Stevie-winner Hooked On Code (HOC) is a women-owned, simplicity-focused WordPress website agency, working with businesses and organizations globally.
The HOC mission is to eliminate the convoluted and inefficient nature of building websites for B2B enterprises. Their refined “no-bull process” has been delivering results efficiently since 2014. They assert that their proven process and specific toolset helps them combat negative experiences such as missed deadlines, poor communication, and hard-to-edit websites.
In mid-2019, HOC launched the maintenance branch of their agency, offering monthly website “Care Plans” to assist with website updates and whatever changes their customers may need.
Maintaining the Customer Experience Throughout the Pandemic
In 2020, HOC saw project work almost disappear with the COVID crisis. They decided to dedicate themselves to the happiness of their current client-base, which would, if retained, support the agency through the decline in new projects.
Next, they launched a Customer Appreciation Program, including Client Appreciation Week, when clients were publicly recognized on social media and each client was personally called by team members. 
They also refreshed training for the support team, compiled a new manual for working on client tickets, and started tracking client compliments and complaints in order to address potential issues preemptively.
Over time, what began as a boot-strapped company with no marketing budget saw significant organic growth year over year, completely from referrals.
In a survey sent to clients during Client Appreciation Week, 100% of participants responded 5/5 rating our work quality, timely delivery, responsiveness, satisfaction, and willingness to refer.
Hooked On Code went from being unranked in all categories to ranking between #1 and #4 out of tens of thousands of web design agencies across multiple high-value categories on Clutch, a third-party review platform for B2B service providers.
Since Winning Their Stevie Award
The HOC team has added Elementor to their agency arsenal, which has allowed them to adopt maintenance retainers for websites built by other agencies, often for global-sized corporations that demand faster and more reliable service than their previous agency offered.
They have also since launched their first Shopify and Squarespace projects. The decision to venture outside of the WordPress/Divi toolset and into select closed-source platforms was made in response to the growing need for a lower cost product that could be easily managed by clients in-house. This allows their team to service clients who would otherwise be dependent on a maintenance plan that their business model doesn’t financially justify.
With many notable accolades and statistics to report, HOC notes that the statistic they are most proud of is that they have never missed a project launch date—ever.
Hooked On Code won a Silver Stevie Award for Achievement in Customer Satisfaction in both the 2022 and the 2023 editions of The American Business Awards®.
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