SOLTECH

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a startup in the legal writing field.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We were looking for an organization that could support us in programming and developing an application. Our career field isn’t technological, so we didn’t have the same type of outreach for software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We went through everything with SOLTECH during our initial communications. We discussed all the deliverables in detail and how they could assist us in our different opportunities. Then, they gave us a complete breakdown of all the available options and set up the design. They used Code Locker.

The app is a Microsoft Word add-in; it primarily uses a Python and Ruby on Rails codebase. It integrates with Microsoft Word and allows for certain legal writing features, such as writing specific tables of content, tables authorities creation, legal citation creation, ID storage and association with tables of authorities, customized page numbering for specific court features, intertwined page numbering, and the creation of pleading or case headers.

What is the team composition?

We’ve primarily worked with four people. Ann (Business Development Director) is essentially the client communication outreach coordinator. Scott (Project Lead) is the manager; he oversees the developers. Finally, we have a senior developer and Prince (Software Engineer), who is more of an associate developer.

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

They were a complete hiring coordinator. They screened individuals for us, provided us with LinkedIn’s relevant experience, and so forth. We met with them to ensure they were a good fit for the project and that we could work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $125,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our partnership in November 2021, and it’s still ongoing. We’re currently exploring the possibility of either maintaining or hiring the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SOLTECH has completely developed the MVP. It’s user-ready, so we can list and launch it on the Microsoft App Store, which is the best metric.

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management has been perfect. They allow us to be as involved as we need. For example, we can access the daily sprints or anything else if we want to. However, we don’t need to because Scott takes care of everything so we don’t have to worry about it. Instead, we provide feedback, testing, and overall guidance on the project. We say what we need for the MVP, look at specific features, and detail how we would change them or possibly delay them.

We primarily use Jira for project management. For communication, we mainly use Zoom, emails, and phone calls. We have weekly meetings via Zoom, and we occasionally do more if necessary. Since the feedback is usually a couple of pages, we didn’t establish a Slack channel.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Right off the bat, their ability to take the project from the ground up is outstanding. They were one of the only companies we talked to that could go from initial designs all the way to MVP launch and even do employment placement afterward. We didn’t rely on them just to build something; they could find our own programmers and developers.

Also, one of the biggest compliments I’d give them is that they were absolutely transparent on pricing. They initially gave us the exact range of what it would cost and the breakdown.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re pretty good at everything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Reach out to them and see what they can do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The non-profit Brain Tumor Network provides free oncology Nurse navigator services to brain cancer patients seeking second opinions, clinical trails and other support services. I am a board member assisting on various operational initiatives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We contracted SOLTECH to stand up the Salesforce platform for our patient relationship management and workflow processes. Our goal was to create a platform for complete visibility into patient's medical history and easily interact across our unaffiliated network of medical institution resources. SOLTECH also customized a clinical matching protocol leveraging clinical trials.gov for easy navigation within Salesforce.

SOLUTION

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

SOLTECH was one of several firm recommended by our Salesforce contact. Their program schedule and cost were competitive and key programmers brought unique familiarity to our use case based on prior experience with other organization.

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

SOLTECH worked through a thorough project scoping phase working with nurse navigator to identify requirements, optimize user interfaces, migrate data from a legacy system, integrate third party tools such as Conga and conduct training.

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

We worked with one primary Salesforce platform developer, two software developers for the clinical trial matching algorithm and a project manager. SOLTECH management was engaged and readily available as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Primary measurable outcome was a timely successful launch of the Salesforce platform.

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

Weekly project status meeting tracked open issues and performance to budget.

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

They have excellent Salesforce knowledge with particular familiarity in our industry field. Good knowledge of Salesforce support tool and add-ons. Excellent senior management engagement.

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

Training was somewhat unstructured but given the relatively small size of our user base, placing a lot more effort into refinement probably would not have been productive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the technology officer of a financial services company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We had a staff shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we needed help with software development for our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SOLTECH started by doing a business analysis to understand our requirements for our CRM platform. After that, they began to enhance our current system in terms of modernization and other performance issues like stability and availability. In addition, their team is also doing integration and synchronization to our primary proprietary platform that can help our sales staff. Regarding technologies, they’re using Microsoft Stack, SQL, and .NET.

What is the team composition?

We usually work with 3–4 members of their team, including software architects, database administrators, and a couple of developers.

