Organizations in all sectors are becoming ‘digital-first’ in response to recent economic and cultural challenges. In fact, according to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report, 50% of all businesses are planning to increase the automation of repetitive tasks.
As part of this, automation is set to become a key internal focus for consultancy businesses in 2022, so they need to start considering the types of solutions available.
Clients are turning to their consultancy partners to inspire them with innovations in automation and to help develop and pass on efficiencies in the process. So, if consultancy firms are expected to show the way, where should they start?
Interoperating systems
Automation can help support mid-large strategic consultancy businesses manage client relationships and complex projects more effectively, minimize human error, and free staff up to be more productive, innovative and add value to their firm’s bottom line.
The trick is to avoid adding further complications to already complex internal systems and processes. Instead, opt for an end-to-end management platform that integrates with all your existing tools, automates workflows seamlessly, and scales with your firm as it grows.
Stratford Group is a leading consultancy firm in Ottawa, Canada, helping clients with their transformation and growth programs. They found that, like many businesses, their ambitions were held back by various manual and digital management tools that didn’t sync up effectively, forcing staff to spend time searching for information and duplicating tasks.
With Scoro, they found the three key things they needed to achieve their efficiency goals:
- end-to-end solution for all business processes;
- project management tool;
- invoicing and payment collection system that integrated with their existing accounting software.
With all their business information contained in Scoro’s single interface, Stratford Group is working smarter. All its data is available at a glance via customizable dashboards so staff can collaborate more easily and have more productive conversations. The team has a real-time view of resource allocation, project progress, and profitability.
Stratford Group President Colleen Kelley credits Scoro with supporting business growth that continued despite the pandemic: “If we didn’t have the Scoro system in place, I don’t think we could have done it,” she says.
Read the full interview with Colleen Kelley.
Accurate documentation and reporting
Unlike some work management platforms, Scoro’s support starts at the quotation stage. It can create custom price lists for different customers and templates that enable users to produce quotations quickly, with any appropriate discounts, mark-ups, and agreed business terms included automatically in just a few clicks.
This removes the risk of errors that can affect your profitability and have a negative impact on client relationships. It also makes it easy to schedule follow-ups when the job comes in. It creates bespoke contracts automatically, based on the information contained in the quotation.
From there, the project data flows seamlessly into task planning. Scoro enables time-tracking so the project manager can allocate resources efficiently, monitor tasks that risk being duplicated, and free up staff for more rewarding work that keeps them motivated and adds value to the project. It allows users to track progress and produce regular updates and reports for all project stakeholders.
At Scoro’s heart is a communications platform that helps team members stay connected and makes it easy for them to collaborate effectively and openly, even when they are working at home or across multiple locations and time zones.
CSA Group is a financial services specialist based in Malta. Its legacy accounting system, used to track time and performance, wasn’t used consistently because it wasn’t user-friendly. Therefore, ease of use became a key consideration for CSA.
When it restructured from a single entity into a group of companies, it chose Scoro for managing its business operations across teams. Scoro is designed to be intuitive and provide information in a simple, easy-to-digest format. In particular, CSA felt it would appeal to its predominantly young workforce. As Chief Operating Officer Marisa Saliba says, “if staff enjoy using a system, they will use it in the right way”.
CSA has customized the platform and is now providing a single source of truth that eliminates misunderstanding and promotes team working across the consultancy.
Read on: Financial Services Firm Choose Scoro to Modernize Business Operations
Timely invoicing and improved cashflow
For any consultancy business, time is money. Teams need to ensure they deliver projects on brief, on time, and profitably. To complete the workflow and keep cashflow on track, Scoro closes the loop, automatically turning tasks into invoices and then generating late payment reminders if necessary.
According to McKinsey, 83% of IT decision-makers believe workflow automation is essential to digital transformation. As consultancy businesses across all sectors seek to make this transition, automation will not only maximize their efficiencies but generate experiences and insights that will support clients in their automation journeys.
