I’m a dog person.
A cat person…
A turtle person…
A… well, you get the point. I love creatures of all shapes and sizes.
This afternoon, I have the pleasure of dog-sitting my best friend’s cocker spaniel/dachshund mix, Peyton, for a few hours.
She’s been sniffing around the office, checking everything out. She’s even stretched out on my guest chair a few times and given the beanbag a try. (And you thought it was funny watching me get out of a beanbag!)
Some employers feel that having pets in the workplace decreases employee productivity. I disagree. While I’ll admit I’ve spent a few minutes hugging Peyton today, just having her around has lifted my mood. I’ve actually been more productive.
I think our office just might need a mascot. I wonder if an otter would like our kitchen sink?
Skip Intro
I visit websites — lots of websites — many of them belonging to ad agencies. I’ve found that browsing an agency’s website can tell me a lot about the company — How big are they? who are their clients? do they specialize in a particular vertical? Many agencies will put their employees on display in ‘bio’ sections (showcasing personality and talent is a home run!) so I can get a sense of who I’m speaking to before I make a call. These details help me foster an image of what the agency is like and help me break the ice during that initial phone call. I love all agency websites that are full of information I need; if it’s there, I’ll wade through whatever interface you throw at me to find it. The problem for you, the ad agency, is I’m not your customer.
It’s not a surprise to anyone that a sexy homepage creates curb appeal for your company. One CurrentTrack® client recently landed a national account because “[they] liked [our] website.” If we all know how critical it is to your business, then my question is: why do some (a lot) of ad agencies, who are trying to help clients promote their goods and services, have confusing (even irritating) websites? I have a couple guesses as to why agency sites go out of control, but that’s not what this article is about.
Here are my top 5 web-peeves (sorry):
1.) Intro – If you give us a flash intro and include [Skip Intro] at the bottom of the page, everyone’s going to skip your introduction. If it’s not important, and can be skipped, should it even be on your site let alone the first thing visitors see?
2.) Flash – It simply doesn’t run well on computers and isn’t built for the mobile web. Apple® sold 15 million iPads over the 2011 Holiday season and I assure you not a single one of those users will be able to visit your site if it’s built in Flash. Avoid this technology.
3.) Music – Midi versions of elevator music are decidedly unhip. I provide my own music when browsing the web, you should suspect that many people do the same and avoid jarring them.
4.) Spelling and Grammar – Maybe working with a grammarian proofreader has turned me into a stickler but really, proofread your site’s content; then proofread it again.
5.) Updates – Old blog posts are sad, irrelevant and leave visitors searching for a pulse. If you’re not going to regularly update content, don’t post a blog or space for updates to go stale.
Incidentally, the Second Wind Network has put together a handy new website guide.
Agree? Disagree? Email me or comment below!
“What’s my motivation?”
Today I scared the you-know-what out of my co-worker. While finalizing the 2012 budget for our company, I mistakenly quoted his salary as being considerably lower than what he’s currently being paid. After sedating him (kidding), I began thinking about what motivates me as a, “traffic person.”
Is it fame? In my 10+ years of traffic management, I’ve never once had someone stop me on the street and say, “Dawn Travelstead? I know you! You’re the Traffic Manager everyone is talking about!”
Is it respect? While I appreciate knowing my peers value me as a member of the team, I’ve never been one to covet respect from others. After all, aren’t we in this thing called, “advertising” together?
Is it fortune? How many Traffic Managers do you know who drive a Rolls-Royce? I’ll stick with my “soccer mom” mini-van, thank you very much.
Being part of something great.
That’s what motivates me. It’s not about the accolades or material things. It’s about being part of something bigger. It’s about knowing that my actions, day-in and day-out, affect not only the people around me, but this organization as a whole; whether positively or negatively is entirely up to me.
What’s YOUR motivation?
That’s the Power of CRM.
I just got off the phone with a prospective client. He told me to call him back “after the new year,” a common response for this time of year. Now what? How should I remind myself to get back to him?
I could set up an event in iCal to remind myself to call him. No thanks, that takes too much time and can you imagine how cluttered my calendar would look if I added every follow up call? Yikes. I’ll pass on that.
Maybe I should add a dated task to my favorite to-do list app (Wunderlist). Ok, that could possibly work, but what about the notes I have recapping my conversation? And where will the notes go when I complete that task? Pass.
How about I just jot down notes in my trusty notebook or notebook app? But that won’t remind me to call on a certain day will it? No, no, that won’t work either.
If your business development workflow includes a hodgepodge of office suites, to-do list apps, calendars and Moleskine® notebooks, perhaps it’s time to consider acquiring a CRM system for your agency.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems come in a variety of flavors, but all are designed to keep sales teams organized. Regardless of the system you choose, the guiding principals are the same — to provide a centralized place to capture all relevant information about a prospect and keep a record of associated communications. Most CRMs are structured in an Account -> Contact -> Activity hierarchy. It’s simple for me to store general information like company names, addresses, phone numbers, websites, and social media accounts in the Account record. I can also add my own fields if I’d like to capture other relevant information like industry, company size or even the lead source. The more information you capture about your prospects the better; for example, you can use this metadata to build targeted lists to share a press release detailing the results of a recent campaign.
In addition, I can track the contacts I’ve made at each prospect and record activities and events which include phone calls, emails, demonstrations, and meetings. In the case of the prospective client who wants a follow-up after the new year, I can quickly make a couple notes recapping our conversation and schedule a follow-up task for mid-January. Each morning, I log in to my CRM and get a sense of what I’m responsible for that day. It’s not dissimilar to a traffic management system like CurrentTrack®, but it’s contact- rather than project-focused. Here at Developware, we make a distinction between business acquisition efforts and traffic management — not cobbling the two together. After all, account services’ sales efforts are decidedly different from project management.
Since I prefer to access my day’s work from any location, I use a web-based CRM system, Salesforce®, but many options exist to suit any workflow. Successful business development starts with a carefully considered strategy and a CRM system to enforce it.
“I say ‘traffic,’ you say ‘production’.”
While traffic managers and production managers are often found within the same department, and their roles frequently combined, they each have very different functions within an agency.
The traffic manager is responsible for scheduling and moving work along a Critical Path while the production manager is assigned tasks along said Path – estimating, buying and managing outside services, for example.
According to Tony Mikes, president of Second Wind Network, “The production manager is responsible for pricing all services the agency delivers, working with the various agency departments – creative, account service, public relations, media, interactive – in calculating in-house charges and requesting estimates from outside vendors.” Once gathered, the production manager compiles costs into an estimate. The estimate is then routed through the traffic manager and given to the account executive for client approval.
The traffic manager, on a daily basis, compiles a master workload schedule and talks with each employee, ensuring deadlines are met. This includes the production manager who confirms estimate, shipping and delivery dates.
The primary role of the production manager is to obtain the best possible prices from outside vendors. This requires building (and maintaining) strong business relationships and exploring unique opportunities. The traffic manager is strictly an inward-facing employee who works closely with all departments.
Now that you’ve a better feel for the separate roles of traffic and production, you can see why combining the two may not be the best option. Mikes states it best, “If the production manager is busy for most of the day, scheduling work and resolving conflicts, how can they honestly get the best possible price and delivery for the agency? If a traffic manager is not able to keep up with scheduling changes and new orders because they’re proofreading, estimating and expediting, the timelines and accuracy of the agency’s work will suffer.”
Being a small- to medium-size agency, you may not have the financial resources to divide the roles of traffic and production. You’re not alone. As your agency continues to grow, pay attention to the quality of work being produced by your traffic-production manager. If the increased work volume is impacting it, it may be time to consider a role division.