Peabody Communications — Out of Business

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing at Guaranty Home Mortgage Corporation, a third-party loan origination (TPO) business. We have a two-pronged approach at Guaranty; we are about 98% TPO and 2% retail. In Tennessee, we have a retail presence, for which we have a B2C site.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Peabody Communications?

Peabody helps us in various ways to facilitate and execute our marketing plan. We have utilized them as such to build a new website for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re currently using Peabody for web development services, and we’ll be transitioning into digital marketing services soon. They built a new B2B site on WordPress for our TPO line of business. 

Within the site is some functionality; it takes the user from our site into our loan origination system (LOS) so that they can go behind a wall and do business. The site is searchable through all search engines, so any consumer or individual can land on it. 

There are services and messages on-site that anyone can see, but once users log in to the system and put in a certain number, they are redirected to our LOS, which is proprietary.

Peabody has done other smaller projects for us, but the website has been the main project.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people from Peabody. We had a project director, and then there was a man behind the curtains who was building the site. One of their designers worked on the design element. The developer also worked on the design; he was very multifunctional and very good.

How did you come to work with Peabody Communications?

I have known a few people from Peabody for some time, so it was relational. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the engagement in August 2020, and their portion is 99% complete and under review by the compliance department. Whatever comes of it now is driven by Guaranty from a compliance perspective. Compliance has to review the site. Then, I’ll share any feedback with Peabody. We’ll make those changes and be ready to soft launch very soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From an anecdotal standpoint, they have met every deadline, timeline, and standard that has been set. Moreover, expectations have been exceedingly met. From that perspective, we couldn’t have asked for a better experience from our end in working with Peabody.

How did Peabody Communications perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has certainly been on point. As I said, every timeline and metric has been met. When deliverables were expected, they were met, and expectations were exceeded at that time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the best drivers of Peabody is project management; the project manager is persistent, which is good because you have someone that will push to meet those deadlines and goals. They will over-communicate, which is good as well. 

They listen, they’re flexible, and they bring ideas to the table. They’re great at working up various solutions and workarounds. From a business perspective, they’re very solution-oriented. time-conscious, and easy to work with. They hit those metrics very well — we’ve just been exceedingly pleased with their performance.

They’re a wonderful group to work with, and I could not recommend them more to other businesses. Any business would be fortunate to work with the Peabody group because they’d have the best experience and really get the return on their investment.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think that they’re in a growth phase of building out their team. From that perspective, everyone has opportunities for improvement, and they’re addressing those by expanding their team.

I think they’re doing the right things to continue on the growth trajectory that they’re on. We look forward to partnering with Peabody on many projects in the future.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

One of the best drivers of Peabody is project management. The project manager pushes, which is good — you need somebody who will push to meet those deadlines and goals. They will also over-communicate, which is good as well.

They’re very persistent, efficient, and timely. They communicate very well and are very driven to meet deadlines and things, which is helpful to the client business. I think Peabody runs a very, very tight ship. It’s been a great experience.