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

They were already working with us before I joined my current position.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $600,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve been conveying their expertise on their subject matter through their software architecture skills, business analysis, core development, and general deliverables. Their team is also timely in dealing with troubleshooting and other critical development initiatives — they’re vital to fulfilling our business requirements. 

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent in terms of responsiveness, communication, dedication, and high-quality deliverables. In terms of tools, we use online meetings to track progress and keep everyone updated.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

Their level of professional experience, expertise, and self-sufficiency is outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to have the right stakeholders to engage with them so they can have key information to execute your project successfully.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of an online training database that helps educate foster parents and foster kids. Our goal is to make the foster care experience more positive and efficient for the parents, children, and workers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We hired SOLTECH to help us learn about Learning Management Software (LMS). The current training protocols for foster parents are cumbersome and somewhat outdated, so we needed to use LMS to make it faster, cheaper, and more efficient. I also turned to the team to tailor the software to meet my specific needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I came across an LMS that was affordable, easy to use, and provided good customer service. After I set it up and put in about 220 courses and testing materials, I realized that there were some copyright issues. SOLTECH stepped in to help handle that.

I also needed the team to integrate reporting on the LMS, specifically designed for the type of training that I provide and for the individuals that I’m teaching. We worked together to lay out a design and ended up with three options. SOLTECH went ahead and worked on the one that I chose. They built it out, tested it, and gathered my feedback on it. 

Once everything was finished, the WordPress plug-ins were sent to me along with training videos on how to use them. To this day, I still contact the team for assistance on certain things such as the hosting service. They get involved anytime there’s an issue or walk me through the process if something is easy enough for me to resolve myself. 

What is the team composition?

Ann (Director of Business Development) was the person that I usually contacted. She was there from the beginning. Vicki (Director of Finance) handled billing while Daniel (Software Engineer) and John (Software Engineer) took charge of the plug-in development. 

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

When I realized that the solution to my problem would be to tailor the LMS, I started looking for the top five agencies within our area who could help me do this. SOLTECH came up in that search and was the only provider that was willing to cater to my one-person operation.

I also saw that SOLTECH had received all kinds of awards, which was reassuring. They sat me down, tried to understand what I needed, and explained what they could do for me and what my options were based on my budget, so I hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent $6,000–$7,000  for the plug-in. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the partnership in February 2021. I still keep in touch with the team and they’re still helping me through some issues that crop up on the LMS.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SOLTECH was very gracious and accommodating. Even though I had a small-scale business, they treated me like I was a Fortune 500 company. They were able to deliver on what I needed even with the limited budget that I had. 

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

We got in touch through email and phone. During the initial stages of the project, we also did Zoom calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their customer service was impressive and I learned so much from working with them. They were just enjoyable to work with, and the fact that we shared common interests added to that experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of one thing that they could have done differently. The project was challenging but they were helpful and encouraging throughout. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to get your ideas together especially if you're not tech-savvy and need something built from the ground up. Do the work to have all the information ready around what you need out of your software. SOLTECH is really good at communicating back-and-forth, so engage in that as well. Be open to their suggestions, too, because they’re good at determining workarounds and alternatives.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work as a director of development at Hollywood Community Housing Corporation. It’s a nonprofit that provides affordable housing and supportive services for low-income populations in Los Angeles, including veterans, formerly homeless, HIV and AIDS patients, and other low-income families. I'm in charge of fundraising, social media, public relations, marketing, and anything that brings in money or deals with the reputation of the organization. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We were using a nonprofit donor database, but it was very limited. I couldn't even run basic reports. It was very challenging for us to make solid decisions. We decided to start using Salesforce so the fundraising and housing development teams would be able to capture their building and financing information. As a result, all the departments would be able to have access to all the information and manage everything in one place, and in a centralized way.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SOLTECH migrated all the information from our previous platform to Salesforce step by step. They trained us on how to use the new platform, and they built modules on each Salesforce component based on our nonprofit specific needs.

SOLTECH captured our nonprofit’s operational information, including budget, financing, and donor information. Besides that, SOLTECH developed specific and custom modules for the 30 buildings we had. They captured each property’s information separately. The modules were connected, ranging from donors to properties. 

SOLTECH also handled part of outreach marketing.

What is the team composition?

We had two main points of contact: Colin (Certified Salesforce Consultant) and Thayer (CTO). 

