Windmill Strategy

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the president of 30+ year old distributor of industrial tube and pipe.

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

We hired Windmill with the intent of re-organizing our website to optimize it for aesthetics, usability, SEO, and future ecommerce. We wanted to streamline both the flow and content available to our customers while maximizing SEO value.

How did you select Windmill Strategy and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Windmill based on the value we perceived with their bid. We compared them to other leading industrial web designers and ultimately concluded that Windmill's offering provided the most value for our company. They delivered a high-quality product at a price point that was advantageous for us.

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

1) Client Review / Needs Review / Scope Development - Reviewed wants / needs of the new website and established deliverables throughout each stage of development. Compared site to other industry leaders and competitors to hone in on wants / needs for our company.

2) Timeline Development - Developed a timeline for the entire scope of the project including milestones throughout.

3) Site Analysis / SEO Prep - Windmill analyzed current site and SEO profile to determine what was working / wasn't working well and to determine best SEO course of action based on competitive landscape. Windmill also did competitive SEO research to determine how are competitors / customers were ranking for certain items. Specific tools used unknown.

4) Mockups / Feedback / Mockups - Windmill developed wireframe mock ups based on our input and was receptive to design changes where needed

5) SEO Finalization - We worked together with Windmill to finalize the SEO strategy for each page / subpage

6) Content Development - Windmill loaded our wireframe mockup into a tool called Gathercontent. This helped us visualize where content would land on the website and helped minimize back and forth. Previous developers relied on dropbox and / or e-mails with attachments so we found the tool they utilized to be very helpful.

7) Content Synthesis - We loaded our content into the development version of the website. Windmill reviewed the content for tone and voice and did a good job suggesting edits where needed.

8) Beta - Development version of the website was completed in WordPress and tested extensively.

9) Final Review / Feedback - Windmill did a final QA review of the website including testing of all links, plugins etc. We did our own internal review of content, imaginary, etc before approving the final launch

10) Launch - Winmill launched our new website and moved it to a new host as part of our agreement.

11) Post Launch - Windmill supports with monthly updates, plugin updates, and general support where needed. They also did a 30 day review of heat maps, SEO strategy, etc and made tweaks where needed

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

Our team consisted of the 5 following visible roles: Account Manager Account Project Manager Marketing Coordinator Digital Marketing Manager Developer / Designer

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

Since launch we've seen an uptick in visitor traffic and we've also acquired several new customers. We credit this to the SEO work of the Windmill. We've also received several calls from customers congratulating us on the look and feel of the new website.

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

Strong communication on a daily basis. Tools utilized included Google Docs, Gather Content, Word Press, etc.

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

I've managed 3 web designs in the last 3 years. Windmill felt more organized and on top of things than any of the previous firms we utilized. They also did an excellent job controlling both cost and quality throughout the project. They delivered on what they promised.

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

No actionable feedbac,

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business transformation manager of The Bainey Group. We’re a general construction management firm.

What challenge were you trying to address with Windmill Strategy?

When we initially reached out to Windmill Strategy, it was strictly for web design services. Our former website had been built in 1999 and hadn’t been updated since. Windmill Strategy was tasked to provide a full website refresh.

What was the scope of their involvement?

After revamping our website, we worked with Windmill Strategy on rebranding and marketing strategy efforts. Their team maintains our website as well as provides training on how to maintain the site on our own.

Most recently, they did a marketing video shoot for us. They captured indoor and outdoor drone footage for one of our recently completed buildings. Our website is on WordPress, and we use Gutenberg. We’re also integrated with HubSpot.

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, I met with their sales team. Then I met Jackson (Account Manager), Trevor (Marketing Coordinator), and other individuals who’d work on the content deliverables. At this stage, we worked with 5–6 individuals. After the website deployed, worked directly with Jackson and Trevor.

How did you come to work with Windmill Strategy?

They were recommended by the CEO of our company. I looked at several agencies and eventually brought in three firms with very different price points. I interviewed each firm and ultimately selected Windmill Strategy.

They were organic, and I felt we were on the same page right away. From that point, I knew they could deliver. Even though they were one of the more expensive firms, I knew they were the best one for us and for our product.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement was from February–August 2020.

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

They successfully achieved our desired look and feel of the website. We’re amazed when we look back at where we started and where we are now. We’ve received positive feedback from long-term clients who’ve been with us for the past 25 years. These clients express that our website is now an accurate reflection of our construction quality.

