Full Sail Partners Blog (28)

As the life blood of project-based firms, projects must be run efficiently and effectively from start to finish. Fortunately, Deltek Vantagepoint provides the functionality to give project managers more tools to run their projects. Furthermore, Vantagepoint seamlessly integrates your firm’s business processes using an impressive feature suite bringing business development, accounting, resource planning and project management together. By empowering the different roles within firms, projects are better managed and thus more successful. Let’s check out the power of Deltek Vantagepoint.

User Convenience

Deltek Vantagepoint is user-friendly with easy to understand workflows. The browser based Vantagepoint interface offers the ultimate convenience for its users. Additionally, in 2020, there will be an add-on for Outlook. Users will be able to manage Vantagepoint activities within their Outlook calendar. Synchronizing of contact records and smart scheduling will be available to make managing projects even more convenient.

Vantagepoint Project Hub

Project managers can get access to all they need to manage their projects through the project hub in Deltek Vantagepoint. In 2020, the project hub will be expanded to include more functionality. A new interactive Gantt charting tool gives project managers the chance to view their schedules plus change them via a drag and drop option. Also, a scenario planning feature and revenue forecasting tool will be added to the project hub offerings.

Data for Informed Decision Making

In Deltek Vantagepoint, there is a dashboarding framework that ensures project-based firms have proper metrics and information for informed decision making. There will be further expansion of the dashboard to include more visual dashparts in 2020. Currently, the Vantagepoint Intelligence (VI) module is available, but later in the year there will be VI Analysis Cubes which offer pre-calculated data for analysis by anyone in the firm.

Deltek Vantagepoint is Becoming More Powerful in 2020

There will be even more improvements to Deltek Vantagepoint’s functionality throughout 2020 further powering your firm projects. The 3.0 release in late January has already provided some dashboard improvements as well as the Gantt scheduling feature. With the second release, 3.5, the new revenue forecasting tool will be available, as well as the Outlook add-on and Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) to enhance the mobile time and expense app. Finally, the 4.0 release planned for Q4 will focus on resource planning features like scenario planning and more revenue forecasting. Are you new to Deltek and Vantagepoint? Time to learn more!

As many in the professional services industry know, Deltek is the leading provider of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and other software solutions designed exclusively for project-based businesses. There are more than 30,000 organizations and millions of users in over 80 countries that rely on Deltek solutions. Wow! Those are some impressive numbers.

Out of the many ERP solutions Deltek offers, the newest and most innovative ERP system is Deltek Vantagepoint. Deltek listens to its client base and continually evolves its solutions to meet their clients’ growing needs. After receiving client feedback, Deltek created Vantagepoint which is largely based on the Vision ERP system with a lot more functionality. However, many small to mid-sized firms view Deltek solutions as only for large firms. So, let’s see what benefits Vantagepoint has to offer these smaller firms?

Deltek Has a Partner Program to Support Vantagepoint

A common thought is that Deltek only supports larger firms as clients, and there is concern that smaller clients might not receive quality customer care. However, this is not the case. Deltek has an extensive network of trusted partners that can help you identify your firm’s unique needs and successfully implement your new Vantagepoint ERP system. By utilizing a Deltek trusted partner, your firm will get the individual attention that is required to maximize the benefits and value of Vantagepoint.

Trusted partners offer more than implementation services, since they can also provide consulting and advisory services, ongoing training and more. As a result, you are never alone on your journey to bring your entire business operation into one system. Furthermore, you can even select the partner you want to help navigate your successful implementation and continued use of Vantagepoint. 

Deltek Vantagepoint Addresses Your Firm’s Needs

Although each firm has its own unique needs and requirements, Deltek Vantagepoint out-of-the-box is ready to fully support all the roles and functions of your professional services firm. With Vantagepoint’s simple to understand user interface, each employee at your company can quickly learn how to use this solution to help them successfully complete their jobs. Whether it’s accounting, business development and marketing, project management or HR, all employees in your firm will have the right tools at their fingertips to be productive. Even more, with all roles working in one system, upper management and executives have insight into all the business functions to ensure the firm’s success regardless of the size your firm.

