Magnet Co

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Marketing and Business Development working for a quasi-state agency that offers targeted financial solutions to local governments across the state of Indiana.

We have a complex structure to our agency that holds our company's creation to Indiana Code, but receiving no appropriations from the state and operating primarily as a private business. Our unique value proposition in this sense, was something we asked Magnet to help us with.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our website had become very dated and difficult to navigate for our customers. We have a unique entity and complex financial services. We needed to simplify getting our customers to their end goal while giving the site a fresh look with interaction options throughout. Form feeds and call to actions also needed bolstering.

SOLUTION

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

We held a very competitive RFP process and Magnet Co put forth a compelling proposal that met our timeline and budget. Previous examples and proposed project management plan made us feel very comfortable with selecting Magnet out of over 20 respondents.

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

The project included a complete overhaul and revamping of our consumer facing site. We began with a search engine audit, and debriefing on expectations and timeline. We held regular meetings using project management and website design platforms to guide us in the process.

We were ultimately given a menu of themes and options to choose from. Once we got out of design we moved to prototyping and launch. We did not use Magnet's writing service but were impressed with their existing collateral and they still gave input when asked.

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

We worked primarily three individuals:

1. Creative Director
2. Project Manager, QA Specialist
3. Strategic Director

There were several others who worked on the backend of our design who did a terrific job.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website is still very new and hope to gather all of our measurables and data metrics in the next few months. From a qualitative perspective, the website has received exceptional reception and praise from our customers and various stakeholders.

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

The Magnet Co team has several tools to track project timeline and deliverables. With regular meetings, or as requested, we were able to keep our project moving and adjust accordingly as needed. Magnet was always mindful of our timeline over theirs, which was greatly appreciated.

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

Among several other impressive qualities about this team was their ability to understand our unique service offerings and deliver our services in digestible manner for our consumers. We have a fine balance in federal regulations and marketing needs and Magnet worked with us to resolve both.

Our products are often times confused with their function due to complexities in our role as a state agency/financial service provider. Magnet Co picked up on this quickly and integrated an approach throughout their service.

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for the National Content and Technology CoOp. Our members are Cable, Telcom, and ISPs of which we have over 700. My position is Director of Information Technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Magnet handled the design, content, integration, and execution of our new site. My goal for this new site was for my team of in-house DEVs to work with Magnet to align our existing SSO, Security Groups, and User Management Platform with the new Laravel Platform Magnet created for the site.

SOLUTION

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

We needed a firm that had an expertise in:

• the modern design applied to current web technologies,
• expert-level Developers to properly integrate the solution with our existing platforms
• create a user-friendly solution for non-technical users.

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

• Migrate data from a legacy solution
• Execute a new modern design
• Integrate with Existing Platforms
• Provide a solution that scales well and is easy to use for non-technical users
• Custom Development work to model the unique needs of the solution, specifically delivering the correct content to the correct groups of users

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

+6 including:

• Project Lead
• Project Manager
• 3 Developers
• Q/A
• Designer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was a success. Magnet was easy to work with, communicated very well (which was important since the two teams had to work together on a number of integration points), was very responsive to communication, and confidently provided feedback and recommendations as it related to all aspects of the project. Truly a partner who aligned not only with our technical needs but also took the time to understand our business needs.

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

We used Notion for all action items, documentation, etc. Had weekly meetings, and was very willing to engage in ad-hoc communication/meetings as needed. Agile / Scrum

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

From the technical side, they did a great job working with our existing platforms and technologies. They approached the integration work from a team perspective and when opinions differed we got a call to discuss and worked out a mutual solution for all parties. They were able to do this so well, because of the talent of their team. A less experienced group would have been much harder to work with and could have great a much less flexible solution.

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

I found Notion difficult to use, it did hold all the aspects of the project, but figuring out who owned what task was difficult.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CCO of our enterprise and the president of the company's electrical group.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magnet Co?

