WORK[etc] has always been about bringing real, tangible benefits to its users’ businesses. We don’t want to settle for ambiguous claims (“You’ll save time, but we’re not sure how much; it could be anywhere from a second to an hour!”). Instead, we look for cold, hard facts to back our statements up.
We’ve already covered a few of these tangible benefits in our success stories. Austrian digital agency e-dialog, for example, improved their workflows using WORK[etc] and managed to save up to 10 admin hours per week. The agency also quadrupled the amount of projects and data they could keep in one place.
One of our customers dug even deeper into the data and gave us a by-the-minute view of how they were able to simplify and shorten their processes using a small business CRM.
As you can see in the graphic below, their 7-step sales process used to take 37 minutes in total. Once they started using WORK[etc], they cut out three separate steps (which were actually resulting in duplicate documents) and pared down the process to a mere 11 minutes — less than a third of the original time it took to lock down one sale.
![Time and Money Saved by WORK[etc]](https://wetc2.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/graphic.png)
How WORK[etc] saves you time and money. Click for full image.This is how the company’s old sales process went:
- Office manager assigns sales person and enters client information.
- Office manager creates paper packet for sales person.
- Sales person collects paper packet, sets appointment, and conducts interview with client.
- Sales person returns to office and enters client information into costing spreadsheet.
- Client signs up. Office manager retypes details in paper packet and creates another paper packet for production team.
- Production manager re-enters client information into personal 3-ring binder for projects.
- Office manager takes production pack and enters information into billing software.
With WORK[etc], the company’s sales process became:
- Office manager assigns sales person and enters client information. Sales person conducts interview with client.
- Sales person returns to office and enters client information into costing spreadsheet.
- Client signs up. Sales person enters client information into WORK[etc] using an existing project template. Production manager updates project calendar.
- WORK[etc] automatically generates invoice upon project completion.
By consolidating multiple steps in the process and getting rid of duplicate documents, the company was able to gain and extra 5,200 hours’ worth of man hours per year. All this time saved translated to $52,000 recovered per year. That’s the equivalent of the company selling an additional $520,000 worth of services per year.
We’d love to feature more of these in-depth examples here on the blog, so we’re currently running a new challenge on WORK[etc] Insiders asking for raw data from our users. If you aren’t one yet, sign up for our Insiders program now. Insiders members can click here to go straight to the challenge.
COMMENTS
I’d say the biggest impact WORK[etc] had on our organization, was allowing us to consolidate many different management products into one. By doing that it allowed us to streamline the workflow of generating a lead, to converting to a customer with a project, support, and time and expense. Having all the data in one place also helps us provide better customer server as well as reduce missed revenue opportunities.
For us the centralisation of our client information has been invaluable. Before we relied on password files/ bits of paper/ Skype chats for client logins, server information etc. Now all our client information is attached to the client record within WorkEtc and it makes finding what you need a breeze.
Our entire business process from Leads, Sales, Prototyping, Design, Development and Delivery, Testing, Training and Handover to Billing are all handled through W[e] and that has really helped us tighten our belts and make savings.
I agree with David that one of the best parts is a shared location for all our client related information. I’d also add that client contact information in WORK[etc] is also a plus.
But one of the things that saves us time is the support case handling. No need to manually mark down when we were first contacted (for the sake of a SLA) or to search to see if we ever responded about it. All kept track of in WORK[etc].
This is great improvement for sales oriented company. I work in non profit organisation, and it could be very interesting if you can prepare some tips for non profit organisation. Mostly, we use same tools but sometimes there is difference. It’ll be great to have tags for expanses and etc.
Biggest thing for me in starting to use WORK[etc] for my business 4 years ago was doing away with triplicate-entry across multiple platforms. A single place that showed me contact history, leads, projects, invoices and support requests meant I always knew exactly who I was dealing with and what we had done. When a new contact was added, it was added once, and when details changed they only needed changing in one place. Simple things, but still a huge impact.
We’re using Work etc to produce a children’s animation series. We have a small team spread over 3 different cities and 2 countries in Africa. Nigeria and Kenya to be exact. Work Etc has been a godsend and we’re not even pushing it to it’s full capabilities. It’s saved us so much time and increased our efficiency. Looking forward to more updates. Downloaded the Android app and we’re currently putting that through its paces.
WorkETC has definitely eliminated the time-consuming need of switching from one tool to invoice, another to manage projects and so on. WorkETC made processes for our business more efficient. Such as keeping up with leads and managing them in an organized manner. The ability to let clients pay straight from invoices cuts down on any back and forth or making payments to come in faster. It’s great to view projects in multiple ways. Especially when we can create gnatt charts to show clients how project tasks are projected for a current month. WorkETC has helped in so many ways.
By utilising worketc my business has saved huge amounts of time. Most of our time has been saved by being able to access multiple functions without having to switch programs. In fact i am thinking of running my newest business venture using worketc right from the start.
The main impact for me has been to consolidate all items in just one place. We were using a combination of OneNote / SharePoint / Excel and just keeping everything nicely in sync, also shared with clients created a lot of administrative overhead & communication misunderstandings.
WORK[ETC] has been great for our organization. First of all, the interface is simple yet powerful. All walks of life can use this software from the very start. It’s also mobile in the same simple yet powerfully intuitive fashion. It’s given our organization structure with multiple clientele management, and billing. It has increased gross profits from simplifying, granulating, client billing. I will say it has given us a 20,000.00 increase per quarter with great emphasis on granulation.. alone.
Gone are the days of multiple spreadsheets and limited applications. We use use just about every feature Work[etc] offers. Its great to see how organized our office has become and we are constantly looking for more ways to improve our processes by using the features of Work[etc]. It took us a while to get everything like we wanted it and we had to adapt some of the features to fit the needs of our business but we made it work saving us thousands of dollars in wasteful time in the long run. I’m looking forward to more Outlook integration and other apps.
We don’t have a lot to compare to before WE, as we were not keeping track of everything we should have. But since we started using WE, we have been able to gather so much more data on our leads, project hours/budget, and to do’s…that it’s not only saving us time,but really giving us a much larger picture of how our office is working. Now we don’t have to access various spread sheets, time-sheet apps, billing software, etc….we just go to one place to get it all. It’s so helpful to have all our data in one place and communicating with clients through the same software as well so we can follow discussions and activity.
I have to reiterate what many have said before. Work[etc] has allowed us to consolidate and streamline the use of business centric application. I am no longer supporting 6+ applications for the company, which has saved me a ton of time to focus on more important projects. I think our process was even more choppy than what is illustrated above. Having everyone in the same space, has also allowed us to generate better data, which allows for better business analysis.
Best part of using worketc to save time is having everything consolidated and not having to jump through a bunch of different apps. Not only that but it makes it easy to find the information and keeping track of so much more. When I have a customer on the line it’s easy to find their record, talk about their support case and their invoice, all within one same centralized location.
WorkETC has been great when it comes to templating projects and handling multiple projects at once. We’ve grown to be currently managing 22 projects whereas before WorkETC we struggled to keep track of 4 or 5.
The Gantt charting allows us to see where the projects are at in their pipeline and maintain a semblance of order while others are starting up and going as well.
Ability to access the same information on the mobile devices has also really helped organisation and knowing how the projects are tracking wherever we are.