The day-to-day work of an agency is dynamic and multifaceted. But because it is so dynamic, mistakes can quickly find their way in, making the everyday work extremely difficult and often lead to failures. Mistakes are normal – recognizing them and dealing with them is what determines the success of your agency. In the following article we would like to present typical agency mistakes and how to avoid them.
Table of Contents
Typical agency mistakes
1. A lack of goal setting
Before even getting to the mistakes in the individual processes of agency practice, the foundation for a functioning agency should be created. Every agency needs concrete goals and objectives. Every employee should be aware of what the long-term business goal is and how it will be achieved through smaller goals. Concrete goal setting should be done in every agency to avoid getting lost in the process.
2. Creating false expectations for customers
The goal of every agency is to gain customers and to carry out projects successfully. Of course, you want to show how qualitative and fast the work of the agency is from the very beginning. However, it becomes difficult if the agency establishes too high expectations with the customer, which cannot be met due to capacity limitations of the agency. If the right manpower is not available to complete the project, or if there is not enough time to complete the project in the scheduled period, the deadlines may not be met. This would lead to disappointment of customer expectations and long-term loss of reputation. Therefore, it is important to know your agency’s resources and allocate expectations according to them, rather than setting too high expectations that cannot be met.
3. Insufficient control
Another typical mistake made by agencies is not monitoring the process correctly and lack of control. It is good to be confident, but it is important to watch your performance and be efficient, as when this is not done, mistakes are made. Where is time wasted? Where can the quality of work be improved? How can I execute my customers’ projects even faster and better? These are questions that should always be asked in order to improve continuously instead of remaining stuck on pointless and unproductive processes. To do this, you should select a wide range of KPIs and use them to analyze the process. If certain aspects do not correspond with the planning, then serious mistakes can be prevented by early recognition and adjustments to the actual roadmap of the project.
4. Carrying out
We have just established that adjustments to the roadmap are completely normal and necessary. In the process, improvisation is also sometimes necessary to make up for mistakes that have arisen, because unforeseen situations can always occur that require a certain amount of flexibility. But improvisation should not become the norm and it’s better to have a clear structure. Many agency projects are highly complex, and the agency therefore needs a structured workflow in which it is clear who is responsible for each task. Normally, projects should be automated without the need for improvisation and spontaneity. Many agencies forget the importance of structure.
5. Too little communication between divisions
Lack of communication – a mistake that is common not only in agencies, but also causes serious problems, especially in agencies. Information needs to be passed on and next steps need to be coordinated in order to complete a project as well as possible. Especially when it comes to up-to-date information, inadequate communication can lead to serious errors in project execution. Therefore, a communication network is needed that enables a fast and uncomplicated exchange of current information, not only so that the internal processes of the agency can run without problems, but also so that the current status of the project can always be correctly communicated to the agency’s customers.
6. Poor customer relationship management
This brings us to the next typical agency mistake: not recognizing the importance of Customer-Relationship-Management (CRM). Since the first customer contact, a constant and close contact must be established with the customer, which gives the customer a feeling of security and competence. Many agencies record contact data too inaccurately, lose it or do not collect it in a central location. In addition, it is important to provide quick and competent answers to customers’ questions, because customer satisfaction makes a customer commit to the agency in the long term. Not only new customer management, but also existing customers must be included in CRM to prevent customers feeling unsatisfied and leaving.
7. Complicated accounting
Yes, the main task of any agency is to manage its projects. However, many people forget that the accounting system is also largely responsible for the success of the company. If it is poorly managed and there are many errors, this not only leads to customer dissatisfaction, but can become a problem that threatens the existence of the agency.
8. Not using a software for agencies
We now know the typical mistakes that agencies make. Many of these mistakes can be eliminated by just using an agency software. Agency software – a so-called all-in-one solution – can, for example, help with realistic project planning through embedded resource planning. With the help of a central database, overviews of the status of the project can be created, which facilitates controlling and the need for adjustments can be identified at an early stage. Communication between the business units as well as CRM are also integrated into an agency software. Even the creation of cost estimates, offers, invoices and reminders can be done by an agency software. This allows the agency to focus on the execution of projects instead of dealing with paperwork. By having an Agency Software, your workdays will be more productive, and you can complete your tasks faster.
Conclusion
If your agency is making some of these mistakes, you should act fast, because they mean loss of efficiency, time and therefore revenue. An agency software could help you to eliminate these mistakes by combining all relevant aspects of an agency’s tasks and supporting you in your daily work.