We needed help with various services, including website development, marketing, and PR. I wanted to bring on a leader inside the company and use Magnet Co to help me with intellectual property and drive our marketing activities. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our partnership with Magnet Co started with me describing each marketing element we needed help with. From there, we put together a scope of work to execute, which Magnet Co is now executing. Magnet Co has created artwork that we featured on our website. They've also created materials for our PR activities, including press releases and investor decks — they've created proxy and ESG decks. To help ensure our press releases are touching the right areas of the marketplace, Magnet Co provides SEO services — we've worked closely with them on keyword research. They also offer PPC services on LinkedIn and Google. 

We also use Magnet Co's social media marketing services to reach the US and Mexico. They've become the lead for our communication on our company's LinkedIn profile — they create visual and written content. 

What is the team composition?

I've worked with 2–3 teammates from Magnet Co, and Sarah (Owner & Strategic Director) is my primary contact. 

How did you come to work with Magnet Co?

I found them through LinkedIn; they were very persistent after connecting with us on that platform. So, I decided to give them a test drive. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can't share a lot of metrics because it's proprietary information, but our LinkedIn activity is much higher than before. Also, our SEO has improved — we're getting more views and customer follow-ups to address. We can see how certain activities act when they hit the market and measure social media engagement; our social media presence has increased. 

How did Magnet Co perform from a project management standpoint?

Magnet Co has excellent project management through Jira and a Google program. They provide regular SEO reports, and we have weekly touchpoints through Zoom. Outside of that, we typically exchange phone calls. We have multiple channels interacting with Sarah, and she's done a fantastic job managing the chaos when multiple requests are submitted. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Magnet Co's creativity and understanding of our target market are excellent. They're very forward-thinking about how something we put out will land. Magnet Co's team is very easy to work with — they're professional and anticipate where we need to go instead of just executing the tasks we request. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing for Magnet Co to improve — they're outstanding. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I'd suggest that customers be involved with Magnet Co upfront and have a very informal discussion about what they want to accomplish. Magnet Co's team is great at scoping out a project and outlining what it takes to reach success. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of an ad agency that specializes in the retail, restaurant and franchise industries nationally.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Magnet to help us refresh our website which was a long overdue project. The goals revolved around having a simple site that reflected our brand and personality while also displaying our creativity.

SOLUTION

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

We had used Magnet in the past to help us with some client web work so we had a good working relationship with them already. Through the previous work we knew them to be a good partner in both collaboration and value.

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

The scope of work and process were fairly standard for a web project. Their scope was well-defined which made it easy to agree to. They listened well to our goals so it was easy to stay on track and aligned throughout the process.

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

We primarily worked with three people from Magnet: creative direction, SEO and project management. There were other team members behind the scenes that we interacted with as necessary.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We love the site and feel like it represents our company well. All of the going-in goals were achieved.

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

As the project progressed, we moved from weekly standing meetings to meeting on an as needed basis. The majority of the meetings were virtual with much of the communication happening within either the project management platform or email.

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

We worked with the owners of the business throughout the project. The team was consistent for the most part, which allowed us to stay on track in fulfilling the project vision.

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

At times we had some issues with the project management software but Magnet allowed us to work through that and/or around the software when it wasn't working for the team as a whole

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is a handyman franchise company. I’m a marketing specialist, and I work for the corporate team to support all of our franchising and marketing efforts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magnet Co?

Our goal was to rank higher on Google, so we wanted to get off of WordPress and procure a faster website on a newer system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Magnet Co developed our website from the ground up. We relied on their team to build out the backend and set up a buildable model that we can access if we want to add anything to the website ourselves. They used a combination of Netlify and Sanity.io for our hosting to replace WordPress, and they now help maintain and update the site whenever needed.

What is the team composition?

We work with a team of six people, but we mainly interface with one person. 

How did you come to work with Magnet Co?

I wasn’t involved in the process of finding them, so I can’t be certain how we found them. 

How much have you invested with them?

I assume we’ve invested over $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working at the beginning of 2021, and our partnership is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Magnet Co has developed a faster website for us. Our new loading speed is fantastic, and it has allowed us to grow and easily add more pages every time we need to. 

How did Magnet Co perform from a project management standpoint?