Deltek Vantagepoint Fits all Sizes of Project-Based Firms

Deltek Vantagepoint is the perfect project-based ERP system for firms of all sizes. From small growing firms to large firms, the features within Vantagepoint help deliver profitable and successful projects. Additionally, Vantagepoint was designed specifically around both the needs of your firm and employees. Here are some key features that make Vantagepoint the ideal solution for small to mid-sized firms:

• Vantagepoint is simple to configure ensuring it aligns with the unique needs of your business with the Activation Wizard
• Using the Proposal Editor, you can create profitable and winning proposals based on the historical performance of previous projects
• The Engagement Hub allows you to have insight into your business, and Hey Deltek is Vantagepoint’s personal assistant that helps users locate, open or create new records in the Engagement Hub
• A simple to understand user interface helps create an intuitive user experience
• You have access to the information in your Vantagepoint database from anywhere at any time using Cloud technology

Deltek Vantagepoint Can Help Small to Mid-sized Firms Be Successful

Running a successful firm requires it and its employees to have access to the best tools available. With Deltek Vantagepoint, all sizes of professional services firms get what they need from easy to use features to support from trusted partners. Since Vantagepoint is designed specifically to meet the needs of professional services firms like those which are project based, all sizes of firms including small to mid-sized will benefit from using Vantagepoint.

When it comes to your clients, building strong long-term relationships is priority. The quality of these relationships can make or break your business. Most importantly, clients desire an overall exceptional client experience. Two main factors should be considered when creating the optimal intentional experience for your clients. First, culture is a huge part of how a client feels when interacting with your company. Employees that are motivated and in good spirits provide great client service. Second, having an established process in place for your employees can lead to improved organization and consistency. Let’s take a deeper look at the intentional client experience and see how it benefits your company.

Intentional Client Experience Begins With a Plan

Some of the best client experiences simply begin with a good plan. One that is authentic and meaningful in your communication with your client is important. You can simply magnify the client experience through touchpoints that each add up to an overall exceptional client experience. Many clients these days expect more than the basic customer support. They want to feel significant and satisfied when they deal with your company. The intentional client experience has a clear mission with defined steps leading clients to have a great experience.

Intentional Client Experience Takes Being Client Centric

You want your clients to have a positive experience pre- and post-sale in order to drive repeat business. So not just offering great customer service but nurturing lasting relationships is tantamount to success. By understanding your clients and their needs, you can predict how they are going to react to certain things. This knowledge will help you figure out key touchpoints to keep those clients on track. You can look at client data to understand buying behaviors and to see their areas of interest and engagements. Intimately knowing your clients, you can also track places of opportunities to enhance client service and experience.

Intentional Client Experience Leads to Efficiency

The intentional experience leads to efficiency while prioritizing client experience. It reduces face-to-face interactions without compromising how the client is feeling. Using digital touchpoints, your company can skillfully keep clients happy. You can anticipate client needs and establish protocols. For example, if specific clients want to stay up to date on your company’s activities, then you can make sure they are signed up for notifications. In knowing exactly what your clients want, you save a lot of time.

Intentional Client Experience Ensures Positive Client Feedback

By creating a client tailored service, clients are getting what they want more quickly. Intentionally staying on top of client needs will lower the amount of negative comments and complaints a company may get. If your company receives complaints, taking these and tweaking your intentional pathway can certainly help your firm improve client satisfaction and promote positive feedback.

Maximize Revenue With Intentional Client Experience

The intentional client experience is an efficient, needs oriented and positive scenario for your clients which reduces frustrations among your employees. By eliminating opportunities for failure and reason for complaints, employees are more driven to create that amazing relationship with their clients. Satisfied employees that continue to offer fantastic customer service with an overall exceptional experience helps ensure clients continue to conduct business with your firm thus maximizing revenue. With constant advancements in determining client satisfaction such as the Client Feedback Tool, every company should be able to create the intentional client experience.

Recruiting top talent especially for project-based firms is a crucial and effectively a non-stop process. Since projects come and go, there is always the need for qualified team members to be able to jump in and handle them. So how do firms stay on top of the hiring game and get ahead of the competition? The answer lies in automating HR processes with a talent management system. Let’s check out some ways automation would benefit your firm.

Work More Efficiently

Automation with a talent management system helps both candidates and recruiters work more efficiently. Everyone has limited time, so having a fast means of scheduling interviews, matching job skills and quickly getting desired candidates on board is a necessity. Particularly when a project opens up, and a team needs to be assembled, time is of the essence. An automated talent management system handles the core HR processes for you, so everything runs much more smoothly. Additionally, good candidates that may not be available to work at that moment can be kept in a standby position which is monitored through automation.

Better Candidate Experience

Your firm’s chances of staying ahead of the hiring competition increases exponentially when job candidates are excited to work for your firm. With an improved candidate experience in the hiring process, top talent will feel confident that working for your firm is a good choice. Automated recruiting allows for communications to flow via email and follow up to occur in a timely manner. Hired candidates will also be on-boarded quickly and placed where their tracked skill sets are required. With an automated talent management system, candidates are left with a positive recruiting experience that will be shared with others that perhaps may become future employees.

