"Now, every job type has accurate task lead times for scheduling, and a generic estimate based on past data. Using job type/spec sheets automatically generates a ballpark estimate created from historical data so AEs can get an in-hand estimate right away to give clients a rough idea of the job's cost from the start. Also, the preset estimates include estimated hours per job task so staffers have an idea of how much time they are allowed to work on a job.

No paperwork to lose

Jobs are entered into Clients & Profits through the custom virtual job jacket, which is monitored by traffic experts. Jobs that come in via the custom site are approved by traffic (or kicked back to the AE), then entered into Clients & Profits, where they become real jobs. "Before, the AEs would give the traffic people a piece of paper and the job would be entered from that," Aylie says. "Now it's a lot easier. There's no paperwork to lose and we customized the AEs' access to C&P to viewing only so to protect the integrity of the data."

When Aylie set up the new job type/spec sheets, she set up the job type's milestones to match scheduling tasks codes so due dates are automatically added to the traffic window from the job's schedule. Also, the job's tasks were numbered sequentially, so they now appear on job schedules in the order they are to be completed. Aylie recreated the production status codes table to simplify reporting; now they have predetermined status code Oranges that are printed weekly for each client.

"I run the Daily Job Status report religiously," Aylie says. "The Daily Job Status pretty much drives traffic and production."

Managing money, too

On the financial side, Brokaw uses Clients & Profits to create purchase orders, manage payables and client billings, and financial accounting. All media insertion and broadcast buys are handled through MRP's SmartPlus then imported into Clients & Profits for management and billing. Mike Bratton, the financial manager, relies on Clients & Profits reports for monitoring profitability. With the financial information captured and reported by Clients & Profits, Mike creates his own financial analyses. "We use the Client Productivity by Job report as the basis for a weekly report that compares our progress against monthly projections," he says.

Worth the price of admission

With Clients & Profits SQL and a clear vision, Brokaw has taken their agency management to a new level, increasing flexibility, stability, and above all, speed. Although the upgrade to Clients & Profits SQL took time, planning, and money, the guarantee that an agency management system will be running, day or night, with reliable, accessible information -- and redundant and permanent back ups -- was money well spent. "That alone," Jim says, "was worth the price of admission,"