am the VP of marketing. I run our national marketing efforts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Sutter Group?

The original company, Windsor Foods, was purchased two years ago by Ajinomoto Tokyo. My group was tasked with redoing the corporate website. It needed to detail who we were, what we did, and other important branding messages, while also incorporating an HR job site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Sutter Group was involved with the development of the Ajinomoto Windsor website from inception till fruition. The Sutter Group handled the full scope of development, including the backend administration panel which allows us to make edits and post job offers. We also collaborated with them for the video content on the site. The Sutter Group handled editing and other tasks.

We started with a scheme for the website, which included our HR job marketplace, the company information section, culture and values, and so on. The homepage needed to include a lot of imagery and captioning which rotated.

I don't know exactly how many resources were assigned from The Sutter Group's side. We interacted with between 2–4 people on a regular basis. Most of the requests I gave them went directly through John Sutter, their COO.

How did you come to work with The Sutter Group?

We had used them previously for creating brand and logo usage guidelines. The Sutter Group was one of three or four companies which we bid out for the website rebuild. We ultimately chose them based on their overall presentation capabilities, technology, cost, etc.

How much have you invested with The Sutter Group?

The cost of The Sutter Group's work has been around $150,000–$170,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with The Sutter Group in March 2015. The website was built in a year, from planning to actually filming and editing videos (many of which needed to be done in person), and actually launching it. It was launched at the end of 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone who has seen the site, both internally and externally, has been impressed by the site's dynamics. It's a mobile-friendly page, which was a big component of the original design. The experience with The Sutter Group has been extremely positive.

How did The Sutter Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We had regular calls and received status updates from The Sutter Group. They also provided a system which allowed us to see the progress of things. As we reviewed the beta version, we were able to sign off on the completed parts. It was a very good process from start to finish. The end product and cost were good, and I wouldn't hesitate to use The Sutter Group for other tasks like this in the future.

What did you find most impressive about The Sutter Group?

The overall value relationship between the work quality and cost is a difficult thing to find. The Sutter Group has an excellent understanding of technology mediums and of how things should work, as well as good responsiveness. The value we received was exceptional.

Are there any areas The Sutter Group could improve?

It can be hard to manage a project via phone, but there was nothing negative residing on The Sutter Group's end.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with The Sutter Group?

I don't have any suggestions outside of the fact that I would highly recommend The Sutter Group. We've had nothing but good luck with them.