A top ten rated Google Ads Agency, Solutions 8 uses Tallyfy to onboard up to three major clients a week – and growing. In this interview – their CEO explains how their fast-growing client setup is now dramatically streamlined with Tallyfy – from speeding up the capture of detailed information from several departments at their client’s end through to improving the outcome of running ads for their growing client base.
What was the problem with client onboarding at your agency?
Our service and team is growing fast and we are now taking on three major clients a week. Our onboarding process is extensive was getting overwhelming for our team and especially our new clients. We need to ask the client a lot of questions and require a lot of detailed information from their various departments before we can commence our Google Adwords agency’s services and ensure the rollout will be smooth, timely and most importantly, successful.
Before Tallyfy, I shot myself in the face every single time we acquired a new customer – onboarding them to set up their campaigns used to be horrendous!
The issue was the speed at which we were getting that key information from the client. Without this detailed and thoughtful information from the very start, we could risk losing them money. We used to send each new client a document or form, then they attempted to complete it and sent it back. It took us some time to review it. We then found that things were missing or needed clarification. We would then fix this by calling them or asking them by email. It then took them some time to look into it or find someone who could provide the information we were looking for. Often, we would send them more documents or forms based on the answers they provided in the initial documents. The entire process was tiresome, tedious, and not to mention, simply quite embarrassing for us.
Tallyfy came along and completely transformed the client experience. It’s just blown us away.
Before Tallyfy, I shot myself in the face every single time we acquired a new customer – onboarding them to set up their Google Ads campaigns used to be horrendous! As we planned to scale our firm, I needed a way to ensure the client experience got better at the agency, not worse! We did not want to compromise our customers. Thankfully, Tallyfy came along and completely transformed the client experience. It’s just blown us away.”
Which other software did you evaluate before you chose Tallyfy for your agency’s client-facing processes?
We tried everything from documents to forms to the usual project management tools, none of them worked for us:
- Google Docs
- Google Forms
- Hubspot Forms
- Formstack
- Monday
We really can’t expect clients to log into a new tool, take time to learn it, read a mass of information and then answer questions. If you really want to be customer-centric, it should be the other way round, you need to ask the client what they prefer to use. We as service providers should bend over backwards to do things their way.
If you really want to be customer-centric, you need to ask the client what they prefer to use. Not the other way round!
Our clients used to get angered because even though some of these forms solutions we had tried had features such as incremental-saving when clients refreshed the page or walked away, they lost everything that they had taken a lot of time to enter. These documents and forms did not allow for interdependent relationships or variables, which meant the customer would see a long list of things that did not apply to them and they had to duplicate information they entered before. We had the common problem of clients losing their usernames and passwords and granting access to others who needed to help complete the process. Our onboarding sometimes took weeks, instead of hours. I started getting concerned about how we would scale the Google Advertising arm of our agency and the impact this was having on our brand.
At our end, as an agency, the tech and features are constantly changing, we need to evolve the ads optimization and management process to ensure strategies are successful. With these old solutions, it was extremely cumbersome to change or improve the process. We would have to demolish the whole section of a form and rebuild all the previous sections.
Our clients and team sail through the Tallyfy process – there is no need for clients to log in, there is one link for everything they need to do, everything saves in real-time – it all works incredibly well!
I think Tallyfy was the fifth solution we tried. Now, all our clients and our agency team now sail through the Tallyfy process – there is no need for clients to log in, there is one link for everything they need to do, everything saves in real-time, it all works incredibly well! We can edit the process in minutes and it goes live instantly! It is pretty damn cool!
How has Tallyfy improved your business and client experience?
From a customer-facing perspective, Tallyfy is just so easy to engage with! They click on one link, they click on a task, complete it and it gets struck off. It’s just super simple! The thing just blew me away. Our new clients go through the onboarding questions so easily and quickly, not being cognizant of the fact that it is quite an in-depth process.
We’re saving 2 hours per client at our end and probably over 30 minutes for the client – most important to me is that!
I would say that we’re saving 2 hours per client at our end and probably over an hour for the client – most important to me is that! The way we present to our new customers has dramatically improved, which in turn impacts client loyalty and retention for the services.
No more – What’s my password? I don’t know how to log in!
We’re not asking clients to log in, not asking them to create a username or provide their email. They just click on this single forever-link and complete their task or form. And at the end of each day, Tallyfy sends them a gentle email, reminding them of what is left to complete in order to start their service.
Which specific features did you like most about Tallyfy, and why?
