How digital agency Beneficio streamlined project management and communication with clients thanks to Freelo

Karel Dytrych asks on behalf of Freelo
Jakub Kofron and Daniela Zakova represent Beneficio

Introduce Beneficio. What do you do and what do you specialize in?

We are a digital agency with a strong focus on 3 main segments: web, data and programming. We specialize in professional websites, corporate portals, client zones, applications, custom programming, web management and data marketing.

Jakub Kofron, co-founder and managing director of Beneficio Media s.r.o.

What is special and unique about you?

A lot of digital agencies offer a wide range of services, but we decided to follow a more narrow profile (see above 3 main segments) and we want to be the best at it.

How many people are in your team currently and how do you divide the work?

12 people inhouse + a few freelancers.

What are you proud of the most?

That even a small agency like Beneficio can work with big clients - such as Generali Czech insurance company or Greenpeace.

The Beneficio team at the teambuilding at Svaty Kopecek in Mikulov.

"We don't use Freelo just for client work, but also internally, and we set up individual tasks there as well. Thanks to the possibility of deadlines, we know where the team stands, what needs to be worked on or what needs more attention."

Jakub KofroňFounder, Beneficio

What are the current trends and interesting things that people shouldn't miss in web analytics and data?

Certainly monitoring people's behaviour on the web (e.g. Hotjar) and improving specific parts of the sites according to how they appear more or less effective.

What do you think is the most difficult thing about running a digital agency and why?

Especially it is the variety and number of projects that need to be intensively thought about and pushed further. Everywhere there are different metrics, different objectives, different specifics and it is not practical to find a single approach that would allow for more harmonised processes. Therefore, practically every client is our separate ”product” that we have to manage in a tailored way. Of course, this also entails the challenge of managing cash flow. We have to say that thanks to Freelo we have at least a much more organised communication with our clients.

Do you keep a close eye on the productivity or efficiency of your team? How do you know if everything is going well?

Yes, because we don't just use Freelo for client work, but also internally, we set up individual tasks there as well. Thanks to the possibility of deadlines by which tasks should be completed, we know where the team stands, what needs to be worked on or what needs more attention.

You recently started using Freelo. What were the most common problems you encountered before the introduction of Freelo?

In terms of pre-implementation issues, some of our teammates were getting dozens of e-mails a day. It was hard to navigate what was already resolved, what was prioritized, and most importantly to look backwards.

Also, before the introduction of Freelo, there were times when an e-mail would get pushed out because it came to multiple people on the team and everyone thought the other person would handle it. By assigning tasks to a specific person in Freelo, this practically doesn't happen at all.

A sample of one of Beneficio's projects in Freelo.

Can you compare the efficiency of the work organisation before and after Freelo? What do clients think?

Generally, people don't want to learn with new tools, if we take the example of social network management, as soon as there are updates, new interfaces, people usually don't praise the changes, on the contrary, they are bothered by the news, and that basically even among users. So even with clients, we had to assure them that the work will be clearer, more efficient, and mainly because the individual tasks and comments go to e-mail, so nothing significant will change for them.

What are the benefits of using it for you?

Clarity, completion of tasks within given deadlines. We can also plan tasks more in the future that we don't want to forget, but we would like to address them in time.

What was the main driving reason for the introduction of Freelo?

Efficiency of work was probably the biggest reason for the implementation. Almost every successful company/agency is looking for ways to make work as efficient as possible - whether it's management or employees.

Beneficio team during an offline meeting.

How was implementing Freelo? Did anyone or anything inspire you?

Yes, we were a bit inspired from previous tools where we used Freedcamp. Then we created a clear process within the team, how we would create tasks and where we would follow the same structure. Then the transition was gradual, so with each new assignment we added clients and tasks and if we're not mistaken, within a month we had everything migrated.

A sample of one of Beneficio's projects in Freelo.

Jak u vás vypadá organizace práce? Jak máte rozdělené zákazníky nebo projekty? Používáte šablony? Jak plánujete práci?

Unless it is a large project that needs to be kept separately (we keep it under the project name), we keep everything under the client name.

We use one template for a type project (web design and custom software development) which we have divided into several parts.

These are development To-Do lists, which are private and used for internal tasks within the project and public (client) where we communicate directly with clients.

”We definitely recommend involving the clients in Freelo. Firstly, they get their own overview of how their project is doing, and at the same time they can communicate directly with the team.“

Daniela ŽákováEvent & Marketing, Beneficio

Which Freelo features help you the most? Templates, deadlines, public sharing for clients, repeated tasks for reports, ...

Individual tasks and their clarity, deadlines and just sharing with clients, it really makes our work easier and more transparent.

Do you have any instructions or best practices for using Freelo?

I don't think we have any instructions, maybe just to expand the circle of our clients who work with Freelo as much as possible and to concentrate as much work as possible there.

A sample of one of Beneficio's projects in Freelo.

However, we can certainly recommend involving the clients in Freelo. Firstly, they get their own overview of how their project is doing, and at the same time they have the opportunity to communicate directly with the team.

What techniques do you use in teamwork on projects?

One-to-one meetings have proven to be more successful for us, because we are a smaller team, so we can afford to have them once a week for an hour, for example.

”Before the introduction of Freelo, we occasionally pushed out e-mail because it came to multiple people in the team and everyone thought the other one would handle it. By assigning tasks to a specific person in Freelo, this doesn't happen at all.”

Jakub KofroňFounder, Beneficio

What tools are necessary to run your business?

Now Freelo, Clockify, Skype, Google drive/documents, Google calendar or iDocument. Over the years, we've built up a pretty well-functioning ecosystem of tools that make our jobs easier.

Part of the Beneficio team in the offices.

When you say ”Freelo”, what comes to your mind?

A tool that makes our work easier on a daily basis. (Daniela)

I initially thought of it as a dating app for single people, but now it's an internal WhatsApp and an app for managing projects and many internal activities. (Jakub)

Finally - what resources do you follow to work with data to stay on top of things?

In our team, it's a mix of all of the above, everyone prefers slightly different sources, but all of them have the above - just in a different order :-) (Daniela)

Facebook as such a newsfeed. (Jakub)

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