Meet a Local Techie Going Above and Beyond to Help in Tough Times

by Janey Zitomer
April 17, 2020

As COVID-19 has become increasingly widespread across America in the last few weeks, employees at web design platform Duda have identified a need they’re well-positioned to address: e-commerce platform setup for small businesses.

Duda isn’t alone in its efforts. Tech companies across the nation are filling the void to keep households and businesses connected, informed and supplied. 

As of April, Duda is offering small businesses free e-commerce plans until the end of the year. Cyrus Dorosti, a director of customer support at the company, said those plans include gift cards, access to 500 products and curbside-pickup scheduling. Using that infrastructure, business owners can start a store from scratch or add an e-commerce platform to an existing website. 

Duda is also providing free COVID-19 informational websites, a Zoom widget and a COVID-19 workshop for online businesses. But those offerings aren’t leadership’s sole focus: Employees have been given access to a website dedicated solely to helping them streamline the new normal.

“We know there was a lot of uncertainty and anxiety around COVID-19,” Dorosti said. “We didn’t want to wait for our customers and employees to ask for help.”

Duda
Duda
Cyrus Dorosti
Senior Director of Customer Support • Duda, Inc.

What action have you taken in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, either in or out of the office?

First and foremost, we wanted to make sure our employees were safe and comfortable at home for the long haul. To help support them, Duda has built a website for employees, providing them with the resources they need to work from home more effectively. In addition, Duda provides local food delivery, instructor-led yoga classes, mental health resources, activities for employees’ children and more.  

For our customers, we thought deeply about the struggles they were going through and how we could best meet their needs. To start, we built new widgets, personalization rules and custom templates to directly address issues that they’re facing. We also offered free e-commerce stores to help customers quickly transform their businesses online.

We have extended pricing promotions and given free access to people building COVID-19 informational sites to support their communities. We’re also providing workshops and slide decks for small businesses that are on the Duda platform so they can help their customers make the digital transformation. 

 

What has been the result of this action?

So far, our customers are telling us that we’re making a difference. The tools we have built for them are in high demand, the promotions and offers are relevant and timely, and the workshops and slide decks are useful. As a matter of fact, our customer satisfaction has actually been higher in the last month than it has ever been. This speaks to the appreciation that our customers have for what we’re doing. 

We have given free access to people building COVID-19 informational sites to support their communities.’’  

What inspired you to take this action?

At Duda, we operate like a family. It’s a “Duda for life” mentality, whether you’re a customer or an employee. We know there was a lot of uncertainty and anxiety around COVID-19 and we didn’t want to wait for our customers and employees to ask for help. We proactively made a COVID-19 task force that consists of leaders from each department at Duda. We meet weekly to discuss what else can and should be done.

 

Jobs at Duda, Inc.

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