Above The Fray

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of Marketing of Eagle Crusher

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Manufacturer of portable and stationary rock crushing equipment for the recycle concrete, asphalt, and aggregate industries. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Above The Fray to accomplish?

• Develop e-commerce solution for dealers to view and price parts

SOLUTION

How did you find Above The Fray?

Association Partnership

Why did you select Above The Fray over others?

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

How many teammates from Above The Fray were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Develop e-commerce solution connected to ERP system that pulls pricing and avaibilty of parts while controllng access and altering prices based upon dealer agreements for discounts and shipping locations. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Delivering a funtional end product was the goal of the project over specific ROI/Sales numbers given the limited userbase. 

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

ATF was responsive to all communications and addressed problems as needed.

What was your primary form of communication with Above The Fray?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They’ve been extremely helpful in identifying the best solution for our company’s needs for e-commerce solutions and development as well as having a strong understanding of our industry and needs as a whole. It made explaining the project and our goals easier than with other firms having to learn about our specific use case and needs.  

Are there any areas for improvement or something Above The Fray could have done differently?

There aren't any areas that I believe ATF needs to improve on generally.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Partnership Success of Zamp

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Zamp combines intelligent software with expert service to completely handle your sales tax compliance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Above The Fray to accomplish?

ATF built our Magento/Adobe Commerce integration

SOLUTION

How did you find Above The Fray?

They are a partner

Why did you select Above The Fray over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Quality work and team

How many teammates from Above The Fray were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

  Our team partnered with ATF to build our tax compliance software integration with Magento. The scope included: 

• Setup & Configuration: Secure API token handling, state-by-state tax configuration, and admin controls to enable/disable features. 
• Transaction Management: Automated sync of historical and real-time transactions, with full support for refunds, modifications, and voided orders. 
• Tax Calculation: Real-time tax calculations at checkout, product and customer exemptions, and fallback logic in case of API outages. 
• User Experience & Support: Customer-facing tax display at checkout, admin logging for troubleshooting, multi-storefront support, and a clean uninstall process. 
• Ongoing Engagement: Continued technical and customer support to ensure smooth operations and quick troubleshooting. 

Key Deliverables 

• A robust integration ensuring accurate, real-time tax compliance. 
• Logging and reporting tools for administrators. 
• Flexible architecture to support multi-vendor operations and future API changes. 
• A customer experience where tax is clearly displayed at checkout. Ongoing technical and customer support to maintain performance and optimize over time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We now have a certified and marketable integration to Adobe Commerce/Magento. 

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

Yes,  the ATF team completed all deliverables by the requested due dates.  All requests were responded to by email, go to meetings and a dedicated slack channel. 

What was your primary form of communication with Above The Fray?

• In-Person Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The ATF team was more than happy to support our team with any additional request from the Adobe team.  They always had a resource available to us when needed.  If a deliverable was handed off to another resource they were consistently.  They made it very easy and enjoyable to work wtih.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Above The Fray could have done differently?

No, I give them a 10 out of 10 for their support and completion of this project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Juneteenth OR

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a local Oregon-based nonprofit working to preserve and amplify the history and legacy of Juneteenth–founded by the late Clara Peoples, a beloved community leader who organized Oregon’s first Juneteenth celebration in 1945.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Above The Fray to accomplish?

• Website Redesign

SOLUTION

How did you find Above The Fray?

Referral

Why did you select Above The Fray over others?

Great culture fit, Company values aligned, Other

What was your primary form of communication with Above The Fray?

In-Person Meeting, Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

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

Above the Fray, completed a total website design for our organization. They were able to create, design and optimize our website. Not only were they able to design our website but they provided a very detailed and informative hand-off with step by step support for our team to work, update and add to our site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Visability
• Customer Access
• Improvement

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

Above the Fray, understood our project, communicated all the steps with our team during the project and and answered all our questions plus some. Their team is very resourceful, provided us on time check-ins and completed our project as estimated.

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

The dedication and expertise that was put into their work. They made sure we were happy with the work and provided our team with easy steps on how to maintain our website. Which is a huge plus they took the time to make sure we understood and making the handoff very impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something {provider_name} could have done differently?

Clone themselves and expand.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Sr Director of Workforce and Industry Initiatives for an industry association that supports manufacturers of heavy equipment in the construction, agriculture, and utility industry. I support both recruitment and retention concepts and ESG / Supply Chain engagement.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Above The Fray, and what were your goals?

We wanted to create a digital collection of resources, step-by-step best practices, and tools that could help any member in any location move their workforce development or sustainability initiative forward faster. We wanted something that was concise, intuitive, and provided access to robust information as the user was interested.

SOLUTION

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

Above the Fay was our third attempt to connect with an organization for development. Erin simply nailed the design. She listened to what we wanted to accomplish and delivered. They are great listeners and innovators. Noah really believed in the idea and what it could do for our industry. We appreciated the total buy in.

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

We began with the workforce toolkit, organizational assessment, and community asset mapping tool. We continued to make adjustments as we learned from user feedback. Last year we added a fully separate content layer for sustainability. This also included sustainability maturity assessments, and supply chain risk assessments.

