Have you ever counted the number of tools you use on a daily basis? The bigger a company gets, the more tools it accumulates to meet its various needs (over 12 tools for a marketing team alone!).
And yet, streamlining the use of your tools is essential to improve your profitability, streamline your operations and give your teams back the time to focus on what really matters: customers and project success.
But how do you get there? Follow the 3-step guide.
The multiplicity of tools
Why it's dangerous
For some, more tools mean more functionality, more flexibility, and theoretically, more efficiency. But in reality, the opposite is often true.
The proliferation of tools leads to information silos and redundancies that complicate day-to-day management. On average, an employee wastes 1 hour a day searching for relevant data in different applications, according to a study by Qatalog and Cornell University’s Ellis Idea Lab.
The result? Teams spend precious time juggling these tools, which slows productivity and increases the risk of errors. What’s more, 44% of employees feel that their colleagues are duplicating work, making the situation even worse.
- For operational staff and project managers, is having to manage a project without being able to anticipate the designer’s departure on vacation. You discover too late that the final visual isn’t ready, jeopardizing the customer’s entire campaign and delaying outgoing invoicing.
- For production management, is the inability to synchronize the efforts of sales and production teams. You could have salespeople selling more projects than your team can handle, or conversely, unanticipated slack periods. Who will suffer? Your profitability.
- From the finance department, is the inability to track project progress in real time, so you know when to invoice. Without this information, it’s hard to maintain a steady, healthy cash flow, enabling you to keep the liner afloat all the way to the USA (and beyond!).
David Aït-Ali, co-founder of Rébellion
The hardest thing when you're looking for a tool like this is to have one that's completely all-in-one, designed to go from start to finish. And that's what we had a hard time finding. We really did see a lot of competitors, and in all of them, there was not one that really took the problem as a whole.
Streamlining for better management
The benefits
A unified work environment offers significant advantages:
- Better visibility A clear overview of projects, resources allocated and costs incurred.
- Greater responsiveness The ability to react quickly to unforeseen events.
- Fewer errors Less information silos, less redundancy.
- Significant time savings Streamlining your tools saves an average of 30% in back-office time.
The case of the Hula-Hoop agency
Hula-Hoop, a branding agency over 15 years old with 70 employees in several countries, was facing challenges in terms of organization and cross-functionality. Before Furious, the agency used different tools for management, planning and customer relations, which limited visibility on the time spent on projects.
Since adopting Furious 4 years ago, Hula-Hoop has centralized its activities on a single platform. This unification has made it possible to efficiently link the agency’s different structures, making it easier to identify and track the time spent by each employee on a project. This not only improved coordination between the teams in Montreal and Nantes, but also supported the agency’s overall growth.
Problems before Furious :
- Fragmented project management.
- Lack of cross-functionality between businesses and countries.
- Multiplication of tools and lack of coherence.
- Lack of visibility on time spent and projects.
Solutions provided by Furious :
- Centralization of project management data (on a single platform).
- Simplify and save time by automating administrative processes.
- Regular real-time monitoring of KPIs for economic and social data.
- Improved coordination between teams.
Thanks to Furious, I've got some absolutely insane dashboards that output data in real time, all the time. I've set up a board to monitor all the economic and social data and year-on-year comparisons that come out live and that I check on a daily basis.
This centralization of tools has also benefited Progress Partners, another fast-growing service company.
The case of Progress Partners
Progress Partners, headed by Pascal VanBerten, has experienced strong growth, requiring better management and a solid prospecting pipeline. Before Furious, the company was using two separate systems, resulting in gaps in planning and billing.
Problems before Furious :
- Use of two separate systems
- Gaps in invoicing, with up to 30% of invoices unpaid.
- Poorly controlled growth due to lack of centralized data.
Solutions provided by Furious :
- Centralized tools A single platform for planning and billing.
- Automated reminders Reduce unpaid invoices from 30% to 9%.
- Time savings and increased efficiency 20-30% time saved in day-to-day management, enabling growth without the need to hire new staff.
Harmonizing without disrupting: the 3 steps
1. Identify under-utilized tools
Start with a complete audit of the tools currently in use:
- Tool analysis: List all tools in use.
- Redundancy detection: Identify those that are redundant or under-utilized, and those that do not communicate with each other.
- Dialogue with your teams: Talk to your teams to understand their habits, needs and repetitive tasks that can be automated.
- Specifications: Draw up a document summarizing the findings and deep-rooted needs, aimed at improving profitability.
2. Streamline processes
Take stock of your current tools: can one of them deliver all the features you’re looking for? If the answer is yes, great! If not, opt for a single platform that centralizes project management, time and billing data. A business tool all-in-one.
3. Use your tool park to its full potential
Use tools that offer automation features for repetitive tasks.
Then, fully integrate your new tool into your daily processes.
Make sure all teams are trained to exploit its full potential. This will reduce errors, improve efficiency and free up time for higher value-added tasks.
A smooth transition
Switch from several tools to one can seem daunting. Yet service companies that have adopted this approach report significant improvements in profitability.
By centralizing their management tools, they have been able to :
- Reduce the time spent administrative tasks (an average reduction of 10%).
- Improve the accuracy financial reporting.
- Optimize the use of resources.
This transition simplifies processes, eliminates redundancies and boosts efficiency. By unifying tools, companies create a more fluid and responsive working environment, capable of adapting quickly to unforeseen events and changing market needs.
The case of SMASH
SMASH Group, a fast-growing consulting firm, has opted for Furious to centralize and optimize its management. Before Furious, the company used Excel files to manage time and administrative tasks, which limited visibility and efficiency.
We used to monitor from Excel files, but these didn't really reflect the reality of things, and were very static. And with the arrival of Furious, we've moved into a much more dynamic area, with monitoring too. And of course, data security.
To find out more about SMASH’s experience with Furious, read their full testimonial to learn how they switched from Excel to Furious.
David Aït-Ali, co-founder of Rébellion
I think that thanks to Furious, we save and gain about ten percent of the agency's overall time. It may not sound like much, but when the agency starts to grow, 10% is a lot. It's a real plus. There are a lot of things we've automated thanks to Furious, and we now have the capacity to have regular indicators that are great.
Furious: your ally for optimized management
At Furious, we understand the challenges faced by service companies. 78% of managers and executives who come to us express the need to unify their tool stack due to a lack of visibility.
Our customers struggle on a daily basis to ensure that their teams adhere to processes, and to obtain precise indicators enabling them to steer with all the keys at their disposal. They waste a lot of time with multiple, disconnected tools, which complicates project management and resource planning.
Our all-in-one business solution enables you to track the progress of your projects in real time, manage resources efficiently and centralize all your management data.
With all workflows in one place, Furious replaces an average of 7 tools, saves 30% of time on back-office issues and 20% of management time.
Would you like to find out more about our solution?
Contact our experts for a free trial today.
