Unity Insurance group, Inc. is an independent insurance agency offering a complete array of insurance services to individuals and businesses throughout West Virginia. The agency was established by the West Virginia AFL-CIO and specializes in serving the needs of union members, their unions, and their employers. As an insurance brokerage, Unity has access to major, well-recognized and high-performing West Virginia insurance carriers, and is committed to quality service in obtaining the best coverage at the best price possible for their clients.
A Complete Website Overhaul
Bricks Without Straw was neither referred nor recommended to Unity Insurance Group; rather, it was the agency’s strong familiarity with Jamie’s experience that solidified their decision to hire him and his team to re-design their website. “The West Virginia AFL-CIO had contracted with Jamie previously to do work on their website,” says Josh Sword, President. “He made that website more user-friendly, and he did such a good job that we decided to hire him to do a total overhaul of the Unity website.”
Unity’s existing website was, in Josh’s words, “totally outdated, and Jamie had to essentially start from scratch.” Jamie’s first steps would be to consolidate several domain names used by various AFL-CIO entities into a single domain dedicated to the Unity Insurance Group. Dena Fields, Resource Specialist for the WV AFL-CIO explains, “Information relating to insurance could be found in several different domains, and we needed it to be put in one place.”
Domain name consolidation required Jamie to do detective work that involved sifting through the component parts of various websites. He was then able to create a sole source of information – a “one-stop-shop” website experience – giving union members and others all the resources of a full-service insurance agency. Jamie also established a social media presence for Unity by creating its own designated Facebook page and associated links.
Josh was aware that the existing website’s limitations made it nearly impossible for prospective clients to utilize it as a tool to access basic information online. “It was not user-friendly and presented old information. Jamie incorporated improvements into the website so that it would flow.” For instance, Jamie integrated links to the various companies that Unity uses, which improved the customer experience. He also made the website fully accessible to mobile phone devices. Josh was pleased that Jamie’s updates not only made the website user-friendly and a helpful tool. “His enhancements made people feel comfortable doing business with us. We wanted our website to be warm and welcoming, and that’s what Jamie did for us.”
What Mattered Most
Jamie managed the entire website overhaul remotely, sharing his updates and suggestions via emails and phone calls. “Working with Jamie and not being face-to-face – he made that very easy,” says Terri Peters, Unity’s office administrator. “He did everything without coming into the office, he even updated our logo,” adds Dena.
Working remotely did not hinder Jamie’s ability to modernize the website quickly and efficiently – two qualities that were the highest priorities to Unity Insurance Group. “We needed someone who could do a total redo and respond promptly when we wanted to make changes,” Josh observes. “Jamie’s strongest quality is his response time. He responded almost instantly in every scenario in which we needed to make changes, and that’s critically important to us.”
Because the staff at Unity Insurance Group had previously seen Jamie’s work, they put their trust in his abilities, and that trust is also what mattered. “I think he’s a rockstar,” says Dena. “He did exactly what we asked of him and more, and our website looks great!” Josh comments on Unity’s enduring trust in Jamie: “He’s still on board when we need to make updates or changes – we shoot him an email or text, and he takes care of it.”
