BRADENTON -- Terry Thompson’s main mission is to empower his customers -- and he’s found that doing so also helps improve his company’s bottom line.
Shortly after he purchased the 10-year-old Webtivity Design Solutions in 2009, Thompson installed a “customer support system.” Any client can log in at any time to see the status of their website’s design and every request for changes. In fact, clients don’t even have to log in for updates because the system provides them automatic status updates.
The result is not only more satisfied customers, but more productive employees.
“Our calls have probably decreased over 50 percent between people calling to make requests and then people calling to say, ‘Where are you with my project?’” Thompson says. “We’ve tried to be as efficient as possible in getting work done and out. That way, we can reduce the cost of a particular project in-house.”
Thompson has also focused on training existing employees to take on additional skills, so that Webtivity can cut down as much as possible on outsourcing. Those two factors have helped the company increase its revenue by 40 percent so far this year compared to last year, and helped it earn the Manatee Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Award for a company with revenues less than $500,000.
When Thompson purchased Webtivity, the company focused specifically on web design. But Thompson has expanded the company’s services to include social media and traditional marketing -- to the point where every project involves a full-scale marketing effort. Webtivity also now handles search engine optimization in-house.
“We analyze the marketing needs for their particular business and competitive environment and advise them on the marketing channels that will provide a return on investment,” Thompson says. “Once we implement the marketing strategy, we monitor and make adjustments to maximize the return, and we provide the client with reports to show the outcomes.”
The expansion of capabilities and services at Webtivity hasn’t come without a cost. Thompson says he has invested substantially in new software and additional training, and also improved Webtivity’s own website in 2010 to better showcase the company’s portfolio and talent and improve its showing on search engines.
