Propeller

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Plastic Surgeon at Rajiv Grover

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Medical clinic specializing in Facial Surgery with experience, artistry, and compassion.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Propeller to accomplish?

• Create a beautiful user friendly website
• Ensure that the website performed as well as it looked

SOLUTION

How did you find Propeller?

Referral

Why did you select Propeller over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

What was the size of Propeller’s team?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

My brief was to design and develop a user-friendly beautiful-looking website that expressed the DNA of my brand and gave a luxury UX for desktop and mobile viewing. Equally important was the performance of the website it should be built with SEO in mind

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• That it met my exacting standards
• That my clients found it user friendly and high end in appearnace
• That it performed well on SEO

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

My project manager was Megan. She was outstanding throughout the whole process and delight to work with. Nothing was ever too much trouble and she was pleasant and enthusiastic to work with, to the extent I feel sad I don't have our regular meetings to look forward too. I have therefore requested she is in charge of my SEO moving forwards so I can enjoy the continuity.

Everything was delivered in a timely fashion, and the design inspiration from Gavin, who is the chief designer at Propeller, really made this website exceed my already high expectations. I really can't thank them enough, especially Megan, and if anyone is looking for the best of the best in web design - you just found it!!

What was your primary form of communication with Propeller?

Virtual Meeting

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

Propeller and especially Megan King and Gavin the chief designer totally got under the skin of my business to understand me, my clients and my needs. Quite a lot of time was spent curating the look and this set the tone for an outstanding outcome. Their friendliness and enthusiasm can not be beaten, and they looked after me just as they would want someone to look after their own business.

Web design requires creativity and working in an industry where aesthetics matter they have come up with a look which is entirely unique and can not be copied easily elsewhere. I couldn't have asked for more, in fact they delivered much more than I asked for!

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

I cant think of any possible improvements Propeller could make. To me Propeller are the gold standard to which the industry should aspire to achieve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

JW Lees is a leading independent brewing and hospitality business, running pubs, inns and hotels. My role was leading the marketing strategy and team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Propeller, and what were your goals?

To build and maintain 40 websites with online booking for tables and bedrooms. To integrate a customer CRM platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We did a three way pitch and ROI analysis based on a growth forecast delivered by Propeller. We also spoke to their customers for referrals.

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

Initial opportunity analysis based on our current performance Vs. benchmarks in the industry. We agreed a scope of works and then liaised with our operators to refine plans to meet their business objectives. A project and roll out plan was agreed. We were working on four templates so focused on one first.

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

We worked with the Customer Director, Account Associate Director, Account Manager, Account Exec. All of the dev contact was handled by Propeller internally.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We saw a 50% increase in traffic. Our year 1 conversion to booking was 150%. The investment was self funding in 24 months. The quality of the websites was excellent. UX and aesthetics were industry leading.

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

Propeller bring hospitality expertise as well as their digital acumen. They are passionate about their customer's projects, they see and share the same value in the improved performance. They are all skilled project managers. They believe in regular informal contact, regular management meetings and quarterly strategy meetings on top of occasional socials. Timelines and gantt charts are regularly reviewed to manage the pace of projects. Monthly reporting is provided to show performance.

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

Delivering. Delivering 100% on everything they said. Sharing the challenge, they were an extension of the marketing team.

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

No. The roll out, execution, and project management were outstanding.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Senior Digital Marketing Manager for Young's & Co. Young's is a pub and hotel company, operating over 200 pubs in the south of England. I head up the digital team, which forms part of the wider marketing team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Propeller, and what were your goals?

Propeller have been a long-standing supplier of Young's, so were already on board before I joined the company. The original scope they were hired for was to develop our websites, but over the years the partnership has progressed and covered all aspects of digital marketing.

Most recently we are working on a project with them to re-platform all our websites onto a headless CMS.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

They have proved to be very reliable, knowledgable and creative over the years we have worked with them. As a business we trust their expertise and there was no question of using anyone else for this project.

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

Migrating websites from existing platforms on to headless. This included a complete re-design of the templates, bringing in new functionality and future-proofing for further developments. 

We started with a discovery phase, identifying pain points from all stakeholders, what our objectives for the new sites were, and what we liked about other website designs that we'd like to incorporate into our own sites.

We then moved into the wireframe stage, followed by design and then build.

We had a project manager ensuring everyone kept to timelines throughout the project.

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

Account Manager, Account Director, Project Manager, Lead Designer, Development Team, Technical Director, CEO.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

No measurables so far about this most current project, but more generally we have been very pleased with other projects we have worked with Propeller on. We have run very successful paid campaigns with them across Google and social. We have also worked on several SEO projects, significantly improving our Google ranking.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. We use Basecamp as a means of communication, with weekly scheduled calls.

