HUEMOR

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the vice president of Gilbert, a design/build company specializing in custom trade show exhibits, exhibition programs, architectural interiors (specifically high-end retail environments), and high-end promotional events.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HUEMOR?

We needed a new website done before rebranding.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our portfolio section is very powerful and has strong filtering capabilities. I would compare it to the Amazon shopping experience, and we’ve actually had to downgrade the filtering capabilities since we didn’t have enough material for it. It was important for us that our website allowed potential customers to almost create a tailored portfolio for themselves based on their interests.

HUEMOR designed a user-friendly way for anyone to go onto the site and filter down to one or more lines of business, industry verticals, or different sizes and types of projects. We happen to be particular, so we were involved with all animations and subtle transitions which occur on the website. They had intricate functionality down to the pixel level. For example, an arrow would bump up against the boundary of a box twice, exactly.

HUEMOR did an excellent job refining the preciseness of the website and making it incredible across all platforms. The website, in our experience, works flawlessly on screen sizes ranging from a 27-inch super display to a 13-inch laptop, as well as on iPads, iPhones, and Androids.

The entire site was done completely from scratch, and in terms of features, the old site didn’t have anything close to the current one. We had a portfolio broken down by line of business with different pages for each. HUEMOR may have adapted a framework to our platform, but we didn’t have anything similar.

What is the team dynamic?

We’re particular and sometimes indecisive. There are many cooks in our kitchen, so the process was collaborative and involved a lot of communication. This included changes late in the game requested by us, but they never complained or refused our requests. HUEMOR rolled with the punches and watched out for our investment.

There were some extra change orders that broke the original scope, which was fine because we understood this would happen. They respectfully came forward and said they could facilitate the changes, but there would be an additional charge. We weren’t nickel-and-dimed, even when it came down to the last minute after solid development process.

There were many revisions as well as design and stylistic changes. It was a matter of both us and them designing everything. We have an internal team, and if they had a vision for something, they would sometimes create a mockup for HUEMOR to improve upon if needed. In other cases, we had no idea what we wanted so HUEMOR gave us great options to choose from.

I only interacted with around 4 people, including 2 principals, but I know they had more people working on the project. Our contacts were stable throughout the process.

How did you come to work with HUEMOR?

We interviewed them in conjunction with some other companies. Some of our employees were familiar with people from HUEMOR, and they seemed to have the right skills. They were a good fit, so we brought them on to do the project.

HUEMOR presented themselves to be extremely knowledgeable, and knowing they were leaders in their field made us feel comfortable. They were highly skilled and gave great advice, even during the interview process. The creativity was phenomenal, vibrant, and engaging. The price was also right.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $40,000 with HUEMOR.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted for about 6 months. HUEMOR quoted us on a 3-month turnaround when we initially started, and I’m confident they would’ve pulled it off if it weren’t for all the changes and delays getting things approved. We started around the end of 2016 or early 2017. HUEMOR has included a period of post-launch assistance and handoffs. If we needed to make any changes or fix any bugs, they would take care of those. So far, we haven’t noticed anything that needs to be changed or fixed, which is a testament to their work. We will also be engaging them for the recommended ongoing support services after this period expires.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t built that many websites, but from leading our internal IT in terms of web and software development, I can say the process is usually difficult. However, our experience with HUEMOR was exactly the opposite. They provided clear feedback, and outlined benefits as well as drawbacks for each approach. They made recommendations while remaining transparent and accessible to the extent I had hoped for.

How did HUEMOR perform from a project management standpoint?

As a vice president, I was able to call a principle of HUEMOR who is my direct contact even during his expansion to a new office in Philadelphia. He was happy to address my concerns over the course of the project. Projects like this can, and occasionally do, turn into nightmares, but with HUEMOR it was nothing like that.

I usually call people, but my team consistently works through Freedcamp. HUEMOR also had InVision in place. Through a series of web-based collaborative tools, we were able to preview the site in its entirety in terms of individual pages and features. We could even markup elements electronically so they could see it, as well as post tasks and changes. HUEMOR was extremely thorough when it came to project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a very young team, but their level of delivered service relative to their demographic was extremely impressive. Service is not a thing which is commonly delivered well nowadays in the B2B environment, but HUEMOR was very responsive, personable, reachable, thorough, involved, and invested in our project. They were comforting to our team in the midst of a very uncertain period for us. Although it was positive in nature, the rebranding we initiated was a big, sweeping change. HUEMOR gave us a high degree of confidence that we were going to come out with something great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their QA could’ve been a bit better. Sometimes when we posted something to the collaborative site, or communicated a change in some way, HUEMOR had developers do it who may not have been local to our main contacts. Occasionally, it seemed as thorough they hadn’t give it a thorough review before signing off on it.

We sometimes felt as if we were conducting QA ourselves. This wasn’t a dealbreaker though, since nothing had been launched yet. Being more thorough in reviewing things before notifying clients would put HUEMOR at a 100% in my book.

