Temper And Forge

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a marketing analyst at an app-based trading platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We needed their expertise in web development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve engaged Temper And Forge to build a WordPress website for us. We’ve put together our requirements and the information we want to be featured on the platform, and we’ve sent the document over to Nate (Founder & Owner).

Temper And Forge has then referred to that documentation to entirely develop our website, excluding a few graphic images done by our hired designer. They’ve since built our site’s homepage and our disclosure library and integrated our Zendesk account into the platform. We’re still in the process of applying modifications and completing product testings to make sure that we’re compliant with legal requirements.

What is the team composition?
Our main point of contact is Nate.

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

Temper And Forge was onboarded before I was tasked with this project. They initially built a mockup, and I was assigned to work with them and complete its functional and final version to proceed with the go-live.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with Temper And Forge commenced in March 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We belong in an industry that requires strict compliance with the government’s regulation — this means that any product must undergo rigorous testings and quality assessments to secure approval. 

Temper And Forge has persistently cooperated with us to meet those requirements and standards. We’ve gone through several rounds of adjustments to implement any necessary updates and correct known errors, and Nate has remained responsive throughout the process — that level of cooperation is our main success metric for now.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicate via email. Temper And Forge respects our budget and project timelines — we never have to chase them for anything, and any delay we’ve encountered has been on our team’s end.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with their unwavering patience and commitment to delivering our exact needs. Temper And Forge has noteworthy customer service — they don’t just give out solutions we can use, but they help us flesh out efficient ideas on our own.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve done a great job while remaining transparent — we can’t really ask for anything more.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You can trust Temper And Forge to give you a great experience. Their team delivers seamless results and communicates effectively with their customers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a food service broker company; we focus on helping brands grow in the food service industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We wanted to do website development for our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We already had a website, but it was made cheaply and poorly because it was all I could do back then. Temper And Forge revamped our site on Squarespace with a fresh look using their creative talent and skill set. They did use some of the pieces from our old page and translated them to our new one, but it feels like they did it from scratch.

We told them that we wanted a shiny and professional website where people could go and learn about our work. The site features content like a services page, a territory map, pictures of our team with their bios, and all the basic premise information and story of our company.

Currently, they provide ongoing maintenance to our site.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Nate (Founder), but we also interact with around three more people from their team.

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

They’re a local company, and they were referred to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $6,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have metrics of their work, but as far as feedback, I can say that their work is excellent and that our internal team is psyched about our site. Additionally, people in our industry and potential clients have been giving positive feedback on our site.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great at sticking to schedules and deadlines. In terms of communication, we use phone calls and email — they’re very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their creativity is outstanding — they’re the whole package. They lead a professional and enjoyable engagement as well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on — I have no complaints at all.

Any advice for potential customers?

They’re in good hands with Nate — he’s a good guy and takes the project very seriously. Also, their pricing is pretty reasonable, so working with them will deliver a solid engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re retail chocolate makers. We elaborate handmade chocolates in an open kitchen and sell them in the Boston area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We already had a website, so we wanted to clean it up and make it more functional in order to convey who we were and increase our sales.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Temper And Forge took the time to meet with me on several meetings to understand who we were and how we wanted them to design our website for it to convey our message. They then redesigned our website, and we brought in a professional photographer to take and provide them with new photos for it. They were in charge of the whole project, which included updating the site’s technology stack, speed, usability, and visibility.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Nathan (Founder & Owner) and another person.

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

I found them doing an online search. I was looking for a local company because I had worked with a foreign company before. Having face-to-face interaction with them really made a difference; I could explain and describe my ideas better.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2021, and they delivered the website in August 2021. We’re still in contact with them in case we need to continue making edits, uploading more photos, or posting seasonal content.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our new site is faster and offers improved usability to our customers. We’ve received very positive feedback all around. However, it’s hard for me to measure the impact of our new website on our sales so far because our activity decreases during the summer months. We won’t be able to see results until the fall.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

Temper And Forge performed very well; they were very thorough and good communicators. Nathan was very responsive and clear. He put together a list of tasks that they then addressed to accomplish what we accomplished.

