Alpha Efficiency

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Brio Travel Artisans, a luxury travel company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Alpha Efficiency?

They’ve helped me with a couple of different things.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I originally hired Alpha Efficiency for web design, SEO, and digital marketing. They used a system called Figma, which allowed us to comments on their designs. Their developers received those comments and then made changes. We’re using WordPress for parts of the website so that we can make updates ourselves. Earlier this year, they also helped me with an email issue.

What is the team composition?

I have two main points of contact, but I know there are more people on the team.

How did you come to work with Alpha Efficiency?

They were referred to me by somebody that I’d worked with on a different project.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s a little complicated because we started the project, stopped, and then basically had to start over. I’d say I’ve spent around $10,000. Part of that was probably due to me changing my mind.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our initial phone call with them was about a year ago, and then I needed to wait a few months to begin the project. We’re just wrapping it up now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One thing that I like about them is that they’re very easy to reach. I can get in contact with the owner, Bojan (Director of Strategic Planning), at any point in time. I think I’m a smaller client of theirs and that they work with bigger accounts, but I can always reach them. That’s been great from a service standpoint.

Their turnaround time has been what they said it would be for everything they’ve done. In my experience, that’s rare with this type of work, so I’ve been very happy with it.

How did Alpha Efficiency perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management tools they’re using seem to work. Figma is the customer interface part of it, but they reference some kind of internal project management system that they have set up. Whatever they’re using is working because it seems to be pretty seamless from my point of view.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I would definitely use them again and recommend them to others. Their prices are reasonable. It seems like they see a value in projects that they want to work on, whether that means lowering their price beyond what they normally would. They mentioned to me that working on a travel website was something they wanted to add to their portfolio. They have a lot of other, different types of clients, but they saw value in working with a client like me, so I got a good price.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No — I think they’re great. They’ve been growing a lot, so they’re probably going to experience some growing pains, but I’ve been spoiled because I got in early.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Nghiem Consulting Services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Alpha Efficiency?

I approached Alpha Efficiency to create a website. The goal was to take an idea that I had and materialize it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Alpha Efficiency is developing and designing my website. They’re doing the project management and handling of the coding.

I gave them the opportunity to be as creative as they wanted, to expand on my original thought, and run with it however they wanted to. The direction that they’re taking it has been excellent. They’ve used Figma to design the site.

What is the team composition?

I’ve just worked with one person, Bojan (Director of Strategic Planning). 

How did you come to work with Alpha Efficiency?

I found them through a third-party contracting website called Upwork. I initially interviewed Bojan to do some copywriting for me. As we began talking, I became more and more impressed with his work and ideas. I decided to hire him to oversee the entire project. He gave me a timeline and a price, and I decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent $7,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together about a month ago, in July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can’t speak to the results of their work yet, because we’re still mid-project. So far, they’ve done excellent work.

How did Alpha Efficiency perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m most impressed by the fact that Bojan is super open to thoughts and opinions from me. He goes out of his way to ask what I think about certain designs or workflows. He’s very open to second opinions, which I greatly appreciate; a lot of other people are stubborn or just want to do their own thing, but not Bojan — he’s willing to listen.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their quality, responsiveness, and pretty much everything they offer has been exceptional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. The process has been perfect for me.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder, CEO, and president of Surve, which is in its early stages. We’ll help the restaurant industry with a preorder reservation application. It’ll help people dine efficiently.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Alpha Efficiency?

I’ve engaged them to support numerous projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Alpha designed our website and other platforms to establish our foundation. Their team also executed front- and backend development, building both our site and app. For the app, they used a lot of native technologies. Their team also provided consulting and marketing services.

They not only create the products but also conduct surveys. Based on that information, I make spreadsheets and other documents.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with at least three people from Alpha.

How did you come to work with Alpha Efficiency?

I found them through LinkedIn and Google searches. By talking with their team, I realized that we had the same mentality. They not only brought technical expertise but also tended to the details. Their team was courteous and all for their clients. It was a no brainer.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $5,000–$10,000 in Alpha’s work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started talking in May 2020, and our partnership’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work’s exceptional and impacts us greatly. As we grow, their work will continue to have an impact. They’re a great, jack of all trades team. From their development, marketing, and consulting services, Alpha brings a lot to my company and my team.