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

As I only joined Young's 18 months ago, I was very impressed with the long-standing relationship Propeller had with our business. They really know our business and our pubs inside out, more so than other agencies I have worked with in previous roles. The understand the expectations and objectives not just of our digital team, but also of the senior leadership team and the business as a whole.

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

Not really. There are always small things you might do differently on any project with the benefit of hindsight. But overall I have been very pleased with all projects we have worked on together.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner and CEO of Steyer Content. We create content (technical content, marketing content, research content, etc.) for a wide range of clients in the enterprise tech sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Propeller, and what were your goals?

We hired Propeller to introduce some outside thinking and some extra capacity to the task of rebuilding our website. All of our existing webdev talent was deployed on client engagements; also, we knew we'd benefit from the remove/perspective that newcomers to Steyer could bring.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed a number of firms and based our final decision on their portfolios and the individuals who participated in the pitch.

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

A customized WordPress website--not too heavy on functionality but we wanted it to have a distinctive look and feel and integrate with our ATS (Applicant Tracking System).

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

4-5. There was an account manger, a project manager, a designer and (behind the scenes) 1-2 developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We felt comfortable launching our site--which was a big deal because, as a content company ourselves, we weren't going to go live with anything that gave us misgivings. We've also received excellent feedback from clients and candidates since our launch.

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

In general, Propeller was excellent. In the very early days, we experienced some churn in terms of project managers but, after a bit, that was sorted out and everything began to go more smoothly. Propeller's team is filled with talented people who care about their clients and aim to deliver against the brief--even when it's a tricky one.

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

Creative design. Too many websites look cookie-cutter. Propeller was willing to work with us to get to something that really reflects Steyer's distinctive personality as a firm.

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

A bit more communication in the early days around team changes--that's really it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Hall & Woodhouse are a family brewer & pub company based predominantly in the South of England. I am Head of Digital & Marketing Communications, working for the pubs side of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Propeller?

Propeller created our managed pub websites for us, and continue to be our digital agency for all things web-related.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

They were innovative, and we got the sense we would work well together - which we do!

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Propeller set up our websites for our managed pubs before my tenure began at H&W. Since I joined the business around two years ago, we have fulfilled a range of projects with Propeller - including re-developing our booking API, new website template development and some technical SEO work.

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

Hannah has been our Account Manager for some time and she is highly regarded by the team here at Hall & Woodhouse. We also have worked with Richard, Megan, India & Lorena, Gavin, Rhys & Nick. So we feel we know the Propeller team well and they understand our brand.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been delighted with our new API, as an example. It's converting more guests and simplified the booking process.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very good - Hannah has always been incredibly timely and supportive - and I feel we sing from the same hymn sheet in terms of prioritisation.

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

They are an innovative and excellent web agency, but I think what sets them apart are the people. Easy to talk to, and always approachable.

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

At the moment, we are more than happy with our service from Propeller.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior marketing and communications manager at Boy Smells. I handle everything from organic and paid ads to social media and email campaigns. I also work directly with our website. We have a relatively small team of 15 people. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Propeller?

We’ve worked with Propeller on various projects mainly for improving our customer experience and making it more feature-rich. Specifically, they’ve helped us with our website relaunch campaign and digital rebrand initiatives. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For our website redesign campaign, Propeller has worked on front- and backend development tasks. The team has led the design elements, while our creative director has done the bulk of the design templates. They’ve built those templates into the site’s backend, bringing our required features to life. We use Shopify Plus to build the website. 

Moreover, the team has handled the entire project management and scoping aspect of the engagement. Their resources have worked on everything from site reorganization and information hierarchy to cart experience and product pages. 

Beyond that, Propeller also does research on our competitive landscape, helping us see what other people are doing and how they’re powering things. Then, we see how we can bring those things into the features that we want to bring to life. While much of the content comes from our team, their resources have also worked on presenting the content with design elements. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with about five people from their team, including their managing director and designers. We don’t directly work with their developers, however. 

How did you come to work with Propeller?

Propeller was recommended to us by a business partner. We chose to work with them because there was a great culture fit between our teams. They were also accommodating, and they felt like an extension of our team. That was the start of our engagement. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $75,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2019, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen significant improvements in our conversion rates and website visitors, helping us achieve stronger market performance. The website is also now more feature-rich and has faster load times. On top of that, we’re more effectively capturing new leads from our home page; this rate has also increased dramatically year over year. Overall, all of our e-commerce statistics have increased across the board.

How did Propeller perform from a project management standpoint?

