Full Sail Partners Blog (54)

Congratulations! Your firm just won the largest project in its history and it’s time to celebrate, or is it? Unfortunately, winning the big project doesn’t guarantee success and big profits. For project-based firms, project management is synonymous with profit management, but many projects start in the red making it nearly impossible to make a profit. Here’s a look at some common pitfalls project-based firms face before they ever start a project.

Accurate Job Costing

If you have been on a proposal team, you know the feeling of relief that overcomes you once you finally submit the proposal. Weeks of working long hours reading and writing exhilarating technical content and attending meeting after meeting. All this work and time exhausted by several people when in reality, your final price is the biggest factor in winning. But, can your firm deliver the project on the proposed budget?

Accurate job costing requires accurate information, and most firms believe they have the right systems for their business model. Excel sheets and the time clock work, but these systems don’t communicate very well. Even more, consider the unreported overhead time to reconcile these systems and the mistakes made during this process.

“If it works, don’t fix it” doesn’t always apply, and information in more than one system doesn’t work when trying to maximize profit. When it comes to job costing, you already have to worry about inaccurate estimates from suppliers. These are costs you can’t control, so be sure to take control of your internal cost monitoring to create profitable bids you can deliver.

Establishing Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are various quantifiable measurements used for determining the success of the project. The KPIs establish a guide to the project and are used as the basis for critical decision-making. More importantly, not executing on a specific KPI can affect the project’s profitability for your firm and your client’s satisfaction.

Here’s where some project-based firms struggle. In many cases, several of the KPIs are destined for failure before the project starts. The problem is that defining KPIs is truly challenging and your clients usually lack experience with the process. All too often, this results in KPIs that are unrealistic and unmeasurable.

Establishing realistic KPIs is the first step to managing the profit of a project. As the project manager, it’s in your best interest to have a strong role in creating the KPIs. Good project KPIs have values that can be accurately measured and clearly reported on. Further, they need to be understood and agreed to by all parties. To learn more about project KPIs, click here.

Risk Management

Projects are full of unforeseen obstacles and predicting these is not always possible, but this doesn’t mean your firm can’t minimize the impacts. They just need to have a formal risk management strategy. Although this might be a time consuming process, it’s a necessary process required to protect your profit.    

A study by Info-Tech Research Group found that organizations with a formal risk management strategy are more than half as likely to have project management success than those with a reactive approach. To put it another way, having a risk management strategy before the project gets started is critical to the project’s success and profitability.

A risk management strategy starts with identifying common risks such as unrealistic schedules and requirements that fail to align with the strategy of the project. Once these risks are identified, evaluate the impact each risk will have on the project. From there, make a contingency plan that has a pre-planned response to the unexpected event.       

Become a Profit Manager

Don’t start your next project in the red. Project management starts with project planning, and not having the right systems and processes in place can hinder the success of the project. If your firm is falling into any of these pitfalls, consider the changes that you can make to become an effective profit manager.  

Full Sail Partners, a Deltek Premier Partner, announces that Michael Kessler has joined the firm as a Principal Consultant. Mr. Kessler’s hire bolsters the Full Sail Partners’ team to 25 professionals focused on accounting and technology solutions. Michael’s extensive knowledge of the Deltek product set and proven consulting expertise will be an ideal match to help clients streamline business processes and achieve greater efficiency from their Deltek Vision ERP system.

As Principal Consultant, Michael brings 30 years of experience working in and around project-based accounting in both the Government Contracting and Professional Services industry. His extensive background includes overseeing accounting, auditing and finance operations.

“I am really looking forward to the opportunity to work with such a diverse set of clients,” said Michael Kessler. “I have a passion for helping finance departments utilize Deltek Vision and Resource Planning to their fullest capabilities to reach maximum productivity. I believe that processes designed under the guide of best practices, which work in tandem with system configuration, result in meaningful reporting and the ability to evaluate key performance indicators.”

Michael Kessler has spent the past nine years actively involved in the Deltek community as a member of the Deltek Direct team where he assisted hundreds of US and international clients with system implementations and application support. His keen understanding of the Deltek Vision product, previous industry experience, and his passion for helping clients brings a strong player to the Full Sail Partners consulting arsenal.

“We are honored to have Michael join the Full Sail Partners’ team,” said Scott Seal, Full Sail Partners’ Vice President of Consulting. “Michael’s vast knowledge of Deltek Vision ERP and Resource Planning adds additional depth and expertise to our collaborative Consulting Team. Michael has a proven track record with offering exceptional client services and we are excited to have him help our clients better leverage their Deltek Vision systems.”

