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Deltek Advertising

5 Reasons Deltek ProjectCon Is A Must Attend Event

Deltek ProjectCon 2023 will be taking place from October 16th – 18th at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando, FL. As a Platinum Sponsor of this event, PCI is excited to be a part of this incredible event!

Deltek ProjectCon is the ultimate event for project-based business professionals looking for inspiration, education and collaboration. This unique three-day conference is filled with learning and networking opportunities that you do not want to miss! Here are the top 5 reasons why you absolutely can’t miss out on this amazing event. Trust us, it’s going to be epic!

  • Expand your Knowledge and Skills

The conference is designed to provide attendees with the latest insights and best practices in all areas. With over 300 sessions, you’ll uncover valuable tips and tricks, gain insider insights into upcoming product developments and witness inspiring success stories from organizations like yours.  

Make sure you attend three must-see sessions hosted by PCI!

CPSPON-10 – Elevate Your Subcontractor Game: Mastering the Art of Subcontractor Management

CPSPON-11 – Mastering the Indirect Rate Reconciliation Process

CPSPON-12 – Simplify Your Expense Management and Maximize Efficiency

DAS-03 – Achieving Scheduling Zen – How to Unleash the Power of WorkBook Resourcing Planning

  • Network with Like-Minded Professionals

Deltek ProjectCon brings together thousands of like-minded professionals. This provides an excellent opportunity to network with colleagues and make new connections! The conference offers numerous networking events as well as an expo hall where attendees can meet with leading vendors and service providers. Come meet PCI in the expo hall at booth 3!

  • Stay up-to-date on Industry Trends

Deltek’s offerings continues to grow and evolve, especially with the recent release of Costpoint 8.2. It is important for professionals to stay up-to-date on the newest features and enhancements to gain valuable insights from product experts. Hear tips and tricks from other users on how to get the most out of your Deltek experience.

  • Learn Directly from Deltek Experts

Deltek is filled with experts who are uniquely positioned to provide insights and guidance on how to get the most from their products. At Deltek ProjectCon, attendees can learn directly from these experts via in-depth training sessions. This provides unparalleled access to the people who know the products best and can help attendees optimize their use of Deltek software.

  • Have Fun While you Learn

While Deltek ProjectCon is a serious business event, it’s also designed to be fun and engaging. From social events like happy hours and networking receptions to interactive exhibits and live demonstrations, there’s plenty to see and do throughout the conference. This creates a dynamic and lively atmosphere that makes learning and networking more enjoyable and memorable.

We hope to see you there! Register now to attend!

7 Metrics That Matter to Your Agency

In Deltek’s recent webinar, Financial KPI’s for the Healthy Agency: Are You Really Measuring What Matters Most, David Baker, Author, Speaker, Entrepreneurial Advisor at ReCourses, Inc. talks through the 7 KPIs in which your agency should be measuring.

 

1. Billings per FTE

A simple, but extremely important metric. Take your total agency fees divided by your full-time employees. This is assuming your staff isn’t working ridiculous hours and that you have removed all external expenses from the total (media cost, freelancers, other COGS, etc.).  Baker’s minimal milestone for this is $200k per employee. In short, he states, ““You can’t really be a serious agency until you are above this.”

 

2. Other Key Financial Metrics

Baker’s research of the most efficient (and profitable) agencies concludes these financial metrics as key to a well-run agency:

  • Set aside 2-4 months of overhead in cash (not receivables or line of credit)
  • No debt (or at least avoid at all costs)
  • Look at your fee base (total invoiced amounts minus COGS) and don’t spend more than 45% of it on unburdened (no taxes, benefits, or bonuses) compensation
  • 60% of realized utilization (add up all the hours worked, not just billed) should be captured financially

 

3. Sales Prospecting

Have an inbound list of 8,000 individuals who signed-up for your insight. Baker explains, “I’m talking about real insight that they are excited to read about and eventually will say, “That is a smart agency.  I really need to talk with them.  Maybe the fit is right.” All of this insight is free until somebody hires you, and then it costs a lot of money. “

 

Accumulate 50 opportunities, choose 12 to go after, win 3-4 of them

Cap labor devoted to new business at 4% (this includes pitch decks, conferences, networking, etc.)