We will use the assessments for benchmarking the industry and better positioning our association to tell the story of our journey. We also have layered in tools, resources, articles, and case studies. There was gated content in the workforce section that we eventually opened up because on industry need.

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

There has always been a main lead with support of the rest of the development team. I'd say 2-4 consistently.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As an industry association, we have a robust answer for supporting two of our members largest challenges: workforce and onboarding the supply chain into sustainability. The digital resource is accessible to every member, regardless of size or location and we are creating a living collection of industry case studies and best practices.

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

When we've been in active development, we would meet regularly. During our stable or feedback collection times, we would meet as needed. There is also an easy portal to submit any issues to and they are addressed in a timely manner.

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

1. They nailed the design after listening every time.
2. They take responsibility for any issues or challenges that crop up and fix them.
3. They always make me feel like they have bought into and are excited about the work we are doing.
4. They are just nice people to work with - always! I really enjoy working with them all and recommend them to everyone.

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

No. We have always just worked any issue out together and I've always been satisfied.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an operations manager at Titan Electronics. We distribute braided weaving for aerospace and defense.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Above The Fray?

We needed a company that could handle our SEO and e-commerce needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Above The Fray to help us migrate from Magento to BigCommerce. They helped us build the BigCommerce site; they customized and implemented a template and are currently continuing on making certain changes and upgrades to the site to boost its performance and functionality.

Aside from that, Above The Fray handles our SEO initiatives as well. They’ve optimized our page titles and meta descriptions and conducted keyword research and management to boost our search results and rankings on certain items.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with four people from Above The Fray, including Zach (SEO Digital Strategist & Project Manager). He was the one who brought in the idea of BigCommerce, which has been a fantastic move for us.

How did you come to work with Above The Fray?

We found Above The Fray through a referral. They're very knowledgeable about BigCommerce. We've been having trouble with Magento for quite some time, and it was nice to be able to have the option to migrate.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Above The Fray handles our Google Analytics and provides us with regular reports. So far, we’ve seen a remarkable increase in our traffic and a decrease in our bounce rate.

How did Above The Fray perform from a project management standpoint?

Above The Fray has performed well in terms of project management. They’ve been great throughout the years. They have a portal where we can list all of our requests and issues, and we see them go through the process, which has been very helpful. We also have a lot of shared spreadsheets and documents.

We primarily communicate through Google Meet, email, and phone calls. We have weekly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Above The Fray’s services are amazing, but the people who work there are the main thing that keeps us working with them. Their entire staff has been incredible — they're very attentive, personable, and accommodating of all of our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I've worked with other companies before, and Above The Fray is by far the best I've worked with. I'm very happy with them, so I don’t have anything negative to say at the moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to stay in regular contact with them. Being involved is always beneficial.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a director for a food and beverage company with both specialty retail and restaurants.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Above The Fray?

We hired them to redo our websites.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Above The Fray has redone three websites from scratch, including UX design and development. For the design, we had a two-day meeting to talk about our brand, the design, and our hopes for the websites. From there, they went back to the drawing board. Additionally, they've combined our web platforms into a shared cart, including our restaurant website and liquor and wine shops. Now, our customers can have a single checkout experience for all our different businesses. 

Currently, the team is still working on some of the websites' functionalities. They also help us with marketing and SEO. On the marketing side, they researched what we'd previously done in-house and went from there. They've refreshed and redone our marketing strategy. 

What is the team composition?

We've worked with Noah (CEO) and Erin (CCO). Christopher (COO) was our project manager for a while, then we had another person, and now we have Tom (Project Manager). On the digital marketing side, we have a team of 2–3 people we talk to regularly, and we've also worked with specialized developers. Overall, we've worked with 10 teammates from Above The Fray who have hopped in and out depending on what we're working on at any given time. 

How did you come to work with Above The Fray?

We found them through a group that helped small businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic. Through that initiative, we got a grant to redo our website, and Above The Fray was one of the recommended developers. After a series of meetings, we selected them for the project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our previous project manager didn't get the full scope of the project, so we missed a lot of key elements we needed for the success of our first site. However, the team we have now is working diligently to make sure they resolve those issues. In terms of the overall scope, the project has been a success on the side of the liquor and wine stores, though we're still working on getting the restaurant business going after issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

How did Above The Fray perform from a project management standpoint?

As far as communication and project management, they're always on top of things. Although they had a couple of missteps early on, they've been able to get back on track with the new team. We use Google Meet and email for communication and Jira to track support tickets. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate their willingness to work with us and our ideas. Many providers didn't understand our vision for this project. Meanwhile, Above the Fray understood what we were going for with the websites' designs, and they've been able to deliver on it. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have delivered the pieces needed for the first website to be functional when they launched it rather than have months of back and forth trying to get the things we needed. We've since been able to come to agreements to get things done, but it took some effort on both sides to get to where we are today. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend Above The Fray. If you have a project outside the norm regarding the scope, make sure to share some examples right off the bat so that they understand what you're going for and avoid back and forth.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the retail marketing director for a vertically integrated cannabis company in Colorado. We currently have 34 retail dispensaries in CO & NM, 7 cultivation facilities and two manufacturing facilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Above The Fray?