For more information, please email Full Sail Partners’ Marketing Communications Department. Interested in learning more about the Full Sail Partners' team? Check out our crew!

Are you responsible for handling client complaints? As an Owner of a firm, I know that figuring out a way to proactively identify issues before they become bigger is a key concern for most executives. The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) conducted research on this topic and found that the average business never hears from 96% of unhappy clients. Businesses dedicate money to attracting new clients each year, yet a key area that is overlooked is developing a client retention plan. 

How Do You Calculate Client Retention Rates?

It seems like almost every firm I speak with in the AEC industry states their client retention rate is 80%. However, is that a good or bad rate? Let’s breakdown some definitions: 

• Attrition rate is the percentage of clients you have lost over a given period
• Retention rate is the percentage of clients you have retained over a given period 

So if your client retention rate is 80% then that means your attrition rate is 20%, no matter how many new clients you obtain. Here is how to calculate client retention rates: 

Client Retention Rate = ((CE-CN)/CS)) x 100 

Clients End (CE) = Number of clients at END of period

Clients New (CN) = Number of NEW clients acquired during period

Clients Start (CS) = Number of clients at START of period

Client Retention Impacts Profits

When you take into account that SMPS reports it takes six to seven times more effort to obtain a new client than retain an existing client. It would seem that focusing on client retention would be a no brainer. Yet does your firm even have a plan for client retention and do you track it? 

A study by Bain & Company shows that even a five percent increase in client retention can lead to an increase in profits of between 25 and 95 percent. Let’s do the math. Envision the following is true for your firm: 

• Your firm makes $2M a year
• Has a profit of 10% or $200,000 at the end of the year
• Has 50 clients at the beginning of the year
• Has a 80% client retention rate (kept 40 clients) at the end of the year

So, let’s say that our goal is to increase client retention to 85%. By increasing your client retention by 5% you could increase your profits to $250,000 (13%) or $390,000 (20%). Have you connected the dots? Profits increase because you are spending less time trying to win new clients and more time making sure you are managing the expectations of your existing clients. 

Why Clients Leave and How to Prevent It

So now that we know why it’s important, let’s understand more about why clients leave. SMPS found that 68% of clients leave firms because of an attitude of indifference toward the client by some employee and only 9% leave for competitive reasons, which most firms think is the cause. Yet as previously pointed out most firms don’t even know there is an issue. 

The obvious answer to resolve this challenge is talk to the client and obtain feedback periodically, yet few firms do it and fewer do it consistently well. Understanding what motivates clients and how to make your services relevant to them is fundamental to building strong client relationships. Obtaining feedback is important for executives and marketing to monitor, but the key way to ensure the relationship is strong is to provide a systematic way, like the Client Feedback Tool, for Project Managers to know when to reach out throughout the lifecycle of the project. Not just at the end. 

Benefits of Feedback

Successful companies know the critical importance of reaching out to their clients for feedback and service firms that ARE monitoring client feedback are: 

• Differentiating themselves
• Gaining great insight to better serve their clients
• Discovering what clients find of value
• Identifying clients that will pay a premium for their services
• Increasing profits
• Improving staff retention
• and much more

Reach out to us today to find out more about monitoring feedback and developing a client retention plan for your firm.
 

Full Sail Partners, a Deltek and Client Feedback Premier Partner, is honored to announce that Scott Gailhouse has been promoted to Principal Consultant. Scott's extensive industry knowledge and proven consulting acumen will be an asset as professional services firms continue to seek ways to further leverage their investment in Deltek Vision.

As Principal Consultant, Scott will be responsible for process and service development including best practices and implementation protocols. He will also be responsible for overseeing the skill development of Full Sail Partners' consulting staff, the development of quality-driven implementation strategies, client management and implementation compliance.

"I am extremely excited about my new position and my continued growth within Full Sail Partners," said Scott Gailhouse. "I believe that this role will give me the opportunity to enhance our consulting practice and concentrate on how our firm can further add value to our client's knowledge of Deltek Vision. My focus, along with the other consultants will be to continually seek ways to improve our training model to better utilize Vision's capabilities, provide best practice recommendations while boosting productivity."

Scott Gailhouse has been actively involved in the Deltek community for more than 20 years. With a focus on financial solutions and best practices, Scott has leveraged his extensive knowledge of the professional services industry to assist firms with making the move to an ERP.

"It is with great pleasure that we recognize Scott's strong leadership and expertise," said Scott Seal, Full Sail Partners' Vice President of Consulting. "Scott continues to bring in-depth knowledge and experience to the table, working with his clients and colleagues to create innovative solutions to help achieve maximum value out of Deltek Vision."

