This is a guest blog post from Marni Melrose of ResidualReach LLC, a Podio Preferred Partner based in California, helping implement Podio in small and medium sized businesses. From this series of blog posts from our parters we?re hoping to help you find the right partner?to get the most out of Podio in your company.??
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Prior to becoming a Podio Preferred Partner we were the world leading implementer of a client /server product called Daylite on the Mac OS X platform. We continue to support that product but have fallen head over heals in love with Podio. What attracted us to Podio was that it is so far ahead of the curve with regards to collaboration and platform independence. It has revolutionized the way we ourselves produce the lessons for our online learning academy.
We don?t recommend what we don?t use so we had to be convinced before we ever recommended it to our clients. Podio passed with flying colors. We even made a 36 minute video on why and how we use Podio ourselves. You can see that here,?just click Get Access at the top of the site to watch the full length video.
The challenge and the opportunity with Podio is that you can?t quite put your finger on what it is, because it?s many things to many different people. I equate it to Legos in the cloud. You can build whatever your imagination can conjure up. Want a CRM, a project management solution, a way to get rid of email? Just build it. But there?s the rub. If I give you some Lego blocks and you have no skills building with them, you are going to build something simple that might get the job partially done, but by no means elegantly. However, working with a Podio Preferred Partner is like working with a master builder. You know, those people who build entire mini cities with Legos that have trains and transportation systems and the like?
Recently we worked with Inspireworks in Australia. (We do most of our work remotely with clients all over the world using another product from Citrix, GoToMeeting.)
Inspireworks is a video production company that helps clients connect with their audiences in more meaningful ways. Specializing in corporate communications across the utilities, construction and technology sectors, Inspireworks helps audiences understand accept and act upon their message.
They were feeling restricted by their ?out-of-the-box? software and wanted to do the following:
Give my producer the tools she needs to manage projects and client deliverables and expectations. To give my Producer the tools to communicate effectively with external sub-contractors so that everyone is on the same page regarding projects. (Sub-contractors do not need to see our entire client base but need appointments, tasks, and project objectives).
Ability for the same producer to track and manage expenses on a producer. To give their managing director and finance person the ability to report on budget versus actual for each project. For employees to track time on projects. To improve workforce planning and resource allocation for upcoming Video Projects. (People and equipment)
To be able to record information on-set into the system. For example when a client says to you on set ?can you add a title in at that part.?
To simplify our workflow and ensure that clients get the same great service everytime. For producers to use template correspondence. Improve our workflow documentation within an Intranet system. To improve our sales follow up system. To go paperless!
So we gave it to them, slightly under budget and on time. The client was so happy in his review on our website he said, ?Professional, reliable and simply brilliant! ?Best investment that we made on our business this year??He also told me that he considers his new system a competitive advantage. ?No one will work as closely with their clients as we do. It?s a game changer!? he said.
Those results are why we do what we do. It?s the passion that drives us to revolutionize a business and the way they work. Podio sets us free to be the creative geniuses that we love to be.
To give you an idea of how this was done, here?s a generalization of the workspaces and apps we built for them in Podio to achieve their objectives:
CRM Workspace
People
Companies
Linked to People
- See corporate details with maps to their location and a listing of all employees
Conversations
- All conversations are tracked here with the help of PodioTools
Online Enquiry
- Client fills out inquiry form on website
- Call client task
- Create creative brief task
Creative brief
Linked to Online Enquiry
- Task to connect on LinkedIn
- Task to add person to people app (minimal data entry because contact filled out contact block already in enquiry form)
- Create opportunity
- Share creative brief with client
Opportunity
Linked to Creative Brief, Person, Timeline, Quotes from quoteroller
Project
Linked to Company, Creative Brief, Timeline, and Call Sheets
- Shared with client using Podio Share
- Add project performance item to bill aginst this project
Project Performance
Linked to Project and Opportunity
- This is where we keep the time allocation and budgetary info so we can share the actual project with the client and interested parties while keeping sensative data private
Scripts
Linked to Project
- Shared with the producer, scriptwriter and client
- We allocate hours and calculate hours left to complete. In the instructions it has a webform where the outside contractors enter their timeslips
Call Sheets
Linked to Project
- Shared with interested parties: client, producer, location contact, agent, camera assistant, camera person, basic sound, lighting, cast, photographer, sound recorder, studio hire contact person, equipment supplier
Edits
- Pretty much?identical?to Scripts
Timesheets
Linked to Project, Edit, and Scripts
- Shared out as a webform for external contractors
Client Feedback form
Linked to Project
- Webform for clients to fill out after the job is done
Business Development Workspace
Timeline
- Tracks opportunities, projects and goals on a the GTD horizons
Coaching focus
- Client coaches with a business consultant and links goals to focus on for that session
Goals
Linked to Timeline
90 Day review
- Provides an area where client can review what was and was not achieved and and the reasons and impacts of such
About the author
I manage the Preferred Partner Program connecting users to the right partner to help them do amazing things with Podio. We're here to transform the way you work, for the better.
- @Podio
- britt@podio.com
Source: http://blog.podio.com/2013/02/26/residualreach/
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