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Profitability Agencies Agency Culture

Why it’s about time... to hire a chief time officer

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By Jenni Baker | Senior Editor

August 18, 2021 | 6 min read

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Finance, growth, people, information; it’s rare these days to come across an agency without one of these core capabilities featured in a chief X officer title.

Fred Krieger, founder and chief executive of Scoro

Fred Krieger, founder and chief executive of Scoro

But what’s the one thing that makes each of these things happen? Time.

So, where's your chief time officer?

We all know time is money. Why then is it not tracked as carefully as finances? When remote working suddenly became the norm, a wave of disruption brought with it a whole host of disparate tools, apps and programs to help agency creatives and marketers carry out their day jobs.

But by streamlining the process and aligning your team under one workplace management system that understands every aspect of both time and cost, agencies can ensure optimal utilization of time, energy and money.

The Drum caught up with Fred Krieger, founder and chief executive of Scoro, the end-to-end work management software that helps agencies, consultancies and professional services companies to work smarter, not harder, to discuss the business benefits for firms to hire a chief time officer and how to fight the “weapons of mass distraction” that proliferate in many firms.

Scoro is a strong believer that agencies should appoint a chief time officer – why do you see this as such a vital role for any business today?

Time is money for agencies, but many miss the chance to maximize both. Those that focus on managing time can achieve advantages in a number of ways, both commercially and operationally. That’s why I recommend making it a standalone role, or as part of someone's responsibility, so it stays front of mind.

What’s the business case for agency bosses to make this happen?

It comes down to having a well-run business. This can mean different things to different agencies, whether it is to have a sustainable platform to grow, to understand and better predict profitability from existing clients, or to ensure staff are happy as they are working at the right level of utilization.

There are many different work management software tools on the market today – so what is Scoro's USP?

Our software really shines when agencies use it as an end-to-end platform to run their business on. They can streamline projects, simplify quoting, automate billing, and optimize utilization all in one system.

But it’s also a very intuitive solution that our customers love to use.

Do you feel there is an opportunity for agencies to work in a more structured, organized way?

100%. Our mission is to fight the “weapons of mass distraction” that proliferate in many firms. These are business tools and apps that have been implemented in the name of digital transformation.

Very often they end up being disparate systems that don’t integrate, creating lots of unnecessary manual effort for knowledge and creative workers.

What features does Scoro offer in terms of addressing those requirements?

Our Control Hub means agencies can have all of their work in just one place, to track everything from projects, sales and daily activities to team productivity and profitability.

And Scoro has highly configurable integrations with accounting software like Xero and Quickbooks, with cloud storage solutions, and with thousands of other tools to aid automation and centralization.

There’s a great feature on the Scoro website that estimates how much time your team could save with Scoro every month, depending on the size of the business. What are those top line numbers and how can you prove them?

The top line is that an agency with 50 people, for example, can almost immediately save hundreds (or even thousands) of hours a month by moving to our platform. We know this because our customers tell us.

But saving time is not just the end goal in itself; it’s what that new structure allows agencies to do, or to be, following that.

Can you share some examples of agency clients you’re already working with that have seen significant improvements?

We recently had hundreds of examples from marketing and creative agencies as part of our customer survey. We asked them to tell us what their operations were like before Scoro, and then what they are like now.

Across every area, including things like real-time reporting, automation of processes, and visibility of team utilization, we significantly improved their efficiency and effectiveness.

Most importantly, our customers had seen an 84% improvement in project profitability. And that’s because they’d been able to track their time more effectively.

And finally, we’re excited to have Scoro as our headline partner for The Drum Agency Business Awards 2021. What will you be hoping to see from the agency work that’s been submitted?

I’m hoping to see evidence of agencies that match creative excellence with operational excellence. There are many awards that celebrate the former, and very few that celebrate the latter.

That’s why we are headline partners, as we believe a well-run agency has an even better chance of doing incredible creative work, of delivering value to their clients, and of ultimately being a more successful business.

Profitability Agencies Agency Culture

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