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The Consultancy has just completed one of its biggest ever bespoke website projects for Hallmark Doors and Panels – but has already started making changes to it.

That’s not because Hallmark don’t love the new website though or because it’s not doing a good job attracting visitors and generating enquiries, it’s because Hallmark takes the view that its website is an ongoing process and not a one-off project.

Hallmark Doors works in such close partnership with The Consultancy that the team has become like an extension of an in-house IT and marketing departments, constantly honing the website and implementing incremental improvements to the dedicated ordering portal and bespoke online door designers.

 

Big investment

A Hallmark spokesperson says: “We make big investments in our online presence and have no doubt about what brings us in terms of return. We joined forces with The Consultancy in 2017 and since then we’ve seen remarkable levels of growth year on year. We have just been named on the list of the top 50 fastest growing companies in Yorkshire and we’re set for another successful year of growth despite the tough trading conditions.

“We have also won three NFA Awards in a row. And that’s in part because our online presence, user-friendly website and online quoting and ordering systems make us a really easy company to do business with. It also frees our operational and customer service departments to deliver proactive improvements in our performance elsewhere.”

 

Retail focus

The new Hallmark website is deliberately more retail focused than the one it replaces – although all the trade-friendly portals and designers are still there. The reason for that is that Hallmark wants to increase the thousands of retail enquiries it already generates online every year and pass even more leads onto installer customers.

The spokesperson continues: “In our industry, there are a lot of businesses doing very similar things in their marketing, yet we’ve always taken the view that we need to look beyond this industry in order to stand out for ourselves and our customers. That’s why our entire online presence is benchmarked against retail and blue-chip brands rather than against any of our competitors.

“The Consultancy has always embraced our ambition and the new website is a really impressive showcase for its creative ability and understanding of retail buying habits. The fact that it knows this industry inside out is incredibly helpful because it totally understands all the key touchpoints for trade buyers and has all the specialist technical knowledge we need. However, it has still been able to create something which wouldn’t look out of place for a High Street retailer.”

 

Solution finding

Pete Lancaster, The Consultancy’s head creative, says: “We work with the Hallmark team virtually every day to deliver ongoing marginal gains which, over time, really add up. It tracks and reports every trivial pinch point that customers experience and we work on a solution to the problem.

“The scale of the Hallmark website and the investment it represents is obviously not for everyone. But what I hope it demonstrates is the tangible commercial benefits that can be achieved if you really focus on making the most of your online presence, regardless of your budget.”

 

Picture: The bespoke Hallmark website created by BM Group company The Consultancy.

www.hallmarkpanels.com

www.theconsultancy.co.uk

Article written by Cathryn Ellis
08th August 2024

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