The ecommerce experience in the Colorado cannabis industry is generally the same and lacks diversity. The objective of this website & ecommerce redesign was to create a differentiated shopping experience, acquire new customers and increase market share. We hired Above the Fray to design and develop a unique, intuitive online cannabis shopping experience that is easy to complete on a mobile device and increases conversions.

SOLUTION

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

We evaluated 3-5 web design and development firms for this project. We ultimately chose Above the Fray (ATF) for their technical knowledge of the platforms under consideration, their thorough process, and ability to guide the project with our new team. They took the time to really understand our objectives, limitations and needs. Unlike other firms we spoke with, ATF didn't feel like a cookie-cutter approach.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We had multiple discovery meetings with ATF to identify current business processes, systems requirements, and user needs. We also had documented our business requirements which ATF used to develop user stories, the site structure and framework. In addition, there were mood boards that lead to front-end design concepts to choose from. Once a design direction was selected it was applied to clickable prototypes for multiple page templates. Engaging SEO copy was also created for primary pages. Once the site moved into engineering and development with another firm we engaged ATF to provide technical oversight and testing.

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

We regularly met with 4-6 people from the ATF team which included:

• the project manager
• designer
• writer
• engineer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched the site just one week ago with select stores so enough data has not yet been collected and analyzed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was good with weekly meetings and issue trackers. ATF was very responsive to our needs.

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

They brought good, insightful technical knowledge to the team before we ultimately selected them as our partner. Everyone was impressed by that since we were looking at ATF primarily as a UX and design firm.

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

Notes, action items and assignments from our weekly meetings would have been helpful. More testing of functionality in addition to design could've been a focus earlier in the testing phase.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of sales and marketing for Magma Products. We’re a manufacturer of marine grills, fillet tables, cookware, and accessories.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Above The Fray?

We were looking to re-platform and redesign our direct-to-consumer website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially chatted with Above The Fray a couple of times to understand their capabilities and get a better feel of who they were. They also gave us a great questionnaire to fill out, and we had a workshop to review our initial information and feedback on what we liked from a visual perspective. We agreed upon the terms of the deal, and then they moved forward with the project planning. They laid out the calendar, timeline, and expectations. Then, they went on to design and develop the website.

We were on an old, random platform, so Above The Fray moved us over to Shopify. They put together the product pages, which had a lot of technical specs and the different features of each product. Once they completed the project, we continued with them for a monthly maintenance contract. They fixed any bugs that came along and kept the site up and running.

A few months ago, we switched our services with them to digital marketing. Currently, Above The Fray works on SEO and updating our marketing information on the site. They’ve put together a detailed plan on how to attack meta descriptions, blog writing, and keyword research.

What is the team composition?

We have a main point of contact. For the web development, we had a designer and a Shopify expert for the backend.

How did you come to work with Above The Fray?

We found them by searching online. They were on the Shopify site as preferred partners. We reached out to them and connected with them, so we decided to move forward with the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $25,000 on the initial build and maintenance work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2021, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website business has increased substantially since we switched over. Their design work and the Shopify platform make the site more user-friendly.

How did Above The Fray perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is great. Initially, they struggled on the backend to meet the deadline because they didn’t have enough resources. However, we discussed it, and they kicked it into gear and found additional help to get the work done.

During development, we met every two weeks on Google Meet for a video call. They use Google as their primary platform to track information and document what’s happening.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve really connected with the team; we have similar styles. They’re honest and authentic; we’ve worked and communicated well together. Moreover, they have good ideas, and the execution has been excellent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They just need to ensure they have enough resources from a development standpoint to stay on target.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Vice President of A2Z Balloon Company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

A2Z Balloon Company is a wholesale b2b distributor of balloons, party supplies, and helium. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Above The Fray to accomplish?

• Backend website management
• Front end website improvements

SOLUTION

How did you find Above The Fray?

Referral

Why did you select Above The Fray over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

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

A2Z partnered with ABV for proactive maintenance and ongoing growth & evolution of our digital commerce environment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were seeking a company to work with as a partner. Our goal was clear communication, transparency, and efficiency on deliverables. 

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

ABV has accurately quoted projects both large and small, and delivered on time. 

What was your primary form of communication with Above The Fray?

Virtual Meeting

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

In my experience, all team members have been no-nonsense, honest, and skilled. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Above The Fray could have done differently?

No notes. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Executive Director of Save the Bee

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Save the Bee protects bees and beekeepers to keep our food supply safe, improve the environment, and sustain human health.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Above The Fray to accomplish?

• Brand refresh
• Site overhaul

SOLUTION

How did you find Above The Fray?

Referral

Why did you select Above The Fray over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Above The Fray were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Website rebuild, brand refresh, UX/UI, dev

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Launched website

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

They have excellent project management. They respond to my emails requesting information quickly.

What was your primary form of communication with Above The Fray?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Friendliness, creativity, speed, excellent project management skills

Are there any areas for improvement or something Above The Fray could have done differently?

I wish ABF could be our in-house agency.