Brick & Monitor

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is a commercial real estate brokerage firm, and we specialize in self-storage facilities and helping sellers sell their properties. I manage everything involving marketing whether that’s the website, external marketing, public relations, and similar things of the sort.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brick & Monitor?

We came to Brick & Monitor to essentially upgrade our website as we had a lot of upgrades we wanted to do. Our website was on Hubspot and it didn’t allow for a lot of things we wanted to do such as automation.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The range of services that Brick & Monitor essentially delivered were website and automation development. The website is responsive to mobile devices, and the backend allowed me and other people to easily manage it without having to understand more complex languages such as AP and JavaScript. In addition, they also implemented automation from our Salesforce to our website, and improved our SEO.

Moreover, I gave them the freedom to design the website to see what they could come up with, and we only ended up needing to tweak a few things. They also changed some of the content for branding purposes. They also used Elementor to simplify and streamline the management of the website, and suggested MonsterInsights to get a better understanding of what our clients or visitors want.

We’re set to finish the development soon, and they’re going to train us on all of the elements of the website, and hand over our Zapier account so that we can change anything if necessary.

What is the team composition?

From start to finish, we only had two people working on this project. We had a project manager who conducted the management of the full project plan, then we work directly with Brian (Principal & Director) for the entire development and execution of the website.

How did you come to work with Brick & Monitor?

I talked to quite a few different companies to figure out who I wanted to work with. We reached out to Brick & Monitor, and I was immediately impressed with their ability to do what they said could, and what they’ve accomplished — so I chose to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The entire price of the project is $10,000, and we’ve roughly paid $8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started partnering with them in January 2021, and it’s still ongoing.

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

We’ve had significant improvements and very few issues with the connections and automation, so the quality of the work they provide is really good.

How did Brick & Monitor perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, they’ve been good. The only thing we ended up struggling with was the project took longer than originally intended — and I don’t know if it’s necessarily their fault. They manage the project using Asana, and we typically communicate over email and phone. In addition, they're very responsive and very easy to connect with. There's hardly ever a 24-hour period that they don't get back to me. If they can't talk or are in a meeting, they’ll let us know and get back to us as soon as they are able to.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What makes Brick & Monitor stand out is their ability to understand, communicate, and deliver on what's requested. We didn’t anticipate them to know about website development, but the extent of their knowledge and getting things from one thing to another is really good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had one hiccup when we set the go-live date of the website, which was also the day they went on vacation. We had an issue that day, but Brian was out of pocket, and we really needed them to get something back up. It wasn’t necessarily their fault, but I guess it would’ve been good to figure out a way to manage personal time with the go-live date, because that’s such an important piece.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say to just be organized as possible whenever you’re communicating the things you need. That's one of the things that's very helpful in our relationship. They're able to manage the feedback a lot clearer and more effectively, because we don't have to go back and forth in trying to understand what I mean.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a principal at a Washington DC-based real estate development firm.

What challenge were you trying to address with Brick & Monitor?

We needed help building a new website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed and developed our new WordPress site, from conception to full custom backend work.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–3 people from their team.

How did you come to work with Brick & Monitor?

We knew that they worked with another company, similar to ours in a different market. We liked the work they did for that group and reached out to them directly. They’re a small shop, so it felt personal. It was nice to have direct contact principal to principal, and that definitely led us to choose them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?           

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

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

We’ve gotten very positive feedback so far. It fits our brand very well, and we’re happy with that.

How did Brick & Monitor perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. The team was very organized and stuck to the schedule.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a very high-touch agency and you get a lot of personal attention. There’s definitely no ego, which is great. The team is open to feedback and suggestions. Additionally, they have great taste, so we knew we could trust them to come up with something we’d be happy within the end.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have done better in outlining what content the client needs to put together upfront would have been beneficial.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to get on the phone with Brian (Principal & Director, Development) and have a one-on-one conversation. If you share your vision and set expectations with him up front, your site will turn out great.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Communications for a private family grantmaking foundation.

For what projects/services did your company hire Brick & Monitor?

We hired Brick & Monitor for a website overhaul. We wanted to refresh the aesthetics of the site while providing a more streamlined user experience that would make it easier for grant applicants to navigate the site.

How did you select Brick & Monitor?

We considered 5 nationally recognized firms.

Describe the project in detail.

Concept, strategy, development, and post-deployment support were all a part of the project. I contributed, guidelines, a new menu layout, text, and selected images to be used for the site.

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

We've received great feedback from grant applicants and nonprofits that the site is easier to navigate.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective workflow.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Responsive to all my inquiries, quick turnaround when requests were made, and great understanding of concepts and best practices.