Want to learn more about the Full Sail Partners' team? Check out our crew!
 

Marketing and finance often seem destined to clash. The common misconception is that marketing’s sole purpose is to spend money, while finance does everything in their power to throw up hurdles to spending. Marketing focuses on building quality relationships and creating brand equity, while finance has an, admittedly sometimes myopic, focus on hard numbers and empirical evidence. Let’s examine how we can help marketing better communicate with finance and bring these two opposite ends of the spectrum together!

Speaking the Language of Finance

We are all familiar with the saying ‘it is better to give than receive’:  If marketing and finance applied this principle to their interactions the entire company would reap the benefit in the long run! Accounting can often be over protective of financial data and systems, and rightfully so – when things go wrong, everyone looks their way! Take on the responsibility of proving your marketing efforts in language finance can understand – data, not Facebook likes – and you will find that your finance department will be a lot more receptive to your efforts and requests.

Smart Tips for Creating a Better Conversation:

1. Put yourself in accounting’s shoes and understand hesitancy | Understand that often times finance is not questioning the value of marketing, they are however questioning how to quantify the results to the effort/cost. Marketing is not a perfected science and your mere desire to track marketing ROI will show your finance department that you too have the company’s bottom line in your best interests.
2. Establish desire to measure marketing ROI | The single biggest hurdle with communication is the illusion that it has taken place! Don’t sit back and assume that your finance department is aware of your desire to be a metric-driven-results-producing marketer. Get the conversation started!
3. Think about data needed to do your job better | This can be a tough one! We suggest starting small and working your way up. Doing so will allow you to include finance in the discussions regarding your marketing planning, and help you better understand the value of the metrics you are tracking.

How to Start the Conversation

Need help getting the conversation started? Here are some of our favorite ways to open a two-way dialogue:

• Retaining & Gaining Clients: “I’m looking to understand our total customer growth. Do we have a way to determine by percentage and revenue the amount of our work we’ve received is new vs. existing clients throughout the year?”
• Pursuing the Right Client: “I’m looking at how we can be more strategic in our pursuit of clients. Would it be beneficial to advise you when I see we are pursuing more work with clients that we are having AR issues with?”
• Forecasting and Backlog: “Can you help me understand what our break-even is and do we have a way to see what our current backlog is? I’d like to help make sure we have enough business coming in the pipeline for each market or division.”
• Effectiveness: “Can you help me better understand how I affect the bottom line? I want to develop metrics that help me understand the financial results from marketing’s efforts and help me fine tune my approach.” 

We hope that you are able to apply these tips to start a better dialogue between your marketing and finance departments. Improving the synergy between these departments will result in marketing receiving more support and executive buy-in, while finance is able to capture the analytics and financial metrics they crave.

Ready to take your conversations to the next level? Check out this on-demand webinar to see how marketing and finance can team up for greater results!

It’s finally fall again and you know what that means, the leaves are changing color and the temperature is dropping, but most importantly - football is back and the wait for our favorite teams to take the field is finally over. Nevertheless, what does football and resource planning have to do with each other? Simple, coaches are like project managers, their resources are the players, and the project is the season. So what we can learn from football coaches to become more effective project managers?

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

A good coach always reflects on each game to identify plays that worked and plays that need work, and of the players, who played well and who under performed. They spend hours watching videos of the previous game to develop a plan to overcome shortfalls. Successful coaches know planning forward cannot occur until they’ve planned backwards.

Smart resource planning starts with planning backwards. Like football coaches, project managers need to think back on the previous week and evaluate their performance. This is a time when you ask yourself how efficient was your previous plan?

Let’s say you planned a task to take 20 hours and it was really done in 10 hours. Is this a result of a great resource or an over-estimated work duration? Identifying what went well and what didn’t go so well allows for continuous improvement throughout the project lifecycle. As a result, project managers can make cost saving decisions and improve resource utilization.  

Have the Right Playbook

The playbook is the lynchpin to a winning team in football. A team can have all the best players, but without a plan, they can’t play as a team. Even more, the teams they play each week change and players get injured. To build the right playbook, the coach needs to know what to expect from the other team and which players they have available.

So who are your injured reserve resources and who do you have available?

Let’s start with your injured reserve. These resources are allocated to non-billable work such as marketing and business development or out on PTO. These resources don’t have 100% availability and this needs to be taken into account when developing your playbook. Therefore, non-billable work needs to be aggressively maintained when resource planning to make sure resources are not over utilized.

Now think about your shared resources. Are other project managers keeping their project plans up-to-date so you know which shared resources are available? Shared resources availability may change throughout the lifecycle of a project and it may change several times. As a result, they often become over utilized. A shared resource’s time has to be updated regularly to ensure project plans across the organization stay on track.

