If you're dreaming of a way to streamline your interior design firm's processes and eliminate tasks that take up unnecessary resources, you're not alone. Many agencies continuously look for ways to organize their firm, making it possible to manage day-to-day functions intuitively. As a result, employees are no longer bogged down with redundant tasks and can focus on where they can add the most value to a project or the firm.
The good news is that this level of organization is achievable with the right software in your firm's arsenal. Leveraging intelligent industry-specific software is a surefire way to have your business operating like a well-oiled machine.
Keen to discover what you can expect when turning to a software program like DesignDocs to help simplify your business processes? Here are six ways a streamlined workflow will improve your interior design firm.
1. HELPS THE TEAM COMMUNICATE & COLLABORATE
If workflows aren't clear, you can expect everything else to be hazy. When managing complex projects with several moving parts, deliverables, and different parties involved, it's only a matter of time before something falls through the cracks. You need a system that allows for easy communication across all business units.
Using cloud-based business management software like DesignDocs streamlines collaboration between staff members. It allows for effortless tracking of project tasks so that barriers to internal communication are reduced or, better yet, eliminated.
When everyone shares a central system, work organization is natural, and document management problems are a thing of the past. Be done with the chaos that comes from multiple versions of shared documents, various methods of doing the same task, and not knowing where other team members stand with their work. DesignDocs integrated platform allows your team to collaborate more easily and freely than with standalone systems. As improved internal communication leads to better client communication, this benefits client relationships and the firm as a whole, which takes us nicely to the next point.
2. HELPS YOU BETTER SERVE CLIENTS
Having an organized workflow is one of the easiest ways to better serve your clients and manage expectations. After all, with referrals and recommendations being one of the best lead generation tools an interior design firm can have, your clients should be a significant investment.
When creating timelines, booking meetings, and managing budgets, a simplified workflow helps determine where every piece of the design puzzle should fall. If your firm isn't using intuitive project management and accounting software, you might easily forget important dates, delegate tasks incorrectly, or underestimate a project's timeline.
A software system that streamlines these workflows means less room for error because more business functions are automated. Take, for example, providing a client with a project summary report. By using software such as DesignDocs, there is no need to input or re-enter project information when compiling the report, which is built into the system. As long as you input the data into DesignDocs at the root source (i.e., client price, budget, billable time, expenses, etc.), the system will create the report at the click of a button. You can produce this report periodically throughout the project to keep your client up to date and confident that you take managing their project seriously. Additionally, a workflow streamlined by DesignDocs allows you to rest assured that your report is correct because the data comes from one integrated source. Thus, the information presented is accurate and exact.
3. HELPS KEEP YOUR STAFF HAPPY
The interior design industry is no exception to the staffing shortages across many business sectors. Therefore, employee retention is more critical now than ever. Creating harmonious workspaces free from unwarranted back-office chaos is the name of the game.
Streamlined workflows benefit all corners of a design business – from principal designers and office managers to marketing coordinators to receptionists. Simplified operations make it easier for staff to prioritize tasks effectively. Sometimes, knowing which tasks to tackle first can be a complicated question; it's even more complex with an inefficient workflow, as it makes visualizing projects impossible. Determining which tasks come first is easy if you have a clear outlook of your week's workflow.
Prioritizing work is a skill, and while it can be learned, it's effortless with the right tools. Having every document, list, and calendar in the same place makes it easier to decide which project or task takes priority.
This clarity makes staff feel less stressed and burdened with excessive hours, thus providing a better work-life balance and greater job fulfillment.
4. HELPS YOU LOWER EXPENSES
Time is a valuable resource. Therefore, it makes sense to make the most of your staff's time by minimizing tedious and redundant tasks that you could otherwise eliminate if you were using robust industry-specific software.
Take, for instance, the creation of client invoices in a program such as DesignDocs. Once a client has accepted the items on a proposal, it is quick and easy to generate an invoice with just these items, or more if you’d like, from within the client invoicing screen. A built-in Email Invoice button means you don't have to exit the software to email a client their professionally presented PDF invoice. Plus, if you signed up to receive ePayments, the invoice will contain a payment link where the client can pay instantly online. Furthermore, all financial information feeds directly into the accounting side of the software, meaning no re-entering or double handling data.
This is just one example of a streamlining benefit that a program like DesignDocs can bring to your firm – helping your team accomplish more in less time and lowering expenses as a result. Improved productivity and time management in your back-office means staff is working more efficiently. As previously mentioned, when a team works smarter, not harder, they'll inevitably work happier, meaning less time spent on employee management and ongoing recruitment endeavors.
5. HELPS WITH BILLING, ALLOWING YOUR FIRM TO GROW
The financial benefits of streamlined workflows include more than just lowered expenses through increased productivity. Time tracking and billing are other business areas that can improve when systems are simple, and tasks are automated.
Streamlining your firm's billing and accounting process leads to faster invoice payment and a more reliable cash flow. Also, if your staff has the tools to effortlessly and accurately track their hours, your firm will benefit from the maximization of their billable time.
Using an all-in-one project management and accounting software such as DesignDocs is the best way to ensure that staff time is tracked and captured as it should be and easily billed. DesignDocs' integrated time tracking feature means employees don't have to use separate programs to measure and record the hours entered. Staff can choose to track time using a timer or by timesheet entry. Any time with a task code deemed billable will automatically be placed in the client invoicing queue and added to an invoice. This eliminates lost hours and leads to more revenue for your firm's daily operations and future growth plans.
6. HELPS YOU MAKE BETTER DECISIONS
Making the right decisions for your interior design firm requires knowledge of what's coming in the future. While no one can predict what the future holds, having an organized workflow is a great place to start. For example, if a client calls and wants to shorten a project's timeline, how do you answer if you can't visualize the workflow within that time frame?
Being in the dark might lead you to make promises or decisions that wreak havoc down the road. For this reason, a streamlined workflow for interior designers is key to making better business decisions. Without such insights, you put you and your firm at risk of mismanaging projects, disappointing clients, losing money, and harming your brand's reputation.
DesignDocs' streamlined software is built specifically for interior design professionals. It allows for greater control over day-to-day operations while supporting your firm's future goals and opportunities for growth. To learn more, request a demo today or download the case study below and discover how we helped an interior design firm organize its workflow.
