Thompson & Prince

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and CTO of Rah Rah, which builds a mobile application for universities to connect their students with all of their student life offerings.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Thompson & Prince, and what were your goals?

We needed to redo our company's main website (www.rahrahlife.com) with designs we had loosely outlined. We engaged Thompson & Prince to help us bring those designs into reality and then implement them on our instance of WordPress.

SOLUTION

How did you select Thompson & Prince and what were the deciding factors?

Price, ease of working with Chris and his team, quality of their past work and eagerness to support us in anyway they could.

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

The project was to take designs that we had come up with, help us find a Wordpress template to implement them on, and then implement them. Additionally, they were to provide us with documentation for us to managed incremental site updates after the project had completed.

We met a few times to gather requirements, then Chris took those back, developed a POC for us that we signed-off on, then developed it and implemented it.

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

2 people from the vendor's team worked with me: Chris Gorges and his developer Clara. Chris acted as the project manager with Clara doing much of the work in Wordpress.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The impact of their work can be seen in our page visit analytics. Page visitors are up by 10x, they are staying for more than 2x the time, and overall we are getting many one-off complements from friends and colleagues.

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

Chris was incredibly accommodating as we had to reset our requirements a couple times after kicking off. We were up front in that we were novices when it came to projects like this, and he was able to support us all the way. Most of the communication was done through email, with a test webpage set-up for us to review their POC.

This was acceptable for us because the scope of the project wasn't too huge. Chris is a seasoned professional at this and had walked us through that his management tools and process would be right-sized for the job. We felt that was the case and it was very successful in our eyes.

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

I think the well-roundedness and quality of skill of Chris and his team. There were many times were Chris brought items to our attention both within and out of the scope of the work, they were alway valuable observations and insights. Additionally, the quality of the design work that we didn't end up using was very very high.

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

Nope! Keep up the great work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Owner of the Civil War Image Shop. We offer high quality Civil War artifacts with an emphasis on original mid 19th century photographic images mainly focusing on war date images.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Thompson & Prince, and what were your goals?

New website development and launch. Creating a more user friendly and professional site with a streamlined appearance.

SOLUTION

How did you select Thompson & Prince and what were the deciding factors?

Was referred to them by a fellow dealer who highly recommended them. Reviewed several other sites that were created by Thompson & Prince which made it a no brainer.

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

Creating a new website from scratch. Setting up a new email address. New search options.

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

2 or 3. I don't know what the exact positions are they held but all of them were very professional and knowledgeable in their fields.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Customers are loving the new site. Nothing but rave reviews!

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

These folks worked around the clock. I don't think they even sleep to be honest. Working late hours to get the project done. Kept we well informed on the progress.

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

Their willingness walk me through and work with me on parts of the project that I didn't fully understand such as setting up a business email.

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

I was very impressed with ow the entire project was handled from start to finish!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an enterprise knowledge-sharing platform that makes it easier than ever for companies to onboard, train, and engage their teams while creating a culture of continuous peer-to-peer learning. I lead community-building efforts through TechKnowCon, a community we built to help foster relationships between our prospective customers. Additionally, I am also a part of the marketing team to build out our top of the funnel. I do everything from creating content to building out campaigns and direct prospect outreach.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Thompson & Prince?

We hired Tompson & Prince to help us design our booklet series that we used to market to our prospective clients.

What were your goals for this project?

Our booklet series was a campaign designed to educate our clients about how others in their space were doing knowledge sharing through original pieces of thought leadership. We hoped to educate our prospective customers and use this as a piece to further engage with us. We wanted this to be something that was simply designed and easy to digest.

SOLUTION

How did you select Thompson & Prince?

I looked for a design team that was well experienced and could help us navigate the campaign well. Our brand guidelines weren't completely fleshed out and definitely needed some work and updating. Before even getting started on the project, Thompson & Prince helped us understand what we were missing and how we can make the process smoother for everyone. I had a much better understanding of how to use our brand guidelines to create a well-designed marketing asset.

Describe the project in detail.