Our teams both have access to a management tool that helps keep us on track. We typically communicate through email, and they respond pretty quickly, usually within the first four hours of us sending them a message. We also talk over Zoom and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their website hosting solutions are unique. It’s also a plus that they’re local.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing that comes to mind right now. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should go for it. Magnet Co is a great website builder and developer.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an executive at a franchise organization. We franchise handyman locations across the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Magnet Co?

We were looking to build a new consumer website; it had to be dynamic because our franchise locations are across the US.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Magnet Co is developing a website that expresses our customer offerings and local locations. We required it to be a dynamic site with the ability for the local owners to make updates to their pages. We had to have a design format that would allow us to have areas they could change, but they could also make changes to the pages and incorporate a CMS into them.

They built the website from scratch using Jamstack. We wanted the site to be fast, mobile-friendly, and have the ability to localize the pages — that was our main criteria going into it. Being part of a franchise makes it uniquely different because it needs to be dynamic and rigid. We want to control the messaging but allow the microsites some flexibility for images, videos, social media feeds, and APIs from our partner companies.

We did all those features on the previous website, but it was slow and clunky. They looked at it from a technology standpoint, what we were trying to accomplish, and our overall goals. After that, they recommended the type of platform to use and why behind it, which impressed me.

We also asked them to optimize it from an SEO standpoint, but it had to be focused on locally. We also wanted to incorporate a lot of our social content onto the pages, like having social feeds and things like that. We've also worked with them on keywords; we provided some, and they take the keywords we're focusing on to make recommendations around that.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Gavin (Creative Director), Sarah (Strategic Director), and Alex (Lead Engineer) — they were my three main contacts.

How did you come to work with Magnet Co?

What sold me on them was that they understood our business and what we were trying to accomplish from a website perspective. 

How much have you invested in them?

We've spent around $70,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There are two things. I look at it from a UX standpoint which was significantly greater. I measure that from the complaints we get from our franchisees on the use of the site, and we've had virtually none. We wanted to give our franchisees some flexibility to make adjustments to the page and the previous platform we had made it very difficult to do that because the ones that didn’t know WordPress didn’t want to make any updates. We created a CMS to make it simple and clean for them to upload images, select services, and things like that. Based on that, the noise from the franchisees and the difficulty of using it has been very low comparatively.

We also track analytics and performance increases, site speed, and positioning. The site is a year old, and we are still developing more and more SEO benefits and traffic. Still, everything we were trying to accomplish, like setting it up structurally from an SEO standpoint, site speed, performance, and UX from the consumer and franchisee sides, has been a night and day difference from what we previously had.

How did Magnet Co perform from a project management standpoint?

Like any project, we've made changes, which would reset timelines, but they always met them — they've been able to deliver on time and within our budget. In terms of tools, we use Asana for project management during the development, and we typically communicate through email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their understanding of our business and the goals we were trying to accomplish has been key to our success. Often, I would have conversations with companies, and they didn’t understand, or they tried to pigeonhole what I was trying to do into their platform versus understanding what we were trying to accomplish and what we wanted to do. Whereas with Magnet, we've been on the same wavelength, and I don't have to explain myself a lot.

They're very proactive and strategic, and they make recommendations on the platform and CMS for specific reasons and based on what we're trying to accomplish. I like that piece because it feels like there's some logic and strategy behind why they're building it the way they are.

Are there any areas they could improve?

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

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The best thing to do is to give them as much information about your business, what you are trying to accomplish, and your strategies. When you build a website, digital marketing, and all that stuff, there is the technical evidence, and there is also the traditional marketing and content side. You rarely see the left and right brains in one organization, which attracted me to Magnet Co. They had the technical functionality, but they also understood its content side, which is the real differentiator. If you share your brand story, positioning, and what you are trying to accomplish with the site, you can capitalize on that — the more you share with them, the better they set you up for success.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Small business owner of travel booking website

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

To rebuild our current live and profitable website. Frontend needed a fresh makeover. Backend needed to be more scalable. More manpower needed for more scalable operations and long term development needs.

SOLUTION

How did you select Magnet Co and what were the deciding factors?