I suggest clients be very clear about how the development process will run, even from a hypothetical standpoint. There needs to be a degree of confidence that the people being hired will be responsive, care about the finished product, and won’t simply drop and run to outsourced resources. It’s important to know the team landscape, press the candidate companies about their work styles, and know how they communicate. Communication and expectations are probably the biggest factors in what makes a relationship successful. In our case, HUEMOR met our expectations and delivered exactly what we wanted.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director at a building materials company. We offer quarrying, sourcing, and production of natural stone veneers, landscape stone, and cut stone.

Visitors use our website for getting inspiration, accessing architectural and specification resources, and ordering samples or building quotes. We manage our sample orders and quote requests internally using WooCommerce with manual updates and backend entries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Huemor?

Our company’s website had been outdated for about 4–5 years. Even though the website was functioning and our dealers were comfortable with it, we needed a more editorial look to attract architects and interior designers. We also wanted the website to have e-commerce capabilities. Even though we sell through a dealer network, we wanted to have that capability for the future. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The original website was built by a separate vendor. We chose use Huemor instead for this project because of the e-commerce functionality we wanted for the new website. Huemor had to develop a lot of complex coding because some of our materials are sold by the pallet and weight, while others are sold by square footage. They also had to develop e-commerce for our sample shipping. Huemor also created the “build a quote” feature, which we’ll use if we move to a full e-commerce model, but our dealers aren’t ready for it yet.

On the frontend of the website, visitors can filter materials by the color, tone, and price level and view different project galleries in our Brag Book. I know Huemor had trouble with the filters, especially with the back button. They didn't think it was a major issue, but we did. However, they fixed the issue promptly and explained the situation and solution clearly.

The whole team was easy to work with. Even when they didn't have good news, they worked toward a solution and explained their process. We felt like we could trust them.

How did you come to work with Huemor?

We considered 5 companies before deciding on Huemor. After our extensive online research, Huemor stood apart due to their creativity, tech-savvy, and passion for the UX. We also saw that Huemor had a lot of experience with multiple e-commerce systems, such as Magenta and WooCommerce, and they also had editorial and cutting-edge sites. We conducted extensive interviews and asked about other websites they admired. The aesthetic they chose really aligned with our vision for the new site. We also got a quote from the company that did our original website for comparison.

How much have you invested with Huemor?

Between the maintenance contract and the initial project, I’d estimate we’ve invested about $120,000 with Huemor.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we started working with Huemor in June 2016. We wanted to have the new website done by October, but it took us much longer to upload all of the content because I didn't have much help, and we had to organize our files before we could put them on the site. We ended up launching the website in April 2017. We have a maintenance contract with Huemor to update all of the plugins, and I can reach out to them if an issue comes up.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

Everything on the frontend of the site works well, and we use all the features. We’re already seeing higher traffic and receiving fewer questions about navigation because it's so intuitive. Customers can instantly immerse themselves and focus on what's important to them. Thousands of photos are organized per project and curated in 21 descriptively titled albums. Everything is easy to find through the use of gallery filters and category menus.

I did some web tutorials, but they weren’t needed because Huemor built such an intuitive website. They created a quote feature where people can put in how much square footage they need for the product they’re considering. We had no idea that visitors already knew what they wanted. This gives us more insight into the size and scope of their projects, and we’re getting a lot more detailed quotes. We can forward that information to our dealers and follow-through. On the flip side, we also know about how much we lose if we don't get the quote.

The transition to the new site seemed pretty easy for our dealers. Even though they liked our old website, they figured out what to do.

How did Huemor perform from a project management standpoint?

I worked with 2 developers and an owner, Jeff, who was the project lead. We uploaded a lot of our own content because we had so many photos, and 10–15 other users would log into the backend of the website. Jeff always responded to questions within half a day. I know that Mark, the main developer I was working with, didn't always check his email because he had to work intensely.

What did you find most impressive about Huemor?

I was impressed that they offered to visit our quarry. They traveled from New York to rural Wisconsin to see our location. We took them to a project site that was under construction, and they interviewed multiple people across our management positions to understand and express our culture.

Huemor introduced us to new services through the website, allowing us to use more information from visitors and direct our marketing and sales efforts. Our sales people were using a different chat client before we hired Huemor. After working with their team, we switched to Olark, which has been more useful. Huemor also introduced us to Lead Forensics, which lets us see and follow-up on lead traffic.

Are there any areas Huemor could improve?

The project didn't go perfectly, but when it didn't, the guys at Huemor explained our options clearly. The communication went well for us, but some customers may not like meeting a person at the start of the collaboration and then working with a different person for most of the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the Director of Marketing at a B2B company. Our target clients include private equity, hedge funds, alternative assets, venture capitals, and merger and acquisition firms, so the entire alternative assets market. Our product is essentially a CRM solution for these target segments.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Huemor?

