7 WAYSTO TAKE CONTROLOF YOUR AGENCY'SPROJECTS

Running an agency is tough work, you have

lots of clients large and small, some projects

kicking off while some still in progress and

others slipping out of scope.

If you’re managing the entire agency or man-

aging the projects within, things can build up

fast.

Keeping track of tasks, team members, and

clients in which invoices were sent can be

confusing and daunting when your agency

should be focusing on what really matters:

building your quality products, servicing your

clients, and keeping them satisfied.

So, how can you take control of your billing

cycles, make sure you get paid on time, send invoices fast, track your team’s work, and

continue to grow your business smoothly?

Avoid surprises and be prepared.

Here are 7 ways to take control of your agency’s projects:

01

Often times enough there are things you

don’t of. And that’s okay… this guide is

made for you to be preventative and

proactive with the content in it.

So, let’s start off with informing your

client the right way.

Do you check your email 24/7? Most

agency owners and business develop-

ment departments do. And guess what?

Your clients do too. Client’s aren’t always

checking each application to get a recap

on their daily activities (don't forget eve-

ryone needs to take breaks and discon-

nect from time to time.)

Luckily applications like Basecamp and

Dashable send you a list of to-dos of

activities and reminders to check in on

your tasks for the day via notification or

email.

Make it easier on your teammates and

yourself by setting up email automations

and reminders easily.

1. AUTOMATE RECAPSAND REMINDERSTO CLIENTS.

This also helps you to give approvals

faster by having summarized updates

sent to you and your client with details

about tasks and projects.

Need an old school way to do it? Google Calendar allows you to send your

appointment recaps you have for the day

via email every morning, or the beginning

of each week to notify you of what’s

coming up! Taking that same approach

and using it with project tools will help

your agency or business to flourish.

While clients often skim these emails,

they will NEVER delete them and often

will search and review them right when it

matters most, making payment.

02

Kate’s To Do’s

Kate’s To Do’s

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Using a variety of project management tools is your bread and butter for project

success.

Finding the right software or tool for your

agency so that all projects can be tracked

and entered from anywhere on the web or

even in your mobile device can go a long

way.

ensure data will not be lost on a desktop

installed program and creates easy access

for multiple team members whether crea-

tive, designers, copywriters, or developers,

logging their project hours.

If you have no history or activity log you

can loose valuable information.

Of course Dashable has the ability to

integrate with most of these softwares, but

you don’t need to choose us. There are

other PM tools out there that integrate

seamlessly like Smartsheet and Pivotal

Tracker.

What do we recommend?

Make sure to pick a PM tool that can inte-

grate with other systems you are already

using. Do you use Basecamp, GitHub,

Invisionapp, or Trello? These tools work

seamlessly together. Working with your

client and using these software’s can make

your projects feel like a breeze.

Don’t waste time training and setting up a

new program (Don't know what you mea

by this). Having a web-accessible tool can

2. USE A VARIETYOF WEB/MOBILE TOOLSTO TRACK PROJECTS.

What to look for?

03

Have one client but many projects? Track-

ing per client can get messy.

Many tasks and hours get lost each month

in rounding errors or are overlooked when

thinking of things for clients.

With whatever tool you’re using, stop

trying to track things per client or account,

and make sure to know specifically what

time is spent on projects.

3. TRACK PER PROJECT,NOT JUST CLIENT.

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This way, you can see where the weak

links are whether it’s a project out of

scope or a team process that isn’t working.

Evaluating per project will keep everyone

more realistic.

This can cause more confusion. You need

them all in one place, where timesheets

and invoicing comes together.

4. KEEP ALL TIMESHEETSAND TIME CHECK-INS IN THE SAME SPOT.

05

No one likes to fill out boring, tedious

timesheets, all they do is clock hours, but

what are you actually doing during them?

And balancing several clients is hard

enough… so accounting and invoice related

notes shouldn’t be in separate places.

