Here are key points to remember when trying to improve profitability:
- Some seasons are just heavy for clients, so we always work to get into the green but realize that’s not always realistic.
- Think about pacing and prioritizing projects –> what could wait till next month?
- Help team members know how much time they should be spending on tasks, e.g. social media writing should take 60-minutes per batch, email graphics should take 20 minutes per task, etc.
- Identify any “voluntary projects” that teammates have taken up (things they decided to do because it would help the client but isn’t necessary or hasn’t been explicitly assigned) –> e.g. is the database team going the extra mile on a clean up project, did comms coordinator decide to review all the audience tags?
- Clients with a history of starting a project, our team works on it, then they kill it. Let’s have the client take more buy-in before we launch down that path.
- Tell your team members what level of detail you want on a project: 1) do a quick rough design for me to show client vs 2) do a full detail concept/mock-up with the full quality assurance process.
- Keep track of who is doing what work in their department and how much time they are spending on it. (i.e. Team Leads should have some insight into what hours the accounting team is putting in to a client)
- When clients give approval for projects – have the client select “Approve” or “Edits Made and Highlighted” within the text prep/review document. that might help as a starting point.