When you decide to work with WhippleHill for your online independent school communication needs, you enter our Services Continuum. We look at each client as a long-term relationship.

The production cycle to implement your software package or build a new site begins with your initial orientation. Our production team, led by your project lead, will work closely with you to ensure that your software interface receives a visual treatment that syncs with your school’s identity, or “brand.”

At the end of the cycle, when your site launches or your software goes live, you become a user, turning the corner into the Client Services side of the continuum. Our staff will continue to help you get the most out of the products you are using and respond to requests you have to improve what we offer.

If at any point in this second phase you decide to purchase more add-on modules or redesign your site's front end with us, the cycle begins again.

As you enter the Services Continuum, your WhippleHill project lead will guide the team of programmers and, if applicable, designers charged with bringing your software and site live on a schedule established by your budget, products and training needs.

WhippleHill is proud of its award-winning, cutting-edge design team, capable of bringing your vision of your school’s identity to your Web site. Whether you opt to work with our designers or your own, your project lead will ensure that your school’s visual identity is preserved in your site and works within WhippleHill’s established guidelines.

At WhippleHill, our philosophy is to “train the trainer.” Schools identify the appropriate users we train to use each product and they, in turn, educate other school users. The amount of training required is dependent on the products purchased.

For our communication tool to work properly, the appropriate constituent data must be provided in the proper format. Academic, athletic and calendar information is also a vital part of your site. Your project lead will put you in touch with a member of our Data Team, who will walk you through what information is needed and in what form. Our Data Team is skilled not only in helping the less technically savvy understand what needs to be done, but can also communicate more complex issues to your school’s database administrator. 

Site review begins once WhippleHill has fulfilled the tasks we’ve been contracted to do. The site review runs for 2-4 weeks, and includes testing, issue resolution and any final content additions. Once complete, your site will launch and be ready for constituents’ use.  Following a successful launch, clients move into the second portion of the continuum as a user.

Users on the Support side of the continuum can expect to call on the resources of the WhippleHill Client Services team, product managers or access the Help Center to address any problems or concerns.

As you begin to use our software, you might identify bugs or difficulties, or perhaps have a suggestion on an improvement. Contacting our Support department will ensure that a case number is assigned to your feedback and your problems are either addressed through help from our staff or passed along to our product management team to be considered for a future enhancement.

As enhancements are released throughout the year, WhippleHill’s product management team ensures that users have the necessary documentation, bolstered by demonstrations of new functionality, to adjust to any changes. Product Managers also conduct weekly Webinars to share what other clients do with their sites and spark ideas and discussion. Education is also an integral part of WhippleHill’s annual User Conference, in which users are invited to attend staff-led training sessions, as well as client-led breakout modules and all-conference presentations.

As your constituents grow more comfortable with our solutions, you may decide to increase their functionality with additional modules. The scalability of our solutions enables you to do so in step with your needs and budget. Purchasing new tools brings you back into the Project Management side of the continuum, where you will learn to use your new tools and populate them with the proper data.

Every few years, many of our clients decide the face of their site is ready for a fresh look. When clients opt to redesign their front-end site with us, they are building on an existing relationship. As they re-enter the Production side of the continuum, the scope of the project is customized to the need. They can typically expect the process to be faster than when they were brand-new users.