Propeller’s project management has been great. They’re on top of everything, especially in terms of setting realistic expectations and pivoting their work whenever necessary. In terms of tools, we mainly rely on shared documents and Google Suite. We also use emails and regular calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They work as if they’re an extension of our team. They’re super responsive and reachable, and the team is invested in our project — they truly want us to accomplish our goals. Apart from that, their resources are willing to go the extra mile for us, especially when things get messy or timelines change. Simply put, they support us in the best way they can. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

During the scoping phase, our teams bit more than we could chew in terms of what we thought we could accomplish together. We underestimated the complexities of the project and had to learn about them along the way. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be highly transparent about your internal priorities. This will allow Propeller to make strong recommendations on how they can do the work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the owner and CEO of London Cosmetic Dentistry. We’re a dental practice and have a high percentage of workers in the cosmetic dental field. Otherwise, it’s a high-end general family practice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Propeller?
My focus is on dentistry, so I wanted to bring on a partner to handle my website. We brought them on to provide web design and development services.
 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
They’ve designed four websites for us. At the beginning of the engagement, we had many meetings so Propeller could understand our needs and requirements. We wanted them to get the feel and culture of our practice. Our team explained the procedures we do and gave them the photographs to use.

We’ve left all the design and wireframe efforts to them. Their team worked with the person who handles our PR in order to get the verbiage correct for the explanations of the dental procedures. Our team provides our input if anything needs to be tweaked. 

What is the team composition?
We work with two main points of contact. Their CEO is also on hand if we have any questions or queries.

How did you come to work with Propeller?
Our previous PR company referred Propeller to us.

How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested around $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing engagement started around January 2008.
 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 
After this most recent website revamp, our appointment books have been filling up. Business is improving, and the buoyancy of our practice is excellent. That has a lot to do with the website. If I ever had to do this again, I’d go straight to them.

They’ve been fantastic from the beginning, in every iteration they’ve done. Propeller has held our hand through the entire process. They provide regular feedback and statistics on how the website is performing. There’s no question about going to any other vendor. We always go straight to Propeller.

How did Propeller perform from a project management standpoint?
Project management is going well. Their team is very responsive. We’ve never had to follow up with them. Our teams usually communicate through email or Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?
We’ve found that other dental practitioners tend to copy our website because of the way Propeller has designed it. That gives me comfort that we’re doing the right thing. We tend to be just ahead of the game in this field. Propeller has been absolutely amazing; they really understand the brief.

Are there any areas they could improve?
No, there isn’t any improvement needed. I’ve never been called upon because we haven’t had any issues.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Leave it to Propeller. They know what they’re doing.
 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Design for Freestream Aircraft, an aircraft design, engineering, and brokerage company.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Propeller?

They developed a brand-new website and helped us rebrand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In addition to developing our website, they did graphic design and rebranded the documents we use for advertisements and client outreach.

What is the team composition?

I worked with five people on their team.

How did you come to work with Propeller?

A client of ours gave provided a reference for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000­–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since February 2020 and they continue to maintain our site.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their work is amazing. It’s very cutting-edge, but the design is timeless. It was important to us that we were innovative, but could still reach our existing client base. They handled that very well and proposed designs that we really liked. The content they create is fantastic.

When we launched the platform, I went through the site and had minimal change requests. When I did ask them to change something, they were fast and responsive. To be honest, we hit the jackpot with them. We continue to work with them because their support is so great.

How did Propeller perform from a project management standpoint?

Propeller was great to work with. They were available whenever we needed them, whether we were reaching out from our UK or US offices. They were flexible with our schedule. No matter what we needed, they were able to help us, even if it was at the last minute.

Duncan is a great team leader and project manager. Everything was on schedule. If we brought new tasks to the table or asked for new things to be incorporated, they put together a plan that included a timeline, the steps they would go through, who would be working on the project, and who we could reach out to with questions.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by their knowledge and design experience. They brought a lot more to the table than just development. They asked a lot of questions about the aesthetics we were looking to incorporate in our brand.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they need to improve. In fact, we extended our contract because they were doing well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

New clients should tell Propeller’s team everything they want to accomplish because they have been a fantastic resource. They’ve started helping us with things outside the scope of our work, and when they can’t help, they get us in touch with people who can.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am one of the founders and the managing partner of MDW Capital Partners. We provide capital advice services to companies and their shareholders, helping them to raise the right sort of capital to support their growth and investment aspirations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Propeller?

We were a startup and had a website that communicated who we were and had some photographs, as well as some words on there that were carefully thought through. However, there was some branding and presentation templating that was not particularly differentiated.

In fact, it looked as if it had been developed by a middle-aged person who was setting up a business which is exactly what it was. Our clients are multinational, multi-billion dollar funds and companies, and we needed to present ourselves as a professional, highly experienced organization they could trust.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Propeller built a brand narrative for our business, helping us to develop our own brand identity and messaging. They brought that to life in the form of a website, the templates that we use for the documents we produce, and the presentations we provide.