Be Prepared to Call an Audible

The playbook is complete and now it’s game day. Everything is going as planned and the plays called by the coach are unstoppable. Then all of a sudden, the opposing team changes their formation on the line. The coach then instructs the quarterback to call an audible.  

Like the coach's playbook, your plan needs to be flexible. Being blindsided by unforeseen circumstances in project management should be anticipated. Don’t let dependent tasks get disrupted and destroy your plan. By adding contingencies to dependent tasks, you can avoid major disruptions to your project plan and be ready to call an audible.  

Earning the Gatorade Shower!

Every week, coaches are revamping and tweaking their plans. They evaluate their bench and design plays based on their available players and their individual skills. Constantly trying to improve and continue to win all in hopes that their resource planning throughout the season earns them the championship and they receive the coveted Gatorade shower.

This year’s Deltek Insight Conference will be held on November 3-6, in Nashville, TN. Deltek Insight is all that, and more! If you are still on the fence about registering for the conference here are five reasons we think you can’t miss this signature event!

5 Can’t Miss Reasons to Attend Deltek Insight 2015

1. Exclusive sessions with Deltek Vision experts. Attend limited expert-led breakout sessions that teach tips and tricks to getting the most out of your Deltek Vision system! Join Full Sail Partners for a variety of classes ranging from connecting your Deltek Vision system to the outside world to discovering the sweet metrics of success to help your firm thrive.
   
   
2. Network with your peers. Deltek Insight 2015 is the perfect opportunity for you to meet with your peers and discuss the latest industry issues. Take advantage of the opportunity to get plugged in with the interactive ‘Social Zone’, and relax and unwind at the Welcome Reception.
   
   
3. Stay on the cutting edge with Deltek Vision. Do you find yourself needing the latest tools and features from Deltek? Deltek Insight is the perfect place to learn about all of the new releases and features coming for your Deltek Vision system. Be the first to know about new complementary solutions that can add value to your company.
   
   
4. Meet the Full Sail Partners’ Team! This year Full Sail Partners is excited to announce that our entire team will be attending Deltek Insight. Our crew would love to meet you face-to-face! Let us know if you will be attending Insight and schedule some time to meet with one of our experts one-on-one. Don’t forget to stop by our booth to drop off a business card to participate in our raffle!
   
   
5. Celebrate Deltek Insight 2015 with The Band Perry! How often are you able to get up close and personal with Grammy Award winning artists? Join us for an amazing concert experience with The Band Perry, plus a high-energy performance from our favorite house band LoCash!

Thousands of Deltek Vision users from around the world will be attending Deltek Insight 2015 – we hope you are one of them! Haven’t registered yet? Don’t worry, it’s not too late to sign up today:

With Deltek Touch CRM for Vision, Deltek Vision CRM customers have access to the critical business information they need, through their iOS or Android devices — anywhere, anytime! See how Touch CRM gives your firm the strategic advantage to do more.

Deltek Touch CRM: 3 Strategic Advantages

1) Access to Crucial Information While On-The-Go

Deltek Touch CRM provides out of office employees with immediate access to important information such as account history, contact information and much more!

Just a few short years ago, being away from the office meant being completely blocked out from your company’s competitive intelligence. Not anymore! With Deltek Touch CRM your employees have full access to your Deltek Vision CRM system from their mobile device. Boost your road-warrior’s productivity by providing them with the tools needed to keep in touch with a higher number of prospects

2) Collect Information at the Source

Deltek Touch CRM is designed to help your employees gather information at the source. Improve data accuracy by giving your out-of-office team the ability to instantly update Vision data from a mobile device, anywhere in the world!

3) Improve Company Insight

Deltek Touch CRM allows all of your employees access to the most up-to-date real-time information. Have you ever reached out to a customer, only to find out that one of your co-workers had already spoken with them the day before? This situation is not only embarrassing, but it makes your entire organization appear inept. Reduce the amount of information lag in your organization by enabling mobile CRM.

Instead of waiting for weekly, monthly or quarterly reports, decision makers can access on-demand information and address any problems before they arise.

Mobile CRM is No Longer Optional

You already take your smart phone everywhere, so why not take your Vision data with you? Today’s market place is a dog-eat-dog world, and you need every competitive advantage you can get. See how your firm can start doing more with Deltek Touch CRM:

In June Deltek announced iAccess. So what is iAccess? Deltek’s iAccess is a new, user-friendly interface that gives front office employees access to Deltek Vision information on-the-go. Users can access information from anywhere, anytime and the new interface is specifically built for tablets and mobile devices. 