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

Our executive director was looking for a good implementer in the field with a good reputation. She researched multiple different options with the help of a consultant, and they decided to hire SOLTECH.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $15,000–$16,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from January–March 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SOLTECH did a wonderful job. Our technology officer and I trained staff members who weren’t part of the training with Thayer and Colin. We remembered 80% of the information perfectly. The team members were saying that we knew what we were doing. For me, that was a great measure of success.

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated through emails when we had a lot of questions on the technical side. We also did Zoom calls. We recorded the sessions and rewatched them.

Colin and Thayer were very knowledgeable and patient. We kept asking different questions, and even if they didn’t have a response, they researched and got back to us a few days later with an answer.

I recommend that SOLTECH keeps up the great work and continues being very communicative. We appreciated that a lot because, when they didn’t know about a subject, they looked for a response. We had to work with PayPal and successfully integrated it with Salesforce, but it didn’t work for us. SOLTECH researched other free programs that work better for us. It was nice because they also didn’t know about the program. SOLTECH found out the pros and cons, and they gave us all the options.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive aspect, and my favorite part of the project, was SOLTECH’s flexibility — they listened to their clients and individualized their services. Even if they couldn’t find an answer, they explained and came up with an alternative solution. Our users and we as a company were confused by the household concept in Salesforce, and SOLTECH helped us editing and adding another concept, so we could have a better understanding.

The SOLTECH team was also very responsive, fast, and funny. It was a pleasant experience working with them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

After SOLTECH ended the training, we had issues importing our data, and we had questions to ask them. They helped us right away, which is fantastic. However, when SOLTECH sent us the invoice, it didn’t say what it was for. I had to explain to my accounting that it was for additional help for data input. It would be helpful for SOLTECH to have a better description of the invoices they’d send for additional work. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Naylor Association Solutions. We provide communications, events, and software solutions for trade and professional associations. I’m the SVP of product and services, and I oversee product fulfillment, client support, and the product development roadmap for all of our solutions. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We’ve worked with SOLTECH for more than three years. We’ve done a lot of projects together, and they’ve helped us with several UI/UX design projects and functional development tasks. 

Recently, the SOLTECH team has been helping us do a systems review to find improvements, inefficiencies, and updates in our tech stack. They’re also working on some design-related updates for our career center.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our initial project with SOLTECH was building a new generation of our buyers’ guide, a communication product that connected buyers and sellers in an industry. After that, we worked on a proof of concept (POC), and SOLTECH helped us build a new platform. They also helped us redesign our client-facing media web pages and created a more effective and efficient way to market our products. 

Moreover, Naylor has acquired businesses over the years, and we’ve had different platforms and client-facing systems. For our current project in 2021, we’re looking to consolidate and optimize our platforms to present a more efficient and consistent product and brand to the market. 

SOLTECH has reviewed each of those platforms and systems. They’ve provided an assessment of the platforms’ current mapping and evaluated risks and opportunities for us to optimize our tech stack. They’ve delivered those through a verbal presentation with our key stakeholders, and they've also maintained in-depth documentation for each of those system reviews. 

One purpose of this project has been to make the SOLTECH team more knowledgeable about our systems. We can then go into our product development roadmap. After that, they can easily jump in and work as an extension of our staff to help us in those development updates, whether they be design or functional build. 

What is the team composition?

We mainly work with Ann (Business Development Executive), but Thayer (CTO) always jumps in and helps us when we’re looking at a new piece of work with them. They make sure that what SOLTECH brings is what we need. 

Meanwhile, we’ve worked with multiple solution architects, UI/UX designers, and project managers over the years. Tom (Technical Operations Manager) is our current solution architect, while two other people serve as the UI/UX developers of our platforms today. 

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

Back in 2018, I was trying to determine if we needed an out-of-the-box platform for our buyer’s guide or if we should develop a proprietary one. I searched online and found SOLTECH. I was based in the Atlanta area, and they were there as well, so I inquired about their services. They then came out and met with us. Their face-to-face interaction and approach to being a solution provider and partner melded well with our culture, so we decided to engage them. 

How much have you invested with them?

Over the course of our engagement, we’ve spent more than $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our first engagement with SOLTECH was in March 2018, and the partnership is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The original buyer’s guide that they re-engineered and redeployed not only helped us retain our client base but also made us a market leader. We’ve also had best-in-breed products since we’ve been able to build new functionality that hasn’t been offered by our competitors. In other words, they've helped create a competitive advantage and differentiator for us in the market, helping us maintain and grow that part of our business. 

