When Atlanta Financial Associates (AFA) Chief Operating Officer Jon Holmgren first joined the AFA team in 2017 as VP of Business Operations, he already possessed a passion for excellence. That attitude helped him earn the promotion to his current position just one year later, and it also made him look at all existing AFA vendors, including Michael Mackenzie Communications (MMC), from a quality-focused perspective.
“I had a good initial impression of MMC. AFA had already been working with them for two years when I came on board. I heard the stories about how much MMC helped us with our website presence, for example, so my initial impression was a positive one,” Holmgren said.
Later, Holmgren says, he personally experienced the value of MMC’s involvement — and their commitment. “We felt MMC was as equally invested in our business outcomes as we were — like the MMC team really cared about our business. That’s a big deal for a vendor relationship.”
A “High Demand” Rapport
Another area where Holmgren praises MMC is their ability to engage successfully with a variety of personalities that frequently had urgent, late-breaking needs. “The AFA team has extremely high standards for the vendors that we work with,” says Holmgren. “It’s not easy for a vendor, helping to steer a multitude of high-priority deliverables all with urgent deadlines. From a marketing perspective, MMC did that.”
MMC also helped keep those many personalities on track, says Holmgren. “MMC was great about keeping us thinking, ‘Hey, are we crossing t’s and dotting i’s on the regular marketing events we should be doing?’ We had monthly meetings where we discussed strategy and reviewed the past and upcoming marketing calendars. Everyone left the meetings knowing exactly what they needed to do.”
“If we had an urgent situation,” Holmgren continues, “MMC would put in the extra work to get the job done, acting as a true partner. We knew, at the end of the day, that MMC was fully invested in doing everything they could for us. I wish we had more business partners in our orbit that had those characteristics.”
Ready to Refer
Asked if he would refer MMC to other firms with which he has contact, Holmgren doesn’t hesitate. “We would absolutely refer to MMC, especially for a firm that is in our position — growing businesses that are getting to the stage where they need to think more about their presence and marketing features, including website.”
“The AFA team has extremely high standards for the vendors that we work with. It’s not easy for a vendor, helping to steer a multitude of high-priority deliverables all with urgent deadlines. From a marketing perspective, MMC did that.”
— Jon Holmgren, Chief Operating Officer
About Atlanta Financial
For more than 25 years, Atlanta Financial Associates has been “Making Life’s Journey Richer” for clients by building wealth management plans that turn dreams into reality. Their ability not only to meet expectations, but to exceed them, is based in large part on the commitment they make to every one of their relationships while leveraging comprehensive resources, leading technology and innovative tools. For more information about Atlanta Financial, please visit www.AtlantaFinancial.com.