We wanted to do a website redesign. Our old website was not responsive and wasn’t optimized for user flow or SEO. It didn’t properly represent all of our content, and it was also not optimized for lead generation. We were looking for a firm like Huemor to work with us to achieve all those goals.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an existing site, but Huemor pretty much built a whole new site for us. My primary contact at Huemor was Jeff [Co-Founder & COO]. We also worked with Alex for the design portion of the project, and Mark for the development part. Jeff also worked with us on the SEO, and Lindsay [Sales and Marketing] worked with him on that portion of the project.

We wanted a site that could be easily managed and updated in real-time, so WordPress is what we chose. Huemor recommended Pantheon on the backend to manage versions and make sure the hosting is going smoothly. We’re very happy with the current setup.

Our specific challenge had more to do with the fact that we target so many different verticals within alternative assets and asset management. We wanted to make sure people could get where they needed to go based on their profile. We also have a big content portion of our site, and that was something we wanted to make sure was incorporated as part of the redesign. We had a lot of assets, like webinars, blogs, and e-books. We wanted our site to be image-heavy, and Huemor accomplished that. There are a lot of images throughout the site to meet our desire for a strong visual appeal.

We were also doing a completely new brand and logo. Huemor didn’t do that for us, but it was incorporated as part of the website redesign. We wanted a really modern and sleek look, and to bring out the customer testimonials. The unique thing about our website is the fact that, whether it’s thought leadership, product pages, or client testimonials, they’re all segmented by verticals. You can go to our client testimonials page and filter it by private equity, for example.

How did you come to work with Huemor?

I think we initially found them through an online search, and it may have been on Clutch’s site. We spoke to a lot of different firms, and Huemor stood out to us. I thought they really understood the user flow and what we were trying to do.

How much have you invested with Huemor?

We invested in the range of $50,000–$200,000. I think it was reasonable. We had negotiated for more of a flat fee structure, so it wasn’t by the hour.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off the project in September of 2016. The design was finished in December and then started development in January of 2017. The site was launched in May of this year. It was a long timeframe, but we did a lot of testing, troubleshooting, and fixing bugs throughout. We also did a lot of content population, so it took a while. We had a much more rigorous internal testing process than your average firm, I would say.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

They were very responsive and had a very thoughtful approach. I think their team is very talented, especially Jeff. He’s very knowledgeable, and I felt he was a great resource for us.

The quality of their development work is quite high. I think their code is pretty good. I’m not a developer, so that’s really based on what I’ve seen while troubleshooting and testing with them. That being said, we were very involved in the actual testing. If there was anything wrong, we would point it out and ask them to fix it. We were very proactive in managing our communication with them, both verbally and written. I think the fact we were so involved and detail-oriented helped ensure the high quality of the project.  

The design is definitely a vast improvement over our old site. I think the SEO was okay. We did it as part of the website launch, and they were very helpful with questions I had about URL structures and keywords. I’m not sure if that’s their strongest area, but I think the website redesign and development parts were great. They taught us how to use Pantheon too, and really helped our technology team understand how to manage the website. They were very patient and professional throughout.

How did Huemor perform from a project management standpoint?

We invested a lot of resources in managing the project from our side.  For example, we set up weekly calls with them and made sure to follow up with them if we didn’t hear back from them in a timely manner. Jeff was the main project manager. They were pretty responsive throughout. We did have a few hiccups in between when it was hard to get a hold of them, but we addressed that. They introduced us to another project manager in the beginning of the project, but he wasn’t involved. Jeff was our main point of contact. He was super-knowledgeable and managed the resources on his side.

What did you find most impressive about Huemor?

I liked the way we ended up managing bug fixes. They were very organized throughout. They had a professional approach to our website project from the initial design to the development of the site. They managed things on InVision and helped us to visualize what we wanted. When we moved to development, we could check their progress very easily. We used Freedcamp to log all the bugs and figure out where things were. I set up a call with them every other week to go through questions we had. Compared to other website projects, there was a lot of visibility and transparency, which I liked. I had a direct line to their developer for any questions, and that was really helpful.​

​​​​​​Are there any areas Huemor could improve?

Jeff had a lot going on, so it might have helped to have another project manager who had more time to focus on us. The other project manager we met was never involved. Jeff was great, but there’s only so much one person can do. For the most part, they were good at communicating and being responsive. However, there were a few times during development where we had trouble getting a hold of them. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a reseller of used mobile devices specializing in cellphones and tablets. I am the president and founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HUEMOR?

We were looking to develop our own brand and online presence. We also wanted to expand beyond the standard marketplaces that we were already operating in. Initially, we focused on major e-commerce websites, such as Amazon and eBay.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

HUEMOR helped us launch our own brand and website. They came up with the branding, including the logo, color scheme, and graphics. Using that branding, they designed an e-commerce website for us from the ground up. It was a Magento-based website that included some custom functionality. For example, they created a trade-in section on our website, which was integrated into the back-end. Customers can fill out a form online about a device that they want to sell for cash.

