Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?
We just finished the website last week. We’re now taking the time to look at every word, so we’re in a final edit. We launched it on April 6th, because I had an event that I wanted to show it at. We put it out there, but I've not made an announcement even to our membership yet. Aside from the board and a few of us here, no one actually knows there’s a new website out yet.
There’s feedback on liking the new redesign. In fact, one website member happened to look for our website because he wanted to start promoting his website and start doing some cross-referencing. He emailed me and said, without any prompting because we haven't let anyone know that the website is out there, “This website is stunning. I saw your website, and it is top-notch and first-class. I look forward to working with you.” It was a very nice compliment. He said it had a lot of information in it, and he used the word stunning.
How did Curotec perform from a project management standpoint?
In fact, it reaffirmed our reason for going with them. There were four companies that were all top-notch. But from the discussions that we had with Curotec before we signed the contract with them, I felt that this was a company that not only got what we did, but understood that our needs might change along the way. They were always telling us “Whatever you need from us” or “Whatever is going to work for you.” And that's the way the whole timeline panned out.
We got to the point where we were having monthly conference calls. There was always work that was sent to Google Docs, and then we would have knowledge that a new piece was there and go look at it. This was not daily. Several times a week, we had emails from Curotec letting us know what changes had been made, where to go find the changes, or questions about what we had asked for. It was constant communication.
They were always extremely professional and always understood what we needed. They were great at making suggestions that, if we had an idea, why that might not be the perfect way to have something out there on the web. For instance, if we wanted to put up some type of page, it was always stressed that people don't spend a lot of time on each individual page. It was really a learning process for us of what was going to work and what was not. But they were always very professional, very willing to listen to what we needed, and figuring out a way to make it work for us.
What did you find most impressive about Curotec?
They know what they're doing. In a nutshell, I have complete confidence that what we've produced is going to get the results, which is we're going to be able to get our word out there better than we ever had before. We're going to be able to show why we're better at certain products or services that we offer than our competition. I think, more than anything, that's what the website accomplished. That was Curotec because obviously we don't know how to design a website. They're just extremely good at what they do. We're looking forward to the member portal. Our member portal is so antiquated that some of our members don't even want to use it. So we also think this will be a bump for us as far as usage by our members.
Are there any areas Curotec could improve?
Honestly, I can't think of any criticisms. I would tell you if I did, but I can't think of something that bothered us. There were three of us that worked consistently with Curotec. I don't think there was a time that any one of us felt that they weren't listening to us. They were always conscious of our timeline and when we wanted things to get done. I really don't have any complaints.
What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Curotec?
There are other companies out there that can certainly do what we wanted them to do. But more than anything, it was the relationship that sold us. With the other companies we talked to, a lot of them had a very beautiful product, but there was not so much of a give and take of ideas. If you're looking for someone that's really going to listen to you and not sort of tell you what you should be doing, I think Curotec would be the right decision.
Impressing the internal team, the new product designs are notably more sophisticated and clean than older versions. The team stayed on top of the project by prioritizing effective communication, ensuring that all parties stayed on the same page. They largely managed themselves.