Team & Culture

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

4Site Advisors is a development consultant for the real estate development industry. I’m the owner and president of 4Site Advisors, as well as an architect.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Team & Culture?

What we were challenged with where we stood in the market, where our position was, and how to best initiate new messaging to potential new clients in the market we serve.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

My first focus was what our business was and how we were seen in the marketplace by our current and future clients. They did a great job of learning what we do as a business. I really appreciated that because they are not real estate people. When they had to create the message, they had to first understand what we do. I’ve retained them to do more strategic marketing since then.

They worked with us on a strategy of the position of where we wanted to be. The messaging went along with that. We did a revamp of the website as well. We’re a B2B [business-to-business] type of business, and they helped strengthen those ties by ensuring that our message was consistent on paper, online, or social media, which is a little more difficult to do than some consumer-based businesses.

The website was made from scratch. We had a competent website at present, but it wasn’t getting a lot of hits. I didn’t know how many it was getting. There was really no data on that. They said we could link the website to LinkedIn and Twitter, which would give us analytics and details of who visits the website and the frequency of visitors in a given day, week, month, etc. They continue to update it as we develop new projects and put them on there. They suggested different campaigns that we didn’t go forward with. I know there’s a lot more heavy lifting with the social side, especially those that they work with that are technology or socially based, but that was not our campaign. We didn’t want a lot of SEO [search engine optimization] at the time because there’s not a social need in what we do. Most of our customers for this campaign were in trade shows or within certain groups, so it’s not digital yet. It’s in its infancy because real estate is an old-school marketplace. It’s difficult to penetrate that in an economically viable way with new marketing because there’s not that audience yet.

How did you come to work with Team & Culture?

It was serendipitous. I worked with an acoustical engineer that knew about them and referred me to them. I did price Team & Culture out with other agencies, but I chose them because they made me feel more comfortable thanks to their personality and feeling of competence. I’ve worked with agencies in the past where there’s a discovery process, full of ideas and coming up with concepts, but what they did for us was a different experience I’ve had in the past. I felt that Team & Culture had a better connection with us and had a lot of trust in what they were doing.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began in December 2015 and ended in April 2016. One of the reasons why I am retaining them again is because email blasts work well in our trade group. It’s got a much better return on investment, so that’s going to be the next initiative.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We can’t measure our effectiveness from hits on the website because of what we do, but we have gotten very positive feedback from the client base and new clients. I’m confident because we invested in the website and the messaging, and we got new clients from it. They’ve made remarks on how professional it is versus a lot of our competition.

As we went through consulting sessions with Team & Culture, they learned what we do. They came up with ideas that I hadn’t thought of within the current marketplace that we are in, and also new potential markets. For example, they gave us ideas of how to tailor our experience in a fun, hip way that went on our copy of the website. We are very happy with the portfolio type website they created. They worked with me on a very attractive website that looks great.

How did Team & Culture perform from a project management standpoint?

Just like our business, their success is also dependent on a client that gets back to them. I won’t say I met every deadline. Frankly, they had to chase me for some things. They were diligent in pursuing the deadline that I gave them and honest when they could not meet certain deadlines. I appreciated that. Before the end of every meeting that we had, we would go through the schedule. I feel very comfortable with the way they handled it—disciplined but creative.

What did you most impressive about Team & Culture?

Leah [Co-Founder & CMO, Team & Culture] has a very good knack for getting to know the marketing requirements of a business that she doesn’t understand completely, and distilling it to a cogent message to the market, whereas other agencies I have worked with are not as creative and don’t distill what we do very well. I really appreciated that. We had these conversations about the larger context of why somebody would hire us versus another company that does equally the same thing. If you’re both making the same product or services, what differentiates you? I think that a lot of the strategy sessions that we had in the past didn’t really even get to that level. It was more about who do you want to capture and how do you want this to look, but it wasn’t about who are you or what differentiates you. That was very helpful.

Are there any areas Team & Culture could improve?

