Impekable

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

Ultimately, we ended up with barely 5% of the operational capacity that we were planning to offer and are looking at shutting down the business for the moment. For example, they gave up on enabling Bluetooth capability pretty early on, and the backed where customers should be able to log in and see the data of where they are spending money with us looks absolutely nothing like the wireframes that we gave them.

Their platform doesn’t have the capabilities we need and barely provides the functions it does have. We ended up with a marketplace app that doesn’t even have a tracking function, and because of that, we are going to have to spend a lot more money completely redeveloping a whole new platform.

How did Impekable perform from a project management standpoint?

We had meetings and were constantly being updated on what was going on, but the number of missed deadlines was unbelievable. The whole process was supposed to take 6 months, and we ended up launching after a year. Even then, the scope had been scaled down tremendously just to be able to launch the app at all.

At one point they even admitted to us that they were underwater on the project and didn’t even want to develop it anymore. They claimed that they could develop the custom features we originally wanted but quoted us a price at that point of almost $1,000,000, which was much higher than what we could have gotten at a different agency.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Honestly, I wish there were some positive feedback I could give them, but it’s negatives all around. We gave them a lot of ground in terms of giving up elements of the scope in order to launch on time, and even then, they missed deadlines and offered only band-aid solutions to the problems the platform had.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think the biggest step they could take to improve would just be to have transparency around the scope and quoting at the beginning of the project. The wireframes that we offered them were detailed enough that everyone bidding should have known exactly what we needed and how much it would take to build.

It would have saved everyone an incredible amount of money if, when they lost their first project manager the first month in, they had been able to admit that they made a mistake and weren’t going to be able to produce the app for the cost they had quoted us originally. Just explaining that they needed to use solutions that would pigeonhole our capabilities would have put us in a much better position entirely.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Walk through your whole plan incredibly carefully. They have a skillset of knowledge that you don’t have, but it’s up to you to make sure they stick to the milestones you have on a weekly basis. As soon as those start to get missed you have to treat that as an immediate red flag instead of letting it go and letting things snowball into a much larger problem.

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

Based on the user testing, Impekable took a complicated idea and turned it into screens that look simple and easy to use.

How did Impekable perform from a project management standpoint?

Impekable did a great job. They took our rough ideas and dove deeper, showing their understanding of our domain very well. We used a project management tool and Google Hangouts to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to pivot and turn around new ideas quickly stood out to me. In general, Impekable’s customer service was very good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Impekable could do better to leverage their experience with prior clients and get our project started faster. I’d also appreciate it if they were more willing to break out of traditional workflows to work more flexibly with us.

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

My company doesn’t have the skillsets to develop mobile apps or backend systems, so Impekable has now become our trusted partner. They’ve been developing apps for top companies, so they’ve adopted the right processes to deliver fast and stable solutions. They’re currently helping us transition from being a mechanical company to being a software one. Overall, they’ve gained our trust and over delivered on what was expected, so we’re comfortable in escalating our involvement with them.

It’s been a long, six-month journey, but we’re close to the finish line, and we’re eager to get the product launched. 

How did Impekable perform from a project management standpoint?

It has been an impeccable experience—the name of the company says it all. I believe there were five or six product managers involved in some multimillion product lines. There were a lot of strong forces, and it was amazing to see how Impekable’s designers got everything in order and took us close to the finish line. There was a lot of attention to detail in place as well, and they used the right processes for this project. I think they did a really good job of setting us up to be successful. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

This was a huge project, and we’ve worked with not only Impekable but also other developers, designers, and consulting firms. When another team needed them, Impekable was ready to get to work and help out. Conversely, other consulting firms told us we didn’t know what we were doing, which we knew, given that we’re not a technology company. It was amazing to see them help us through this journey. They led us to be successful, rather than have complaints.

They have a proven process to deliver apps on time, and they’re willing to share it with companies like ours. That was important for us to be successful in this project. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were a lot of surprises when it came to billing, so that process could be more refined, especially for a company like ours. We knew what we wanted, but we didn’t know how to get there, and this process ended up being expensive for us. Had Impekable given us a different, better engagement model rather than just an hourly rate, it would’ve been a win-win situation for us. Their engagement model is probably just an hourly rate, but I believe they’d stand to gain from a project-based one.

They’re also too distributed. Most of our organization was done over the phone, and it would’ve been good to have more face-to-face discussions. 

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

We're very happy with the new marketing channel they've set up for us. Impekable's SMS marketing campaign has generated as much as 400% more revenue compared to other efforts.

How did Impekable perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform very well; we've never had any communications issues. We mostly check in through Slack, but I also have their cell phone numbers should I ever need to text or call someone on the team. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their willingness to respond quickly regardless of the time of day sets them apart. They've also been very flexible despite some of our own disorganization and last-minute requests. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There's always room for improvement, but I can't think of anything specific for the type of services we've worked with them on. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We were a bit late in the game to find out all that they offer, but knowing about all of their capabilities can help understand and determine which services will be the best fit.