They also helped us to think through and clarify our thinking in all of that, differentiating us from a lot of generic offerings. For example, previously I had picked up photos from Shutterstock to use for our website, and even some of the world’s largest businesses use exactly the same pictures. 

Just the presentation of all of that, let alone broad imagery and feel for the business, was similar to other businesses. So, the team helped us brainstorm and develop some key themes, and then came up with logo proposals, fonts, presentation templates, website design, and layouts.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Richard (Director) and Megan (Head of Client Services).

How did you come to work with Propeller?

I have known Richard for quite a long time. We talked about other business prospects and about his business in the past. When we decided that we were at the stage of our evolution and that we needed to professionalize our presentation to the outside world, we called him. 

We spoke to a couple of other similar contacts who we had met along the way and asked them to pitch and make a proposal to us to develop our business. We felt that Propeller was really engaged in our business. We were something a bit different for them and they really engaged in the project. 

Our success was extremely important to them and that shone through. For a creative project like this, you want to have people who are going to be invested in the outcome as opposed to just producing something that is pretty standard and that they have done before.

How much have you invested in them?

We invested just over £30,000 (approximately $40,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off formally in December 2019, and the project was completed in April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The initial threshold of course was our satisfaction with what we had as the end product, both in terms of the website and in terms of output for the templates for PowerPoint, Word, Excel. We are quite demanding in terms of attention to detail, accuracy, general feel, and understanding of who our target audience is. 

Our target audience is professional investors and management teams of companies. For us, it is not really so much about website traffic, because it will always be a relatively low traffic business. 

We don’t generate new business per se through our website; it’s a marketing tool that we use to present to prospective clients and remind existing ones that we are fantastically experienced, superbly professional, and care only about the success of their own business above all else. Those are pretty high bars to hit and we felt that Propeller did do that.

The response we have had from prospective clients, existing clients, and other people we know whether they are competitors or just other people in our broader private equity community has been good. 

People are blown away by the quality of our website. We are a small organization of fewer than five people, and the job was to present it as a large boutique. The response we are getting from people is exceptional in that regard.

How did Propeller perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was good, and their overall ability to meet deadlines was good as well. However, they could’ve managed their clients a bit more proactively. We tried to give them as much remit as possible, and I would say they perhaps could’ve been a bit more demanding of us. 

We tried to give them permission and that is a very nuanced situation to be in and I think they were doing their best to make sure that we felt supported and engaged when things weren’t too much of a priority in comparison to our income-earning activities. 

It’s a very fine line, but that was the only issue. They came up with the design and implemented it quickly. The challenge we faced was getting our written collateral ready for them in time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team really listened to the way we described our business and used that in their creative process. Propeller is a consumer brand-focused business, and we were a diversification for them. 

We are very different from their normal clients, but they really listened to how we represented our business and the market in which we operate. They took that away and came back, and used that to inform their creative process. 

They could’ve just tried to knock out a quasi consumer-type website, but they did not do that once at all. Their skill of listening to the client and what the client is seeking to achieve was very impressive. That showed low ego and real collaboration, and they were the sort of partner that we wanted to have working with us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Post-completion and post-launch of the website, there could be a bit more communication from them. They maintain our site for us, and I wonder if they might upsell a bit more to us. They could be a bit more proactive in helping us think about content and whether there are tricks and things that we can do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them the creative freedom and trust them to listen to what your objectives are and then come back with a range of options that you can then address.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of ADE Architecture, an architectural practice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Propeller?

We needed to increase our profile and improve our target market. We felt that our previous website didn’t appeal to our target market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Propeller created wireframes and redesigned and redeveloped our website completely. The team also assisted us with our SEO and content strategy and made some suggestions on the logo design.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with a project manager.

How did you come to work with Propeller?

I saw a website that they had done for someone else and liked the interactive nature of it. I then called them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent £30,000 (approximately $40,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from November 2018–April 2020, but they’re still maintaining our website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They successfully completed what we asked them to do. A lot of the commissions and projects we’ve had have come through the website. It’s proved to be a very worthwhile investment for us, and we were very happy with the project. We haven’t had any issues with the website. The feedback from our team and clients has been very good. 

How did Propeller perform from a project management standpoint?

We would go to their offices once a week during the duration of the build and they would run through where they were in terms of the progress. The team was very responsive and hit all the deadlines. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Propeller listened well. They were very receptive to some of our own ideas and helped us to improve on them. They also had a good understanding of architecture and the work that we do. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. They were polished and organized. We’re pleased with what they did.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them a very clear understanding of your project brief and outline exactly what you’re looking to achieve. Propeller was very receptive to our ideas, so if you see a website that you like, send it to them.