It was very easy to work with them. We communicated via email and shared files.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, I was very impressed with how organized and creative Temper And Forge was. They brought new ideas to the table.

If we would have worked with another company, maybe they wouldn’t have cared about us as much. However, being local, Nathan loved our product, so he was very helpful throughout the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything that they could have done better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Let Temper And Forge come back with new ideas and don’t try to control the project. They know what they’re doing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a primary care optometric practice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We needed someone to redo our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our previous site was 20 years old, so we were in need of a redesign. They implemented the content we wanted on the new site, including staff profiles, pictures, and general design elements. Their team contributed some of the content while we supplied the rest.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with Nathan (Founder & Owner).

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

They were referred to me by a colleague who had used their site development services.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $3,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–April 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new site is great. We don’t get a ton of traffic, so I haven’t been able to gauge much external feedback. However, I’ve been happy with the new look of the site. I’m confident that our customers will appreciate the user-friendliness as well.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

They communicated well, constantly keeping me abreast of their progress. They also incorporated my feedback into the process. Their team delivered the final product in a timely manner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They completed everything in an expedited manner for a fair price. Nathan was easy to get in touch with. Making changes along the way was never an issue.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. The engagement was pretty seamless.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate with them. If you tell them exactly what you’re looking for, they’ll make it happen.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing for Theory Wellness. We’re a cannabis brand with operations and multiple licenses between Maine and Massachusetts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper and Forge?

As a brick and mortar retail operation, we have one foot in e-commerce and another foot in traditional retail. In the cannabis industry, we’re limited in our resources for the e-commerce shopping experience. One of our major goals for working with Temper and Forge was to elevate the cannabis shopping experience. It was important for us to integrate our marketing systems and platforms.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our team managed a lot of the design work but partnered with Temper and Forge to refine them. They helped us balance aesthetics and function. Their team built the WordPress website from scratch, ultimately delivering a website that didn’t carry much technical debt. They didn’t build a mono-state website. Instead, their team worked to deliver a platform that would allow us to move into an enterprise approach. They build the frontend menus through a third-party system called dutchie and implemented WooCommerce to serve as a product library.

The project began with the website development and grew into further optimizations and features. Our web project scaled into a partnership between our organizations.

What is the team composition?

I primarily work with Nathan (Founder and Owner) and Sam (Frontend Web Developer).

How did you come to work with Temper and Forge?

A network of my contacts from New York City connected us with Temper and Forge. They were familiar with Nathan and his work.  

We went through an RFP process through which we evaluated vendors' proposals for time to market, approach to the build, and management. As we scaled our operations, we wanted to ensure that we would have a trusted partner that could scale with us. We went with Temper and Forge because they understood the business strategy and nuance of what we wanted to accomplish with this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in October 2019, and the bulk of it was completed in September 2020. However, we have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s been a wonderful experience working with Temper and Forge. Nathan’s attentive to the needs of the business and never pushes us in one way or another. He comes with meaningful solutions when we identify challenges.

We have numerous KPIs: site traffic, load speed, and SEO. Load speed and SEO are two of the most important criteria for our evaluations of the site as a whole. They did a fantastic job on both fronts. That goes toward our narrative of the success we’ve seen so far.

How did Temper and Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

Nathan took the time to educate us on ways to approach our goals. He's always willing to take phone calls and always in contact whether it’s through text messages or late-night phone calls. We manage projects through Mondays and use Dropbox and Google Sheets to share content. There are several platforms that we use in this engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their leadership understands the consumer and technical aspects of marketing. Their team has our best interests in mind when coming forward with feedback or recommendations. Knowing that their feedback’s reliable is a sign of a great partner.

