Out of the Box Advisors

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of L&L Traders. I make Disney-inspired earrings as a hobby business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Out of the Box Advisors?

I was able to create a basic website, but I needed support implementing Google Analytics and admin features.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Based on our conversations, they identified my frustrations and came up with a plan to increase the site’s speed and page views. He focuses on our Google Analytics for the business. 

What is the team composition?

Ryan (CEO & President) is my main point of contact. 

How did you come to work with Out of the Box Advisors?

We’d been acquaintances, so we decided to work together after our conversations. I let him know I didn’t have the time to develop my website further and Ryan offered to help. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2019 and our engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re definitely getting more views on our website from people searching us organically on Google. More people are using my website since we started the engagement. 

How did Out of the Box Advisors perform from a project management standpoint?

The process is very easy. If I have a question or need something, I can email or call him. I usually hear back within an hour, and if he’s busy, we’ll set up a time right away. He’s easy to get a hold of and I’m never afraid to reach out. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m not super tech-savvy, but even if I think I have a silly question, I feel like I can always reach out. I’d rather be creating my jewelry and their support lets me focus on that part of my business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing to improve. I hope we can continue working together in the future as I get more business. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Find the point of frustration that takes up your time, and reach out to them. It’s 100% worth it. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an internet marketing company that uses the power of the internet to help your business grow by finding a unique marketing formula for your unique business. We know that you’re passionate about your business. That’s why we offer solutions customized to fit your unique business needs, goals, and expectations. Whether you’re searching for a partner to manage your online presence or a full-service digital marketing company to design and boost your website to the first page on Google, we can create a package just for you. Fill out the form below for a free consultation, we look forward to speaking with you! I am the President and Founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Out of the Box Advisors?

Ryan at Out of the Box Advisors is a valuable resource for my business in that he has worked with improving many businesses' processes. Ryan is helping our company (and potentially some of our clients) implement a great lead nurturing strategy in our CRM.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of our project with Ryan were to nurture valuable leads that can turn into business for our company.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I met Ryan at an event in August 2019. He is a great guy, very professional, and super knowledgeable. When you bring Ryan on board, you're bringing in a new team member who cares deeply about your business and its success.

Describe the project in detail.

Once Out of the Box Advisors was selected, we began discussing our goals with Ryan. He guided and continues to guide us through some of the lead generation strategies he's built over his career for clients. This includes guidance on creating a lead gen pathway of emails to nurture leads. This is a new service we are adding to our business so Ryan was invaluable in his knowledge. I love collaborating with Ryan as we can share best practices we've both used for improving our clients' businesses.

What was the team composition?

Ryan worked and works directly with us to ensure the strategy is its best.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still collaborating but I am loving the direction of the strategies we are building together. Out of the Box Advisors also have a wealth of contacts that they can share with clients to further improve their business.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We worked with the owner Ryan so the workflow was seamless.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Ryan is a great leader and extremely knowledgeable in his field as a business coach. He is passionate about your business and genuinely cares about your success.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I've seen.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the executive assistant to the owner of a recycling company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Out of the Box Advisors?

Initially, Out of the Box Advisors was brought on to help our marketing push to cement ourselves as a recycling facility in the city and further abroad.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They essentially came to understand how our business operates and every other aspect of being a recycling facility. From there, we worked on how to educate our employees who deal directly with customers on being personable and acquiring contact information for our customer list.

Out of the Box Advisors provided analysis of our business model and how it compared to our competitors and then expanded into our digital marketing and social media presence. Their team drove initiatives like promotional giveaways and helped plan posts and respond to customers as part of our larger effort to increase engagement.

What is the team composition?

We had one main point of contact with whom we communicated throughout the engagement, but my understanding is that there are more people on the team.

How did you come to work with Out of the Box Advisors?

