Totera Inc.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the marketing director at an organic farm and cidery.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Totera Inc.?

We needed someone to migrate our website to a new hosting solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Totera Inc. moved our website to their platform. They've trained our staff to use their website builder, and we continue to use it to update our website. 

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is the president.

How did you come to work with Totera Inc.?

They were a local company. We interviewed them and tried out their website builder, which was incredibly easy to use. 

We also talked to other companies but chose Totera Inc. because we wanted to spend our money within the local economy. Additionally, their rates were more affordable, but their product was better.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent under $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in September 2021 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our previous platform had been tough to navigate, while Totera Inc.'s website builder is very easy to use. It's allowed us to be more efficient — updates that used to take an hour now take us only 15 minutes to implement. Additionally, more of our staff has been able to update the website than before.

How did Totera Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

The Totera Inc. team is always right on the schedule that they've outlined. They're very good at following through, and any delays have been due to us. If we have any issues, they're always available to address them personally. We communicate via email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We're truly impressed with how available they are and how quickly they respond to us. The Totera Inc. team is always willing to hop on a call and help us. If they can take care of an issue, the team even does it for us without us telling them to.

The fact that it's easy to train more people to use their platform is also a big win.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I've just been impressed with the team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have your staff attend the training sessions they offer.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the treasurer of a professional non-profit organization whose primary focus is on education.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Totera Inc., and what were your goals?

Totera has been providing website services for our organization for several years.

SOLUTION

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

Totera was known to us through another non-profit who highly recommended them.

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

Totera has assisted us in numerous projects over the years. They have offered valuable suggestions on how we can improve our communication within and outside of our organization. In addition, they have been generous in offering cost savings to us knowing that our resources are limited.

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

Our Executive Committee are the main people who interface with Totera. The Ex-Com consists of the president, president-elect, secretary and treasurer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven't used the most recent project yet, but past projects have always had very satisfactory outcomes.

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

It is a pleasure to contact Totera. They are always helpful, especially with we who are not so tech savvy. They are able to communicate in basic, non-technical jargon that makes untangles what initially appears very complicated.

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

I think their accessibility. You can contact them anytime and they respond back very quickly. Also, I can approach them with questions that are often simplistic, but they have never made me feel I shouldn't have asked.

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

I can't think of anything at the moment. They are a great company!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of an educational organization that provides free accredited college courses to low-income adults.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Totera Inc.?

Totera has been basically in charge of our website for years, and we had a particular project that needed to be integrated into the rebuild. It was quite tricky and challenging, but they’ve just been incredibly professional and patient to work with.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have an existing website Totera had upgraded for us years ago, and we decided to upgrade it again. We have a new media campaign that just launched and new programmatic things that we need to the forefront of the website.

They’re working with us to make it streamlined, more accessible, and more serviceable and engaging. They’re in charge of the design while we provide the content. Additionally, they did some research on designing a donor portal to help us adhere to the best practices of online donations for nonprofits.

What is the team composition?

I work closely with Frank (President) and Donna (Project Development & Marketing Coordinator).

How did you come to work with Totera Inc.?

They were referred locally. I live in a rural community in Washington State and I run a national program, so it’s really important for me to work with local people that I know and have a relationship with. I’m willing to go the extra mile to work with people that I have a personal relationship with, rather than an anonymous person on the other side of the country.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested probably between $15,000–$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing partnership started in May 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Totera is incredibly professional and responsive. They were unflappable during the initial development phase, and ended up giving us a product that met several needs in a graceful and engaging way.

I can’t imagine going through this process without the kind of responsive customer service and thoughtful troubleshooting they provide us. I’m not a technical person at all, so I wasn’t the easiest person to work with from the beginning — but they know me and the project, so they made it easier.

How did Totera Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform wonderfully. They respond daily to our questions, sometimes even on the weekends and after business hours. Everything that needs to be done, gets done, and there were times when we had to ask them to hold back while we resolved some content questions.

Totera keeps on schedule with us regardless of where we are in the process, which I think is amazing because they’re really busy. We previously had a screen editor where we would put our comments and ask questions, but now, we typically communicate via email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed by their personal commitment to understanding the needs of our project. We’re a unique organization, and rather than trying to fit us into a cookie-cutter system, they’ve just been really responsive to our needs and idiosyncrasies.

Technology is not in our expertise, but from my perspective, their expertise and professionalism make us feel quite competent — like we actually know what we’re doing.

I’ve worked with a lot of tech people who just don’t have the patience for people like us. They blow us off or cajole us into doing something we don’t understand, or ultimately don’t want to do — but Totera provides us more than a service. They have individualized customer respect and they really engage with the clients in the process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t know what they could do to improve what they’re doing. I think they’re doing a very excellent job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say to trust their instincts and ask them questions that you may think are dumb questions. There are no stupid questions with Totera, and I would recommend you put your faith and resources behind their company, because they’ll do great work for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner and manager of Six Pennies Brewery.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Totera Inc.?

Totera Inc. helped me create a website and provided consulting services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had worked with Totera Inc. on logo design some years ago. This time I hired them to help me with website development. They offer different packages according to one’s needs. The package I chose was more of a self-service package. 

They set up my basic site and made all the files and logins available to me. They helped me establish a domain name that would be useful for my business name. Since then, they've continued to provide consulting services as I develop the website.

What is the team composition?

I work with two people at Totera Inc.: Donna (Project Development & Marketing Coordinator) and Frank (President). He's also one of their technical development leaders.

How did you come to work with Totera Inc.?

I started by trying to figure out who I would use as a webpage vendor and exchanged emails with a friend of mine who actually worked with Totera Inc. She provided different options for creating a website and gave me advice on what might work for our specific business. Once I made the decision to go with them and what level of website services I wanted, they started working.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve invested a little bit over $400.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our collaboration goes back to March 2017, I hired them to work on logo design. Then in February 2021, I contacted them again to help with this project. My plan is to launch the website by the end of May 2021. After the site launches, they'll provide ongoing support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In terms of the logo, we gave them high-level design elements that I wanted to see incorporated in a theme, and the graphic designer that they used was able to produce a logo with relatively few revisions. They completed the logo within a month.

For the website development project, I don't have any metrics other than the response times. I noticed that I've entered 10–11 questions through their comment tool within the website development environment, and they almost always respond within 12 hours.

How did Totera Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They gave me a list of dates of when they would have particular activities done and they met every one of them. To see that kind of response and adherence to deadlines is really valuable to me.

Also if I run into an issue or I can't figure out something they have this really cool feature within their development package that allows you to submit a comment or question, and one of the designers will pick up the question and answer it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think so. I prefer to do a lot of my business with asynchronous communication and they've been very good at that. The times I've asked for things that they haven’t been too sure about, they’ve pointed me to the user guide. I can't think of any way that I would see them improve.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear about what your expectations and needs are. If you have specific deadlines and dates that you're trying to meet, make sure that those are communicated. I recommend giving them a list of what your overall goals and intentions are and let them work on a solution or design that's going to meet your needs.