Hiring More Diversely

Another plus is that recruiting automation ensures that the best talent is hired based on the needed skill sets for your firm. Human recruiting has a lot of bias and sometimes the same type of worker is hired. However, there are so many great candidates that can offer the team a wider outlook on handling projects. Whereas, automated hiring takes the bias out of the equation and only looks at the required certifications and job skills for working on projects. Studies have shown that diversity leads to a more productive workforce.

Automation is Attractive

From the perspective of both recruiters and candidates, an automated talent management system saves time and in the end money. Recruiters can connect with top talent more efficiently and talent has the opportunity to see what is offered quickly. Since projects need to be started as soon as possible and managed well, finding top talent is essential for success. Fortunately, automation is an attractive option for all parties to the hiring process and helps keep firms ahead of the hiring competition.

Business Intelligence (BI) puts together business analytics, data mining, data visualization, technology resources along with the best practices to help companies make more data-driven decisions. Business intelligence can help businesses make better choices by displaying present and historical data in their business context. Analysts can use data visualization to provide performance and competitor benchmarks for a smoother and more efficiently run organization. Analysts can also detect market trends to boost sales or income more quickly. Making sure you are using BI and data visualization properly is important. Let’s look at how you can choose the right data visualizations for your company.

Temporal Visualizations

In the temporal category, data visualizations belong if they satisfy two conditions: they are linear, and they are one-dimensional. Temporal visualizations normally have lines that either stand alone or intersect with each other, with starting and ending time. Some common examples of data visualizations include scatter plots, time series sequences, timelines, line graphs, and polar area diagrams. These visualizations are usually pretty easy to recognize and understand. Picking the right visualization all depends on the kind of story you are trying to tell. When choosing a temporal visualization, your end goal should be comparing one or many value sets. This can help you easily show the low and high values of a data set.

Hierarchical Visualizations

In the hierarchical category, data visualizations are those that organize groups within larger groups. These are best used to display clusters of information, especially if they flow from one point to another. Typical hierarchical visualizations are tree diagrams, ring charts, and sunburst diagrams. Just like any type of data visualization, it is important that you are effectively telling a story with the graphics that you use. For this type, showing levels of importance coming from a single source is the main purpose of these visualizations. The only downside is that these graphs tend to be complex and sometimes difficult to read. The tree diagram is used most frequently because of its easy-to-follow linear path.

Multidimensional Visualizations

While linear data is easier to understand, sometimes you have the need to capture your audience’s attention. Multidimensional displays two or more different variables to create a 3D data visualization. These types of visualizations are scatter plots, pie charts, Venn diagrams, stacked bar graphs, and histograms. These visuals can break down a ton of data into key takeaways, making it easier to clearly identify what you are trying to get across. Multidimensional is used to compare data and parts of a whole and show relationships between two variables. With multidimensional data, you are able to choose different colors and shapes to really customize your graphic.

Data Visualization Makes an Impact

Choosing the right visualization for your data directly impacts how it gets across to the viewers. Your main goal should always be to properly tell a story with the graphics that you use. Data visualization allows you to display specific data in an eye-catching way leading to a successful conveyance of important and relevant information.

Firms in the professional services industry must adapt to compete in today’s world. Through acquisitions and other partnerships, many professional services firms have been entering into new markets. These firms now have the need to offer a wider range of services to a larger client base. Additionally, many firms have increased their global presence which affects the way client needs have been handled in the past. Let’s check out the top trends for professional services firms as they deal with evolving client expectations and staying competitive.

On-demand Workforce

As new demands arise with the increasing service offerings by professional services firms to more clients, an on-demand workforce is necessary. This workforce can include contractors, part time staff and temporary workers in addition to full timers to meet staffing needs. Firm leaders will need to learn how to manage this future workforce and cultivate a culture that will be attractive to top talent with the key skill sets to render firm services.

More Flexible Service Rendering

Competition for the professional services industry has increased with rapid globalization. Clients expect professional services firms to support them and deliver high quality services from anywhere in the world. With location not being the priority, client demands can be met with operational and staffing flexibility. It is very important to stay abreast of who would be competent and available for doing the needed work.

Perception as Advisors

Professional services firms are changing the way they price services. There has been a shift from the traditional per-hour revenue model to a more value-oriented model. With value-based pricing, professional services firms are setting their prices primarily on perceived or estimated value of the service to the customer rather than historical prices. This value-based pricing encourages the relationship of a professional services firm being an advisor rather than just a service provider.

Leveraging Automation

With technology changing at such a fast pace, professional services firms are increasing their offerings with the use of automation. Using automation allows firms to simplify complicated and/or difficult processes saving a lot of time while delivering quality services. Automation also makes it easier to find the source of problems and provides the ability to remedy them quickly. Additionally, automation can help reduce errors and eliminate repetitive tasks.