How did Alpha Efficiency perform from a project management standpoint?

We use software that allows us to communicate 24/7 in real-time. We also communicate via email, phone, and text. When it comes to communication, they’re on top of it. Their team keeps us in the loop. They ask for our input and want us to remain a part of the project. Their team also asks for feedback because they want to improve.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re professional and personal. Their communication makes us feel like we’re a part of their team and right there building the product with them. They not only listen but also execute projects well. Alpha goes all in for their clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m satisfied. Their team has checks and balances to help them improve. Alpha’s a young team, so they’ll get stronger, smarter, and better. I have no doubt that they’ll expand.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I co-own Aeriform Cinema. We primarily do cinematic drone for TV shows and corporate companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Alpha Efficiency?

I've actually known Bojan (Director of Strategic Planning) and their team for a while, but I've never really needed to scale up our digital side of things. We've been doing drone work for Chicago primarily on a word-of-mouth basis for the past 5–7 years.

Since I’ve known Bojan, he’s helped his clients to make their digital platforms more profitable. He’s been telling me that we’re missing out on our market share, even though we’re a word-of-mouth business. We were on Squarespace, and he repeatedly told me it was really important to have our own platform that they could design and custom-tailor to our needs. We decided to hire Alpha Efficiency so that we can potentially do some higher-end, targeted marketing. Right now, we’re only dealing with personal jobs, but we’re hoping that the website will allow us to grab some online market shares.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The majority of our sales are based on our images, so we wanted the site to be heavily image-based, with minimal wording. However, Alpha Efficiency let us know that we needed to have wording so that we can show up higher on search results. They helped us figure out how to work in wording while making sure the site is visually beautiful. We also need to be able to update our content somewhat frequently, and they’re building out some items so that we can easily adjust our images and video content on our own.

We haven’t rolled out too many campaigns yet, but they’ve helped ensure our site shows up in higher results. They’ve initiated some WordPress blogging directly through our site with targeted keywording, along with any of our descriptors on the page, so that we’re consistently using a word bank that’s going to get more attention.

What is the team composition?

I primarily work with Bojan and occasionally two other individuals. I spoke with Bojan about what I needed, and I started an email thread that included some of the content and designs that we liked and wanted to embrace. Then, we gave them all of our visual content; since we have so much drone footage and video, it was easy for us to give them usable imagery.

We worked with one of their designers to really build it out and make sure that it was going to look how we expected it to before they did too much of the coding. I only exchanged 1–2 emails with that designer, and he took over everything; I didn’t have to micromanage. He got it into a pretty rounded out direction as to where it is now.

How did you come to work with Alpha Efficiency?

Bojan really prides himself on helping people understand and take that step into this realm. There are a lot of small business owners and entrepreneurs that are trying to take a step into the digital, but all they know is that they should build a website; they don’t realize how much they’re missing if they’re not tailoring the site. Bojan helped me understand that I could increase profitability if I just marketed the site in the right directions.

I’ve talked to other people in similar realms; it seems like everybody builds websites and does SEO. However, finding someone with a team that’s ready to tailor it to your needs was an advantage. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started talking in March or April 2020. There wasn’t too much going on due to the pandemic, so we took that time to foster the relationship and discuss what we needed to do. Bojan helped me understand what needed to happen, such as migrating all of my hosting services.

Then, once we got later into April, they laid out expectations and designs, and it didn’t take them more than a couple of weeks to home in on the design and start fleshing out the coding. We’re currently fixing things on the backend so that my team can interact with the site more, without having to know too many coding capabilities.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Alpha Efficiency made it easy by helping me understand the transition process and website performance. I always want to have the highest quality image, but that’s not sustainable when building a website. It wasn’t until Bojan’s team redesigned our site that I realized how much faster it could be if it’s properly built out. I think the improved user functionality will help with targeting.

I didn’t realize how much actually goes into this process, which is why I started working with them in the first place. We had to migrate all of our stuff from Squarespace to SiteGround because they were building their own custom framework to make our website run as fast as possible. They cut the load time by almost 10X.