I recently went on a trip and didn’t have internet access to my laptop, but I had cellular service on my iPad. I found the new interface a life saver as I needed to quickly access client data. Portions of the new feature may look familiar because iAccess was formerly called Navigator, but has received new and improved capabilities. It now also includes CRM related information. Best of all iAccess is free for all users. The Business Development component does require a CRM license. 

The new interface now provides users the ability to access three critical areas of Vision: 

• Employee Workspace: View, create and submit timesheets anywhere, anytime an employee has internet access. Provides a simplified way to manage and submit expenses with the ability to upload receipts from any mobile device.
• Project Management Workspace: Plan, manage, monitor and execute project in a centralized, easy-to-use tool. Quickly and simply view key project metrics and view alerts and warnings when projects are at risk.  
• Business Development Workspace: Manage clients, contacts and opportunities on-the-go. Business Development teams can review, add and update critical client data and add touchpoints after client meetings or calls.

As you can see, the tool is really intuitive and the sleek new interface provides a more modern look and feel. Vision iAccess does have to be set-up by your IT staff just like the Deltek Touch products. Users must have remote access capabilities. For more information, be sure to download the product sheet or view Full Sail Partners’ iAccess webinar. 

All too often, certain words and catchphrases are overused in business meetings to the point they have become trite and serve little to no real purpose. These words and phrases are used in business blogs, articles, websites, and day-to-day business emails. One such term, "client-focused", is thrown around as a marketing gimmick for professional services firms, but what does it really mean to be client-focused?

Before we get too far, here’s what you need to know:

1. There is a difference between saying you’re a client-focused firm and actually being client-focused.
2. Your firm’s culture dictates the level of service your clients receive. 
3. If your firm isn’t using technology to support your client relationships, you’re already behind.

The Firm-Focused vs. Client-Focused Professional Services Firm

Being truly client-focused depends on how your firm sees their clients. Sure, it is easy to talk the talk, but putting words into action is where things tend to get difficult.

When a firm places an enormous emphasis on the needs of their clients, they are firm-focused. A firm-focused business makes decisions based on the benefits to themselves and not with their client’s best interest in mind. 

On the contrary, truly "client-focused" firms make decisions that are determined by their client’s needs, as they are at the center of all such business decisions. They understand exactly what their clients need which helps to promote a symbiotic relationship between the firm and the clients.

Through the delivery of top-notch service aimed directly at the needs of their clients, a company will see a simultaneous rise in business performance. After all, the services provided were determined with the client and their needs in mind.  

Living the Firm’s Culture

Who are your clients? The answer might surprise you, but in the business world, there are two types: internal and external clients. 

Internal clients are members of your organization that rely on the help of other members to perform their job. These individuals can fall anywhere on the spectrum of your chain of command, from coworkers to upper management and executives. 

On the other hand, external clients are clients in the traditional sense of the term. They are the buyer of the services your firm provides. 

Do you feel you receive great service from the other internal customers within your firm? If you’re not receiving great service from within your own organization, imagine the service your external clients are receiving. Your firm’s culture is a reflected by the employees, and your clients can see if you live by the values you market.

If you’re not satisfied with your internal customer service, start communicating and living the values that define your firm. Your clients will notice the difference.

How Technology is Changing Playing Field  

Keep up with the Joneses - In order to be competitive and effective within an industry, your firm needs to ensure it is using innovative technology that helps promote success. Failing to innovate hinders a firms’ ability to adapt and grow while the "Joneses," aka your competitors, employ the use of industry leading technology enabling them to leave you in the dust. 

With a Client Relationship Management (CRM) software, you can take your company to the next level by keeping the functions of your company in a centralized system. This helps promote a conducive work environment in which the sales and marketing teams, and administration and finance teams can better work together to achieve client-focused results. To learn more about the basics to Deltek Vision CRM, click here.

An additional benefit of using innovative technology and software is that it enables you to access your work on-the-go. Today we have access to everything on our smartphone devices. From banking to entertainment, email to ordering pizza and everything in between, we can do incredible things with just one, single device. Having mobile access to your CRM allows you to -update client information on-the-go and enables other members of your organization access to the most up-to-date information about your clients. 

The Takeaway 

The importance of understanding what it means to be "client-focused" cannot be overstated. Your firm should define itself by its actions and not by catchphrases.

The goal of being client-focused is to nurture client relationships to retain clients and win more work. Remember, your existing clients are the lifeblood of your organization. According to Bain & Company, it cost 6 to 7 time more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one. It seems smart to try to keep the clients you already have.