I liked their website and portfolio, their full proposal pre-Discovery, and my initial conversations with Gavin. Discovered them on LinkedIn when looking for php/laravel shop.

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

Magnet created a high-level 26-page project proposal for the full rebuild. This was pre-contract based on a few conversations & emails and our 50+ page slide deck of requirements, with a non-binding estimate. Gavin also provided some informal estimates (price & timeline) for different scenarios as requested, depending on whether they used our current code/product (we decided no in the end) and how advanced the initial rebuild was.

We then initiated an initial Discovery phase (under contract with some initial limited payment), which we suspended after 2 weeks when it did not sync at all with the initial cost estimate & timeline and after receiving an unprofessional and threatening attitude from Gavin despite the responsibility for the failure in expectations and the inaccurate estimate being virtually all on Magnet's shoulders.

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

Mostly Gavin (Production Director / Company Lead), and to a lesser extent, Alex the Engineering Lead.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Not really. The full project proposal prior to Discovery was confidence-building, but the final deliverable half-way through Discovery didn't really add any value (basic/limited and just regurgitated our requirements), although perhaps not surprising since we pulled the plug at that point on the relationship.

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

Didn't really get far enough to test their communication or project management tools when it came to project implementation.

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

Slick website, impressive portfolio, nice boilerplate project proposal, simple/straightforward service agreement

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

YES.

INACCURATE ESTIMATES

Through long emails and conversations with Gavin over the period of months, he was very aware that I had a challenging and delicate situation with my ongoing departure negotiations with my current tech partner. I made it clear it was very important to understand different timeline/pricing scenarios and to not be far off. He assured me repeatedly that they have a lot of experience developing similar websites and he provided me a non-binding estimate. Based on his assurances, he made me feel confident it wasn't going to be off by much ($5-10K max?), and he even wrote: "For projects such as these I’m confident our current estimate will not be more than a few percentage points in difference." I therefore made critical business decisions and shaped my challenging negotiations with my business partner around the estimates received from Gavin and my decision to move forward with Magnet for a full rebuild without needing the existing code.

Despite not providing any more info (the 50+ slide requirements doc was reviewed for the initial estimates), after he & Alex spent ~10 hours / 2 weeks in Discovery and apparently going through the public source code of our current site then, he came back to me with a quote at least double what he originally estimated, or a difference of $75k+ (125%+)! He didn't have a good justification except that he put more time into it, yet he never sufficiently caveated that he would be so far off before. This was unprofessional and deeply frustrating/disappointing. It's unclear if he was misleading (i.e. lowballed to get me to proceed with his firm) or if it was lazy incompetence (i.e. he just didn't make enough effort or have enough experience to give me the confident estimates that he did); my guess is more the latter.

TONE (at times) 
Despite having some confidence-building conversations with Gavin, he also showed me signs of unprofessional/intolerant attitude twice during our limited time together, and this was when you think he would be most keen to win the business and treat a prospective client extra well, so this was very concerning. In both cases, I was professional and reasonable in my comments/words. First, he wanted 25%-50% of the rebuild upfront/committed just to enter Discovery, before he even would commit to a fixed project price on his end. This seemed an unnecessary and unfair risk on my end, and I tried to understand and work something out. At first though, he was dismissive of my concern: "I don’t want to keep going back and forth on price please" and insisted on their (alleged) standard practice. He did eventually relent and we were able to start Discovery without a down payment towards the full rebuild (which in the end would have made the ultimate bad situation a lot worse).

However, he had made me feel uncomfortable and out-of-bounds for what I thought were very reasonable concerns about making a large financial commitment on my end with Magnet not yet making any commitment on their end. If I had given in to his demand, I would have been stuck with a commitment to a much higher rebuild price than initially quoted. 

The second incident was when I professionally and reasonably expressed that it was a big deal being off by $75k+ (125%+), and many months, from the original estimate and especially since nothing had changed on my end, and he responded very defensively: "I do not like you questioning my expertise. That is a contract ender and it needs to stop." At that point, he should have been deeply apologetic, rather than the opposite. While the results spoke for themselves, I actually didn't make any direct criticism, just that it was very frustrating/disappointing and he shouldn't have given me such estimates with such confidence before.