How did Alpha Efficiency perform from a project management standpoint?

I know his team has been working around the clock to get stuff done whenever we need it. Most of the communication is pretty frictionless; I mostly deal with Bojan, and then he communicates with his team. He knows who needs to handle what function. I don’t need to know what is going on behind the curtains. They also take care of any feedback we give rather quickly.

Once we were on the same page, we communicated over email so that we’d have a written record of expectations and it could be easily forwarded to anyone who needed the information. We had some phone calls for specific things, such as to clarify technical terms or avoid miscommunication. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their company mantra is ‘Make It,’ and they’ve helped make all aspects of our site happen – they helped us make it aesthetic and professional, and they really made it our own. They have lived up to their reputation on making it happen for us, and I’d say that is their strong suit.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think what they’re striving to do and have already gotten better at is communication. We have had some weird asks, such as integrating a stock footage portal. Trying to figure out how to add things to the scope has been a little challenging for some of the projects. They could dial in on our numbers and expectations, but I do think they’ve delivered pretty well on that end. We didn’t really know what we were walking into as we asked for some things.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have some conversations with them. If you’re trying to take a step into a digital realm and make something from scratch, get on the same page about what you want. They can make anything happen for you; it’s just a matter of fleshing out those details and making sure that what we’re asking for is really what we want, and not wrong terminology.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am an attorney at an immigration law firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Alpha Efficiency?

We needed a partner to help us improve our digital presence.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team handled our web design and SEO, working to improve our on-page organization to boost performance and targeting specific keywords through blogs and other tactics as well.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with the owner of their company and a few other members of his team.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost of the project is around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have partnered with them since around August 2019 and are continuing to do so.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The results of the project were transformative to our website. We are totally satisfied with the work that they did and have gotten great feedback on the aesthetic and functionality since its launch. I have no hesitations about continuing to work with them because of the quality of the experience that we’ve had so far.

How did Alpha Efficiency perform from a project management standpoint?

Their management of the project has been amazing. You can reach their owner at any time, and he is always working hard to make sure that your goals are accomplished. It’s not like if a specific task has been accomplished, he stops paying attention; they keep working until you are satisfied with the results that have been delivered.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the things I really appreciated about them was that I didn’t have to be tech-savvy to explain what I wanted to them. I was able to communicate my vision and give them a few samples and know that what I would get back in the end was a great product. We went through a few different revisions of the site as we went, and they were more than committed to delivering a product that we were excited about in the end.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really can’t think of anything in particular they should have done differently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a company that offers online strength training for swimmers, triathletes, and water polo players. We also do online education and coaching around that.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Alpha Efficiency?

We had a new brand branching out, and we needed a new front-facing website and subdomain for where the membership and certification.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team used Sage to build the WordPress site.

What is the team composition?

I think we worked with four people. There were at least two or three involved in the design and development phase. Brian (Director of Strategic Planning) was always there.

How did you come to work with Alpha Efficiency?

We connected on UpWork. They stood out with some of the questions they answered and got back to me quickly. I hopped on a call with Brian, and he was able to boil down what we needed to attack the problem in the simplest, most cost-effective way.

How much have you invested with them?

We’re looking at between $15,000–$20,000 for the site. We plan on using their SEO and PPC services soon.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them about nine weeks ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Alpha Efficiency sees the whole picture. The customized site loads in less than two seconds. We’re really happy with it. I appreciate how they were able to problem-solve. They were always trying to find the most cost-efficient way. It’s been honest and professional the whole time.

How did Alpha Efficiency perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great with communication, and they also hit a majority of deadlines. A few mishaps were getting in the way of the site's launch, but we stayed on track for the most part.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication and design skills were impressive. They obviously know what they’re doing on the development side as well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, it was great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a managed service provider for small businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Alpha Efficiency?

We needed a website redesign. I wanted something a lot cleaner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They redesigned my site. The team used a framework that allowed my site to load much faster than the standard WordPress template that I was working with.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three members of their team.

How did you come to work with Alpha Efficiency?