Windmill Strategy drove and coached us to great results. We put a lot of trust in them, and they didn’t let us down. Our team was extremely happy with the deliverables in the end.

How did Windmill Strategy perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management went very well. Their communication is fantastic. There was never more than 30 minutes between when I sent a message and when I got a reply. At the beginning of the engagement, they laid out the entire project in detail. Their team followed up with me to ensure I provided the needed content. They walked me through every step.

This was a very easy project because everything was so organic. There was never a time when we missed a deadline or when we had to push back. Everything flowed extremely well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with their attention to the market. Their team helped us understand how the website should feel and how it should best serve our clients and customers; all without being pushy. It was clear that we were in a true partnership, united and working together to build this project. They enjoy doing their work and would get excited about what we were working on. It wasn’t just a paycheck for them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. They were top-notch.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as transparent as you can be from the get-go. Clearly define what you want out of the project while being open and honest with them. Don’t feel like you can’t reach out to them or that you need to hold back. There’s no such thing as a stupid question; ask for help. They’re always willing to jump in and help; they’re a fantastic team so have fun with it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and CEO of Symtec. We design and manufacturer of heated and electrical components for power sports and medical companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Windmill Strategy?

We need to update our web and marketing presence online. Since we first updated the website, our focus had shifted from a B2C company to a B2B company. We needed them to rework our site to reflect our current business.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a whole new website for us so we could generate content ourselves. They simplified it and made it more manageable. They transitioned us to WordPress and gave us some training on how to update content on our own.

They refreshed the logo and made a few changes to the look and feel of the site. We gave them some guidance on the look and feel of the site. We didn’t want to toss what we created, and wanted an evolution, not a revolution, when it came to branding. They made some subtle tweaks, but retained a lot of what we had before. They created an overall framework and layout for the site.

What is the team composition?

There were three primary contacts, including a project manager and designer.

How did you come to work with Windmill Strategy?

Kathy (Principal) is a member of an entrepreneur’s organization. So when I started looking for an agency, I reached out to them directly.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2017 and it lasted until July 2018.

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

We received some anecdotal feedback from our customers about our products, and that told me that they were looking at the site. It clearly conveyed the message we wanted to put out there.

How did Windmill Strategy perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent. I’ve done a lot of projects with other vendors, but Windmill Strategy was great from a communication standpoint. They kept things on schedule, and if there were any delays, it was because they were waiting on us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very realistic about what level of investment we should be putting into our website based on the size of our business. Their suggestions were aligned with what we were looking for. Overall, they were great communicators, good listeners, and fantastic collaborators. That made the project run pretty smoothly because we could have honest conversations about what we wanted to do, and they were able to steer us in a direction that made sense.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing that stands out to me.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open with communication and be open to their recommendations. Tell them what you’re trying to accomplish, and they’ll provide guidance and feedback. At the end of the day. They’ll execute.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the business development and marketing manager at North America’s leading manufacturer and purveyor of three different product lines. The main product line is luggage carts at airports all over the US and Canada as well as countries in Europe and Asia. I didn’t work in that division, but the other two product lines that I did work in were massage chairs at airports, malls, and theme parks, and then strollers that are vended primarily in malls and amusement parks.

What challenge were you trying to address with Windmill Strategy?

Our products weren’t marketed to the end-user. We were mostly doing B2B marketing to our customer base, and our customers were different than the end-users of our products. We were looking for something that had an impact on our customers and that was different from what our competitors had. Being in business development, I traveled to a lot of our customers. It can be difficult to set up a meeting with a mall GM ahead of time, so it was important that if I wasn’t able to talk to somebody in person, I could leave something impactful enough for them to want to reach out to us.

On the luggage cart side at the airports, there really weren’t any competitors, so I worked with Windmill Strategy on B2B marketing, our website, and social media on the stroller and massage chair side. Our challenge was coming up with ideas to properly market to our customers; my former company is privately-owned with around 100 people at headquarters, and we didn’t have any internal marketing whatsoever. I was the closest thing to that. My main experience was in contract negotiation, account management, and business development, so what I couldn’t come up with in-house went to Windmill Strategy.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Windmill Strategy ran our website for us. They optimized it and made updates to the format and visuals. They also helped us develop grassroots B2B marketing materials, like handouts and flyers. We gave them direction on taglines and what we were looking for, and they handled the design aspect of a lot of our print marketing materials. 

