How Do I Choose A Magento Agency? – Get the Best Developers
So you’ve made the decision to use a Magento agency to help run your online business. Now it’s time to find that Magento agency. And put your store into the hands of Magento Developers who’ll hopefully help you to grow and flourish on the online space.
Sometimes ‘the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry’ especially if you don’t choose a strong Magento agency to work with from the get-go. So, with this, we’ve put together some points that can help your business to understand what you’ll be looking for when finding that Magento partner you need.
How long have they worked with Magento?
Of course this is something you’ve questioned first. But sometimes it gets over looked. You’ve been swayed by that fancy website. That agencies brand. The agencies bold promises.
Knowing the ins and outs of Magento is key to any agencies success. Magento is a very robust platform and takes years to master. Most agencies will have junior developers working under 1 senior developer to help keep your Magento running.
Learn about what we do: Check out some our Magento case studies.
Are they a Magento Certified Agency?
Magento offers certification for developers, solution specialists and dev oops to prove their worth. To qualify for these certifications people need to pass an examination. This examination is written by industry professionals. Investing in training to pass these exams is something as an agency we look to help and improve on peoples skills.
However just because an agency has all the certifications under the sun, doesn’t mean they’re the be-all and end-all. Anyone can pass an exam with the correct mentoring and revision. So don’t forget to do your research, other areas make an agency, not just certifications.
Having a Magento Partnership can be great, but it’ll also mean you’ll be paying a higher price. Think hard whether your business needs that or it needs a more agile team of developers looking to achieve outstanding Magento builds.
Something to take away: At Aware we’ve only been going for 2 years but already have a great selection of clients under our wing and a few certifications to go with it.
Do they have experienced Project Managers?
With any agency, support is critical. Agencies who have great communication skills and project managers allows less time to be wasted conveying opinions. Saving your business money.
An essential aspect of choosing any agency is the the PM. Sometimes, a lack of PM experience and understanding can mean opportunities could be wasted.
Not every agency is the same. Some agencies will use different methodologies. Get the agency to explain their process to you, so you know it inside out before moving forward. It might even be beneficial to get an example of the workflow that they use, giving you a rough idea of how your time will be managed and spent.
Transparency and trust are key, with every project. This is something at Aware we really push, so you know how your time is being used. Your main point of contact will often be through your PM. So it’s worth visiting the agency to get a feel of the team, where they are based and what they do.
The agency location.
Just because an agency is based far away doesn’t mean it’ll hinder your relationship. Agency relationships can work perfectly even when they’re not local to you or your business. There are lots of UK based agencies that have clients all around the UK and across the globe.
This doesn’t mean, however, that it’ll be the right fit for your business. Take the time to make sure you’re comfortable handing work to a business in another part of the country.
If you’re looking for more on your doorstep and want a more face to face relationship then it’s important to know how far away your agency is. How easy it is to get to and what time’s they’re open. This is research you can do before even reaching out and often or not this is all on Google business.
Simple management tools that we use, such as Trello mean that you can still see the work being undertaken and stay in touch despite not physically being there. It all comes back to trust and picking the right team will allow you to have that trust.
How are they going to support you?
Agencies that have grown quickly will often forget about support and maintenance. Always thinking about the next client and the next big project. However, top agencies will try to keep a healthy relationship between themselves and the client. They’ll also offer a variation of support packages.
Lots of agencies will offer support in the way of a retainer. This would be X amount of hours a month. Blocking hours out for you to get work done. They should also allow for ad-hoc phone calls and general support as and when needed. Helping you to feel more comfortable with the agency in question.
You need to find what works best for you and your business. As support is key in keeping a health Magento eCommerce site running.
Case studies and past clients matter.
This is a good way to see if the style and quality of an agencies work meet the standards you’re looking for in your Magento project. It’s also good to check the relevance of agencies previous projects and see how your project would potentially fit into their portfolio. If your site is a stand-out anomaly, then it might not be the agency for you. After all, you don’t want your site to be a total guinea pig project.
Checking an agencies past is a great way to see how they’ll perform in the future. Are they going to meet your expectations for further Magento work? It’s also good to check the relevance of agencies in previous projects. Would your business fit into their portfolio. The agency might be more B2B focused whereas a merchant you’re B2C. And after all, you don’t want to be a test project for the agency.
Need a new Magento site?
Aware is a leading UK Magento eCommerce digital agency with over 10 years of experience designing and developing digital solutions that deliver great results.
Get in touch with us today to find out how our team of Magento certified developers can transform your business online.