Encircl LLC

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CRM manager at SerenataFlowers.com. SerenataFlowers.com is an award-winning e-commerce company in the UK floral and gifting space, founded in 2003. It is the ninth most visited flower retail domain in the world and the largest independent flower retailer in the UK. 

Our company is extremely focused on customer experience and has a customer satisfaction rating greater than 90% as measured by the independent survey companies Feefo and Trustpilot.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Encircl LLC?

As an online florist, we rely on emails for business communication, be it reaching out to new customers or maintaining a dialogue with existing customers. The email deliverability was a challenge for us, and we hired Encircl LLC to help us deliver our emails to customers inboxes rather than junk folders.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were: a high degree of inbox placement, improved email engagement, improved domain reputation, and an increase in ROI.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Encircl LLC contacted me as they spotted that a large percentage of our email communication was ending up in our customers’ junk folders. They came up with a proposed solution, which sounded promising and reasonable, and we decided to contract them for three months.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

In the beginning, Encircl LLC questioned me about our techniques, methods, sender behavior, and more. We had regular phone calls to discuss our future steps and summarize what was done and were in touch via Slack as well. 

Then, they provided me with a list of seed addresses to test with and were checking and A/B testing all of the emails, including the html, creatives, and content. We ran our entire email database through their email validator program to see our problematic contacts, which helped us with the email database hygiene. 

We discussed and amended those email segments, and they monitored our Hotmail smart network data services (SNDS)/Google Postmaster Analytics on a daily basis.

What was the team composition?

I worked closely with two deliverability experts and stayed in touch with them on a daily basis. However, I am not sure how many other team members from Encircl LLC were involved in the entire process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our sender and domain reputation highly improved, and our inbox placement went up by approximately 40%, which means that the spam issues were significantly reduced. We noticed higher email open rates and reduced ISP complaints.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The two deliverability experts I worked with were easy to communicate with. We had regular meetings over the phone and communicated using Slack. Encircl LLC  provided monthly PDF reports to show our progress and recommendations for next steps.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Encircl LLC is an expert in their field, and their service provided good value for our money. We were both located in different time zones, however, they were very flexible with phone calls, chatting, and overall communication. Adding on to that, they were very flexible with the length of the contract, which we could adjust depending on our needs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It would have been nice if we could have met face to face; this would have given more of a personal touch to our communication. However, that was impossible since we were located so far away. Otherwise, it was all good.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a self-employed consultant in the healthcare services field.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Encircl LLC?

I was looking to rebrand myself by creating a better online presence through an updated website and blog.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Encircl completely developed my website and created multiple blog entries and other content. This included integrating all the necessary metadata and conducting in-depth research on my industry to make sure the site had the right tags and content.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with their managing director, but I know they also used a number of team members in the United States and overseas.

How did you come to work with Encircl LLC?

I had worked with one of their executives at a previous job and reached out to him to enlist his help.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from June 2017–December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I have had multiple people contact me that found my services through the website that Encircl built, helping garner more business opportunities for me.

How did Encircl LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. Due to some constraints on my end, I was largely hands-off during the project, but they did a great job of making sure everything went smoothly. They would reach out by phone or email on a weekly basis or if they needed certain information from me. The best part about the project was that I didn’t have to be that involved with it and it still turned out successfully.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The amount of background research they conducted into my business area was very impressive. I was also impressed by the fact that they were never slowed down by my inability to work closely with them due to my schedule. There were times that having certain information from me would probably have made things easier, but they were able to finish the project regardless.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing I would have done differently was offer them more information from my end. So no, there was nothing for Encircl to improve upon.

Any advice for potential customers?

The more information you can offer them upfront the better work they will be able to do. I had them doing 90% of the work on this project, and if I had given them even a little bit more material it would have made things easier for them.