At the end of the day, we've moved on from a website with five different languages. They saw our challenges early in the engagement and wanted to provide us with a functional website that could scale with us without creating tech debt. Their team understood how to create an interesting website without sacrificing speed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The challenges we faced would’ve existed regardless of our partner organization. We designed in isolation early in the development, which created challenges down the road. We missed handing off designs that met functional standards. However, our fruitful conversations made it easier for us to bridge those gaps. It’s not usual that one team from one organization designs and then a different team from a different organization builds.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Even if you don’t know exactly what you want, they can help you figure it out. They’re a dynamite team that’s a helpful partner. As time goes on, I noticed that they have a fundamental interest in our business. They know our goals and can execute them quickly. That approach is helpful on the digital side, especially in the quickly evolving cannabis industry.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of an organization that provides market research for companies in the networking and communications space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We needed web design services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Temper And Forge redesigned and developed our website’s frontend. They selected a new WordPress theme and used that theme to implement a design that was consistent with what we need to do from a business standpoint.

What is the team composition?

I believe there are two people at Temper And Forge, but I primarily worked with Nathan (Founder & Owner). 

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

I found them on Google.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2020–January 2021. They completed this project, but because it was successful, we plan to continue engaging them for additional work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a complete success. They made the site look much more professional and work much smoother. We have a very complex WordPress site with a lot of custom code on the backend, and one of the things that Temper And Forge did very well was migrating all of that code painlessly to the new design on the frontend. That was a significant risk, but they handled it very well.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

I found them to be professional and exceptionally easy to work with. They were very efficient and had excellent project management. They used some project management tools internally, which they offered to us to use. I didn’t need to be very involved because things went smoothly. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their efficiency and responsiveness were impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

Any advice for potential customers?

If you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve, they’re very good at implementing it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for an AI machine learning startup as director of customer success. We’re an AI solution for cyber fraud and threat intelligence, combating financial crime and cyber threats against financial institutions. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We were taking a new product to market and were given a short deadline to launch our site, migrate content, and produce original pages.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided design and development work in creating the WordPress site. In the process, they migrated some existing content to the platform while also building out content and pages on their own. They built out our blog, news and media section, white papers section, and webinar and podcast sections. Their team also expanded on company pages with forms, sign-ups, and demos. 

After the site was complete, Nate (CEO) also provided us with guidance on SEO and marketing platforms. In the future, they’re also planning on helping us with Google Ads.   

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Nate.

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

They were recommended to us through someone I met at an accelerator program for fintech startups. 

How much have you invested with them?

At this point, we’ve spent between $10,000–$50,000. We’ll be continuing the agreement, so I’m sure the project will eventually exceed this. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They far exceeded expectations by meeting our deadline in short order. It was a robust site. They contributed opinions and educated guidance while remaining receptive to making our vision a reality. Their work enabled the rest of the organization to continue with growing the business. 

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

They were extremely organized, working with us through Monday. We’re always updated on the status of tasks on their way to completion. On top of that, they’re communicative through emails, text, and phone calls. We have calls and meetings on a regular cadence. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very responsive, efficient, and transparent. We’ve seen high-quality work from them at a fast pace.   

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything, they’ve been an absolute pleasure to work with. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hesitate to give them a call. They’ll work with you to achieve your goals while providing insights along the way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing at Sciolytix, an experiential learning company focused on the sales training space, but also all digital learning.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper And Forge?

We have a learning management system that is very technically advanced. We’ve been doing quite well in our PPC campaigns but we knew we could do better by upgrading our landing pages. Temper And Forge worked closely with us to create three different versions of the landing page so we could determine what could help us increase conversions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with web page design and then used WordPress to develop the platform from scratch. We went over our existing landing page and outlined what our goals were. Their ideas were very data-driven. They came back to us and gave us advice based on their experience.

They also set up the backend and set up heat maps. They used heat maps to make small tweaks that would help us increase conversions. The three pages we put out were a hybrid of all of our ideas.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Nate (CEO).

How did you come to work with Temper And Forge?

We work with another digital agency and they recommended that we work with a web developer. They recommended a few companies, including Temper And Forge. We gave them a few ideas and asked if they could iterate on that. They jumped on the project and presented a data-driven approach. Additionally, their price was very reasonable.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $3,000­–$7,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July–August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They provided excellent feedback based on the data they collected from the heat maps. As a result, our conversion rate increased by about 150%, and our cost per acquisition decreased significantly.

