Tendo Communications

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the marketing and communications lead for the Cisco 360 Partner Program.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific challenge were you trying to address with Tendo Communications?

We’ve partnered with Tendo Communications for over a decade to support the digital experience for our partners. We’re launching a new partner program for the first time in 25+ years. This massive change requires a complete overhaul of the current web design and experience to ensure a seamless transition for our partners.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve partnered with Tendo Communications on the strategy, design, and implementation of this project. They work with our internal digital team to ensure the web design aligns with the broader Cisco.com experience. They also work with our internal stakeholders to develop the messaging and content.

What is the team composition?

We work with 2–5 teammates from Tendo Communications.

How did you come to work with Tendo Communications?

We've worked with Tendo for over a decade; they are a trusted partner of the Cisco Global Partner Marketing organization. Their pricing fits our budget, and they are a great culture fit.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Tendo in 2010, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve launched redesigned and new web pages aligned with predetermined milestones (events, launches, etc.). We’re still in the project’s early phase, but the feedback from stakeholders and partners has been extremely positive so far.

How did Tendo Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

They do an amazing job of keeping projects moving and meeting deliverables. They go above and beyond to ensure deadlines are met. We communicate mainly through virtual meetings and WebEx teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate the close partnership we have with Tendo Communications. They’re effectively an extension of our team, and I’m confident in their ability to deliver. I also appreciate the working relationship we have with their entire team. They provide excellent customer service and are a pleasure to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing they need to improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Web & Digital of an IT company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Global Cloud Computing Company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Tendo Communications to accomplish?

• Standardize content models for key web pages
• Expedite migration of corporate website to a new content management system

SOLUTION

How did you find Tendo Communications?

Referral

Why did you select Tendo Communications over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Tendo Communications were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Tendo supported a strategic approach to our migration, focusing our efforts on the most relevant content.  Specifically, Tendo assisted with content strategy, editorial and UX support. 
Key deliverables included:

• For select priority pages, review and edit or rewrite copy based on new content object model requirements
• Ensure content meets standards for storytelling, messaging resonance, brand guidelines, and user experience best practices
• Manage stakeholder review for select pages, if necessary
• Identify content gaps, as appropriate
• Provide additional editorial, content strategy, and UX support

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The measurable outcomes for the project were fairly straightforward: 

• On-time completion
• Budget adherence 

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

I have worked with Tendo for well over a decade and they are always on-time with thier deliverables and are very responsive to any questions we might have.  This project was no exception.

What was your primary form of communication with Tendo Communications?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Tendo is dedicated to understanding your project objectives, goals, audience, brand voice, and tone. They also leverage the understanding of your portfolio, content models, and information architecture to produce the best outcome possible.

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

I can't think of anything that could be improved on. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product manager at a design software company. Our group is responsible for helping customers in the educational and professional sectors learn our software and build their skills. As customers get more skilled in our software, we also offer them the possibility to study for and take a certification exam so that they can prove their skill set level in the market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tendo Communications?

We have a website dedicated to driving people into our online courses for self-paced learning. Our website was originally launched in 2020, and our vision for it slightly changed over the years. Thus, we were looking to do some rework of the site to improve our messaging in the direction we were now taking.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our website had around 30 pages, and Tendo helped us rework each page to improve our messaging. Initially, we provided them with a lot of documentation and PowerPoint presentations so that they could assess our vision.

From there, Tendo’s services included writing content and giving us suggestions that we were able to implement over the course of a few months as incremental improvements to the site. These suggestions were focused on creating a better information organization and improving our copywriting.

Tendo’s service had a UI/UX audit component to it. They gave us feedback on the existing page structure and recommended improvements. As we were implementing these improvements, their team also helped us develop our copy and made recommendations for call-to-action buttons and other elements of that nature.

A lot of Tendo’s suggestions were around thinking outside of our own corporate structure and internal communication and start thinking in terms of how the customers both use our site and communicate with us. Therefore, we eliminated a lot of our company’s jargon to make our content more approachable.

For each section of our site, Tendo customized their suggestions and solutions based on the pages we were looking at. Some pages had little changes, and others had more significant changes based on their suggestions for better presenting the information. The bulk of their deliverables were copy decks.

What is the team composition?

