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May 18, 2022 • News

Overservicing: Improve project profitability with better resource planning

Do you know that around 90% of PR consultancies overservice their clients?

This is not new. Creative agencies have been struggling with overservicing for many years.

But, what can we do about it?

How to prevent overservicing in the long run?

Having limited insights into your performance and current operations can have a massive impact on the agency's profitability.

The first step is to understand the deeper underlying problems.

In a world where consultancies are paid for what they do and not how long it takes, identifying overservicing can highlight the opportunities for business improvement.

3 most common issues:

-           Underestimating

-           Overservicing

-           Heavy reliance on contractors or freelancers

 

1. Get better insight into your current operations

Many agencies we see are stuck in this bottleneck where their sales increase but the profit line remains the same or even reduces. Often, by the time they realise, the damage is already done.

2. Where is the break-even point – are you running in a loss?

In a study run by PRCA in 2019, "50% of agencies said they were struggling with “scope creep” and 49% were working overtime to meet client expectations."

Balancing all these over-running projects/clients can also lead to a shortage of staff capacity and calling contractors or freelancers in to help with project development, which is adding costs into your profit line.

3. Where is your single source of truth?

Having a flexible scheduling and resourcing tool helps agencies to prepare accurately their projects and future planning. It provides a better understanding of the amount of time and resources needed to complete a project and gives vital feedback on the pricing and estimating process.

In this 20min webinar with PRCA APAC you will learn best practices to reduce overservicing, manage time and workload more effectively and protect your profitability.

  • Increase project profitability

How much time did you spend vs what you’ve budgeted for?

Once you know the value of your billable hours, you can tell how much a project will cost and how much you need to bill your client in order for that project to be profitable.

  • Fully understand your workflow

How much time does a project need until completion?

When do you need to call in contractors and freelancers?

With the right and clear information, you will be able to better plan the scope of work.

  • Provide transparency and visibility to everyone in your agency

Give a clear picture to your staff members of what is on their calendar. Everyone can track how projects are progressing in real-time.

Capture all leave, no matter whether it is holiday, medical leave or childcare

  • Make the right decisions with real-time insights

Is this client actually costing you more money than it brings into the company?

It’s easy to make the right decision once you get all the info. With historical, real-time and forecasting data you’ll be able to improve your long-running processes and make efficient business decisions.

Specifically designed for creative agencies, Paprika’s integrated system gives you a single source of truth to manage all your projects from a single platform. Everything is in one place.  

If you aren’t already using Paprika we’d love to offer you a demo.

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