Mavenlink Contributing Guests

Q: Sean Crafts (Mavenlink Co-Founder) - Can you tell us a little about your business?

A: Priyadarshi Ghosh (Priyo) - Kloudz Computing is a full service Web Design, Web Development, Mobile Applications Development and Marketing Services company headquartered in Kolkata, India. Our goal is to provide Innovative Solutions to all of our clients’ web needs, making sure that our clients love their finished product.

Q: Sean - How did you first come to Mavenlink?

A: Priyo - We find clients through a number of sources, including a number of the freelance marketplace sites. However, we were looking for a better, more engaging way to work with clients once the project kicked off. After evaluating a couple of technologies in the space, we choose Mavenlink because we felt it would be very usable for our clients and it was priced very reasonably for our needs.

Q: Sean - You mentioned finding clients on the freelance marketplace sites. How does it work bringing clients from those sites over to Mavenlink?

A: Priyo - It is pretty simple. I let them know that Mavenlink is our platform for completing projects, and so far, after over 41 projects in just a few months, I still haven’t had an issue. Of course, if I find any projects in a freelance marketplace, I go back to that site to complete the transaction, but the day to day work takes place inside of Mavenlink. After I receive payment, I update the payment details on Mavenlink to close out a projects financial details, since I also use Mavenlink for budgeting on every project (client view).

Q: Sean - At first glance it might seem like a lot of extra work for you. Could you share a little more about why you go through that extra effort?

A: Priyo - Sure. On the other sites, all of the client interactions go through me. On Mavenlink, I am able to bring my team into the workspace (without additional cost) and let them work directly with clients. I am very proud of my team. With the tools Mavenlink provides to communicate on all aspects of the project, and the simple task & milestone management features to set expectations, my team is able to build very strong relationships with our clients. It is easy for me to participate as an escalation point if needed, but generally we are all on the same page since it is easy to tell exactly what a client wants.

Q: Sean - How has this changed your business?

A: Priyo - There are a couple of things that come to mind. First, I feel like our team is much more organized around our clients needs. Every night I go in and review project activity, making sure we are tracking well within each project. I can easily add tasks for my team and follow up the next day to see that the work was done to the satisfaction of the client.

Second, more and more of my work is coming from referrals. Now, rather than having to develop all of the new business myself, my whole team is creating new opportunities because of the relationships they are building. As a quick example, one of our clients recently paid us extra for no other reason than they were really happy with the work and with my developer. More importantly, as you might expect, we got more work from them less than a week later.