We worked with four teammates from Tendo, including Zack (VP of Account Services), Elizabeth (Content Strategist), Amanda (Account Director), and a product support person.

How did you come to work with Tendo Communications?

Tendo was already working with another part of our team, but we paused the collaboration when we changed our vision for the overall site. Still, we decided to reinstate them for this project with a smaller scope than they originally had.

I know that we had worked with Tendo on various other projects, but I don’t know how we originally found them. Still, our usual procedure for finding partners is through internal referrals first. If we aren’t able to find someone this way, we then start a research process.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We originally started working with Tendo on this project around April 2022, but we paused the collaboration. Then, I restarted our engagement in June 2022, and the project ended in October 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I usually create a quarterly report to show the work we’ve done. When I launched the report for the work done with Tendo, I received a lot of great feedback. We were very limited in what we could do with the site due to the technology stack. Still, Tendo pivoted quickly and was able to help us work through every page of the site.

Moreover, Tendo was very flexible across the board. Their approach allowed them to provide very customized recommendations for each page while staying within the limitations of our site and keeping the overall vision of how we wanted to communicate with our customers.

Before implementing these challenges, one of our main challenges was driving customers into learning and then into our certification exams. After the project, we saw a more focused group going into certification exams. Thus, Tendo’s work helped people understand better what a certification exam was, how to get ready for it, and how to know when to take it.

Tendo improved a lot of our language, helping users understand why they would want to take a certification exam and when to sign up for that certification. As a result, we’ve seen an improvement in our pass rates for exams because we now have more qualified candidates going in ready to take and pass the exam.

How did Tendo Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

Tendo was great to work with. Even though we worked remotely, they were very integrated with our team and always had the right representatives on our weekly calls. Additionally, they were open to our feedback and requests, and they made great suggestions along the way.

One of the main challenges of being a large company is that we have to get across various silos to get our work published. Still, Tendo was able to help us prepare and submit those requests to our publishing teams. Additionally, we were very efficient in meeting our deadlines. We updated our site through multiple releases, and Tendo kept up with us the whole way.

Throughout this project, we used a lot of collaboration tools. The main tools we used were Confluence for daily tracking and storage and Microsoft 365 (previously known as Microsoft Office) for our presentation materials. For example, we used Microsoft Word to create our copy decks using templates that our web publishing team had developed.

Those templates were not very intuitive, but Tendo was very flexible and adaptive. They were able to work with those templates and make text changes so that the publishing team could see them. Additionally, we used email for document sharing between meetings, Slack for daily communication, and OneDrive for storage.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Firstly, Tendo truly became an extension of our team, facilitating a seamless experience. They were as involved as our internal teammates in our conversations, asking questions and doing research. Additionally, they joined our weekly calls and were always available to answer our questions over Slack, which was very helpful.

Secondly, Tendo’s level of insight was outstanding. Having a fresh set of eyes from a team that wasn’t thinking about our business’ day-to-day workings was very helpful because they were able to open our eyes to how our customers see our site. Basically, they told us how our customers saw the website and how to make it better.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything Tendo could have improved on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Engage early and often with Tendo. Once they know what you want to do, they’ll act like a second brain for you. Thus, the sooner you engage with them, the more benefit you’ll get.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Crowe is an Accounting, Consulting and Technology company -- www.crowe.com I'm a social media specialist

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Introduce Crowe services to the Cannabis industry.

SOLUTION

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

Tendo assisted the Crowe marketing team in standing up the web presence of one our rising industry verticals. This work included: o Website updates:

• Updated sitemap - Recommended narrative outline for 4 new webpages
• Page copy for 4 new webpages o Editorial strategy:
• Updated messaging outline
• 3-6-month editorial calendar that included:
  • Themes and topics
  • Asset type recommendations
  • Publishing cadence and governance recommendations, such as refresh frequency and expiration dates
  • 4 content pieces to populate new webpages in addition to supporting copy elements such as social media posts, email copy and banner copy o 7 social media packages (one for each asset and webpage) o Copy for LinkedIn ads and SEM ads

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

5 – executive vice president, account director, content strategist, 2 writers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our stakeholders are more than pleased with the progress that has been made toward having a full presence within our larger enterprise website. With the goal of this work being awareness, we do not have specific benchmarks for success but feel confident the work overall will lead to subsequent marketing support for this business team.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

o The Tendo team was very communicative, collaborative, and proactively shared the status of any items and deliverables they worked on. o The Tendo team was also ready and happy to make themselves available for touch base calls when needed

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

We can expect the level of writing and editorial work that Tendo provides to be on par with what our clients expect and often find we are editing minimally. When we do provide feedback, we quickly and easily see it addressed in subsequent drafts and materials.

