Helium Services

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the agency manager at Allstate Insurance for the Rehonic Agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Helium?

Prior to their engagement, I was manually sending handwritten letters to potential customers about how much money we could save them based on previous tax records. It was a time-intensive process that involved printing the letter, scanning a document on top of it, and then printing envelopes. To refine the process and save time, I approached Helium to build an automated marketing software that would let me create and send handwritten letters.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After creating a font that mimicked my handwriting, they developed a software suite that consolidated the three processes into a single program. The software allowed me to upload an Excel file with the client data and used it to produce an overlaid document in my handwriting. From there, I only needed to print the document once and send it.

What is the team composition?

I worked with two developers, one of whom was also the project manager.

How did you come to work with Helium?

A colleague had used them to design a website and recommended them to me. I reached out to them along with other vendors, and Helium was the only one that could understand what I wanted to accomplish. They were willing to tackle the project and have done a great job.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent between $10,000–$50,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work began in November 2016 and is ongoing. They’ve finished the bulk of the development and continue to provide updates as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The software has saved me time and increased my output tenfold. Before, I could only send 1,000 letters a month, but, now, I can send closer to 10,000. The software is reliable, and if there are any issues, Helium generally addresses them within the same day.

How did Helium perform from a project management standpoint?

The project went smoothly, and I had no complaints. They used email effectively to document parts of the process. After every conversation, they always followed up with an email to recap the discussion and ensure that we were on the same page. Even when we met in person, they worked quickly and were very organized.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated their direct communication and speedy turnaround time. They were able to translate my idea into a technical solution and convey it to me in an accessible way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. It’s an ongoing process, but I’m happy with the product so far. As we get more people to use the software, I expect the process to continually change and look forward to working with them in the future.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them to handle the technical aspects of the project. In the beginning, I was certain that I knew exactly how I wanted my product. However, there were some areas that didn’t translate well into the technology, so they needed to handle it themselves. It was hard for me to give up that control, but, in the end, the software came out better than I envisioned.