Avantech

Q: What's your name and position in the company?
A: Brian Power - Director

Q: Describe your company in 5 words.
A: Web Design & Development Company

Q: What's your business philosophy?
A: SME's should have access to the same resources as larger businesses and we will treat your business as our own to help improve the online presence and sales!

Q: Describe your office environment.
A: The office is a relaxed friendly office, and set to grow! There is always a bit of banter and a bit of music playing!

Q: Describe how your team interact and work together.
A: The team have standups every morning and planning meetings every week. This enables to do the best for our customers. We have a complete open door policy as we feel that's the best way to get people working together.

Q: What makes you different from other web design companies?
A: We endeavour to advise you on all areas of your business that you require help in, not purely limited to the web. If we have the expertise we will use it for you! We are different to other web design companies because we have a tailored package to allow customers to purchase blocks of time! Not purely limited to design or development, but also IT Consultancy and Digital Marketing. the client can use their time on the area they feel needs morst attention and can change the focus very easily.

Q: How do you get the majority of your business?
A: Business to date has been a mixture of referrals, recommendations and cold calling.

Q: Describe how you manage projects from the initial client contact to completion and handover.
A: We talk to the client and do a small amount of requirements analysis. We then engage the client with a personalised email address to send items that they require email (some clients prefer it) and we have a full online project tracking system which the customer engages with all the way through the process. And of course after handover we are more than willing to be available to assist with any firefighting that's needed.

Q: What do you think is the most crucial element of creating a good client relationship?
A: IO think people do business with people. If you are honest and deliver when you say you will deliver then you can keep your relationship sound.

Q: How do you manage demanding clients?
A: Demanding clients are not a problem. My philosophy is, I am going to advise you on certain aspects and if you want to do it a different way then that's your perogative! After all it's your business!

Q: If a client was trying to decide between a shortlist of web design companies, how would you recommend they go about selecting the right one for them?
A: One of the best ways of doing this is to draw up a checklist of what you actually want from the web development company and see if they fit that pattern. You could send an RFP or potentially a short survey using surveymonkey or something similar.

Q: Where do you see your company in 10 years time?
A: I would be hoping to have a nice office with a number of employees and delivering high quality service for some large companies whilst also delivering similar service to SME's globally!

Q: Where do you see the web design industry in the future?
A: At the moment it is difficult to predict, I guess it will depend on where technology is. For instance, if you had asked me that question at the beginning of 2010 (pre-iPad) my guess would probably have been totally wrong! But whatever it holds, it's sure to be exciting

Q: What computers do you have use in your offices, PCs or Macs?
A: Both PC and Mac

Q: How was your company name chosen?
A: I was looking for something non-commital, like a Google! I was wondering what I did and to be honest I always wanted to be using the most Advanced Technologies. So AdvancedTechnologies was the first one, thereafter changed to AdvancedTech, then AdvanTech and then to Avantech.

Q: If you were to give your clients one tip on how to get the most from their website what would it be?
A: Make sure you decide on a full strategy before you start it, you need to know what you want to get from it!