1. Combine time clocked in with check-in

or status updates. Merge everything

together that you can find based on your

projects, whether from Pivotal Tracker or

Basecamp and put a number on it

2. Make sure you can track project times

in the same places as accounting notes,

this way there wont be discrepancies or

mistakes that can lead to late payments.

Hint: Use OnTime, Freshbooks & Dash-able.

How can you do this?

06

• Agree on a day of the week and time.

Do you prefer Thursday’s at 9 am? This is

a more thorough approach rather than

guessing when you will get paid and

makes sure you get paid on time.

How to do it?

• Always take a deposit before you start

working and make sure there's enough to

cover your cost until the next agreed upon

billing cycle.

• Use a tool that allows you to do cus-

tomized billing cycles and that gives you

and your client all the budget and progress

information when you need them. Trans-

parency is key in a consulting relationship.

Now, let’s get you paid FASTER.

Not every client is the same or starts on

the same day of the month, but limiting

clients to what works for you can be tricky

if you don’t handle it correctly. Don’t force

them, but be suggestive. After all you don’t

want to loose a client, right?

So, be clear on when you want to invoice,

and set clients up for billing cycles that

complement their needs but in shorter

increments for your agency’s financial

health.

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5. SET RIDIG BILLINGCYCLES WITH YOUCLIENT.

Of course Dashable has the ability to

integrate with most of these softwares, but

you don’t need to choose us. There are

other PM tools out there that integrate

seamlessly like Smartsheet and Pivotal

Tracker.

• Paypal: With Paypal you can send

invoices. If you have your bank account set

up you can even send large cash paye-

ments. Don’t let things slip and train your

customers about your routine this way

they will get better about payments being

in the flow rather than collecting notes and

making invoice time seem like a burden.

• Stripe: If your agency has developed

some sort of platform, integrate Stripe to

collect costs.

• Wire transfers: this might be the best

option since it doesn't carry a commission

like Paypal and Stripe.

What to use?

06

6. STOP ACCEPTINGCHECKS & ACCEPTONLINE PAYMENTS.

The next step is to accept online payments.

It sounds simple enough but many compa-

nies still prefer to mail checks.. yikes!

It’s just not reliable for your business both

in planning or safety since mail can get

lost and harder to get paid on time. As

soon as possible make the switch clear

right away and set the tone for all your

clients.

Once you no longer accept checks you will

have to find a quick and fast way to accept

payments online since payment by phone

is too much work and most companies

now prepared to make payments with

credit cards anyway (sometimes for other

reasons too like getting more flight miles.)

How do you measure your company per-

formance?

At the end of the day it’s about the money.

You’re an agency, so chances are you

don’t have (MRR) or monthly recurring

revenue. You have different fluctuations

throughout the year where you’re feasting

and flourishing and each month you make

a different amount of money.

So..

Take notes from projects and find out

which clients are paying on time and

which ones have the most profitability.

Make a list of these clients. You might be

surprised and should reward the best

clients first for a possible upsell later on.

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7. REVIEW PROJECTSREGULARY AND MEASURE COMPANY PERFORMANCE.

Last step? Measure your results. It’s

important to make sure your agency is

being as lean and agile as possible. You’re

an agency after all, so you most likely work

with practicing these methodologies.

As much as your work or projects can be

creative or “out of the box,” running your

business should not be.

If you’re ready to keep consistency at your agency, you can use these

7 tips to build a healthy relationship with your team members and

clients while keeping your agency paid on time, all the time.

These tips are straightforward and cost effective. You can save thou-

sands of dollars in the long run by using these methods and will keep

a large book of happy clients ready to give referrals.

You don’t need to use all these tips to see improvements. However,

these tips do build on each other, so using one after the other will

show significant success.

To find out how Dashable can help you save time and money while

keeping clients informed and teammates happy, visit the link below or

email us and we’ll set you up for a free demo!

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Are you ready to take controlof your agency?

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