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

Adopt our unique company culture and technical/messaging nuances so that deliverables reflect what we need when going to internal stakeholders and team members.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior manager GTM at a cloud computing and virtualization technology company. I’m responsible for customer marketing to our communication service provider market. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tendo Communications?

We’ve used Tendo Communications in several instances. In one case, we needed help with an online demand generation campaign.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For our online demand generation campaign, they built out comprehensive banners for paid and organic LinkedIn. They’ve also helped us spread the word that our company has very specific products for telecom environments.

In another case, we’ve used Tendo to articulate use cases that we use in customer sales PowerPoint presentations. Lastly, they created infographics that talk about the various press releases that we’ve put out in the market. They made sure to convey them in a precise, easy to convey format.

What is the team composition?

We usually work with 3–4 people on their team. Sometimes, we use a copywriter or a designer. Other times, we’ll also have an account person.

How did you come to work with Tendo Communications?

They worked in a different business unit of ours when I was introduced to them. They were very easy to work with, and I maintained the relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our projects vary by scope. For the LinkedIn banner project, we had some holdups on our end, and it ended up taking six weeks. In other cases, they’ve been able to turn a project around in a few days. We started that first campaign in May 2020, and we wrapped up in July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure everything from a demand generation perspective once we’ve launched a program. We were very satisfied with the end result, which is why we continue to work with them. I’m really impressed with their design capabilities; it’s one of their strongest capabilities.

How did Tendo Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent with communication. We were in touch weekly, sometimes daily. We collaborated via Zoom and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re extremely professional and quick to adapt and understand business problems. The team is also very responsive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any negative feedback for Tendo. They’re really enjoyable to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d highly recommend them to anyone who’s looking for a responsive vendor that’s strong with digital projects. They’re a great vendor.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the product marketing lead for Keysight Technologies, a provider of high-performance electronics manufacturing equipment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tendo Communications?

We hired Tendo Communications to assist with large-scale site migration and redesign. We switched from a 20-year-old proprietary legacy web server to a new Adobe Experience Manager. The migration includes re-creating models and re-writing approximately 5,000 web pages.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tendo Communications provides advisory work for best practices and how to structure Adobe DAM (digital asset management). They help us with putting together a formal project plan. Tendo Communications did post-vendor quality control of the web pages they re-modeled and re-wrote.

Their team has completed about 2,000 pages. They were both migrating and in many cases re-authoring and optimizing content either for SEO or verbosity in a lot of our web pages.

What is the team composition?

We work with approximately 10 people from the Tendo Communications team. They can scale up or down depending on the timing and the workload.

How did you come to work with Tendo Communications?

I had a good engagement with Tendo Communications where they helped us design the UX for our industry vertical website at my previous work prior to Keysight Designs. That’s how I came to work with them on this project.
 
How much have you invested with them?

We have invested approximately $1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing engagement started in October 2019, but we are in the final stages of the project and internal QA is the majority of the work we’re doing now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Tendo Communications performed phenomenally. The success metrics depended on two dimensions, the first was the volume of work completed, and the second was quality of work which they all achieved. They excelled on both accounts.
 
How did Tendo Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is one of their key strengths. We have a pretty good operational cadence with Tendo Communications and have weekly check-ins. We had a formal project plan and track established goals. They are very independent once we established the business strategy and approach.

Tendo Communications work directly with the second and third-level people in my team to resolve subject matter questions. They became an integral part of our team even though they are working independently.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility is outstanding. There were times that we needed to speed up or slow down and they were incredibly flexible. At the end of last year, we needed extra help for a part of the project we overlooked and they brought in a dozen people to get that section done in very little time. Tendo Communications is definitely a top-tier provider. We had a high-performance expectation and we got a high-performance result. We are very happy about that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

None at this moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish before starting the project. The scope must be well-designed and even if you’re going to add to that scope along the way, it’s always best to manage your expectations. Defining the scope from the very beginning will help with resource allocation and effective cost management.