Use progressive profiling and lead scoring

 

4. Insight Assets (Content)

Your sales prospecting is dependent upon the insight deliverables (content) you create and make available to new business leads. Here are some minimal guidelines for what you’ll need in your asset stack:

  • At least 2 articles per month (400-800 words with the occasional longer piece)
  • Have a clear point of view and use video when you can
  • Produce at least one of these “higher rung” insights very well every year:
  • eBook with speaking opportunities
  • hosting your own marquee event
  • invitation-only roundtables 3-4 times a year with 20 guests (prospects and clients)
  • research report co-issued with a more popular brand (or speaker)
  • podcasts (your own series or multiple guest appearances on others)

 

5. Pitches

New business pitches take a lot of time and effort. Baker advises to pitch only if you know who the other competing firms involved. There should be no more than six and no incumbent. If prospect isn’t willing to spend time with you (no answered questions, no inside information) it probably isn’t worth it.

 

6. Client Landscape

How many clients should you have, and what should they represent of your fee base?

  • Have 15-22 active clients at any given time (doesn’t matter your agency size)
  • Fewer than 15 will result in a client concentration problem
  • Each client represents 4-15% of the whole (any more will put you at risk when they leave, any less means you’re not deeply engrained enough and probably losing money)
  • Relationships should last only 2-3 years (the longer they are with you the harder it is to make money)
  • Projects should yield a net of 0-40% (okay to lose money on some projects as long as the client relationship as a whole is doing well)
  • You only need to close a new client every 2 to 4 months because you’re keeping them 2 to 3 years, and you have 15 to 22 of them.

 

7. The priorities of an agency lead

As the captain of your agency ship it is the job of the agency lead to understand the daily inefficiencies that hamper good workflow and proper money management. A few key concentrations Baker highlights for agency leaders:

  • Focus on financial performance and the entire process in pursuit of good performance
  • Devote yourself to KEY staff (4-8 people handpicked by you)
  • “Stake out an unambiguous positioning that’s not interchangeable in the marketplace” (i.e. this is what we are really good at and where we are focused)
  • Participate in new business to signal to prospect that “this is a big opportunity”
  • Make sure every third hire is an “expert” at something. One-third of all employees should contribute to your thought leadership insights.

 

Learn how WorkBook can increase your agency’s KPIs and streamline your operations. Contact us for more information!

Raise your hand if you’d like to increase your agencies efficiency and profitability!

Profitability is one of the most important aspects of any business, especially within agencies. In this blog, we will review 10 best practices to ensure your processes are on the right track to maximize agency efficiency:

1. Create Accurate Estimates
With greater visibility into your agency’s project data, you can glean better insights and more accurately predict the time and resources a new project might require. Track your project history and use it effectively to inform new project estimates.

2. Manage Staff Capacity
Your employees are your greatest asset, as well  as your largest cost. They define your agency’s ability to execute on client needs. But without complete visibility into staff capacity, you don’t know how many projects you can take on or how much you’re wasting on under-utilized resources or unexpected freelance costs. With a clearer line of sight into agency capacity comes better insight into agency capabilities, allowing you to ensure agency money is being spent effectively.

3. Track Time Effectively
Timesheets are the biggest hurdle to getting you the most accurate budget information in real-time. Who wants to get hit with a giant overrun after it’s too late to do anything about it? Easy-to-use, mobile-friendly time tracking methods are a must for any project-based agency. The simpler it is for your employees to track and submit time the more likely they are to use it effectively, giving you the information you need, when you need it.    

4. Avoid Idle Hands
Consistently under-utilized resources can be just as damaging to your project profitability as over-servicing. Along with capacity management, the ability to analyze historical project data to understand your staff’s strengths and weaknesses is invaluable. With greater insight into staff performance and project profitability your agency can chase the right kinds of projects that maximize productivity.

5. Stimulate Team Collaboration
In an industry where teams may be scattered across the globe and an on-the-go attitude requires business processes to be mobile, it’s more important than ever that your agency be up to the challenge. By providing your employees with a centralized portal of communication they’ll be able to work with anyone, from anywhere, without deterring from productivity. Easier team communication leads to higher utilization rates and greater project margins.

6. Maintain a Healthy Pipeline
A healthy pipeline is the lifeblood of a project-based agency. It feeds your bottom line and nourishes growth. It’s crucial that your agency knows exactly what kind of work it excels at and what is most profitable. By tracking and analyzing historical project data you can be sure your agency is chasing the right types of leads and landing more projects that contribute to your bottom line.

7. Control Scope-Creep
Extra items are sure to be added to the scope after fees have been established. But spending time on something that you’re not being paid for eats profit margin and negatively affects morale. With an early-warning system and an informed Account Services team, you can see scope-creep coming and take action. When you have accurate, real-time data and can provide the client with greater transparency into the project you’ll be better suited to re-negotiate.   