Like I mentioned earlier, Thompson & Prince not only helped us design this booklet series but they actually in a way acted as a consultant to us, helping us get our design guidelines up to par, not only for their use but for the future so that we have something we can use with any other partners we work with. Chris was very helpful by providing past examples and suggestions on how to structure and think of our brand and brand guidelines.

Once I built out an initial version of brand guidelines that his team could use, we then proceeded to complete the first booklet. I sent over the copy that our team wanted and the brand guidelines. His team sent over 3 initial different designs that our team could choose from. Once I received feedback from my team, I shared this choice with Chris and his team proceeded to send me at least 4 other design directions we could go. These designs included the first few pages of copy so I could see what it looked like and had awesome animations that everyone on my team loved.

My team chose the design direction that we wanted to take and Chris's team proceeded to design the rest of the booklet. After they designed the entire booklet, they sent it back to us for feedback and after a few rounds of back and forth, booklet one was completed! Since we had set the standard we wanted for the first booklet, the second booklet was pretty straightforward. We sent the copy to the team and they proceeded to design it.

What was the team composition?

I contacted Chris and he was my main contact the entire time. I believe he worked with a designer (maybe two) to get the design done. He was the liaison between my team and Thompson & Prince designers. This was very helpful because I'm not as familiar with working with design agencies and how I should be making recommendations. He was very helpful in providing guidance in that way.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

This booklet project was really helpful for us because we finally had an asset we could share with prospective customers that provided a lot of value and prospects were interested in. We more than doubled our leads by using a booklet to draw in website visitors to our top of funnel.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Like I mentioned earlier, I mainly communicated with Chris and it was very smooth. Chris handled the details of the design updates I wanted and relayed all of the information to his designer. Due to my lack of experience working with design agencies, I wasn't versed with the proper way to give recommendations (by this, I mean that I wasn't specific enough or didn't notice all of the changes I should have given feedback on). Chris was great in coaching me that way!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed with the flexibility and the willingness this company has to go above and beyond what is expected. The scope of the project changed throughout the duration of the project and Chris was willing to renegotiate the contact details with me. It was relatively easy to do so. Additionally, on my end, I missed a lot of the timelines I predicted for my team to get the necessary things to the Thompson & Prince team and the team was very flexible with us. Lastly, I'm impressed by the ability of this company to go above and beyond. I expected a simple booklet that would get the job done and it was so well designed and everyone on the team appreciated the work.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of. They were a great partner to work with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the preservation manager for an environmental consulting firm. I’m also an associate in the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Thompson & Prince?

We use PowerPoints a lot for client presentations. Recently, we decided to modernize our website’s look and feel. We needed a company PowerPoint template that would be easy for staff to use across PowerPoint deliverables that we produce.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we talked to Chris (Founder) about producing a deck with 5–7 options. He asked some questions about what we were looking for in the design and what kind of look and feel we needed. Then, he created an outline and we had a shared Google document, where he asked some questions. He held us accountable where we might have some conflicting ideas.

It helped us take a closer look at what our expectations were from him. Then, Chris sent the plans over to his designer and we got a draft. We provided some feedback and went through an iterative process. He asked a lot of clarifying questions, which I found helpful. They produced more slide options than agreed upon and recreated our logo, too.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Chris and one designer.

How did you come to work with Thompson & Prince?

Chris was referred to me by a friend. We decided to go with them because they have a competitive price and we were able to get the job done quickly.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2020, and we wrapped up in September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The teammates working on the project were definitely pleased with the end result. Everyone compliments how good it looks and how easy it is to use.

How did Thompson & Prince perform from a project management standpoint?

They did well. The team met their deadlines for the most part; when they didn’t, it was because we were late in providing the feedback they needed to move onto the next stage.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team was responsive and very attuned to current branding trends. It was knowledge we really relied on them for as a company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Maybe they could improve a little on the timeline. Working through Chris to get to the designer could have been a bit faster. Overall, we were pleased.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Chris offered to have a short call at the beginning of the engagement, which I did. It helped on a deeper level than just exchanging emails. Take them up on that 1x1 consultation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m VP of business operations and client services for Wine by Design. We’re a marketing and management company. We work with the sports and entertainment industry on building out their wine category.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Thompson & Prince?