Another results-oriented piece of work is our online media kit. Our sales representatives use PDF documentation to sell every one of our 400 or so publications. All of those materials are dynamically built online, so we’ve had cost savings. From that perspective, SOLTECH has not only advanced our sales materials; they’ve also boosted our efficiency and cost savings, and that significantly reduces the time our marketing team spends.

Moreover, their team not only understands and proposes solutions to meet our needs; they also do it with accuracy. Budgeting is important for us, and we always have to assume a budget with the goals that we’re trying to meet. In relation to that, SOLTECH has been thorough and realistic in setting expenses and budgets so that we can deliver our product on time. 

For this reason, I’ve come to trust SOLTECH. Anytime I take a new project to them, I know they’re going to be as realistic and accurate as possible in what they can provide to us and at what cost and timeframe they can provide it. They also ensure they have the resources to meet our goals. 

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

In our company, we use various communication tools, including Slack. When we’re in a highly significant development period, we ask SOLTECH if they can communicate with us on Slack, and they’ve been totally open to that. They use other tools to manage the project and to communicate back our pacing. On top of that, they’re agile enough to use the platforms that we use to collaborate. 

When we’re developing a product, they provide weekly updates on not only what’s been completed but also on where we are on our budget. When we need to follow up on something because we’re getting off-track, they give me a call and update me about it. They’re great at communicating those details and strategic items.

During each project, a project manager helps us communicate, stay connected, and stay involved. If I ever have a concern or an issue, I can call it up and it’s addressed immediately, which speaks for their commitment to fulfilling what they’ve promised us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

To sum it up, SOLTECH’s business acumen and approach to partnerships build trust. They deliver on what they promise because they set clear expectations and scope upfront — I don’t always get this out of a partner or a vendor. Overall, they’re not just looking to get the business; they also continue to invest in and partner with their client company for the long term. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. In any company, there will always be pain points. In our experience, any time we have a pain point in any of our processes, SOLTECH addresses it quickly. That’s all I can ask for, so I don’t have anything to describe as something they need to improve or do better. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ensure that you’re honest, straightforward, and comprehensive in what you need out of them. When you do that, they’re going to give you as much as you need. However, if you don’t share certain pieces of that puzzle, you’re not really equipping them with what they need to become a successful partner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a Colorado-based nonprofit organization. Our purpose is to work with new innovative data and technology systems to bring communities together. That allows us to contribute to decreasing disparities while serving vulnerable residents with a better response to their needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We provide care coordination software to organizations, and we’re constantly looking for better versions of systems that can do community care coordination. This coordination can include services such as food stamps, housing, security, healthcare, behavioral health, substance use, and more.

Today, our services are not coordinating, which can be frustrating for both our staff and clients. Coordination would help us make our services more efficient for our staff as well as families taking advantage of our services. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We purchased the Salesforce Health Cloud platform and engaged their team to help us understand the scenario we were trying to solve as well as design the system in a way that will enable us to meet our objectives. They conducted all their work through the Salesforce Health Cloud app as well as a mobile app they designed. We didn’t end up developing the app due to budget reasons, but it would’ve been a custom build. Once we get the Salesforce system live, we’ll do a build. 

Once the product is live, users can access it through a consumer-facing community portal. It has a marketing and branding component as well as a login feature. We’re also embedding community resources and referral applications through Aunt Bertha to be a seamless part of the application. They’re also embedding Tableau dashboards and reports inside the system. They worked hard to make sure SSO (single sign-on) worked through Aunt Bertha. 

After building out much of the Salesforce application, they moved into work with us on staffing. They have an entire staffing arm of the company, so they can recruit and place staff in our company as well.    

What is the team composition?

We’ve interacted with about six people throughout the project, including executive engineers. In the beginning, though, we went through the design phase with a few of their higher level VPs. We’ve also worked with engineers and project managers during the development phase of the project.

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

They were a referral from Salesforce. When we were talking with their sales team, we mentioned that we wanted to start using their Health Cloud platform. They then helped set up an intro call with SOLTECH, who they considered to be Health Cloud subject-matter experts. We had some high-level conversations about our overall goals and picked up the scope of our project quickly. Once we received a large state contract that gave us the funding for thorough design work, we hired them for a four-month contract to design and start building the system.

