James Pellizzi and Company

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner/executive chef at Tuscany Bistro in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

For what projects/services did your company hire James Pellizzi and Company, and what were your goals?

We hired James Pellizzi and Company to establish our web presence by creating a new website for us that includes many features such as Online Gift Card Ordering and Online Reservations.

How did you select James Pellizzi and Company and what were the deciding factors?

James Pellizzi and Company are an all-in-one digital firm from strategy to creative they have it all.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

They kicked things off with a brand discovery meeting to get a feel for our business as a whole. Then they did all the copywriting. After all of that was approved all the beautiful design was done to perfection. To complement the designs, they then brought in their video production team to make videos for our website and social channels.

Lastly, they integrated OpenTable Reservation System and Stripe/e-commerce for our gift card sales.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

4 people. CEO, Account Executive, Creative Director, and Video Production.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We saw immediate results that were shown by immediate reservations, event form submissions, and gift cards sold.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

They were so easy to communicate with. James Pellizzi and Company was very responsive/flexible and tailored everything to our needs.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

That they are an all-in-one digital marketing agency.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is a small but growing non-profit organization working to protect and restore the water resources of Wisconsin's Fox-Wolf River Basin. I am the Executive Director of Fox-Wolf.

For what projects/services did your company hire James Pellizzi and Company?

Our organization connects with a lot of individuals, organizations, business and local units of government in order to advance our mission. As our organization grew, each of our individual staff collected data about their contacts on their own spreadsheets.

It was difficult to know if individuals connected with our organization in more than one way. We hired James Pellizzi and Company to help customize Salesforce to meet the needs of our organization.

What were your goals for this project?

Customize Salesforce to fit our organization structure so that we could utilize the platform to transfer knowledge between staff and better track our contacts and donations.

How did you select this vendor?

One of our staff recommended them. We were looking for a consultant to help us for over a year but had a hard time connecting with firms that did not take the time to get to know our organization and needs. We were happy with the personable service provided by James.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The project started with meetings to get to know our organization, how we functioned and what we thought our needs were. James then outlined how his team could create what we were looking for. We met regularly through the project period.

What was the team composition?

James spearheaded the project and had very capable technicians working on the backend to complete our project. James engaged our team often to ensure the project was moving forward as we hoped.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Our solution will be very valuable to our organization. We are currently in the training stage for our staff. We are excited about the possibilities the solution provides for increasing communication and efficiencies within our office.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

James communicated project timelines and advancements within the project regularly. Often times, it was our organization that slowed down progress. We appreciated James and his team keeping us on track and ensuring that the project kept moving.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They have a fast response time and produce quality work. Very engaging team.

Are there any areas for improvement?

If we were to do it over, we would have not asked for the original tools we were using for online registrations to be explored as options and had the tools we ended up selecting up and running in advance of the contracting to save time and money. Hindsight is always 20/20

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of sales and marketing for a custom plastic profile manufacturer.

What challenge were you trying to address with James Pellizzi and Company?

I was looking for a digital marketing partner.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed and developed our website. They have developed video content for the platform. Now, they’re providing us with a comprehensive SEO program, including keyword research and backlinks. They’ve also created a social media program for Facebook and LinkedIn.

How did you come to work with James Pellizzi and Company?

They listened to my issues and was able to provide solutions to my challenges.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in June 2018 and it’s ongoing.

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

They’ve improved the overall performance of my site. Having worked with multiple digital marketing teams, my expectations are really high. Not only have they met my expectations, but they’ve exceeded them.

How did James Pellizzi and Company perform from a project management standpoint?

They communicated throughout the process. When they aren’t going to meet a deadline, we talk about it. Their open communication has solidified our partnership.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They truly listen, understand my problems, and are able to offer solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any negative feedback at this point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be bashful. Lay out your challenges.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a shareholder at Halling & Cayo, S.C., a law firm. We offer a wide variety of services, primarily focused on litigation or dispute resolution.

What challenge were you trying to address with James Pellizzi and Company?

Marketing for a firm like ours, where the vast majority of our representations are one-time clients, is important. We wanted a firm to help us market to the wide variety of clients we serve.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a comprehensive plan, and we really hoped to build out our database of potential clients. Some of our strategy includes direct email marketing, unpaid Facebook advertising, and paid advertising on Google and Facebook.

All our efforts are designed to drive traffic, form submissions, and current leads. We also do a fair amount of SEO work. Early on, we changed our logo, some of our design elements, and some of our taglines to change the focus and tone of our website and our ads. We've done a number of marketing videos as well.

