Synergist has helped us be more scalable. Decisions that used to drop relentlessly into my lap every day are now taking place with no fuss. People are more empowered.
How Clevercherry managed scalability and change using Synergist
Since 1999, Clevercherry has been harnessing its digital and creative ethos to engineer results for their clients.
New premises and a much bigger team meant Clevercherry needed to take some fast action to make better-informed decisions. Managing Director Nigel Wilson shares how they grew their agency yet maintained their culture using Synergist.
Agency type: Digital and creative
Services: Digital, branding and marketing
Size: 30 people
Location: Birmingham
Nigel Wilson
Managing Director, Clevercherry
The problem
New changes and old processes
Major changes, including new premises with an open-plan layout and the team doubling in size due to new account wins and client development, meant that Clevercherry could no longer rely on their previous processes.
"We went through 24 months of major change. Previously, we used internally developed spreadsheets and a basic job bag system.”
The solution
A slicker system without compromising creativity
It was important to the team to keep their ethos and creativity.
"It's who we are. You don't want to lose the important aspects of your personality and what you stand for."
"It's still a journey. Nothing happens automatically. You have to work at it all the time. But it's exciting to feel the buzz around here."
Implementing Synergist has helped the team remove a lot of the extra admin, clean everything up, and make all their processes much more slick.
“No more Post-It notes flying around, no more physical timesheets!”
Founder Ian Allen was dubious: "Frankly, I was dubious that we could maintain our culture and keep creativity levels high with all these changes. And implementing Synergist on top of it all! Believe me, if you can make it work here, you can make it work anywhere."
It's educating the team. Team members are much more aware now of what costs go into a job. They make better decisions now.
Nigel Wilson
Managing Director, Clevercherry
The return
At-a-glance reporting and easier decision making
"Synergist pulls everything together... jobs, estimating, scheduling, purchase orders and invoicing."
"It tells me immediately about the state of every job, the requisitions, the time remaining, the time quoted, everything. It flags up problems early on, and I can see everything at a quick glance.”
"At the end of every day, I generate a report that shows all the key information, which I use to email the account managers with updates, slippages, etc.”
"It makes it easier than ever for me to work with the account managers and work out what we need to do to keep on track. It's very flexible. It's a great system."
"Everything's connected now. It's all come together. It's paying off, and I can breathe a sigh of relief!"
"You've got to think fast today. An account manager asks you about some costings. With the history of previous jobs in front of you, you can say, 'Here's what happened before.' It makes decision-making easier and more transparent."
"We no longer have to rely on gut instinct and experience alone. It's there in black and white. Synergist gives me the reports I need."