We started out with the branding phase. Once the deliverables were complete, they moved on to the UX [user experience] and UI [user interface] design phase. We approved all of those phases. That was an ongoing process, which overlapped with the back-end design phase. It took the bulk of our time because the Magento build is complicated because we had the custom functionality going into that, too. We then tested everything before implementation.

How did you come to work with HUEMOR?

I didn't know much about the industry, so I did a lot of research. I started with a long list of small, medium, and large firms in different locations. I concentrated on New York, but I also included some good ones throughout the country. I looked at their work and asked my team to review that first batch. We needed to see who was the best fit and who had the better capabilities. Then, we narrowed it down to seven to eight firms that we felt would be a good fit. From there, we had initial conference calls and discussions. That narrowed it down to about three or four, at which point we had further in-depth discussions with them. Before deciding on HUEMOR, we actually met with them in person because they were local. After all of those meetings and information-gathering sessions, we made the decision to go with HUEMOR.

How much have you invested with HUEMOR?

We spent $50,000 to $200,000 on our project with HUEMOR.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started around the end of September  [2015] and we launched the website in the beginning of June [2016]. This also included the branding.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

In terms of statistics, I don't know what kind of data point that would be. We've had some sales as we've been wrapping up, so that's definitely a positive factor. We have also gotten feedback from our customers, partners, and people in the industry about the quality of the site. They have seen it, and they reached out to us.

How did HUEMOR perform from a project management standpoint?

HUEMOR was very organized. At the start of our engagement, they provided documentation for the budget, schedule, project phases, and timeline. They followed everything pretty well. In reality, the timeline was a little longer for several reasons. I owed them content, which was probably the biggest reason for the delay. They also had a project collaboration tool where we could send content easily. Everything was tracked with this centralized tool: bugs, issues, and feature requests. HUEMOR had a contact person for each phase. They were very responsive and knew what was going on.

What did you find most impressive about HUEMOR?

We chose them over much larger firms that had multiple teams and may outsource work overseas. One team could've done a great job on a website that you liked, but once you work with a big firm, you could end up being assigned to another team. HUEMOR had multiple teams but they were still small enough to maintain consistency in their work. On the other hand, they were big enough to handle a project like ours. Everyone at HUEMOR really took their job seriously. Anytime I reached out to them for a feature request or a bug, they were always very responsive. Things weren't left in the dust. They were very attentive to what we were looking for and our vision.

Are there any areas HUEMOR could improve?

To be honest, we've only worked with one vendor on one website, so I don't have a reference point. I really don't have any complaints, so I can't think of areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

We’re primarily concert promoters. We have a large digital website, but we’re in the venue concert space, artists’ tours, media, and sponsorships – things like that.

What is your position?

I am the senior director of sales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your main goal when you approached HUEMOR?

We had an old website for our division, and we wanted to update to 2015 standards. We didn’t have the capabilities in house, so we went looking for a developer to handle the heavy lifting.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement?

They are building out our site for us. They’re doing the custom development. We brought the ideas to the table, and they execute and program. We’re getting towards the end of that engagement, but we have not spoken about what we may do after this project. They do an amazing job, we will absolutely use them in the future. We highly recommend them to really anyone but, right now, we’re focused and running late on our end, to try to finish this out.

How did you come to select HUEMOR as your partner?

We did an RFP [request for proposal] process and looked at probably 35 or 40 firms, and were differently impressed most with HUEMOR. We looked all the way from Madison Avenue down to one- to two-person shops, so they definitely stood out, and we were impressed. They brought a lot of enthusiasm to the table, more so than a lot of the others. Maybe it’s just that they were overly professional, but we didn’t get the sense that it was going to flow so easily when it came to collaboration. I mean, we had ideas and some clear goals, but we also needed to be guided through the process. We needed best practices instruction, long-term strategic planning, and some custom solutions.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this engagement?

It was about $20,000 to $40,000.

Do you have a completion date set for the project?

We’re hoping for a late March or mid-April launch [in 2015].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

Everyone that has seen it has been impressed and absolutely loved the functionality. It’s simple, but it looks great. We were able to get the executive signoff, which is not always easy. I was very impressed with the overall management and execution of the project. We came with a significant amount of work, and they built us a new and improved site that’s user friendly and appealing.

When working with HUEMOR, is there anything that you would consider unique about their approach or development methodology that distinguishes them from other vendors?

They’re a smaller shop, but they’re very personable. They’re very knowledgeable. They did an amazing job spec’ing it out and giving us ideas, where a lot of other people just showed up or didn’t put much effort into it. They definitely are transparent and give a lot of effort versus just filling out an RFP.

What advice, if any, would you give a future client of theirs?

I think if they do engage them, they’ll be very happy with what they get. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of risk going into an engagement with them at all. These guys take great care of their clients and really invest themselves in the business success.

