DRIVING INNOVATION
Glass Media partners with Zing to achieve customer success
Why Glass Media partners with Zing to achieve customer success
When Glass Media CEO Daniel Black and COO Ilan Cane noticed a disconnect between online and physical storefronts, the pair set out to change that.
“At the time, most retailers were using Paypal and paper posters to communicate with the outside world,” recalls Daniel. “We saw an opportunity to bridge the gap between online and physical commerce.”
Established in 2015, the Dallas-based company initially focused on smart devices and the web before eventually expanding into projection and ultra-high brightness displays.
While innovation is key, Daniel explains that at its heart, Glass Media is “really a design firm that specializes in design, engineering and fabrication of signage.”
The CEO continues: “We love making custom products, helping our customers think outside the box and tailoring something that meets their needs.”
Changing technologies
Despite the shrinking funds available to support the Android version’s development, Jon needed to bring it up to speed with its IoS counterpart, explaining:
“What we sell is a test card and we work in the UK where half the people are on Android. You can’t really sell a product like that and then say to half the users, ‘Well, you can’t actually use it.’””
Timing was everything, according to the co-founder:
“We needed to a lot done in a short time so we could show the next milestone to our investors to raise the next round of funding.”
One of the biggest issues facing the Android version of the app’s success was the core scanning functionality. Jon recalls:
“It needed to work really well. It worked on most devices - but not all of them. We were short by around 30 or 40 devices. They couldn’t scan accurately which is such a key focus for us and our company.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT PARTNER
While the co-founders recognized the importance of finding a reliable developer to partner with, they struggled to find the right one.
“For Alon and I, the trust factor is a big thing,” begins Daniel. “And when you think about working with developers, whether it's onshore, nearshore, offshore, I think the big problem is you have no idea what you're going to get,” explains Daniel.
He adds: “We’re not just joining forces with anyone…”
That’s when they came across Zing. While they were familiar with the team, it wasn’t until they were in New York for a show that an opportunity for a face-to-face meeting cropped up
“It’s really important to be able to put a face to a name - and not just Zoom,” says Daniel.
STREAMLINING THE PROCESS
Partnering with Zing has transformed how Glass Media and its clients work together.
“They’ve done a tremendous job simplifying the roadmap of what we need to do with our customers,” enthuses the CEO.
“If, for example, we have a hard time selling something across the finish line or there are roadblocks in the product development timeline, we can check in with Zing.”
He continues:
“Zing’s made it easy for us to present those timelines, those costs, and comprehensive project briefs to our customers. Ultimately, that’s what they’re looking for, right?”
ENSURING A SINGLE POINT OF CONTRACT
Introducing Zing to its team has also removed the need for Glass Media’s customers to deal with multiple vendors. After learning more about the client briefing process, Zing created a set of briefing materials for its sales team to use in client-facing meetings. Designed to inspire and inform, the documentation allows Glass Media’s sales team to present at a much “higher level” - with no need for a developer to sit in on the meeting. “It’s eliminated a lot of back and forth,” explains Daniel.
“The materials make it very easy for someone in our sales organization to pitch or present and educate the client on what's needed moving forward.”
He continues:
“That’s been huge for our team because the industry is always getting more complicated. For example, we are increasingly getting more retail stakeholders from departments such as business intelligence, visual merchandising, store design and IT that want to get involved.
“Zing has really helped us streamline communications with all those different siloed departments to make it as though we are really acting as one. And that’s awesome!”
SAYING YES WITH CONFIDENCE
Before working with Zing, Glass Media used to “turn down a lot of projects” or “only get a portion of a project”.
“It happened because while we could handle A and B, we lacked C and D. The beautiful thing about working with Zing is that we say yes to projects we would have previously passed on.”
Best of all, when Glass Media go to pitch to a client, they can provide the client with the detail needed - without going back and forth with vendors.
Daniel explains:
“We already know who we’re coming to at Zing with a project and we have a good idea of how long it will take to pull together a brief, a timeline and project plan. That gives our sales organization the confidence to not only say ‘yes’ to projects - but also to say I can get back to you in a particular timeframe.”
Continuing improvements
“With any partnership, there's obviously a learning curve,” notes Daniel. “And there’s also a honeymoon phase. But what’s exciting about working with Zing is that we are continually challenging ourselves to look at things from the outside in - so we can collectively optimize processes.”
He continues:
“As we mature together and get more hours under our belt this all becomes much smoother.”Operationally, the biggest achievement of this partnership is the streamlining the communication and receipt of information between the team, according to the CEO.
“Our in-house engineers interface with Zing on a weekly basis and having people working wih you has expedited things - particularly on some of the more complicated projects we are getting into where we’re actually doing middleware, firmware and interfacing with hardware or sensors.
“It works really well for us to have a smaller in-house team that works as part of a much larger organization. And the nicest thing is we can scale up and down with Zing which is phenomenal. It means we don’t have to say no to projects any more.”