How did Temper And Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

It was a very collaborative process and we got a lot of information from them. He shared a project plan and met all of our deadlines. They ran the project very well. When we communicated, we either talked over phone or used email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

He was very responsive and used the data very well. He was excellent on both of those fronts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing for me to complain about. It project was well-done.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’ve you’re looking for a relatively low-cost, and experienced web designer, they’re a good deal. They know their stuff and I would certainly use them again.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is a medical device startup, and I manage the marketing communications function.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Temper and Forge to improve the performance of our website for our customers and prospects. Our goal was to achieve significantly improved Google PageSpeed scores for better site visitor experience and SEO.

SOLUTION

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

Temper and Forge came recommended to us by another consultant whom we trust. In interviewing Temper and Forge for the project, it was apparent that they understood our objectives and knew how to achieve them efficiently.

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

Establish new web hosting service for improved server performance, migrate mission-critical live website with no down-time, and optimize newly activated site to refine performance.

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

Nathan Botelho was our project manager and main point of contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our new website demonstrates considerably improved performance on our main measurement benchmark, Google PageSpeed.

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

Temper and Forge was clear and consistent in communication and performance of service. They were also patient with our questions and adaptable to new requirements as they occurred.

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

Temper and Forge accomplished our objectives swiftly, efficiently, and professionally.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a venture capital firm called Building Ventures. We invest in real estate and construction technology early-stage startups. I am a principal on the investment team, and I also double as our brand and marketing expert.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Temper and Forge?

We wanted to redesign and relaunch our website and, in the process of doing that, migrate from Joomla to WordPress. I was also looking for a partner to not just do the development work and migration, but to project manage the entirety of the redesign process. This meant either bringing in or helping me to manage the design vendor and keeping the entire project on task. We’re a small firm, so the site management and marketing are my secondary responsibilities. We needed to hire a development firm to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had a designer in mind, a woman who had worked with me previously, and I introduced her to Nate (Founder & Owner). They met and really kicked it off, so it was really the three of us starting from scratch. 

Nate managed all of the deliverables from the designer and reviewed the feasibility of the design within the template and the WordPress platform along the way, so that I didn’t have to review anything until the final high-fidelity design mockup. Nate enabled some animation capability and video elements on the site. He also integrated the site with our CRM for form submission. 

What is the team composition?

I worked exclusively with Nate on this project.

How did you come to work with Temper and Forge?

Nate was recommended to me by a former teammate who is somewhat of an expert in the marketing field. In January, we met to discuss the scope of work.

How much have you invested with them?

My company spent $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in January 2020, and we just went live in April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We aren’t a traditional e-commerce or even a true B2B site in that we’re really trying to drive a lot of traffic to the site organically, so many the more traditional metrics aren’t as critical. Our real indicators would be lack of bugs, timeliness of project completion, and site speed and accuracy, all of which have been excellent.

How did Temper and Forge perform from a project management standpoint?

Nate was excellent. He had a preference for using Monday.com, a tool that my firm likes to use as well, so that was very streamlined for us. He really kept us on task, which was really important for me so that I could ensure that my team was providing deliverables in a timely way without having to monitor that whole process myself. Nate was great about keeping our designer on time; she’s a very organized and meticulous person as well, so she valued that as well. I know from the designer that Nate was great to work with and very collaborative. 

Project management was a hugely important element for us; we obviously wanted to have a beautiful site, and that was achieved, but having someone who felt like an extension of the team and keeping us on task was huge. It was important to me that we were able to use the designer that we did. She actually has another full-time position, and the fact that we were able to be on time and very respectful of the time she was putting in to be a part of this project was a testament to Nate’s project management. That was really helpful to her.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’d have to say two things: Nate has a great disposition and is really easy to work with, combined with his organizational and project management skills.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. It was really great overall.

Any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you’re comfortable handing over the reins from a project management perspective. If someone wanted to follow their own procedures or manage the project themselves, they might want to vet if that would be as good of a fit, as opposed to a firm like ours where we really wanted someone who could come in and manage us while still being flexible.