BACKGROUND

Could you describe your organization?

We are a home furnishings retailer based in North Carolina and South Carolina.

What is your role position?

I am the principal.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your main objective when you approached HUEMOR?

We traditionally have brick-and-mortar stores. We have three large stores in the Carolinas. We had a website, but it wasn’t designed for high volume e-commerce traffic. So, we had a fair amount of traffic to the site, but our conversion rate was very low due to a variety of issues when it came to transactions and processing correct orders. The website wasn’t fast, and it didn’t allow us to upload our products in a seamless fashion. There just were a lot of challenges with it. It was built on an ASP.NET platform, so we decided transitioning to Shopify was the best route for us to create a long-term business solution. We didn’t have the knowledge or skills in house, so we went looking for a partner to bring us to the next level.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement?

They built everything. We took a vision and they built it into a reality, their team built it from soup to nuts. They provided documentation on all of the processes, but I don’t really have an e-commerce team. It’s really just me. I was working with them as we went through the process, so there wasn’t any formal training, but they gave me plenty of handy documentation as a reference guide. So, if I hire someone new, they can read through the reference guide and figure out how to make it work. Part of the reason we went with Shopify is that it’s easy to maintain for non-technical people. The interface is very intuitive, and it has all of the functions we need to manage and process our orders. We went down the Shopify route as opposed to Magento because of that reason. Magento requires more technical users to scale and customize things down the road, and I wanted to avoid that.

How did you come to choose HUEMOR as your partner for this project?

The Shopify guys had given us their name and said they thought they’re good, both on the design side of things as well as the technical side, and they thought we could work well together. They were right.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this engagement?

It was about $30,000 to $50,000.

What is the status of the project?

The site had a soft launch two weeks ago. They’re still helping me tweak some things. We’re currently discussing how to work together on an ongoing basis for assisting us with email marketing and some creative work. As we collect data on what people like and dislike about our site, we’ll need to make some updates, so we’re in the early stages of discussing how the relationship will look like in the longer term. I’m excited about it.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

Qualitatively, we’ve got a lot of very positive feedback. People have said it is a very clean design, it’s very easy to find the products they’re looking for, and that was what we were hoping to accomplish. User friendliness was key from the beginning. We maintain a large database that has somewhere between 30,000 and 50,000 SKUs [stock keeping units] of rugs, furniture, and various accessories. As you can imagine, with such a large database, if you can’t quickly find what you’re looking for, it’s just a complete waste of time. Between the search functionality and navigation, we tried to figure out what is the best way for users to interact with the site, so in that way we got a lot of positive feedback. We have had a couple diversions during the last two weeks, nothing meaningful but it’s early on. We’ve had a massive uptick of customers coming to the store with printouts from the website looking for particular products. That’s a good qualitative way of saying that it seems to be trending in the right direction. We expect to see even more users as time goes forward.

From a project management perspective, I think they’ve done really well. We took a risk with Shopify, because there’s not a lot of enterprise sites built on that platform. To that end, for them to create what they did required a lot creativity and custom code that we weren’t expecting. They were able to write custom code and make the site work the way we wanted it to work. The price we paid them was fixed bid, and they didn’t once ask for more even though they had to write a lot of unexpected custom code. So, I really respect them for that. They stayed true to their word, and I don’t know a lot of partners that would do that. They invested a lot of time and kept their word. That’s the kind of business partner you want, and want to keep.

When working with HUEMOR, is there anything that you would consider unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

I think one of the biggest things is that they’re problem solvers. We interviewed probably eight to 10 firms before we went with HUEMOR, and I never got the impression that they would take the time to figure out our true business needs, and try to figure out how to make it work. We had a unique project. Their attention to detail and their willingness to keep at it, I think they ended up taking a loss in engineering hours. I feel like a lot of other firms are good in the creative side and lacking in the engineering side, and vice versa, but they’re good at both. That’s obviously a very potent combination in this because you want your site to look good but it needs to be very useable, too. I think they have dedicated, talented individuals in both areas.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think they could improve as a service provider?

No. I don’t think so. We had a lot things come up that we weren’t expecting, so the project ended up launching late. That wasn’t their fault. It was just tougher than we thought because of Shopify. We had a lot of items that had to be organized for the users, but could also be processes as order without any hitch on the back-end. They were able to come through, so I can’t imagine what they could have done better.

What advice, if any, would you give a future client of theirs?

Definitely have a clear goal going into the project, be open to new ideas. I’ve been very pleased with my decision.

BACKGROUND

Could you please describe your organization?

We are in the recognition and awards industry, we provide corporate awards to small, medium, and large businesses, primarily through our online store.

What is your position?

I’m the CMO [chief marketing officer] and COO here [chief operating officer].

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge that you were attempting to address when you first approached HUEMOR?

