Results

• Featured Works
• Case Studies
• hsi solutions
• Petro-Canada
• Stikeman Elliott LLP
• McCarthy Tétrault LLP
• Testimonials
• News

Case Study: hsi solutions (Housing Services Incorporated)

Executive Summary

hsi solutions, Ontario’s largest construction and maintenance provider, identified a need to create a customer-based, self-service invoicing portal and to redesign their overall company website. After evaluating various options, hsi decided to hire Thrillworks to perform initial discovery work. The management team at hsi was so satisfied with the findings, analysis and recommendations made by Thrillworks that our original mandate was then increased to include actual site development.

The Challenge

• The new solution had to integrate with hsi’s existing database and legacy invoicing system—one that had been cobbled together over time to allow for many different invoice types.
• The existing site did not properly position hsi to attract targeted and appropriate new clients or give a clear indication of the range of services provided by hsi. Almost all traffic (97%) coming to the website was direct traffic from known clients.
• The solution had to allow hsi stakeholders to modify and manage key sections of website content while other areas remain static, without the budget that would allow for available CMS software.
• Many existing hsi clients were long-standing, not necessarily technologically-advanced, and accustomed to a paper-based/snail mail invoicing process. As a result, the solution had to be simple—and very user-friendly.

The Solution

• As part of our discovery work, Thrillworks identified different business priorities for hsi and recommended that by using a multi-phase approach, the various needs would be best addressed. Therefore, more pressing needs (such as attracting new business prospects and generating leads) didn’t have to wait until all the other needs were satisfied.
• Thrillworks researched hsi’s target audience to understand the information requirements and appropriate brand-positioning. This also ensured suitable and effective website content and information architecture. We then recommended and initiated complete rewriting of web copy to improve organic search results for high-impact keywords and concrete calls-to-action. Thrillworks also incorporated tableless design, which made the site much more accessible to search engines.
• Thrillworks wrote the necessary software programs and developed a system that allowed for all the different invoicing types and associated data to be “normalized” for greater efficiency when aggregating data and producing reports.
• By identifying key areas of content that would change regularly, we were able to create a cost-efficient, custom content management system to allow the hsi stakeholders to update and edit website content on select “high impact” pages.
• Finally, Thrillworks added a customer extranet to the website structure to shift clients to self-service channels for invoicing and account information.

Results

Website traffic and leads have improved dramatically since launch of the redesigned website. Organic search traffic has increased, with top rankings for high-impact search terms. The new website clearly communicates the company’s branding of being a “one-stop solution for all multi-residential construction and maintenance needs.” The pilot project is currently underway with key clients for the self-service invoicing portal with expected gains in client service ratings and cost efficiency. At present, plans are underway to expand the extranet portal to service other areas of business.

   Visit Client Website