Given the circumstances and how he had failed me and put my goals and the future of my company at grave risk (e.g., I had negotiated new terms with my departing partner based on not needing the code for the rebuild based on his estimate), for him to give me this attitude was inexcusable, on top of the real predicament he had put me in. While I may have otherwise still given his team a chance to figure out a path forward, his comment was the "contract ender" as it was a red flag what it would be to work with him longer term. 

An unfortunate end to a partnership I had high hopes and expectations for. I hope this description of my experience helps other potential clients avoid pitfalls and make the best decisions for them.

Company Responses

The vendor responded on May 3, 2021.

We went above and beyond for this client – modifying our billing policy, spending 4 months going back and forth with them over nearly 150 emails, plus video and phone calls outside of normal work hours to accommodate their timezone – before even receiving payment from them.

We were very clear with them from the onset of our relationship that we couldn’t provide an estimate without understanding the existing codebase. We agreed to: “committing to an initial phase ($3400) so we [could] nail down the actual project plan & price first”.

Soon in to the audit, we discovered that the existing code was far more complex than the client realized. We spent several weeks brainstorming other options, but ultimately, they weren't happy with the cost of development. In an aggressive email to Gavin, they told us they no longer wanted to work with us. Knowing they were frustrated by the outcome of the audit and wanting to stay on good terms, we went so far as to refund their deposit.

We hadn’t heard from this client since their last email, asking us for additional engineering advice. We answered their questions - despite the way they treated us and the many hours of unpaid work we had done. 

This review is frustrating given the time, money and effort we invested, and that we have no recourse from a misrepresentation of facts. We encourage anyone reading it to check out our other reviews from paying clients.
 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Schoen Media Group consults with clients on content distribution.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Magnet Co?

We hired Magnet Co for support developing two sites - one for contract disputes and one for the launch of new products.

What were your goals for this project?

Educate customers about contract disputes to calm them down and keep them as satisfied customers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We worked with Gavin before and were very happy with his work as well as skills working with clients.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Website to educate customers on issues around public disputes with networks. Gavin provided us direction on site design and functionality.

What was the team composition?

My client, 2 members of my team and Gavin/MagnetCo

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We had a very satisfied customer who in term had sizable traffic to the site which minimized calls to their call centers and retained customers.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We identified a point person on my team, my clients team and we worked closely with MagnetCo to provide needs which they in turn

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were always able to provide solutions to our needs and problems.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not really

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Gotham Soccer League is national network of adult soccer leagues. We are a premium league with great media and management. My position as Director of Operations and Marketing is to oversee both our physical and digital operations and functions. This includes the website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Magnet Co, LLC?

We hired Magnet to completely redesign our frontend and help make big improvements to our backend without scrapping it. This included but UX and UI overhauls.

What were your goals for this project?

To provide a website that our customers actually found useful and to make major improvements to our sales funnel via the website. It's our biggest and most important tool.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We sent out an email blast to our entire CRM and vetted each of the responses. In the end we had some really productive conversations with Magnet Co. both on the phone as well as in person and decided they were the best for the job. We certainly made the right decision!

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Magnet Co. provided a multi-phase redesign of our frontend and backend. This included an extensive prototyping phase with lots of back and forth to ensure we got this right.

What was the team composition?

The project team had two project coordinators who helped through the entire prototyping phase. From there they reported back to their team of engineers to execute the following phases along with executing some of the work themselves. They were very willing to set up time for us to chat with the engineering team when needed and provided a transparent process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We are still putting on the finishing touches but this will have an immediate impact on our revenue stream once finished. We expect a much more streamlined service for our customers and we are very grateful for the new site!

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project was broken up into phases and a rational and easy to follow process. We prototyped everything through figma which I found to be a nice tool for both the developer and myself. We had constant communication amongst teams and met in person several times to discuss the vision for the site.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed by how well they took our very complex and unique service and made sense of it. That allowed us to make drastic changes to the UX and UI that were necessary.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of.