The challenge was building our brand, telling our story. We’ve been in business since 1952 and our website did not reflect that. We wanted to look like a long-established, thriving business. We wanted to tell our story, our history, and heritage, and we wanted to design an e-commerce website that was compatible and competitive with the big guys on the block.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement? What were their primary responsibilities?

They were taking the lead when it came to designing our new logo, our new brand, and building us an e-commerce site built using Shopify that was totally customized. They did a lot of back-end work. We did a lot of work in-house as far as generating the content, writing the bios, history, timeline, and all of our photos we did for all of our products. We collected and migrated the data, and they built out the function side, the user interface, and custom transaction modules. So, our responsibility was mostly content and guidance as far as what we needed on our site. Their responsibility was implementing the tasks and ideas we gave them, and actually hard coding the new site.

How did you come to select HUEMOR as your partner for this project?

I did my own research online through various top 10 lists of design firms, blogs, and social media. I sought out four companies that I thought were good ones that I wanted to work with. They excelled in a few areas, what set HUEMOR apart for me was their passion and excitement. You can find a lot of companies that know how to use the tools, the various programming languages and can put you up a decent site, but I wanted to find someone who shares our enthusiasm and passion. The whole point was to reinvigorate our brand and really convey our core value. It wasn’t just about moving all our old stuff to a new framework. I like people who are good at what they do, too. When I talked with them, besides checking all the other boxes in terms of their capabilities and creative side, they had an enthusiasm that lacked in other firms. It felt right to go with them, and it’s certainly panned out.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this engagement?

It was about $40,000 in total.

When was this project completed?

Project was completed by the end of January this year, and we just launched yesterday [March 2015].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

One of the big things about our site is how we would use it in house. It totally changed our process of how we handle orders. That is a huge change, the difference between night and day. We went from 1990s to 2015 overnight in the way that we operate here our business. We were literally pulling thick manila folders out of file cabinets for every job that we did. We have an online store so that made no sense to begin with. We knew we had to step it up if we were going to grow realistically. Now, it’s streamlined and all online, so that’s been huge. I get notifications on my phone every time someone places an order. When you see those orders placed, it’s a good feeling, especially when you know it’s entirely automated. It’s easier to track and manage our orders now.

The other thing is, even though we went live yesterday, we noticed already one of the big things was artwork from our clients. We produce a lot of pieces, and getting their artwork when they placed their order was a struggle. We weren’t able to do that for some reason in the past. It would take us a few days up to a few weeks to get artwork for our clients, so orders would lag big time. The orders that came in yesterday, 100 percent of them had artwork. That was one of our goals: to make it easy for our client to submit their information and artwork when they placed their order. It just made sense. So, that was one of the things that stuck out yesterday, all orders came through with artwork attached to it. Goal met.

From a project management perspective, there weren’t any issues on their end. I think a lot of the lags came on our end. We had a lot of content to generate going back 60-plus years. On their end, they were pretty good when it came to meeting our deadlines. They kept us on track plenty of times. So, it was never an issue. It happened on time. As far as their responsiveness goes, I liked working with them. It’s one of those cases where you work on a project with someone for a few months, and they become part of your life. They worked late, and they were available to work on weekends if needed. If something came up, I would send an email, and they would call me, even during the holidays and Christmas vacation. We had conference calls throughout that. So, there were no issues. They were responsive and on time. They were just great guys – all of them.

When working with HUEMOR, is there anything that you would consider unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

I spoke with some big companies in New York with big clients under their belt, and you almost had to audition for them to get them to take you on as a client. It really doesn’t seem like that should be how it is, since we’re the ones with the work and the money. It should feel more like a partnership. With HUEMOR, I don’t know if they like our brand especially or they just thought they could really do something for us, but their enthusiasm was there from the beginning. They’re just a good group of guys. They have an IT [information technology] guy there named Dave who’s just a nut about coding, and he spent a day and a half just making our site milliseconds faster in load times. He was figuring out ways to cut down the load time for hours, really nitpicking the code. That was the level of diligence that all of their teammates brought to the table. It was great.

That’s just something you can’t foresee. You can’t interview for that. You need to have that person on your team who is good at what he or she does. One of the biggest compliments we get on our site is that it’s so fast, the page is there when you go to the site. So, I think they have a good team there, and I think the responsibility is delegated pretty well. Anytime I had an issue, I knew exactly who to talk to. We never missed a beat.

What advice, if any, would you give a future client of theirs before approaching them with a project?

Figure out what you want, but be open to suggestions. It’s always good to bring concrete ideas and objectives to the table, but be prepared to listen to some great suggestions about how to execute your needs. These are creative guys. There were a lot of things I thought I wanted, but there were more important things that I needed; things I hadn’t thought about, because that’s not my thing. That’s where they come in. They bring the technical skills to make your brand interactive. Also, have a goal, have something that you’re passionate about, a mission you want to accomplish. It’s not just about having a flashy site. There really needs to be substance behind it, some kind of vision. So, definitely have an idea as far as that goes, too.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

We are a HVAC service company. We have over one hundred and fifty employees working for The BP Group. Our office is located in Glendale, NY.