We’ve gone through a similar process of purchasing software and hiring a team to make customizations to it with two other vendors in the past seven years. In these instances, we ran into difficulties with unreliable solutions and project managers who weren’t willing to tailor the end product to our specific needs. SOLTECH made it clear from our first meeting that they wouldn’t give us these issues. We knew they’d be very invested in the process and the nuances of our situation. Our team has loved working with SOLTECH–we’ve kept re-upping the contract since its inception.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent a little over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since July 2020. We’re planning to launch the system between March and May 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t used specific metrics to measure their impact, but the general feedback of my team speaks volumes. They usually aren’t afraid to complain to me, but they’ve been happy collaborating with SOLTECH. Their team doesn’t cause any inefficiencies or delays, and we’ve all been confident in the relationship since the start.

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been great. They do a really good job of forecasting projects, estimating budgets, and holding themselves accountable for meeting deadlines and budget goals. Any delays during the project have come from my team’s side.

I really appreciate not having to chase them down for any timeline reconciliation. We buy a block of hours from them, they guide us through what they’ll be doing during those hours, and then they execute. If we need to change course, we have that conversation and change the plan as needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think they genuinely care about our project. They’ve sincerely bought into what we’re trying to do and they seem to really enjoy working with us. With this attitude, everyone feels like they’re a part of the team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything to offer in terms of what’s not working.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a sports startup. We’re a sports performance company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We needed to hire engineers for our startup. I had a very tight timeline. Being a startup, we had a lot of moving pieces we wanted to quickly deliver on. We had code already in play, so it wasn’t a brand-new app from scratch.

I didn’t need someone to come and fix bugs, I needed someone to come in and pick up the code and add new features quickly. Essentially, we needed a certain type of engineer.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped me hire mobile developers for Android and iOS. I described the requirements to SOLTECH and jumped on a call with them. We went through the description. As a small team, we didn’t have a lot of time to interview a lot of different people, so I made sure they knew that.

SOLTECH knew to only bring people that matched our criteria because we didn’t have a lot of time to waste. They brought engineers and brought them quickly. Every single person they sent our way was qualified. Within two and a half weeks, I was able to hire both engineers. Because of COVID-19, everything is remote right now.

What is the team composition?

At this point, I know a lot of people at SOLTECH, but my main point of contact has always been Veanne (Senior Vice President - Staffing). There are at least four people who have helped me with this interaction.

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

I’ve worked with SOLTECH in multiple different capacities for several years now. One of my peers had mentioned them. When looked into them, I realized that many of my other colleagues had some sort of relationship with them, whether they had worked through them or worked with them before. I gave them a call to see what they could do for me.

How much have you invested in them?

We invest $110,000 per year, per engineer.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started seven or eight years ago around January 2013. For this particular project, I engaged them in late October 2020, and we hired the engineers in early November 2020.

As for the future, I’m probably going to hire more people through them. For now, we just needed two people. As I need more engineers, I’m going to reach back out to SOLTECH.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a very positive experience. SOLTECH delivered on all of their promises. They brought us high-quality engineers. My team is very picky, so the fact that we hired these two people quickly is a success for me. I had a couple of other companies before and have a general idea of how the market works and how long it takes, so I was pleasantly surprised at the delivery.

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

I prefer email and text so that was what they stuck with. I know they use Jira and other things internally, but they work with the client’s preference. I had daily updates from them, mostly through text and phone calls, but some were through emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a pretty good network of engineers in Atlanta. Just like the IT market everywhere else, there is a lot of noise in the market. Good engineers are rarely looking for a job and finding them takes a certain kind of approach, and I think SOLTECH is really good at that because they have an extended network.

They can keep a warm introduction with people who might not even be looking for a new job and when a new idea or company comes along, they can passively introduce those people. SOLTECH is great at that from my experience. The engineers that are hard to find are the ones that are not actively looking, and that is really where SOLTECH adds value.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve worked with them for long enough that whatever I think they could improve on; they’ve already improved on. At this point, I’m working with a very well-known team. Even if I call them a year from now, they know my name and what I am looking for. We don’t have to sign any paperwork to get started. It is like working in a long-term partnership. I have zero complaints, and zero areas where they can improve on right now.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You get what you put in so make sure you’re very clear about specifying what you need. It certainly helps to talk on the phone, but follow up with a few bullet points in an email so your expectations are clearly outlined. Once you do that, they will not waste your time. They will go hunting for people and once they find someone they believe might reach or exceed your criteria, then you will hear back from them.

