Client Background & Challenge
A website that doesn’t drive revenue is like a furnace without fuel—burning time on unqualified calls and missing opportunities for direct sales. That’s where Alsey Refractories Co.—a multi-generational manufacturer founded in 1906—found itself in early 2024.
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Legacy platform issues: The company’s outdated CCFx website was clunky, inefficient, and increasingly frustrating for both customers and staff. It generated high volumes of unqualified inquiries, lacked modern e-commerce capabilities, and failed to reflect Alsey’s reputation for quality.
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Leadership misalignment: The owner wanted a site that elevated brand credibility, the COO pushed for measurable revenue, and the CFO was burdened with the inefficiency of repetitive, low-value calls. Prior agency experiences had also left the team wary of investing in another failed redesign.
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Initial ask: The engagement began as a low-lift “design tweak” estimated at ~$3K—but the deeper issues quickly surfaced.
Alsey reached out to see if Davidson Ventures “knew anyone” who could help. Rob Davidson answered—and reframed the problem from a cosmetic refresh into building a modern commercial system.
Approach & Solution
Rob Davidson led with questions, not deliverables. By listening closely to the executive team, he uncovered that the real decision driver wasn’t the owner or COO—it was the CFO, who was overwhelmed by repetitive, unqualified calls. That insight reframed the project from “design tweak” to strategic commercial system.
Here’s how Davidson Ventures solved it—step by step:
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Stakeholder Alignment
Rob mapped executive priorities into a single decision framework: brand credibility (owner), revenue generation (COO), and inquiry deflection (CFO). Every scope item had to meet at least two of the three, ensuring alignment and buy-in.
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Design for Commercial Outcomes
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Three targeted videos (two product explainers and one competitor comparison) addressed top buyer questions, reduced wasted calls, and built purchase confidence.
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A full site architecture rebuild prioritized customer pathways to revenue—not just aesthetics.
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Data-First Growth Plan
Rather than guessing at marketing channels, Davidson Ventures led a structured SEO vs. Paid Ads research phase. This created a clear channel decision framework (audience size, CAC outlook, ramp time) to guide future investments with confidence.
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Channel Conflict to Opportunity
Distributors were diverting end-buyers to competitors. Rob recommended launching a direct-to-consumer Shopify channel, giving Alsey both a new revenue stream and leverage in distributor negotiations.
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Value-Stacked, Milestone-Based Scope
What started as a $3K tweak evolved into a structured, three-milestone rebuild the executive team could confidently approve. Each expansion was tied to specific priorities and measurable outcomes—never a “nice to have.”
Project Deliverables:
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New website architecture and customer-focused content
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3 custom video assets for lead qualification
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Direct-to-consumer Shopify build
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SEO vs. Paid Ads channel decision framework
Rob’s distinct contributions: recognizing the CFO as the true decision driver, framing scope around her pain points, designing video content to reduce unqualified inquiries, introducing the DTC channel, and sequencing deliverables into milestones that earned trust while expanding impact.
Results & Impact
For Alsey Refractories Co.:
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Revenue-oriented website that met all three executive priorities: brand credibility, revenue capture, and operational efficiency.
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Lower noise, higher signal: Targeted video assets reduced unqualified inbound calls, freeing office staff time and improving buyer experience.
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New sales channel launched: A DTC e-commerce arm that achieved 50%+ ROI in under a year—with zero paid advertising to date.
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Industrial payback window: On the B2B/industrial side, the average customer’s first 1–3 orders can pay for the project in full—a remarkably short payback period. While formal attribution is limited on that side of the business, Alsey has very likely paid for this project multiple times over through new customer activity.
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Smarter growth decisions: A research-driven plan (SEO vs. Paid Ads) so future spend aligns with how customers actually buy—no more guesswork.
For Davidson Ventures:
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Relationship value validated by outcomes: engagement expanded from $6K to $39.3K in 2024—a 554.6% increase—as scope grew to match discovered opportunity.
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Elevated from “content vendor” to trusted strategic advisor to the executive team.
Why It Matters
Most “website projects” stall because they treat design as the job and revenue as a hope. The Alsey engagement shows a different path:
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Diagnose power dynamics early. Strategy sticks when solutions solve the pain of the true decision driver (here, the CFO).
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Scope follows insight. Ask better questions, stack value in stages, and you turn a $3K tweak into a business system that pays for itself—sometimes in as few as 1–3 industrial orders.
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Own a controllable channel. Adding DTC gave Alsey a hedge against distributor leakage and delivered 50%+ ROI in <12 months without ads—proof that clarity and execution beat spray-and-pray traffic.
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