We relied on them a little bit for assistance with social media, but we primarily ran those – Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn – in-house. I took projects we’d come up with to Windmill Strategy and asked them what they thought of them and how they could bring them to life.

What is the team composition?

I worked with two people: James (Lead Developer) and Kathy (Principal). I almost exclusively worked with James. When we first started working together, I thought he was more on the web side, and I think they moved him into a joint account manager-web design role. He ended up doing a really good job on the account management side; he was very thoughtful and had good communication skills.

How did you come to work with Windmill Strategy?

My company was already using them when I came on board. I went through the process of vetting a few other marketing organizations and decided that, based on our experience with them and their experience with us, it would just be easier to continue working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

My company spent $10,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May 2013–December 2019.

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

They were always available and very easy to work with. They were local, so we went to their headquarters, and they came to ours. They were quick to respond and pivot to make adjustments. Their pricing seemed fair, although I didn’t have a ton of experience before that working with other marketing organizations. It was pleasant working with them.

How did Windmill Strategy perform from a project management standpoint?

They were good. I do have a lot of experience in project management, and they seemed to handle our projects in-house well. They had project managers and coordinators who were on top of it. They tried to sell us a couple of things that weren’t in our budget or roadmap, but they didn’t constantly try to pitch me. I liked that it was more collaborative.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their bread and butter was definitely the online aspects of marketing. They seemed to be more heavily involved in the web design space of marketing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I understand as a small business, they’re probably looking to be really good at 1–2 things in the marketing realm versus everything, but as far as something they could look into more, it would’ve been nice to have a one-stop-shop. They did do physical marketing materials, but that seemed to be a little outside of their comfort zone as compared to the web stuff. When I left the company, I think they were starting to move in that direction.

Any advice for potential customers?

I would say we got the most done when we went to their headquarters and had our quarterly in-person meetings. James is really good to work with, and Kathy is very engaged and involved. They have a great team there.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a custom plastic extruder, which is primarily B2B-to-manufacturers and focuses in a few different markets: window and doors, lighting, and refrigeration. Those are the ones we target, but we also service just about every other industry.

I am the sole marketing person at the company. I work with the sales team very closely, as well as the VP of sales and marketing. We have around 40 people in the front office and more than 160 people in the manufacturing plant for all three shifts.

What challenge were you trying to address with Windmill Strategy?

We had lots of different challenges. We needed a revamp of the website to make it more user- and SEO-friendly. We also needed the site to be informational and allow us to gain credibility; if people went to our site, we wanted them to see that we’ve invested in our brand and image. Another challenge was driving sales and leads, as well as converting some of those. 

A big thing was that we didn’t have a CRM application. We have a really robust internal infrastructure, but we had lots of different systems, and none of them were really on the CRM side. With that, everyone just used their own Outlook. We had no continuity, centralized database, nor central repository for any information – contact or prospect information, addresses, phone numbers, etc. Having it all individualized made it more time-consuming for other people in the organization to find out what was going on.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Windmill Strategy redesigned our website. We had a lot of material specification sheets that we put on the site to minimize some of the calls that we were getting on certain types of material. They also did SEO and PPC, helping to optimize the site for SEM and working with us to refine keywords and keyword phrases. They constantly measured all of those so that we could get better-qualified leads. They helped us with social and building some following campaigns.

We hired them to help us with all of those aspects, and from there, it morphed into a few other things. We refreshed our logo, and with that came new business cards that Windmill Strategy helped us design. They also helped us design new PowerPoint templates and gave us different ideas.

We looked at a few CRMs and ultimately selected HubSpot. Windmill Strategy did some basics to help us with that. Then, they took it upon themselves to really dive in and understand it better. Now, they’re HubSpot partners due to our push and them wanting to support us and work with us.

What is the team composition?

It varied, but I’d say on a routine basis, 3–4 people. There were occasionally 6–7 depending on the different projects we had. In the beginning, we worked with designers to come up with the look and feel of the website. After that, other people took over, and then we brought the designers back in for logo redesign. We frequently worked with Kathy (Principal) as well as different members from her organization.

How did you come to work with Windmill Strategy?

