Nathan Monk is the co-founder of Edupack and SMILE, a company that builds websites, intranets, tools and more for educational organisations. They have several projects running at the same time, and are creating a big output for a small company of only 10 people!
Why Marker.io?
They started originally with a very manual system, but had to quickly move to GitLab when they grew fast.
After migrating to GitLab to collect feedback in a more robust way, they found that there were still some issues to resolve in their workflow. Perhaps most importantly, the way clients submitted their feedback.
"Clients used to send in emails, documents, spreadsheets and even PowerPoints of feedback. We did kind of get used to the chaos, but we started looking into tools that could help us and found Marker.io. It became apparent that it was going to help us dramatically."
When comparing Marker.io to several other tools, there were several key elements that made the choice easy:
- the seamless integration with GitLab
- the fair price point
- the ease to get started
- the Guest-specific features
"We only started using Marker.io in 2020, but it has changed our workflow to a point where I think we probably couldn't do our job without it now."
When they first started Marker.io, Nathan's developers were especially shocked and happy. They found tickets packed with information, allowing them to significantly reduce the back-and-forth with Nathan and the clients.
For Nathan it is very important that the clients get what they want and need as quickly as possible. Marker.io helps him with this!
Their workflow is less chaotic and the developers get all the information they need, even when the clients don't have a technical background.
Client communication
When presenting the company and the workflow they use, Nathan and SMILE started mentioning Marker.io as part of the process.
"As a project manager, I need to present our processes to clients, and Marker.io has helped here too. Marker.io offers us a process our-of-the-box! I don't need to develop a process for every single client, and it makes me look good. Clients love it because it makes sense to them."
So, while Nathan and his team love Marker.io for themselves, he is especially happy with how his clients react. "The client is really getting the value."
Nathan and his team use Marker.io as a tool to facilitate their clients in their feedback process. It allows them to keep clients out of the internal workings of the company, and developing goes faster.
"After setting up Marker.io for a client, I am safe in the knowledge that the dots are **connected. It lets me focus on the people: are the clients happy and do the developers have what they need."
One of the most recent new features of Marker.io is Guest commenting, and it is making the SMILE workflow even smoother.
- Way less client emails
- Quicker responses to questions
- Comments are saved in GitLab for referencing
For us, Marker.io helps our clients to capture feedback in an organised and sustainable way.
Conclusion
Nathan Monk and SMILE rely on Marker.io to give their clients the best possible experience. It helps their clients to give feedback and stay in the loop easier and it helps Nathan to spend more time on the people, and less on the workflow.
Thank you Nathan and SMILE for the interview!
