EIGHT25MEDIA

**BACKGROUND** Introduce your business and your role. The company I work for manufactures radio frequency distributed antenna system repeaters, and I serve as the marketing director. **OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE** What issue were you aiming to address with EIGHT25? We needed to refresh our website and create a customer portal. **SOLUTION** What was the extent of their involvement? For our initial meeting, they came to our office. We spent half a day brainstorming the key messages for our website and examining missed opportunities with the old site that could be included in the new version. We outlined the structure of the new website. They not only assisted with building the site but also provided strategies for better engagement with our customers. The site is built on WordPress and includes a portal that allows customers to take certification exams. We have individual portals for each client we work with, featuring various customizations. Our customers can now complete certification exams, download technical documents, and access customer support through our website’s portals. **TEAM COMPOSITION** How was the team structured? We interacted with five main contacts, plus the developers who worked behind the scenes. One contact managed daily communications, and there was a lead engineer who addressed our technical inquiries. A lead designer guided us through the design process and provided feedback, while a salesperson periodically checked in on our satisfaction and any concerns regarding the teams working with us. Overall, it was a very positive experience. **ENGAGEMENT WITH EIGHT25** How did you choose to partner with EIGHT25? We issued a request for proposals (RFP) to several companies. EIGHT25 was very adaptable and had a strong response to our proposal. I was impressed by their client portfolio and the number of projects they had successfully completed with the resources available. A former colleague referred us to them. **INVESTMENT** How much have you invested with them? Our investment ranged from $50,000 to $80,000. **ENGAGEMENT STATUS** What is the current status of this partnership? We collaborated from October 2016 to January 2017. **RESULTS & FEEDBACK** What evidence can you provide to illustrate the impact of your engagement? Prior to the website overhaul, tracking traffic metrics was challenging. The new site incorporates Google Analytics, making it easy to monitor visitor origins, search patterns, and peak traffic times. We also integrated Salesforce with our website to track new leads generated online. **PROJECT MANAGEMENT** How did EIGHT25 perform in project management? Overall, it was a positive experience. They responded promptly throughout the website development process. Their developers are located outside the U.S., which sometimes caused delays, but they effectively communicated any issues and provided reasonable explanations. Their communication was commendable, and we utilized Basecamp to manage the project. **IMPRESSION** What impressed you most about them? EIGHT25 exhibited great flexibility. Many larger web development firms have rigid models that make customization difficult. EIGHT25 was keen on tailoring a website to meet our specific needs, and their pricing was competitive. Their portfolio of clients was also impressive. **AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT** What areas could they enhance? They could improve their maintenance services. While we continue to collaborate with EIGHT25 for maintenance issues, their pricing for these services is somewhat steep. If they could offer better pricing models for maintenance, we'd be very interested. While they excelled at website development, having an expert available for data extensions, like Salesforce or other plug-ins, would be beneficial. They guided us well through areas where we lacked expertise, but there’s room for improvement in this aspect.