We did a gathering session of different web design and SEO companies. We made a list, which we internally graded. We narrowed the list down to two companies, and we had them come in and pitch what they could offer us and their approach. It came down to reevaluating and rescoring those two presentations, and we just felt far more comfortable with Windmill Strategy.

How much have you invested with them?

I’d say the first year was on the higher side, and then continuing with the strategy and SEO was probably around $25,000–$30,000 a year from there.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work spanned March 2018–February 2020. We still do some things with them. Developing the strategy and taking inventory of our digital assets took place in March–May 2018, and then we built out the site in phases. I’d say the full strategy was done by January, and then came the marketing aspects, continuing to do research, re-optimizing the site, and tweaking some design aspects to be more in line with what Google Analytics was showing us.

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

Our traffic increased. We were previously getting about 1,000 visitors a month, and that boosted to anywhere between 2,000–2,200 unique new visitors. That was huge for us. With the SEO and better exposure, leads started to come in. 

That’s really where phase two of the relationship started. We were constantly redefining our keywords and working with their sales and SEO teams. We got a lot of unqualified consumer-based leads, and we kept on refining until we got rid of the consumer base and got more of the qualified B2B leads. Our biggest ROI was probably that aspect. We knew it was a waiting game, so it took us a little bit of time to figure out the search engines. We changed our RFQ form as well to refine our leads. The quality of the leads just kept getting better. 

How did Windmill Strategy perform from a project management standpoint?

We thought they did a great job. We had some hiccups along the way; we changed our minds on some things and had other things come up within our organization, which added a little bit more to the process and the calendar. They had to juggle a bit more, but they helped us stay on track. They were in constant communication with us and sent reminders. If we asked them to give us until Monday, they’d follow up on Monday if they didn’t hear from us. Nothing was ever really their fault in terms of poor delivery or performance. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their experience in the industrial marketplace sets them apart. In working with and interviewing other companies, not many of them had a lot of great experience in that area. Windmill Strategy’s initial presentation referenced some of that and showed us some great examples of what they’d done, so we knew that they got it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re pleased with everything. We went through a few account managers and experienced some little issues, but we just talked to Kathy and the project manager about it, and she resolved it right away. Kathy was very proactive about asking for feedback.

Any advice for potential customers?

Analyze your budget and see what you can maximize in terms of building credibility for your design with a good balance for SEO. You can’t do one without the other.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a contract manager for a company that engineers and manufactures flow measurement equipment.

What challenge were you trying to address with Windmill Strategy?

We hadn’t put much effort into marketing our company. Our website looked like it was made in The Jurassic. There wasn’t any information available, which meant that no one understood what we did. We have an impressive staff and our company has all of the bells and whistles, but our online presence didn’t match our capabilities.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Windmill Strategy developed an initial strategy and plan for our two company websites. We didn’t have sketches beforehand, so we collaborated with their team throughout the process.

The first WordPress website that Windmill Strategy completed was educational. We communicated frequently to ensure that they understood our business because we’re in a specialized industry. We created case studies and gathered content that their team then put their own spin on. Then, we reviewed the content and either made tweaks or approve it for them to load onto the site.

Windmill Strategy’s currently working on a Shopify Lite website to generate sales. Their team’s also implementing PPC campaigns via Google Ads and Google Analytics.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with about 6–8 people from Windmill Strategy who had different roles such as copywriter, analytics, and SEO specialists.

How did you come to work with Windmill Strategy?

Once I started learning about content marketing, I started to search for companies online. I quickly realized that I wasn’t too pleased with our local options. I took a leap of faith and went outside of the state. I found Windmill Strategy and then met with their team. The initial interaction went phenomenally, so we signed up with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,00–$100,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2018 and it’s ongoing.

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

We’ve gone from receiving 4–5 inquiries a month to 50–60 inquiries a month. We launched our website in December 2019, so it’s absolutely incredible to see that jump in such a short time. We’re receiving positive feedback internally from our engineers who want to understand our products better. It’s much easier for them to find technical information on the website, which is the proof in the pudding.

How did Windmill Strategy perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager’s phenomenal. He coordinates meetings, sends us our to-do list, and shows us examples of their ideas. He’s always on point and sending us reminders. He involves their team, so people who specialize in certain tasks can explain their ideas to us. They took everything that we dumped on them during meetings and put it together in a pretty package. When we did fall behind because we were busy, our project manager helped us to navigate tasks and keep the project moving.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Windmill Strategy went above and beyond, even in the initial stages of the project. During the proposal process, they looked into how the keywords in our industry ranked and discussed how they wanted to use them to help us. Before we talked, they were able to show that they understood our industry, which gave me confidence in the partnership.