What is the team composition?

We interact with the owner on a regular basis, and he manages the other people on the team. While we changed some of the brand elements, we worked directly with two other individuals.

How did you come to work with James Pellizzi and Company?

We've worked with several marketing agencies over the years. We had a professional relationship with them early on in their brand journey, so we knew them informally. We really liked their focus on the automated side of marketing, and they presented a logical, analytical way to build out value. They were different from previous experiences, and their plan was unique to our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We're on a retainer of $5,000 per month right now for ongoing services. I'm not sure what our total expense is to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around April 2018, and we're still working with them.

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

They focus on tracking what comes in and where it came from. We've seen a fair amount of revenue, and we recently passed neutral returns on our investment. Our industry has a lot of lag time, so it's common for revenue to move slowly. Four- or five-month lead times are fairly common, and we have a few more months before we can make an accurate quantitative analysis. We're well on the way to seeing this project become revenue-positive.

How did James Pellizzi and Company perform from a project management standpoint?

What attracted us most was their exclusive arrangement with their clients. They only serve a few customers, and they really operate as our marketing department. Our main point of contact is onsite a couple of times a week, and we really don't have to worry about their assignments. We use email and Google Sheets and Docs for documentation. We can keep it fairly low-tech, since they run most of the project themselves.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They show real talent, push things along, and keep us on track. We continue to do the marketing we need to do, and they really care about the results. They get involved and go the extra mile to make sure we're successful. We feel very supported by their efforts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They're a relatively new company, and there have been some growing pains. We pivoted on the focus and the team members a bit, but those kinks will work themselves out over time. We plan to continue the relationship and assume we'll see more improvements.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They don't offer short-term, quick fixes. It's a full look at the company and a long-range plan. Be prepared to collaborate with them for a while to incorporate a full marketing system into your company.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the V.P. of Marketing at Moovila, which is a collaborative project and work management application used by businesses from various industries.

What challenge were you trying to address with James Pellizzi and Company?

As an emerging company, we have to be creative with our resources, and we were looking to outsource our digital marketing campaigns. We hired James Pellizzi and Company because we needed additional support, especially with Pardot, our Salesforce marketing automation system.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started working with them on our landing page optimization and automation rule configuration. After working with the team, we expanded our collaboration and now they are an extension of our marketing team. They handle everything from the development of content and creative to the execution and configuration of the campaigns, including our GoogleAds efforts. For this, they performed keyword research and designed the ads.

This also includes building automation campaigns and targeting certain demographics within our database. Additionally, they continue to advise us on integrating our email campaigns, webinars, conferences, and social media advertising. 

What is the team composition?

James Pellizzi (CEO, James Pellizzi and Company) has built a reliable team. We have worked with web programmers, social media advertisers, and are working with one of his staff members around creating market research surveys.

How did you come to work with James Pellizzi and Company

I read James’ article about configuring Pardot for use in digital marketing and decided to reach out. I was impressed by his expertise on the software and the company’s experience in digital marketing campaigns. The team seemed very knowledgeable about Pardot, and needed that support.

How much have you invested with them?

We began working with them on a contracted hourly rate. Over the past year, we have spent approximately $10,000 with them. However, we’re currently revising our contract so that the company will be held on retainer, in which case we plan to spend several thousand dollars a month.

What is the status of this engagement?

 We started working with them in July 2018, and are still working with them.

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

They were able to execute everything we asked. Using their services is really cost-effective for us—and we can operate more efficiently with the help of his team.

How did James Pellizzi and Company perform from a project management standpoint?

 Most of our communication with the team is through James, and he is very accessible. If we ever need to connect a member of our team with theirs, James facilitates that communication.

Additionally, we have weekly calls that help streamline our collaboration. Before or after these calls, James always sends an email outlining the agenda of the call or what was just discussed. This helps us prepare questions or status updates for him and his team.  For further support, they created a dashboard that we could view at any point, making it very easy to monitor progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by the team’s expertise and their stellar customer service. Instead of having to work with the customer service team at a behemoth company, I can reach out to James and the team and they are able to troubleshoot and resolve a problem immediately.

Are there any areas they could improve?

 Not really, I haven’t seen anything that the team can’t do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend involving James Pellizzi and Company with your holistic marketing strategy as early as possible. If you make them a part of your team, they will prove how valuable they are.