What is your position?

I’m the business development manager. I manage both internal and external issues related to the growth of the company. In addition, I play a role in monitoring our marketing assets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenges were you trying to address when you first approached Huemor?

The original goal was to strengthen our company brand internally and develop an even stronger external presence within our industry. We wanted to create a user-friendly and fully functional website to communicate our vision and build a solid online presence. As we got into the project, however, we began to realize that we also needed to improve our platform. We were using legacy systems that were a burden to maintain and operate. We had to decide what the best approach would be to overhauling our online assets, and that’s where we had to seek out external expertise.

SOLUTION

How did you select Huemor as your partner?

It was a combination of research and industry recommendations.

Please describe the scope of their work.

Huemor helped us improve the branding of our four different divisions. They also worked to restructure our content, site map, schema and site performance to improve opportunities for organic search growth. We had them come in and assess our entire platform. Based on their assessment, they recommended that we develop our new site using WordPress. That’s exactly what we did.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

We have built the new website that we had envisioned at the start of this project. As a result of using WordPress, we can now easily manage our website and have the ability to monitor traffic; we can now see that our online presence is growing, and we can even track user interactions across the site. It’s a huge improvement over our previous system, which was becoming more and more frustrating to use.

Specifically, we have seen an immediate growth in organic search traffic and a sharp increase in online leads and phone traffic. Our average, pages-per-visit has increased by 57%. And overall traffic has more than doubled.

When working with Huemor, is there anything that you would consider unique or special about their approach that distinguishes them from other vendors?

Huemor has been fantastic to work with. The project was delivered in a timely fashion and within the agreed upon budget. In addition to their deployment success, they also demonstrated great accessibility, quickly responding to our requests for work, even when outside the original scope. They have been very flexible.

BACKGROUND

Could you briefly describe your organization?

I work for a video production company and camera rental house, based in New York City. We produce content for direct clients, agencies, and anything from Web videos to commercials. We also rent out professional camera equipment.

What is your position?

I’m a partner and manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached HUEMOR?

Basically, we had a website that wasn’t particular exciting or visually compelling. Since we do exciting video work, we needed to have a presence that accurately reflected our values, and the style of the work that we do. We needed something that was very well designed that would function on mobile devices. Implementing a responsive design was crucial for us.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail?

The site was built on Drupal, and performed the visual design and the technical development. They only requirement was that we be able to update the site ourselves in the future. We didn’t want to be tied to a vendor for the long haul. We wanted to be able to assume complete responsibility for the day-to-day site maintenance and upkeep.

How did you select HUEMOR as your partner?

It began with some basic online research. We polled about 10 companies that we pre-interviewed on the phone, and then set up some face-to-face interviews. We reviewed their previous work and capabilities, and HUEMOR seemed to be the best bet. They answered all of our questions in a straightforward manner, and came up with insightful ideas. We felt comfortable with their approach and they just seemed to be the most capable team we approached.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this particular engagement?

We spent somewhere around $20,000.

When was the project completed?

We went live with the site in January of 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the quality of their performance?

That’s not really my area of expertise, but we used to be very well ranked as far as SEO [search engine optimization] goes for a couple of keywords that we are targeting. We haven’t noticed any real drop, and that was also one of the requirements for the project, that we remain highly ranked. The website is much easier to navigate on iPad and iPhone than it was before. We did get a lot of client feedback, and that has been very positive and has translated to an increase in work. We do get a lot of work through our online marketing, and through the website, and we’ve noticed a jump in terms of quality and budget for projects, and the inquiries that we’re getting. Overall, it’s been a huge success. 

When working with HUEMOR, is there anything you’d consider unique about their strategic approach or development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

They’ve delivered all work on time and within budget. They’ve consistently exceeded our expectations. We continue to work with them because they have a great eye for detail, and they’re great problem solvers, very creative. They take the time to really do their research and cater the solution to the client needs, even in a dynamic user environment.

From a pure personality perspective, they’re extremely easy to communicate with and great collaborators. They’re able to bounce back and come up with new ideas or suggestions that we didn’t think of initially. I know it wasn’t a very big budget for them, so I was very impressed that they spent so much time and effort trying to really understand, and come up with something that we would all be proud of. It’s hard to find vendors that go above and beyond without a financial incentive.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think they could improve as a service provider?

No. Not really. Our experience with them has been entirely positive. There might be areas, in fact, but I wouldn’t be able to offer recommendations based on our project. I’m very pleased with the results and their performance.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your organization?

I run a startup veterinary animal hospital in New York City. I’m in the process of opening up an 1,800-square-foot facility in about a month, wherein we’ll offer emergency animal services.

What is your position?

I’m the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges that you were attempting to address when you first approached HUEMOR?