Their expertise is impressive too. They’re proactive in giving us their honest feedback. Their team took us from not being able to communicate ourselves to showing the world what we do and how well we do it. Their ability to brand our company overall impressed us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wouldn’t change what they do. They have a good foundation.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s advantageous to have an understanding of your end result before you contact them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Plural Publishing is an independent textbook publisher. We focus on communication sciences and disorders. It’s mainly academic publishing, providing books for students who are studying to be speech-language pathologists or audiologists. I’m the director of marketing.

What challenge were you trying to address with Windmill Strategy?

We had a really outdated website. It was very bare-bones and it was built on a CMS platform that was done in-house. The interface was bad, it was hard to use, and the template was outdated. We didn’t have the tech support to redo it in-house, so we needed website developer to revamp the entire thing, starting with the CMS.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Before, our site wasn’t truly an e-commerce site. We had to process all those orders ourselves, so we needed to integrate that. On top of that, our products weren’t organized well, we didn’t have a true search function, and we had no user accounts.

We looked at some of our competitors to see what they were doing and gave Windmill Strategy an outline of what we wanted. Then, they came up with a design that included those features while making the platform more modern and sleeker.

They started from scratch and came up with a new design and changed how everything functions. They recommended we use Shopify and they integrated that with our existing CRM. I think they used concrete5 as the CMS platform.

We also had them manage our SEO to see how the website is performing. Every quarter, we go through our Google Analytics stats, how we’re ranking, how we compare to our competitors, and things like that. From there, they give us recommendations for how we can improve, make our site stickier, or gain more traffic. Right now, we’re working on ad retargeting.

What is the team composition?

Initially, we had a product manager, a designer, and three developers. Together, we had 5–6 people working with us.

How did you come to work with Windmill Strategy?

They took the time to understand our business needs. Out of all the vendors we talked to, they came up with the most comprehensive plan. I also liked that everyone on their team was local. Their attention to our company was great, too. We were treated like a VIP client.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2018 and it’s ongoing.

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

The product they delivered is vastly superior to what we did before. We saw a big improvement in traffic and the bounce rate went down.

Internally, we’re really pleased with it too. Shopify is so easy for us to use. We wanted to be able to manage it in-house with limited technical skills, so they built us a platform that’s pretty easy to use. It really saves us a lot of time now and it’s a game-changer. We used to get frequent fraudulent orders, but Shopify takes care of that now.

They were really great about making suggestions based on their experience to really improve the product. 

How did Windmill Strategy perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager was on top of everything and was super responsive. There were a lot of moving pieces with this, and we made a lot of changes, but they took care of everything we threw at them. They have great people there. Whenever we want to add things, they’re quick to get things into the queue

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness is great. Our last IT consultant definitely worked on his own time, but Windmill Solutions isn’t like that. I only have to ask them once to do something, they get it done right away, and if they need more than one person working on it, they make it happen. I never have to worry about something slipping through the cracks. They’re very reliable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing stands out in my mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more detailed you are in what you want, the better they are. There were pieces I didn’t realize were really important, and I wish I spent more time explaining exactly what I wanted.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief marketing officer for Radux Devices. We’re a medical device manufacturer and distributor

What challenge were you trying to address with Windmill Strategy?

We’re a fairly young company, and our website was homegrown using Squarespace. Overall, it was inadequate for messaging and content. When I came in, it was something I immediately wanted to fix, but we didn’t have the background to make those adjustment ourselves.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We did a ground-up redesign and rebuild of our website. This included all of our pages and content, support material, video segments, images. They helped us with photography. We had another vendor do some video content, but they put everything on the website.

They learned more about our products, business model, and company culture. They’ve been working with us directly to own our message and make that more palatable and understandable for our customer base.

Our products are pretty unique and complex, so we wanted to have more involvement with the product descriptions. We wanted to make sure that the contents, in text, video, and cell sheet design developed for us kind of all blended and have the same look and feel. Messaging needed to give the end user a really good understanding of our product

They then did SEO. They do monthly maintenance every month to make sure our SEO strategy is working. They manage the website and make sure the functions are working properly. They also use Hotjar to monitor what people are looking at on our website. They also use Google Analytics.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with 3–5 people throughout the duration of the project.

