COMPANY BACKGROUND:
This North American video production company acts as the main umbrella company for two different brands; one focuses on wedding coverage while the other is geared towards commercial video production such as documentaries and live event coverage.
The Problem:
The company has already implemented several different industry-specific management tools such as ShootQ and Tave, but time spent switching between them and their other apps is cutting into company efficiency.
They’re now looking for an all-in-one CRM that can track emails, monitor and follow up on leads, check on project development, and manage billing information.
The WORK[etc] Solution:
SETTING TWO INVOICES
Since their two brands each cater to a very different target market, the company needed to ensure brand individuality. For that reason, the company wants to issue different invoices for each brand.
Through WORK[etc]’s invoicing module, the company can easily create and customize invoice templates that carry branding specific to the brand they’re originating from. After all, you wouldn’t want to send out a receipt for a hard-hitting, dramatic documentary using an invoice with pink hearts and ribbons all over it.
LEAD MANAGEMENT
The company has an add-on on their website where potential customers can enter contact details and the like. Useful, but it also means that the company has to take a lot of extra steps just to enter collected information into the appropriate application.
WORK[etc] cuts through the hassle through built-in customizable web forms that can be added to a website and used to collect whatever information the company may need from their customers — contact details, the type of product or service that they need, etc.
Every piece of data entered into these web forms are automatically captured and added into WORK[etc], so there’s no need to capture leads using one system then import all that information into another. A user who needs a wedding video, for example, can automatically be assigned a “wedding” tag, ensuring that the lead ends up with connected to the correct brand.
Web forms’ customizability also helps the company maintain brand individuality. The company can, for example, roll out different web forms for each of their brands so that when the leads come in, they’re already segregated according to which brand they’re connected to.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
With the multiple tasks that are involved in a video production project, the company wants to ensure that all tasks and subtasks are clearly visible to all staff members. This can easily be done by using WORK[etc]’s permissions system alongside its project management module.
Permissions give admin-level users complete control over who has access to what information. Wedding video projects, for example, may be made accessible only to staffers under that particular brand. Likewise, those who work on the commercial production side will see only those projects under their specific brand.
All of these projects can be viewed through the project management module. WORK[etc] also offers different ways to view each project. There’s a graphical Gantt Chart that allows for quick modification of start and end dates as well as a hierarchical project tree that lists sub-projects, tasks, and other items within a project. All project items can further be filtered and sorted according to a number of parameters such as start and end dates, associated contacts and clients, and progress percentage.
BILLING AND QUOTATIONS
The company uses a different system yet again to store customer billing information. While not exactly difficult, it can be a hassle to keep switching between different applications just to collect a complete overview of a single client.
WORK[etc] eliminates the switching by integrating billing information into one system and displaying it in a readily accessible manner through the financial module. Data entry can also be done manually or through an automated import process. Information stored in a variety of file formats can be imported directly into the WORK[etc] CRM software.
At times, the company found itself wondering whether or not they had sent quotations and estimates to a prospective client. They want to ensure that these instances are kept to a minimum, if not taken out of the picture outright as it eats into efficiency and productivity.
This is where WORK[etc]’s finance module comes in handy. It contains a running list of which invoices have yet to be paid and which customers still have unbilled charges waiting to be invoiced. There’s no guesswork involved — it’s all there, listed in black and white.
Results
By using WORK[etc], the company can streamline all of their business processes under one web based CRM system. No more time and effort lost switching between a number of different applications just to find data or collect client information. A centralized system helps increase the company’s efficiency while still maintaining the consistent branding that they want for their two brands.
SUMMARY
Requirements:
To eliminate the need to use multiple systems to manage important business processes.
Solution:
Increased company efficiency without sacrificing brand consistency.
Results:
The company is better able to tailor and target their marketing campaigns for advertisers and potential subscribers. The system’s user-friendly interface makes onboarding and implementation easier for the less tech-savvy staff members, ensuring that everyone has access to pertinent data anytime, anywhere.
What this means for your trade magazine publishing company
Through the multiple features that WORK[etc] has, integrating key business needs into one system is a cinch. Since the system is highly customizable, users can easily and quickly view the information that they need, when and how they want to view it. Find out for yourself why WORK[etc] is not just any CRM by signing up for our free 14-day demo.