There were many iterations of the website. This is only my third time building a website, so I’m not a seasoned person with it. If I were to do it over again, I’d not have so many because it took longer to get what I wanted with the iterations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of sales and operations for Universal Products and Safety, which is under our parent company, Universal Package Incorporation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Team & Culture?

I was looking for assistance in setting up social media accounts for my division, which include LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I was mostly looking for a partner to help us with strategy, ideas, and enthusiasm, and I wanted someone who could be a digital branding partner throughout the life of the company, not just someone who could set up our social media sites.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our company was already doing website development, but Team & Culture got involved with our employees and helped them develop continuity and consistency across our social media sites and website. Our parent company already had a brand and a market, but my division really had to start from scratch. Team & Culture helped to lead that charge. We had some information on our parent company’s existing customer base, but we had to strategize and decide how and when to market and promote safety products to particular customers within that base. We also needed somebody to help drive our strategy and brainstorming. Team & Culture played a big part in how we marketed and promoted our products using our website, social media, and Constant Contact.

How did you come to work with Team & Culture?

To be honest, I had hired another company prior to meeting Team & Culture, and I had already paid them a portion of seed money for digital media marketing. I met the two owners of Team & Culture during a networking event, and I started letting them know about our organization and what I was doing. I was impressed with their enthusiasm and energy, and I wanted someone who thought outside the box, did things differently, and had a little bit of an entrepreneurial spirit. By the end of the next day, I had let go of my former company and hired Team & Culture. I even left some money on the table with the former company, but I do not regret it to this day. It was a good move.

How much have you invested with Team & Culture?

We invested about $5,000 in Team & Culture for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we worked together from August through November 2016. The majority of the project is complete, but I can still reach out to them here and there for assistance if I need it. Our parent company is evaluating them for use on some of their projects. I also have some other side businesses where we’re looking to innovate new products, so I'm probably going to be using Team & Culture again in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s kind of hard to provide metrics right now because the project just got rolling. We have had about three customers contact us via our social media sites, and they’ve done $2,500 in sales, which is still minimal. The division I run is essentially a startup of an existing 36-year-old company.

How did Team & Culture perform from a project management standpoint?

Team & Culture always has been right on the ball from a project management standpoint. If there was a meeting that we had to reschedule or change, it was communicated ahead of time. I think that only happened a few times, and that might have been on my end once and on their end once as well. They were always consistent in terms of the deadlines. I didn't put them on a strict timeline when I hired them, but I was pleased at how quickly it got done.

What did you find most impressive about Team & Culture?

I hired them because of the way they think. They’re idea generators, and they think in an entrepreneurial, outside-the-box kind of way.

Are there any areas Team & Culture could improve?

Not really. They were what I was looking for in terms of hiring. I wanted a long-term partnership, and I think that’s what I got when I hired them. To be honest, there’s nothing that I wasn't satisfied with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

SoundKinetics is an acoustical engineering firm that works in the fields of architecture in various areas of building and construction. We deal with architectural acoustics and noise control. We also have a lab where we do product development. I'm one of the co-founders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Team & Culture?

We needed them to build a website that looked good and gave us good exposure on searches.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They've built two websites for us and have ramped up our social media marketing. The original site was built on WordPress, and the new one is in CSS I believe. I gave them some broad requirements for the websites, and they took the project from there. They came up with some templates for us from which to choose. They did the design and marketing campaigns. They drilled down our philosophy, and how to communicate that. Leah [Zions, co-founder and CMO at Team & Culture] is a good writer, so she finds out from us what we want to communicate to our customers. I like the way the newest site looks.

How did you come to work with Team & Culture?

It's my brother's business, so we were talking about updating the previous website.

How much have you invested with Team & Culture?

We've spent around $10,000 with them on the website.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project on the newest website in the Fall of 2016, and we're currently working on that project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Through the last several years, we've gotten good exposure on Google. We've gotten 20% or 30% of our clients from that. The rest of our clients come from referrals. I've gotten compliments from CEOs of major companies on the pictures that are on the home page of the website.

How did Team & Culture perform from a project management standpoint?

They're good. They keep after me to get projects done.

What did you find most impressive about Team & Culture?

Their creativity distinguishes them from other firms.