Staying Competitive in Today’s World

Professional services firms must stay competitive in the global world of today. In order to do so, they must keep a pulse on their evolving client needs. Even more, they must be ready to provide a flexible workforce rendering quality services as fast as possible to wherever needed. The use of automation is a necessity for success. Furthermore, professional services firms must focus on satisfying their client expectations to ensure their services continue to be utilized.

Usually when you think of a New Year’s resolution, you think about a habit or trait that you find undesirable and want to improve upon to achieve a personal goal. However, a New Year’s resolution can apply to more than an individual. For business leaders, the start of a new year is the perfect time to make changes within their organization that they believe will increase the overall performance and success of the company. These changes are typically new initiatives for certain roles and departments.

So, what are the best initiatives for your firm to tackle for the new year? Fortunately, the team of Full Sail Partners’ consultants works with a wide variety of professional services clients and have been able to glean unique insight about the common challenges’ firms have experienced over the previous year. Based on these challenges, here is a list of New Year’s resolutions your professional firm may consider adopting.

Top New Year’s Resolutions for Professional Services Firms     

In no particular order, here are the New Year’s resolutions your professional services firm may consider enacting:

• Clean up your favorite personal and global reports and searches
• Find a business intelligence solution that can provide your firm with actionable insights
• Set up a reminder one month prior to year-end for project and department managers to validate unbilled services
• Ensure you are taking advantage of all the formatting options for Invoice Templates and review them to make sure that all are up to date with addresses, images, etc. 
• Consider using Resource Planning for more than project budgeting for things like revenue projections and calculating earned value management
• Embrace client feedback to improve relationships and create more repeat business
• Make sure that Opportunities are only associated with one Regular Project Record and one Promo Project Record
• Review your database for duplicate records and records that require updating
• Have billable employees update their timesheets on a more frequent and consistent basis
• Begin preparing to upgrade from Deltek Vision to Vantagepoint using this webinar series

Start the New Year off Right!

With the start of a new year, it’s common to reflect on the previous year to identify areas and things that went well and to evaluate what could have been done better. Looking forward, firm leaders need to pinpoint ways to improve future performance by establishing specific initiatives which are best for the firm’s needs. Therefore, start this year off right and implement change that will guarantee your and your firm’s future success!

A CRM system, or Customer Relationship Management system, is a technology tool that allows you to track important details about your customers. Firms need to know which product or service the customer currently has and want the ability to monitor the customer’s buying journey and needs. A CRM system also helps support the firm’s overall goals and strategies within each department. Let’s take a better look at what a CRM system can do for your firm.

Create More Revenue with a CRM

Sales teams use a CRM to conduct research as well as find new leads for future opportunities. A CRM system offers an abundance of information that can increase productivity when it comes to generating new sales. The CRM system can be used to track client communications which enables sales representatives to build stronger relationships with their customers and create new streams of revenue that grow firm profits. Furthermore, a CRM system can provide interactive analytical tools that give the sales force an accurate insight into a customer’s interests and needs. Sales representatives can then have more productive conversations with their leads and continue to develop personal relationships.

Along with building stronger relationships, a CRM solution can help a firm figure out the most effective sales practices and use that information to better their sales team. Staying abreast of proven processes will keep your sales team up to date on the fastest and most effective way to move a lead to a sale. 

Work More Efficiently

Similar to sales, marketing can benefit tremendously from the use of a CRM system. First off, the relationship between the marketing team and sales team is crucial to ensure customer needs are being met. With everyone actively using a CRM system for customer information, sales and marketing results can be seen across the board. Communication between sales and marketing will improve since both teams will have access to the most relevant data.

A CRM system can also be used to track marketing campaign success. The marketing team can evaluate how effective different marketing campaigns were including the costs which can help determine the best use of marketing department funds. With this available data, the marketing team can additionally change certain parts of the campaigns and maybe personalize some better for certain customers.

Improve the Customer Experience

Making sure customers are satisfied with their experience with your firm is very important. The customer service team relies on being able to measure things such as customer retention, satisfaction, and what is and is not working. This data can be tracked using a CRM system. If a customer did not have a good experience, the cause of the problem can be determined, and customer service can figure out what needs to be done in the future to prevent that situation from happening again. This information can then be relayed back to the sales and marketing teams so they can fix the issue on their side.

Why a CRM System is Right for Your Firm!

To be successful in any business, working smarter and most efficiently is very important. A CRM system can provide your firm with the metrics and relevant data to see how well your firm is meeting customer needs. Additionally, a CRM system offers the most accurate and up to date information allowing all department teams to work together seamlessly and effectively. Are you ready to take advantage of a CRM system?