You’d think running a consultancy would be easy wouldn’t you? No major capital outlays and no stock, all you need are just a few people and a big pile of post-it notes and sharpies. Unfortunately, like most things that looks simple, running a successful consultancy isn’t straightforward at all. And, the level of difficulty increases the more successful you become. As an old colleague used to say, you spend all day working in the business and then all evening working on the business. What’s more you’re always only one problem job away from disaster because word of mouth is everything. As a result, it’s easy to get to the point where you simply don’t have the time to focus on growth for all the effort going into standing still.

We’re not going to claim that our software, Metis, can work miracles and run it all for you. We know as well as you do that consultancies are all about people: your team and the client. But what good software can do is give you more time by automating low value tasks, give you better information and help you focus on the decisions that really matter. Here are 5 reasons why Metis might just transform your life:

1.   Manage your sales pipeline

Nurturing and managing your sales pipeline is critical to keeping the machine in motion. However, our experience is that consultancies often track the wrong things, and over-rate their chances on the big projects whilst under-rating the bread and butter projects. Discussions also easily get side-tracked onto the accuracy of the pipeline data. Metis offers a healthier way of managing your pipeline by tracking sales opportunities and the people responsible for them in real time. This allows your team to work off the same data (even when they are not in the same place), better predict future revenue and resourcing needs, and focus on closing the sales that matter most.

As a result, you’ll be in a better position to track the sales performance of your team, compare statistics from previous years and accurately report data in meetings.

2.   Keep control of the work you’re doing

With Metis looking over your shoulder, you’ll never let projects and budgets run away with you again. Metis encourages you and your team to plan jobs to a target profit, and then keep track of that target as the job progresses. You’ll know immediately if things aren’t going to plan on any job across the business, and will be able to take corrective action.

3.   Track time and expenses

The world didn’t need another timesheet system but we reluctantly gave it one anyway. Why? Because integrated timesheets and expenses are key to being able to get real time data on job performance and to make sure that you bill everything that you’re owed. We’ve cut through timesheet and expense complexity and focused on the key features that you need. These include: adding receipt photos to claims directly from your phone, a configurable approvals process, support for different day lengths and timesheet policies, and the ability to plan and track time off.

4.   Manage a go-getting team

Your people are your biggest asset and the key to doing successful profitable work. Metis has sophisticated tools to let you get the best from them. Starting from ‘soft’ allocating people to sales opportunities though to warnings when people are double-booked, Metis makes sure you’re always in a position to optimise the way you resource existing and future work. Integrated timesheets allow you to compare plans with reality and spot emerging issues before they become real problems.

5.   Proudly presenting the Metis Layer

The ‘Metis Layer’ brings together everything that Metis tracks to provide what we call 20:20 Foresight. This clearly shows you whether your jobs are going to hit their profitability targets, how your whole business is doing against your overall goals, and whether there are any issues with utilisation in your team. Metis uses its understanding of how professional services businesses work to intelligently nudge and guide you towards the conversations that matter, highlighting any potential issues before they become problems.

Make the future, don’t manage it with Metis

To find out more about how Metis can give your business an unfair advantage, and to see it in action, contact us today to book your personal demo.