How did you come to work with Windmill Strategy?

We looked online, and reached out to a couple of vendors. We wanted to work with a local company because we wanted to work closely with them. We chose them based on our company needs and doing a little extra work.

How much have you invested with them?

Our original budget was around $65,000, but we’ve recently expanded the project, so it’s between that and $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in March 2019 and our project is ongoing.

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

When we first started, we didn’t have many website hits. We’re now at the top page of Google. As a result, our average monthly users have increased, and we have more traffic.

We had an idea of what we wanted it to look like, based on designs in our space, but Windmill Strategy came up with something better than what we originally expected. As a result of the new design, we’ve been able to market ourselves better. We’re definitely more comfortable with the content and look of our site, so we use it as a key marketing tool. Our sales team directs people to our site for more information now.

How did Windmill Strategy perform from a project management standpoint?

I’d give them a 10 out of 10 in terms of customer service and account management. Jackson (Account Manager) has done a fantastic job. He keeps everything on track, within our timelines, and keeping us updated on the status. He also works with us to make changes in a timely fashion.

It was a very collaborative effort overall. We worked over conference calls and a series of edits over a period of about 2–3 months for the design and launch. It was definitely a compressed timeline, and they did a nice job of meeting that timeline.

We had more meetings going on through the development process, so it was weekly, then bi-weekly, and now as needed. We’ve established a nice rhythm and we all know what our expectations are. As we’ve developed our relationship, it just makes it that much easier to work with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their most impressive attribute is their service and commitment to the customer.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really can’t give a directive as far as where I think they’ve fallen down. Their new to the medical space, and there’s definitely a learning curve, but they’ve done a great job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a good vision and understanding of what you want your business to be and how your products need to be portrayed to the end-user. That’ll help you when they’re going through the content development process.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the communications principal unit of a local government agency in Minnesota. I manage our various marketing communication efforts.

What challenge were you trying to address with Windmill Design?

We had launched a redesigned WordPress site, and we were having difficulty getting the firm that had originally designed it to stay on for additional work. We wanted a competent design and development firm that could do some work for us based on our brand standards. We chose Windmill to do our ongoing website maintenance along with some additional development on our site.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Windmill redesigned certain parts of our website to be more functional and user-friendly. In general, they made our website more customizable. We also contracted with them to do ongoing website maintenance, including site updates and bug fixes. Windmill used PHP, HTML, CSS and different plug-ins for the CMS of the WordPress site. We also asked them to design a series of branded templates for flyers and brochures. We had a conversation to describe what we were looking for, and Windmill provided us with mock-ups and concept storyboards.

Windmill also rebuilt a page of our website that showcases all the projects we've done. Windmill added functionality that allows people to browse through our projects more easily, either by looking at the image cards or in map form. They also developed different filters so users can find the types of projects they are interested in.

What is the team dynamic?

I don't have to chase them around, and they respond right away. They're pretty good at keeping under budget and delivering things on time.

How did you come to work with Windmill Design?

We redesigned our website a couple of years ago, and when we put out the RFP, Windmill was the runner-up out of 16 proposals. We ended up going with the other company, and they did a good job with the site, but we had some issues when it was time to make a contract for ongoing maintenance. We then went to Windmill and asked if they would do site maintenance, along with some additional web development. We started working with them, and it worked really well for us.

How much have you invested with them?

One of the additional website development projects cost about $12,500. We also pay around $2,200 a year for maintenance. We've probably had somewhere between $20,000-$25,000 of contracts in total with them in the last 2.5 years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2015, and the relationship is ongoing.

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

I haven't looked to see whether or not the new page designs have impacted the number of visitors. They've worked on a miscellany of things, so it's hard for me to distinguish metrics.

How did Windmill perform from a project management standpoint?

They're great from a project management perspective. One reason we continue to work with them is because of their really good customer service. We communicate mostly through email and phone calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team of developers and designers is solid. They were able to quickly address the issues without much difficulty or contract amendments within code another developer had done for our website. This was certainly very helpful to us, and we plan on continuing our work with them for web site maintenance because they're so nice and easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Other project bids are lower than Windmill's sometimes, so we've ended up going with other vendors. Communication regarding project scopes could be clearer, but for the most part, it's been great working with them.