The client is a Texas-based, highly-tired HubSpot Solutions Partner. They are an inbound marketing agency that helps clients grow their businesses using HubSpot.
What We Did For Them
We provided ongoing web development services for them. They had us perform front-end development tasks. Taking design files and coding them, assisting their management on sales calls, and managing the web development process.
What Happened?
The client was growing quickly at the time when we were working with them. When we began working with them, they were primarily a content company. They had a few writers, designers, and management on staff. One thing they struggled with during that phase of their agency life was technology. They had great branding and great people, but the technology was something people in charge of web development projects struggled with. This created some friction between us as their development partner and their team. Sometimes they would set deadlines or receive deadlines from a client without having consulted us if they were doable or not. Sometimes we wouldn't code pages to 'pixel-perfect' perfection in their designer's eyes, which resulted in more 'testing' from their end. A PM also mentioned they couldn't understand the reason why there was some defect in email templates in Outlook. We tried to explain that it was due to how Outlook renders certain fonts and images, but we failed to make them understand that. Also, towards the end of our 30-40 hour/month engagement, they were making a more concentrated effort on their team's culture and having people be more in-house. They also hired a Director Of Culture during our tenure there and acquired an agency that had an in-house developer or two on the team shortly after wrapping things up with us.
What We Learned
We really enjoyed working with them, and they have provided us video testimonials expressing their enjoyment in working with us too. During our time as their private-labeled dev team, we saw them double in size, switch to a new and nice office (which they requested we visit, and we gladly did), and then acquire one or two smaller agencies. After working with them, we invested in building up a quality control team to help developers and project managers on our team deliver a higher quality of work. We also began pushing for weekly or daily calls with retainer accounts instead of sending paragraphs of emails trying to explain things. The biggest thing we learned was that we could not be everything to everyone. If a client wants their developers to be physically present in an office, then a partnership arrangement like us isn't the most viable option for them. After all, they replaced us by acquiring an agency and paying for 3-4 full-time technical people. We're pretty sure that things are working better for them in that regard. Going from a 30-40 hour/month retainer to bringing in 3-4 full-time developers in the office is a significant difference in the budget 😊.