Software Developers ‘Blown Away’ by Website Sandwich’s work and prices.
As a software development company, Artesia Systems needed a website that reflected the company’s technical and design capabilities. Unfortunately, what they had was the opposite, an outdated site that did little to distinguish their business from the competitors’. It had reached a point where founders Stephen Mullins and Mark Clerget were reluctant to steer potential clients to their home page. “We were kind of embarrassed by it,” says Mullins.
They began searching for a local company to help them develop an online presence that would achieve three goals: create a good first impression, match or exceed their rivals’ sites and communicate their brand effectively. That’s when Mullins discovered Website Sandwich.
Not only was the business local, but it also had an impressive portfolio and was reasonably priced. Another selling point was the built-in quote builder that allows potential clients to plug in their specific needs and generate an accurate price. “We walked through the quote builder to get an idea of what the price was going to be before we had a bunch of conversations,” says Clerget. “That kind of transparency was nice to see. It was very compelling to hear, ‘We’re going to match your input to a process, and if you stick to it, it’s going to be pretty cost-effective.’”
Once they’d chosen to work with Website Sandwich, the development process began. From the beginning, says Mullins, Sales Representative Blu Hope provided clear direction and support for Artesia to walk through the steps of the branding process, including developing their content.
“We were prompted with questions from Blu about the kind of content that would reflect our company’s priorities and personality,” says Mullins. “It made us think about those things. Trying to put them into words was difficult, but it was a really good exercise for us. When we got to the end, we discovered a lot about what was important to us and what is unique about our company compared to our competitors.”
Clerget agrees. “It was a little bit like giving birth to a child,” he says. “Instead of saying, ‘We build cool software,’ it was defining who we are as an organization. The greatest benefit has been to tell the story of who we are instead of what we do.”
Partway through the process, the Website Sandwich team delivered a mock-up of what the site could look like based on the branding criteria Artesia had submitted. It proved to be a turning point. Both Clerget and Mullins use the term ‘blown away’ to describe their reaction.
“We were having a hard time getting our minds around what the site was going to look like,” says Mullins. “They threw together a prototype with the information we had given them, and it was amazing. It was definitely beyond our expectations.”
With the overall look and feel of the site confirmed, the build-out continued. Mullins and Clerget reviewed it, and after a few rounds of minor revisions, the site went live.
The most obvious result is that the duo is no longer embarrassed to direct people to their home page. “It’s visually appealing,” says Clerget. “Now I’m inclined to send people there. I’d also like to put more content and blogs so people could visit our site and see that we have this expertise in database management and SQL. We can post articles about it with a straight face.”
The site is customizable and low maintenance, an important factor for busy developers. “The less time we can spend on internal things like our website, the more it frees us up to focus on things that are profitable,” says Mullins. “Those aspects are a valuable thing for us as a business.”
Ultimately, it was a great experience and one that both agree they would recommend to other businesses. Both the design and graphics exceeded expectations, especially for the price they were charged.
Software companies in particular often assume they are the best choice to create their own sites, Clerget notes, but that may not be true.
“If you want a quality website that’s visually appealing and tells the story of who you are, it’s worth it to hire Website Sandwich.”
Visit the Artesia Systems Website