SL Development

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner of Karl Conrad Web Design and Development, a small consulting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SL Development?

I needed extra development muscle behind a project I was doing. I was in the throes of developing a custom WordPress template for a client and it got really hairy. I needed backup support that could help me finish the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped me with development work on a new corporate WordPress website that needed a very specific platform. It required corporate logins as well as package tracing from purchase through shipment. There was a frontend design already in place. The project required building the WordPress site with a custom template that had to conform to those design principles.

They came into something that was a bit of a mess. They were able to see what a good course of action was to go forward and deliver on their piece.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with their president.

How did you come to work with SL Development?

I was really underwater on this project. I put up a red alert to my peer group and Steve (President, SL Development) reached out to me through a series of emails that bounced between folks. I didn’t know him at the time. We spoke and I was impressed with his responsiveness and his knowledge. He immediately displayed a real level of competence.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent $8,000 working with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in December 2017 and completed the project in February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don't have any metrics quite yet because we only launched the site a week ago. But what SL Dev did moved the project forward. They delivered at a high level that exceeded my standards.

Being a smaller consultancy, working with them has opened up new opportunities for me. This was the biggest job I’d ever taken on. I could take on a bigger client now and know that, if I budget right, I can always co-brand with SL Dev. I can step into a bigger realm than what I could do on my own as a single developer.

How did SL Development perform from a project management standpoint?

Absolutely top notch. They're very clear about what they're doing and they deliver on each stage appropriately. They were very organized. When they said they were going to do something, I always knew what was happening and that I’d get it when they said it would be ready. They were able to look at what needed to be done, prioritize it, and deliver. They were available if anything popped up. As things changed, they were able to roll with the punches and do whatever needed to be done.

I hadn't worked with another organization that was so willing to focus on the end product and get it done in such a collaborative way. It was a really pleasant working experience. They made me look good and they were super easy to work with. It was a win-win.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attitude towards the big picture. Their bread-and-butter is marketing websites. They want to deliver something that will be effective in the end. The minute I started working with them, I had the impression that they were invested in my success—that my success was their success. They always have that in mind as the big picture. SLDev leverages their skill and knowledge to make any project they take on a success for the client. It's about results, not billable hours. To me, that's the way you do business. I was super impressed by that. It was refreshing.

I'm another professional in the same field as Steve. I was able to reach out to him, talk to him. Not only was he able to deliver on everything I asked for on the project. He was able to educate me in the process of delivering that. He wants to do that with a client, as opposed to just handing off something that they can’t manage. That’s important when you’re looking for someone to partner with to develop your site for you. They have a stake in making sure you’re engaged and empowered to run everything that you’ve spent all that money to develop.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I was extremely happy. There weren’t any hiccups. I don’t have anything to tell them to improve on. I was really impressed with the level of communication and the delivery.