Do You Use Advantage Software?

​Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater.

I’d like to know how it’s going. If it’s been great, please, share your experience.

Is it making you crazy? Well, any technology can do that to you - but this is about Advantage / Webvantage.

If your experience with Advantage been less than stellar, I’d like to hear from you as well. Because an investment – not only in hard-dollars, but also in the time it took to implement it, is worth fixing.

Or at the very least, review it before you make a big change. Change is tough - remember?

Your colleagues will love you for making their lives…easier.

We are happy.
So on to the questions…Did you implement it agency-wide? How did that go / how long did it take? Is everyone using it? Is it performing as you expected? Are you using Webvantage as well?

Yes to all of those? Awesome – tell us about your experience.

We are unhappy.
Okay, I’ve worked with hundreds of individuals, some of whom have had a not-so-great experience with Advantage / Webvantage. I’d like to hear from you. It will be therapeutic. At the very least, you can vent.

Questions for you…How long have you had Advantage / Webvantage? Did you have assistance during the implementation process? Were you prepared for the setup, testing, training, and roll-out? How has the follow-up been? Have you made adjustments along the way?

Is it just a raging headache and you’re looking to another solution?

I really want to hear from you. This post is a forum for you to air and share. Bring. It. On.

And by the way, I can help you.

Sometimes you don’t have to throw out the baby with the bathwater. There I said it.

Let’s fix your issues so you can get to work!

Agency Management Software is not ‘Plug ’n Play’

Awesome Sparkly Demo. Sales rep’s promise of ease. Everyone loves it. Sign-on-the-line and install.

Your love affair with technology turns into a nightmare. And now everyone blames you.

That’s the basic trap of the perceived ‘Plug ’n Play’ agency software / technology solution.

I’ve worked with hundreds of beat-down, worn out, stressed individuals who were charged with fixing a problem with…software. They bought the package of their dreams and then found out that they actually had to do something to make it work.

Even the most basic, free, cloud-based program needs – at the very least – a process defined and parameters to follow. Otherwise everyone will do – or not do – what they want with it.

Garbage in. Garbage out.

If you go the more thorough route – not just placing a Band-Aid on the problem – and sign-on-the-line for an integrated solution, the commitment is greater. So is the exposure to the wrath of your colleagues.

I speak from experience. My colleagues survived and so will you. So pay attention…

Usually the hunt for a solution is born out of crappy issues that just keep swirling around. Everyone’s head hurts from the never-ending complaints about lost or incomplete information, errors, blown budgets, things falling through the cracks.

Just your average day at the agency. Sound familiar?

Software can fix it. But only if you do your research (include colleagues from each discipline the technology touches), and ask the “hard” questions of your rep…

a. What do I need to do to make it work for my agency?
b. Can I customize it myself for our specific needs? (without the need to ask for special programming which costs $$$)
c. How long does it take to install, customize, test, train and roll-out?
d. What kind of data conversion do you provide? (your current work / year needs to move to the new system)
e. What kind of support to you provide for free / for a fee?
f. There's a million more questions. Ask them.

Then start planning and prepare everyone for the positive change.

And keep in mind, to make this kind of change cast away those starry-eyes and be realistic - it takes a commitment from everyone, and total support from management.

But in the end, I believe that – when done right – agency management software is awesome. It can fix everything.

Except personalities.​ You're on your own there.

Closing the Great Divide – Or Integrating Your Agency

I am actually going to go down this slippery slope...​

I have worked in and with agencies that have severe silo problems. Digital and traditional (online and offline – or whatever description du jour) work separately – but in a parallel universe.  Wasteful.

In my personal experience, I found the digital folks think that those on the traditional side have no way of EVER understanding their world.

Conversely, the traditional folks think the digital know-it-alls are way-over-stating it.

What I have also witnessed in the digital world, is that there are either extremely stringent producers/project managers who control every-person’s every-move; or they’re extremely loose and kind of shoot from the hip to get work done – they just run around asking where’s this or that.

Traditional producers/project managers are in their groove and with the exception of some technology advancements, have pretty much the same parameters in managing work as they’ve had for years. Life is good and what’s the fuss?

Digital and traditional are different. And I get it.

Well, knowing that nothing is insurmountable, and most employees are capable of learning, I believe we can actually integrate digital and traditional.

And that’s good for an agency.

I don’t need to learn to code, and you don’t need to learn how to put ink on paper, or edit video. But we all need to know what it takes to get those things done.

There’s a big bonus when knowledge is shared: Communication with your client is clear and accurate (sure we can do X in Y time for Z budget – it's not a guess, or worse, over-promised), better utilization of resources and assets, and consistency in brand and message. But I shouldn’t have to tell you that.

So we travel to an agency in Sweden called Honesty and they’re going for their version of agency 2.0. The belief is that everyone should understand how to produce digital as well as traditional – even getting rid of their specific titles – wow.

I agree with this – and hope the great divide between disciplines is actually bridged – because I’ve seen too much of holding info close – not letting others in because it’s so complicated.

In an article in AdAge, the agency’s CEO, Walter Naeslund says:

“It just doesn't make sense anymore to have separate staff to handle a separate area which is inherently impossible to separate from anything else…To achieve speed we attack organizational overhead and inertia by putting all our efforts into integrating strategy, storytelling, design, advertising, PR and production under one roof, one strategic account director and one creative team...To our clients this will mean better results in shorter time and at better prices. To Honesty it will mean a lot of new learning, more creative control, better output and further improved profitability.”

Control, better output and improved profitability.

Makes sense, doesn’t it?​

Success in a Recession

Can you gauge the economy by the success of a popcorn stand?

I live in Las Vegas. Hit hard by the recession – and that turnaround the press talks about – well it’s really slow to appear.

So yesterday, as I was driving by a strip mall – which I have driven by hundreds of times – I decided to stop at the little intriguing shop I had seen on the sign. You know the kind of sign – listing the dozen or so shops that are…hopefully still open.

Well, there’s this shop, Popcorn Girl, listed. I thought – how can anyone make a living selling popcorn? Then a banner went up on the building over the shop – Now Open Sundays. What?

I checked it out. Amazing! It was super busy and filled with fresh popcorn in flavors I’ve never imagined. Like Loaded Baked Potato, Dill Pickle and Puppy Chow. Okay... Plus old fashioned candy – like Big Hunk, Bit ‘o Honey, and candy necklaces – the things I loved as a kid. 

Awesome friendly service, product tasting, all kinds of special sports-related and seasonal packaging. Just your basic wonderland of carbs. And did I say the aroma alone could sell the product? Oh, yeah, they also make killer fudge. Fresh, melt-in-your-mouth stuff.

Call me old fashioned – I bought caramel corn – that was still warm. You have no idea…

Where am I going with this?

Take a product that everyone can relate to, plan, put in the work, provide great customer service, and manage well.

And they opened a second location. You can succeed in a recession.

Check it out, order some popcorn.

Here’s an article about Popcorn Girl.

I'll be back to work tomorrow!​