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| FL: You've taken what I think is a very unique approach on your website, where in the course of explaining who you are, you sum it up by saying: "We've chosen Jel because..." You're not focusing on why a client should hire you, rather you're focusing on why your team has chosen to be there. What was the thinking behind this strategy? How successful has it been? |
| J: It's all about creating the perception that everyone at Jel has made a
conscious decision to be here. That Jel is a group of smart, talented people
who are attracted to a workplace that allows them to work with similarly
talented people. The "unspoken" message is that customers will reap the
benefit of this: great people working on your project equals a great project. |
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| FL: Collaboration is a vital element in your firm's approach. While many would say that good work doesn't grow in a vacuum, it's quite often the case that in actual practice, things do get done in a hurry, often without the time for brainstorming and other group planning. How successful is Jel in achieving collaboration in it's day-to-day operations? |
| J: The reality is that different projects have different needs. When we feel
that a project calls for it, we are very diligent about gathering as much
information and creating highly collaborative environments for the discovery
and planning phases of the project. For example, we're working with Roche
(www.roche.com) on a Web Portal for their US operations. We've conducted
research and worked directly with people from over 10 different US Roche
locations (and Roche HQ in Switzerland), interviewing and helping prioritize
their various needs. This collaborative approach has allowed us to uncover
previously unknown issues, and helped Roche better understand how to create a
comprehensive overview of an incredibly varied and complex set of products
and services. |
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| FL: You address your firm's physical environment as an important aspect of your firm's success & identity. In addition to your team's happiness & well-being, is a fun, hip, open and inviting office a draw to potential and existing customers? |
| J: Partially. These days, clients are most interested in the bottom line; what
can Jel do for me? How can we help create results that will save our clients
time and money, enhance their brand positioning, etc. But our office does
help reinforce the message that we are a group of people that "get it" - our
space is just a physical extension of our branding message. |
| FL: Jel is located in Sacramento, CA which many people don't know is the capital of California let alone do they know where it is. How has being located in Sacramento affected the growth & success of your business? Would Jel be a different company if it was located 90 miles down the road in San Francisco? |
J: Perhaps out of business if we were in the Bay Area? We avoided the whole
"dot-bomb" thing, so while we didn't grow as quickly as others during the
boom years, we didn't experience the same downside.
I think that we can say that we have a lower overhead, etc. Higher quality of
life, more affordable leads to high quality staff who've chosen to leave the
Bay Area. We do fight a "perception" issue, but counter that with great work
and great people. We certainly have less "attitude" than some Bay Area firms,
as we concentrate on delivering results, not flash. |
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| FL: What are the struggles Jel has faced in terms of finding & retaining talent both in the boom days of the economy and now in the rough days? Are the best talent lured away by the larger markets? |
| J: Finding talent was a bit more difficult in the boom days, however with the
boom days came astronomical housing prices in the Bay Area. Therefore some
great talent moved out this way to buy property which provided us with great
opportunities to hire great people. To be honest, there are not many companies
in Sacramento like ours, so they generally found us. We don't have any current
problems attracting staff in these times. |
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| FL: "The methodology of getting it right." These seem like simple words on your site but they address something I think is lacking overall in the web design business and that is follow-through. Does "getting it right" mean that Jel will continue to work on a given solution until they get it right, even if that doesn't square nicely with the initial site launch? Does the right solution involve follow-up and tinkering with a solution once it's being used in the real world? |
| J: Absolutely. We're always looking for ways we can improve our client's sites and
processes, and offer solutions or ideas on how to do so. We take the time to get it
right, not just launch a half-baked solution. Saturn went from "Web sites
that suck" to being one of the top-ranked automotive sites due to this
approach. |
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| FL: You work with some very large brands/businesses. You're one of the "bigger fish" in the Sacramento market. How does this change the perception of Jel in the mind of local businesses? Would a smaller business think that you are out of their league? |
| J: We do have a broad range of clients. We don't work with the "mom and pop"
type businesses usually, but we are flexible, and are very competitive from a
pricing perspective. We really try to work with clients who understand the
value of our services, and seek to improve their internal processes, brand
positioning, etc. We're not a good fit for a client who is only driven by
short-term price considerations, as we try to develop solutions that offer
long-term ROI, which sometimes involves a higher up-front cost. |
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| FL: Your offices are in the same complex as a yoga studio. Does the meditative calm coming from next door affect the team of Jel? Would a potential client or employee sense this difference in overall Karma when they come to visit? |
| J: Of course! Well, not really. Whatever. Yoga is definitely a good thing
though... |
| FL: I usually ask early on where a firm's name comes from as I personally think it can tell you a lot about a firm. Where does the name Jel come from? |
| J: jel has two of my initials from Jon Lee. The funny thing is Jon is my middle
name and Robert is my first so it doesn't really make sense. But that is the
point. Things don't have to fit perfectly as our firm has the ability to make
things jel... jel/'jel n 1: a state of cohesion 2: a solid mass capable of
fluid motion 3: a substance of disparate parts congealed into a single state |
| (spotlight first ran June 2003) |
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