Take your time upfront to clearly specify as much as you can when it comes to what you’re looking for and what your criteria are. Even with the things you’re having a hard time articulating, jump on a call with them and explain it over the phone. They will help you articulate it. Once you do that, you’re going to get value back very quickly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital marketing analyst of Synovis Micro Companies Alliance. I’ve been brought in to build out the digital marketing space for Synovis.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

They provided remediation, enhancement, and modification work on our Salesforce efforts in order to continue that build-out.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There were a number of issues from the original implementation. The remediation work included user profiles and incorrect mapping from the ERP system to Salesforce. Account hierarchy had to be restructured to map correctly from the ERP system. The invoicing system wasn’t correctly populating into the system nor were the reports pulling correctly. Permissions weren’t set up correctly and the integration user profile wasn’t set up correctly either.

Those were some of the issues, and I’m probably missing some other ones. All in all, it was a large undertaking as far as modifications and enhancements go. We had to build out correct processes as well as identify ways in which I was going to build and integrate marketing automation software from my end.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with a key point of contact. She did a majority of the work herself. We’ve also worked with Thayer (VP – Software Solutions), Ann (Business Development Executive), and Linda (Project Leadership Lead).

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

SOLTECH was either referred to us through Salesforce or found by our IT department. We had interviewed two companies before them and they were the third. Essentially, we chose them because of their personability.

Our team felt like we had a more direct line with them and that they were more reachable. We drove to Atlanta and met them in person for the initial meeting. Afterward, we felt confident that they knew what they were talking about. One of the biggest attractions was that each of their employees was certified.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $60,000–$80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project was from February–October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything works the way we wanted it to, there’s not a single complaint nor issues with any of the features or functionalities. The remediation work was pretty seamless. SOLTECH is excellent. Their team is super responsive. After some updates happened, there were a couple of permission issues but those were fixed within 30 minutes to an hour at most.

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve moved into a ticketing system that works well. SOLTECH responds to us and provides a timeline on when an issue will be fixed. Additionally, our relationship is so good that I can call our project lead on the phone and ask her for something without having to submit a ticket. They’re very organized, and we appreciate that they’ve accommodated our communication style.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism is exceptional. What’s more, they’re just genuinely nice individuals. They have a cohesive environment that makes it easy to work with one individual to the next.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything — that’s how impressive they are. I haven’t had one situation where I was disappointed or felt they could’ve done better. SOLTECH runs a tight ship, and they’re super organized.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of underwriting and I lead a credit risk team. We’re a clean energy finance lender that provides CPACE loans across the commercial real estate industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SOLTECH?

We use Salesforce for our business origination platform and needed to outsource its administration. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve given them a few small concrete projects, but they’re generally in charge of maintaining our Salesforce platform. They've also been in charge of upgrading our project management tools.

What is the team composition?

I work with four teammates. My primary point of contact is Blake, a Salesforce expert. I’ve also worked with Daniel Morgan, who provides general software expertise. I’ve also interfaced with Gwen and Lindsey.

How did you come to work with SOLTECH?

We found them through a Google search, and their customer service was excellent from the beginning. They seemed to understand our problems very well and were willing to put me in contact with who would become our day-to-day contact, Blake. It was nice to be able to directly communicate with the person who I would be talking to on an ongoing basis.

How much have you invested with them?

I believe that we’ve spent somewhere between $15,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began talking to them in February, but the actual work began in June of 2020. It’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve successfully executed the smaller projects we’ve given them, the completion of which is the hardest metric I can provide. We’ve been able to get a successful resolution for our team, which is comprised of various departments. They’ve been able to address problems in a way that meets everybody’s unique needs.

For the larger project management project, it’s a major, ongoing project, so we don’t have substantial feedback just yet.

How did SOLTECH perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been strong. They’ve been generally communicative so I don’t have any complaints there. Our main method of communication has been phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’d highlight their ability to grasp problems. I can explain an issue, and they’ll understand immediately. They can also understand the different needs of our many stakeholders, so they never present a dry solution. They almost serve as a third-party analyst for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

This may be a necessary part of their structure and isn’t a big ideal, but it sometimes feels like I have too many points of contact. It would be easier if I could consolidate my communication into one channel or person.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think it might be helpful to undergo a trial period with them before committing to a long-term setup. Doing so was helpful in figuring out if our point of contact was someone I could collaborate with on a major, complicated project.