Part of the problem with the hospital where we’re building is that there’s quite a bit of competition in the area. It’s definitely a very dense area in Brooklyn with a lot of people and pets in a small area. There are still a number of options for clients to go to different hospitals. It’s not enough anymore to just offer something different because, at the end of the day, I don’t think you can have too many flavors of something that’s just essentially medicine. There’s something you can do in terms of distinguishing yourself from others, but not so much.

The challenge was how we can present ourselves as being a little bit fresher, a little bit newer, but at the same time exceptionally sharp. We wanted to convey our professionalism while still remaining approachable to pet owners. That newness factor and the freshness factor, as well as the quality factor, has to come across incredibly well. Not just on the website, but into all aspects of the project, including how the physical structure looks, build-out, employees, marketing emails, telephone, website, text messages, marketing, and search engine optimization. All of it needs to be consistent.

Everything has to be very new, very fresh, and very tight. I think what I liked about HUEMOR was that they recognized this. They weren’t going to put together a cookie cutter animal hospital website. It was going to fit with what I thought we needed entering into this very congested marketplace. We’ve really spent the time thinking about the deployment in all of its nuanced detail.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of this particular project in greater detail?

First, I spoke with Jeff [Gapinski], who’s the president of HUEMOR. I explained to him who I was and what it was that I wanted. He asked some very smart questions, and understood what it was that I was looking for. We sat down, and I explained to them what I was thinking in the long term. He refined it quite a bit with me through a process of question and answer. I’m a little older, and these guys are young. To them, the websites that I’m used to seeing are old. They’re into developing and designing dynamic, interactive, and vibrant sites.

The websites that they’re developing use the screen a little differently, almost like social media. This is the way they thought so, in terms of what they developed, it’s a little more personal, it’s a little more intimate. It relies much more on color, imagery, and interaction. It’s not so bulletin board looking. That’s kind of what the goal was, and I think it was already there in their minds about how this would develop. I think they did a good job of it.

As the project moved along, it turned out that they have a couple people that could do traditional print work. I actually had a logo designed for me, and they tried to use it, but it just looked terrible. So, I had them develop a completely new logo for me. The logo was so nice that I had them make stationary for me, too.

They also offered a monthly SEO package, and based on what I’ve seen so far they’re going to do a good job on that, so my online presence will look good. I plan to use that for a while until I feel like I get some traction. I can still see that growing with them. The website will continue to need to be developed, and any enhancements that we need are additional charges. I feel like, as I grow, they’re going to be able to support me.

How did you select HUEMOR as your solution partner?

I was talking to people, and I was learning the wide range of options that were out there if you want to build a new website. I sort of became frustrated that it seemed like it was a little cookie cutter. You could have the simple thing that you help out with. You could have the medium thing, which someone does, but it doesn’t look that great. Or, you can have the uber thing where it’s a whole project. It was a difficult decision.

I was deciding on which way I wanted to go. I was talking with someone I work with, whose sister was interning at the time with HUEMOR. So, I found them through a personal connection. They were a nice startup, and they were young and hungry. It seemed to make sense with what they had developed on other projects.

Could you provide a general cost estimate for this particular project?

That’s confidential, but it’s a fairly large project at this point.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

It’s too soon to be able to provide figures. I don’t have any metrics to see what I’m capturing. Jeff sends me some stuff from Google Analytics, but it’s sort of meaningless to me at this point. I’m a little suspect of those things until I see people walking in the front door, which is the point of the site at the end of the day. We want the site to drive real, tangible foot traffic.

I compare the website to my competitors’ sites, through both Web and my iPhone, and I see that we’ve developed something that’s very different, very unique, and very fresh. I think it’s what I wanted. When I compare them by prices, it’s always been fair and, more than that, they’re just easy to do business with.

I’m so busy with the construction and so many aspects of opening my new business, and dealing with these guys is exceptionally easy. From a project management perspective, that’s also been fantastic. I haven’t had to handhold anyone. It’s hard to put a price on that. That is a big deal to me. They’re also very responsive and attentive. I send them an email and a deadline, and it’s done, no questions asked. That’s a big thing I can cross off my list, I don’t have to worry about it. So, we’ll see about the metrics, but right now it’s too soon to tell.

I definitely get the sense that these guys know their stuff, and are very sophisticated with what they’re using. One of their big selling points is that it’s completely scalable, and they can really build onto it. Many times Jeff said to me that they want to build me something that I can take and do whatever I want with.

When working with HUEMOR, is there anything you’d consider unique about their approach and development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

It’s hard to say because I have such little experience with vendors. I think they really excel in their field of practice, though. I’ve found that everything I’ve asked for has always been delivered and to my exact specifications. There’s a tight timeline, and they meet it. If I have a problem with the website, I’ll email them, and they’ll fix it. That’s the level of service I’ve come to expect from my business partners, and they haven’t disappointed me yet.