We were working on our investor pitch deck and they provided support in building it out.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chris (Founder & CEO) did two main things for us. The first involved doing a quick look through our deck and making formatting tweaks. Secondly, he helped us build out a few slides that explain a new component of our business we’re attempting to pitch. The component was a bit complicated, so his team helped us create those two slides. 

What is the team composition?

I was only in direct contact with Chris, but I believe he had 1–2 others in the background working on it, too. 

How did you come to work with Thompson & Prince?

We were introduced to Chris through a mutual contact.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together in September 2020 for two weeks. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The service was great. Their work was really timely and collaborative. 

How did Thompson & Prince perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really responsive. We mainly communicated via email and through a Google Doc which we all edited. As far as project management, they were great at meeting deadlines. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to take complicated concepts and create visuals to explain our messaging was impressive. Seeing how they were interpreting the concepts we were trying to relate into infographics was great. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Giving them the background story is really important. Sometimes, I think people tend to shy away from it and just give direct instructions. Their team is very capable of taking something complicated and interpreting it into a visual. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and owner of a food and dessert company. We do custom cakes, cake lessons, and food matchmaking for those looking to give food-related gifts. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Thompson & Prince?

We needed a logo to begin marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I knew I needed a logo but didn’t have too many ideas to provide them at the start. However, I was able to show them my old website along with some ideas from Instagram. They took those ideas and designed a logo that fit those criteria. He provided me with several design options to choose from along the way.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with Chris (Founder).

How did you come to work with Thompson & Prince?

I heard of them through a friend and looked up their site online. While I’m not a designer, I was impressed with their site, so I reached out.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together in July–August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I liked every design option he showed me, so it was challenging to select just one for the final logo. The final logo is amazing and able to be used on marketing materials such as stickers, stamps, and more. They provided me with an essential stepping stone to get my brand going. 

How did Thompson & Prince perform from a project management standpoint?

Chris was patient and willing to hold my hand throughout the entire process. I was unfamiliar with the world of design, and he gave me just the right amount of options to choose from. He was super professional, friendly, and helpful. We communicated over the phone and email, and he’d always get back to me in a timely manner. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

After a few conversations with him, he was able to craft the exact designs I was looking for. It felt like he understood my tastes better than I did. I was very impressed with the communication and follow-ups. His attentiveness made it feel like I was working with one of my best friends.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wouldn’t ask him to do anything differently.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They know how to fulfill client needs, so I’d highly recommend them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and CEO of WoodySwain.com, a small advertising and design firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Thompson & Prince?

I wanted Thompson and Prince to develop a website for me.

What were your goals for this project?

First, I wanted Chris G. and his team to tastefully showcase past work I did for agencies in NYC, plus current work that includes illustration, graphic and book design.

Second, I wanted the site to reflect me personally. Finally, I wanted it to seamlessly link with Vimeo, Instagram and LinkedIn platforms.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

My good friend and colleague Tom C., founder of Cunniff Consulting who worked with Thompson & Prince to create his website, highly recommended Chris G. and his team to me. I'm glad he did.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

I met with Chris just once downtown and from there we worked online through this unusual summer with no problems. Chris is a pro and knew what I needed, how to highlight my work, and what platforms were needed to do so.

He was my sherpa throughout the whole process, kindly correcting my copy, suggesting works to include while straightening out all my old passwords and telling me how to delete all "ghost " accounts. He's a patient guy.

What was the team composition?

Chris was the team captain leading the charge, therefore, I never met people on the team. From what I could see, however, the team was highly responsive to my comments.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

It's too early to tell yet, but from people who have seen the site, they're very excited for me.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. My project was on a budget, but I was never made to feel aware of that. Early on, Chris told me what me exactly what he had in mind and was going to do. The job was as promised.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

As already mentioned, Chris is a pro; he also listens, which is rare these days. He figured out what I needed and told me how to get there. There were no surprises.

One other thing: Chris said my design site would be a little more "out of the box" from websites he usually creates. Nevertheless, he proceeded confidently and with aplomb.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can see.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and president of a professional nonprofit organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Thompson & Prince?