I had collaborated with them briefly at another company, and I really liked the way they operate. They were personable and genuinely did go out of the box to meet you where you’re at in order to be the most successful. As a company with the limitations that a recycling facility has, that was important to us, so we decided to work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from about January 2015­–May 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I think our success was demonstrated in the response that our campaigns had. We were able to move up to the top in a lot of our targeted search results. Eventually, the owner sold the operation’s assets to a national company, and I think the project really contributed to getting their attention.

How did Out of the Box Advisors perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very responsive throughout the project. Whether we were having a conversation over email or text or just needed to call them about anything, they always responded right away.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re extremely personable. The whole team goes out of their way to make your job easier as by allowing you to focus on what your business does best.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was never a time where they didn’t deliver exactly what we asked of them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be honest. Let them know what your challenge is and where you’d like to be, and they will come up with a solution.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner of a residential construction company along with my husband, who is the contractor. I help him with a lot of things around our business, including bookkeeping and implementing various business growth strategies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Out of the Box Advisors?

We had more work coming in than we could handle, and it seemed like we didn’t have a direction. Instead of just making money, we wanted to grow our business and have a clearer direction, so I was looking for a business coach.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Out of the Box Advisors has helped us set up procedures so that we can operate more seamlessly, implementing various strategies to stay engaged with our clients in a more efficient way and giving us an all-around direction to improve all aspects of our business.

For starters, Ryan (CEO & President) has been advising us about our website to have an established online presence so that people are able to find us. He has also helped us put out all the right information for the kind of work that we do, and we’ve been working on ways to generate more leads through our website.

Ryan has also been working with us on job completion tracking, seeing how long our jobs take and which ones are more complex than others so that we can narrow down our focus. Additionally, he has helped us set up our KPIs and standard operational procedures (SOPs), so we now have an established system to do certain parts of our work, such as hiring someone, tracking performance, or completing a job.

Finally, he has helped us stay in contact with our clients, sending out emails to keep them updated about their construction projects and notifying them of possible delays.

What is the team composition?

We just work with Ryan, who is our business coach.

How did you come to work with Out of the Box Advisors?

There’s a group on Facebook where people ask for recommendations on different businesses and services in the Charlotte area. In there, I asked for a business coach and got a lot of responses. I went through every response and evaluated what they were offering. Among those responses, Ryan reached out to me, and he was very nice.

I had my mother in hospice care at that time, so being with her was my main concern. Ryan was one of the few people who frequently checked in with me throughout that process, so that was one of the main reasons we connected.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend around $1,000 per month for unlimited business consulting support. However, we paused during July and August 2021 due to COVID-19.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we started working with Out of the Box Advisors, I’ve seen a difference in my husband’s thought process about our business, which has helped him stay more focused and optimistic about it. Additionally, we were getting a lot of tire kicker leads that were just wasting our time, but they’ve helped us work around that and find strategies to get more useful leads. However, most of our efforts are a work in progress, so I don’t have any concrete piece of evidence to back the impact of their work.

How did Out of the Box Advisors perform from a project management standpoint?

Ryan is very open-ended on his availability, and he makes himself available when we need him. We meet with him weekly, either in-person or over Zoom, and we can also call, email, or text him with any questions at any time. Our meetings aren’t timed, so we can talk until we’re done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Out of the Box Advisors is very knowledgeable about how businesses operate and what issues do they face. Thus, Ryan has been able to advise us on all different areas of our business.

As their name suggests, they’re great at coming up with creative ideas that give us a sense of direction. We find their advice helpful, and they allow us to see the full picture.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive feedback at the time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the President of Coleman Service & Supply, a warehouse space optimization company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Out of the Box Advisors?

Ryan helped get my website off the ground, optimize our SEO, and also assist with sales strategies.

What were your goals for this project?

To be found online by one or more markets in the Charlotte, NC area.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Recommended by on of their satisfied clients.

Describe the project in detail.

Ryan provides a service similar to a fractional CMO for us.

What was the team composition?

Ryan

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Not enough time yet to realize ROI.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Good

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We're most impressed with how much knowledge and experience their team possesses.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None