I found them through a freelancer platform. Their portfolio looked like something more or less like what I needed, and they were able to fulfill that and then some.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent $4,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2020, and we wrapped up in July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their whole brand is about digital marketing profitable. They were really good at helping me by delivering high-quality work with professionalism.

How did Alpha Efficiency? perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent. Out of five stars, I would give them six. They allowed me to be involved with the project from the very beginning. A lot of people like to take their creative idea and run with it, but they took my thoughts from day one. Overall, they were able to provide an end product I was extremely happy with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication is phenomenal and their quality of work is high. The fact that they went above and beyond to give me certain tips they didn’t have to is what I respected more than anything else. It was cost-effective, and I think they’re a great team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I didn’t have any bad experiences with them. As opposed to other providers who wanted me to pitch in creatively, Alpha Efficiency took my thoughts and ran with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and president of a financial services and solutions company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Alpha Efficiency?

We’ve worked closely with them for an email marketing campaign and sales materials.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started working with them to generate sales and interest in the beta version of our project for insurance agencies and advisors. They were critical in saving us money and earning early attention. Their team provided us with a tactical approach to email marketing that we implemented over time to gain that traction.

It was their responsibility to continue to test emails for quality, tracking open rate, and other engagement metrics. That allowed them to adjust our strategy when needed. In that effort, they kept our messages from being marked as spam and tracked which subject lines were most engaging.  

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked closely with Brian (Founder) and 2–3 of his colleagues. 

How did you come to work with Alpha Efficiency?

While working with another company, we were introduced to Alpha Efficiency. Following that introduction, we found them very cost-effective and felt that they would be a good match for us.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve always been pleasantly surprised with the speed and flexibility of their team. They could adapt as needs changed, moving faster than we could have otherwise. We didn’t have email marketing resources in-house, so they brought that valuable experience and knowledge to the table. They saved us the time and costs of handling this on our own.   

How did Alpha Efficiency perform from a project management standpoint?

They explained their processes and implemented them in a very cost-effective way. We’re both small firms and communicated easily during the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their approach was refreshing and ideal for helping us achieve results as a newcomer in the market. Brian was direct and focused on getting us the best possible results.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’d recommend them highly. I wouldn’t suggest that larger companies collaborate with them because they are a smaller firm that may not have the team size you’re looking for.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Project director of a nonprofit company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Non profit, helping parents find the ideal education for their children.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Alpha Efficiency to accomplish?

• Prepare visual collateral for our large yearly digital ads campaign
• Update graphic assets in our site
• Create some social media assets

SOLUTION

How did you find Alpha Efficiency?

Upwork

Why did you select Alpha Efficiency over others?

Company values aligned

How many teammates from Alpha Efficiency were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Graphic design for advertising campaigns. Graphic design for website. Graphic design for social media. All files in illustrator format and available in our storage system.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• All categories of assets needed approved and saved in our cloud system. 
• Constant communication with team lead (Pedro)to establish priorities and goals

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

Projects delivered on time, meetings on demand to address goals and overviews. Communication in two sides, the project management tool and the design tools for direct feedbacI.

What was your primary form of communication with Alpha Efficiency?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

There’s a whole team of experts that chime in when needed. The owner is very involved assuring client satisfaction and the team lead (Pedro) is very aware of deadlines and budgets.

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP Operations of JPAR Franchising

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a residential real estate franchise brand operating in 25 states focused on providing a strong value proposition to our affiliated brokers and agents.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Alpha Efficiency to accomplish?

• Better convey our value proposition
• Increase page conversions
• Improve page speed and SEO

SOLUTION

How did you find Alpha Efficiency?

LinkedIn

Why did you select Alpha Efficiency over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Alpha Efficiency were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Design landing page from scratch, taking feedback into account from various stakeholders. Develop the landing page into a mobile-first, SEO-friendly site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Stakeholder satisfaction with result, website engagement metrics, lead conversion rate.

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

Alpha Efficiency was very timely in their delivery. They also followed up with us if anything was outstanding to move forward. They were very responsive and assigned the right people to the right tasks.

What was your primary form of communication with Alpha Efficiency?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

How nimble they are and how impressive and modern their website designs end up.

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

Everything was great!