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Based in Waterloo Ontario, the high-tech hub of Canada, Modevation Media offers top quality media videography services to predominantly mid and large sized organizations. The company was started by Chris Meidell in 2003. As with many entrepreneurs, Chris jugged multiple jobs while growing the business. Modevation has seen steady business growth over recent years as more customers become aware of the value that the organization provides. This growth has raised the need for a centralized system to manage the activities of the expanding team.

Chris started to become aware of the business’ need for a new system in early 2008. It was not until the end of the year that the full four month assessment process took place. Fortunately Chris came from a software development background, so was equipped to lead the review of his needs and options. This selection process involved shortlisting preferred options, then running detailed business processes through each system and benchmarking them.

Chris’ shortlist included the likes of Salesforce, Zoho CRM, SugarCRM, WorkEtc CRM, Freshbooks, High Rise, Pipeline Deals and Infusionsoft. While Chris felt that a small subset of these solutions could meet his full end-to-end business requirements, there were trade-offs with every option. He then turned his attention to his critical factors: the solutions’ ability to close any gaps; the cost effectiveness of each option; and the ease of use of the software. It very soon became evident that WorkEtc CRM stood out on all of these dimensions.

Firstly, the solution needed to support Modevation’s broad end-to-end business process. This included: entering a lead; managing contacts; generating opportunities from the lead; creating/sending a quote; generating a project from the opportunity; scheduling work to the project; managing numerous active projects through a diverse team; timesheet capture; and invoice generation at any point in time. And clearly, for this to work, the system needed to be online to allow remote access by consultants at any time of the day or night. It also needed a robust security layer so that external contractors could access their projects without seeing critical financial or marketing data.

A second equally important requirement was the ease of use of the software. Chris’ staff included contractors from a range of backgrounds- actors, graphic artists, voice-over experts and script writers. The system therefore needed to be quick to learn.

WorkEtc stood out on many design aspects. Easy meta-tagging of contractor skill sets allowed for quick matching on jobs to experts. The ability to separate companies from individuals also aided classification significantly. Integration between time entry and project management proved critical in reducing administration overhead. And WorkEtc’s powerful reporting allowed for quick configuration to generate custom invoices in-house and fast real time payroll handling.

Notwithstanding WorkEtc’s strong fit, Chris did- and still does- have a wish list of features that he has referred to WorkEtc. The WorkEtc team’s response to his recommendations to date has been a highlight of his customer experience. Not only have they taken his suggestions on board, but have worked closely with him to close any gaps. Unlike the impersonal ‘large vendor’ support model that exists in the market which leaves a customer feeling alienated, WorkEtc really cares about Chris’ business. This was one of the pivotal factors that tipped the dice in favor of WorkEtc.

Finally, due to the variability associated with a growing services company, Chris is unable to forecast his system users ahead of time. With traditional user-based licensing models, this constraint has made the majority of the solutions cost inhibitive. WorkEtc’s flexible pricing model caters perfectly for this variability, allowing Chris to scale the solution cost-effectively at any stage of his business’ development. He has found this aspect perfect for his dynamic business. He even ventures as far as to say that the solution has already paid itself off many times over, owing to the savings it has provided for him at a great price point.

Chris has been pleasantly surprised by just about every aspect of the WorkEtc offering. With the significant benefits that Modevation has seen across the board, he strongly recommends the software to any small business owner who is serious about taking their business to the next stage.