8. Increase Project Management Agility
Projects are the core of your agency, so it’s crucial that your project management capabilities are as agile and effective as possible. To deliver a successful product on time and budget you need visibility into all aspects of the project with accurate data that allows you to course-correct before issues arise. You’ll have more control over project profitability when you can monitor project budgets in real-time and can quickly adjust resources and timelines as priorities change.

9. Use the Right System
The right tool will effectively streamline agency processes so that employees spend less time on unbillable and administrative tasks and more time focusing on what’s important.

10. Put it All Together to Make More Money
If you have the right processes, the right resources and the right system in place you’re well on your way to increased efficiency and profitability. When operations are streamlined, employees spend more time delivering the best product, keeping the client happy and contributing to the bottom line.

If you are interested and want to hear more about Deltek WorkBook can increase your bottom line, Contact us today!

HOW TO WIN IN THE SPORT OF ADVERTISING

How to Win in the Sport of Advertising

Blog from: Deltek, written by Nancy Murray 

Last week I had the pleasure to participate in an Ad Age webcast alongside Michael Farmer, renowned business strategist and advertising industry expert. I’ve been pondering our discussion about hidden metrics ever since. If you were unable to join, you can listen to a recording of the session here.

The question we set out to answer in the webcast was; “Is there a moneyball strategy for the game of advertising?” Or put another way, what are the hidden metrics we should consider to improve operations and therefore the overall success of our agencies?

Advertising is a Sport and a Business

We both agree advertising is a sport and a business, hence the moneyball reference.  The sport is winning new clients and awards because they have better ideas than the competition. To enable creativity on the field, the business behind it needs to make data-driven decisions to ensure the right resources, or team players, are in the right place at the right time for the right fee. Without project data, there is no way to predict how much time, from who, is needed for a given client.

Find Your Hidden Metrics

Register Now

Watch the Webinar On-Demand

“Three P” Metrics for Agency Management

Michael was clear that we need a data-driven, or moneyball, approach to managing agencies. However, every company needs to start with some basics to ensure they understand the key aspects of their business before undertaking such an approach. He describes these as the Three P’s:

  • Price – fee income divided by number of deliverables or SMUs (scope metric units)
  • Productivity – how much work is delivered
  • Profitability – the difference between the fee and common costs

Michael has tracked the advertising industry price for 25 years and has observed a downward trend from $435K per SMU in 1992 to $135K per SMU today. He attributes the decline to decreasing fees and increased workload. He passionately told our audience that without knowing the output of each team member per client it is impossible to manage an agency well. We are in an era of steep profit decline and Michael feels the responsibility for this sits squarely with inaccurate and unmonitored Scopes of Work (SOWs), which boils down to agencies continuing to assign a guesstimated time allocation to tasks.

Action Plan to Change the Trajectory

The question (loud and clear from the audience) was how to get started. In the words of one agency leader on the call – how do we avoid running before we can walk?

The answer is to start by acknowledging the problem; agencies don’t truly measure how much work they are doing. During the session we asked, “how difficult would tighter management of Scopes of Work be for your agency?” The overwhelming response was, “somewhat difficult.” While this may sound discouraging, you can develop a clear action plan to follow if you want to see improvement in this area:

How to Improve SOW Accuracy:

  1. Document Scopes of Work in a uniform format
  2. Make Client Leads accountable for Scopes of Work, fees and resources
  3. Review SOW metrics at regular intervals with top management
  4. Develop action plans to correct under-performing clients
  5. Be accountable for success, i.e. delivery of the SOW to budget

You Must be Able to Trust the Data

For me, this is where the tools come in. Transparency is vital for you to really know your business. To gain this kind of transparency you must give your teams access to online and mobile software so that they can record their efforts in real time. You don’t want them waiting until the end of the week, by which point time allocation is no more than a best guess.

69% of agencies report too many guesstimates in their estimates.

Multiple systems are also a killer.  You need one single interface with a clear dashboard that alerts you when you are in danger of going over or under budget. It’s only when you start trusting the data you are recording that you can put it to good use, create realistic SOWs and accurately measure against them to avoid unexpected over or under-service.

Moneyball strategy = consistency of delivery

So, what’s the measure of success? If you implement a moneyball strategy what can you expect to achieve? The answer – consistency. When you achieve consistency, your price of output per client will be the same. You won’t have a few toxic clients detracting from your hard work elsewhere.  The quality of creative work will be reliably high because your people won’t be over-stretched, and you can plan your resources with ease and precision.

If you’d like to know more about how the Deltek WorkBook tools we’ve developed can help you win the sport of advertising, please don’t hesitate to get in touch