We developed a major initiative that would expand on our mission to educate college students so they’re prepared for a career in marketing. We needed help presenting the proposal in a compelling and succinct way.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with Thompson & Prince to develop the creative elements behind our pitch deck. We’ve used that deck since day one in our outreach to a company. We provided them with the general layout for the organization, and they brought information together to present things in a concise and creative way. The team worked on the visual components, but also the copy to make sure it was on point.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Chris (Founder & CEO).

How did you come to work with Thompson & Prince?

I remember seeing the work that they’d done, and the other pitch decks they’d completed. They presented in-depth information in a unique and clear, yet visually appealing way, which is what made me want to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2019, and we wrapped up the main part in November 2019. Chris was very good about adding extra information after the main project ended so that we had what we needed in a consistent visual that fit in the entire deck.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our board and a group of business leaders were able to review our pitch deck and better understand exactly what the program concept is, the way it would work, and how it’s incorporated with delivering on our mission.

How did Thompson & Prince perform from a project management standpoint?

Chris was very responsive and clear about what we needed. There was one time in particular where he did all of the work himself in lieu of sending it out to another designer. He recognized we needed the information quickly and stepped in to accommodate that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was looking for a high-quality creative presentation that looked professional, relay the information, while being consistent with our brand; they delivered on all of those aspects very well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are more sophisticated art formats they could have used. However, we required was a deck that enabled us to make revisions, which meant we couldn’t go to those more sophisticated formats because we didn’t have that expertise internally.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

What helped from day one is that we had a majority of the information put together. Then, we were able to capitalize on their creative expertise to refine it in a way that was visually appealing. It presented well in a way we were trying to get across. My advice is to get a much put together ahead of time. If you have an idea of what the creative should look like, present that in some way so it gives direction to the individuals creating your work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

BlueMont Associates is a retained executive search firm focused in the Private Equity, Private Credit and Financial Services space. Together with my partners, our firm is a leading connector to firms looking to expand or enhance their professional workforce.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Thompson & Prince?

BlueMont hired Thompson & Prince to navigate a more focused brand message to our potential clients.

What were your goals for this project?

Our firm needed to align our key strengths with the brand appearance. Our marketing messaging seemed to be misaligned with our marketing presentation/materials. We needed to clean up the “look.”

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our firm had heard about T&P’s through one of our Partners.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Working closely with T&P we soon discovered that it was not so much what our marketing materials said, rather how it was said. We needed to have a crisp appearance so that our words could be presented to our clients without the clutter of terrible color graphics.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly w/ Chris Gorges. He was amazing, responsive and reflective.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our business is not so process driven that this marketing project would result in a direct impact to our bottom line. Yet what we had as marketing materials prior quite possibly could have had a negative effect.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our challenges were mostly on our own side balancing client meetings. T&P did a great job making themselves available around that.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The work was quickly assimilated into a client ready position.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not to my assessment.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Fohm Co, a bootstrapped, direct to consumer company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Thompson & Prince?

We’re positioning to raise money to expand into different distribution channels, which will include B2B sales, selling our product into offices and hospitality spaces. We also wanted to expand further into licensing our product out to other brands.

We hired Thompson & Prince because we needed a subject matter expert in creating fundraising decks. Our goal was to create a cohesive story that would be compelling to investors. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave them a very rough sketch of what we wanted to explain in the deck. We showed them where we were as a company and what we were raising the money to do. They provided the guidance and structure for how to take all of the data and create a cohesive format. 

We had no visual direction, so they provided us with a few different avenues we could go down for branding. They took the lead on the graphic design and illustrative elements for the deck. 

What is the team composition?

I had one main point of contact, which was helpful in streamlining communication. 

How did you come to work with Thompson & Prince?

I followed a recommendation from a mutual connection. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $2,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project ran from March–April 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work has already resulted in some immediate traction from the investors I’ve shared it with. 

How did Thompson & Prince perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really responsive; I was getting answers to questions over the weekend from them. They were very rapid in responding to us, so I was happy with that. We used email and Google Slides mockups. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were really subject matter experts in creating pitch decks. Their rapid response time was also impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind for them to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to their suggestions and recommendations, even if it goes against the initial thought or ideas you had. Don’t be afraid to let them challenge your pitch deck assumptions.