Varvet

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP Brand & Creative of a financial services company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We build the infrastructure modernizing the life insurance industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Varvet to accomplish?

• Increase the professionalism and performance of our D2C and B2B web presence.
• Enhance our visual tool kit to build a site that stood apart from our competitors.

SOLUTION

How did you find Varvet?

Online Search

Why did you select Varvet over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Exceptional portfolio of work in similar businesses

How many teammates from Varvet were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Varvet delivered a new website, including nearly 30 pages of design and animations. 

• UX/UI
• wireframes
• graphic design
• some code development
• close partnership with our in-house dev team

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Page speeds increased
• time on the page increased
• bounce rates decreased
• actions taken increased

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

Every deadline was met, even when their team took the traditional European long summer vacations. Despite being on the other side of the planet from us, we had constant daily contact, and they were extremely responsive. More importantly, the work delivered each round exceeded expectations.

What was your primary form of communication with Varvet?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We witnessed beautiful craftsmanship from genuinely lovely people. They listened patiently, provided options when problem-solving, and heard and understood our unique business challenges. The process was a delight.

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

None. I only wish I had the need to utilize them more often. They were among the best partners our team has contracted with during my tenure at Bestow.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT operations manager of ESS Group, a company that operates and develops unique hotels, restaurants, and meeting places in the Nordics. We also offer interior design, hotel products, and concept development for the hospitality industry. We focus on creating memorable guest experiences and profitable destinations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Varvet?

We needed help building a web app called “Min Bokning,” which is a digital confirmation that gives all the information about arrival, payments, check-in/out, and everything our customers need before their stay at our destinations.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Varvet has developed our web app and is responsible for everything that comes with it, including hosting, admin, design, content, and UX. We’ve decided the content, but they’ve done the rest.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 1–5 teammates from Varvet.

How did you come to work with Varvet?

A colleague referred Varvet to me. I chose them over other options because they were close to my geographic location, and their company values aligned with ours.

How much have you invested with them?

Our partnership goes back more than six years, and our total investment over that period amounts to several million SEK.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Varvet’s work has resulted in a higher NPS and fewer telephone calls to our contact center.

How did Varvet perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve had a great dialogue with Kim at Varvet. He has always delivered on time and been very helpful. He knows us well and is easy to work with. We communicate via virtual meetings, emails, and messaging apps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The personal contact with Varvet is impressive, especially with Kim. He always answers, even during vacation.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve been working together for so long that, at the moment I don’t remember how they could have improved during the big starting project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Co-Founder & Chief Community Officer of Alumni Ventures.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Alumni Ventures is a venture capital investment firm catered toward individual investors. We are the largest venture firm for individual investors and the most active venture firm in the US (PitchBook 2022).

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Varvet to accomplish?

• Complete rebuild of our website
• Improve brand trustiworthiness
• Improve online conversion rates

SOLUTION

How did you find Varvet?

Online Search

Why did you select Varvet over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Varvet were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We provided the site map, the copy, and some direction on the design. Varvet did everything else from the custom WordPress setup, to the frontend wireframes, design, and builds, to the backend and QA.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Timeliness of completion 
• Error-free site launch 
• Awards of the new site

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

• Very responsive and strong communication
• Great to work with 
• Very smart people 
• Easy to get along with as well 

We became business partners as well as friends over the course of the project.

What was your primary form of communication with Varvet?

Virtual Meeting

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

They had a very good mix of visual design, website development, and backend development skill sets. All wrapped up into one company and packaged through a superb project manager.

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

No