One forever-link for our client, and they don’t have to log in to see it
We simply share a link with the main client contact and we’re not asking them to log in. This is huge because we ask for things that their team might know and they do not know. Tallyfy makes it easy for the main client contact to share the link with others in different departments. You can add tasks or forms to that same client link any time and even chat with the customer there.
Ability to easily track the progress of the client
I really love the tracking view! We can just jump into Tallyfy and see how each client is doing – see what is pending, who needs help, and who is done. We take on two to three clients at the Google Ads agency a week, so we’re looking at hundreds of new Google Ads accounts a year! I can’t imagine scaling our Google Ads agency without Tallyfy.
Ability to improve and easily edit our service
The digital advertising market and specifically agencies are exploding and evolving at an unprecedented pace. We always strive to stay on top of the new technologies and trends surrounding it, this means the processes within our agency need to keep up with the changes. Luckily, Tallyfy is agile – it allows our experts to go in and quickly modify the form fields and steps without breaking the whole process. And, it’s live a few seconds later! There is no change management or training required for the new way of doing things, which to me is a game-changer as we hire more people at our agency.
Ensure that the client is never overwhelmed or asked to do something twice
We use the If-This-Then-That rules feature on Tallyfy extensively. We have a 45 step Goggle Ads process with lots of questions and form fields. Because of this powerful rules and variables feature, the client just sees 3 out of the 45 steps, and the rest are shown or auto-populated if needed. This sounds highly technical, but it really isn’t. Anyone can use Tallyfy, even the less technically-savvy members of our team.
Our agency’s brand is prominent
We can customize the colors of Tallyfy so it looks like it is our agency reaching out to the client, not any old app. Customers need that kind of reassurance. It’s an amazing white-labeled service and makes our agency more proficient and professional.
Tallyfy does not market itself to our clients like other project management apps like Monday.com have in the past – There’s a company that is rebuilding our agency website, they have made me use Monday.com and I detest it! As I engaged with them, they sent me a video on how to use Monday.com, and then when I joined their Monday.com, Monday sent me their own tutorial on how to use it. And now I am being marketed to by Monday.com! Tallyfy doesn’t do that, it is truly built for our clients and we can trust that it will always just do that!
Who would you recommend Tallyfy to?
Our team and I were invited to speak on the subject of client onboarding at the Digital Marketing Institute (DMI) corporate headquarters where Digital Marketers Certified Partners struggle with growing their online marketing agencies, simply because they cannot find a way to make the post-sales process efficient without compromising the quality of the outcome. They should all use Tallyfy!
I can’t imagine scaling our agency without Tallyfy.
Tallyfy has done an exceptional job at transforming our client experience at our agency. But, we also use Tallyfy for documenting our key procedures like employee onboarding, account management for ad campaigns and even optimizing them.
FAQs if you’re looking for an Adwords agency
There is an ocean full of marketing agencies willing to set up and run your Google Ads. So, we’ve put together a list of questions you can ask an agency or individual specialist before you hire them.
How does Google Ads work?
Beyond the basics of explaining that it is a one of the most popular types of pay-per-click advertising, you should expect to hear about how they assess it is right for your product/service and business goals. You will learn how patient they can be and if they are truly passionate, they will take the time to tell you.
Is Google Ads right for my business?
There are a few types of pay-per-click advertising and online marketing, so before approaching a Google Ads agency or expert, consider what your advertising goals are, together with your budget, who your competitors are and your tolerance for risk. Then book a free consultation with an agency and ask this very question. An honest agency will ask whether you have a clear conversion goal, what you have tried to date and hint at whether this is right for you.
What qualifications and accreditations do you have?
You want to know how long they have been managing PPC ads and why they decided to start this particular business. Ask them to point you to a bio on the Google Ads expert who will be managing your account. A good team would have expertise in data analytics and conversion focused designs. They should be able to back any claims of success with case studies that have snippets of engaging content and ROI for their clients. The Google Partner status and certifications are given based on the agency’s exams, performance, spend (which means they have other clients) and have a minimum number of people certified with the basic Google certification within the team.
How do you run your business processes and work with your clients?
Choose an agency that actually has processes documented – like Solutions 8, above. Ask the agency if they have a process management platform to onboard their clients. You want to work with an agency that has processes and can scale them. Without a workflow management solution like Tallyfy, there is no guarantee their Google Ads agency will be able to operate smoothly and scale as they get more clients, without older clients suffering.
Do you offer guarantees for the Google Ads?
It would be very hard to find an agency that will guarantee specific results contractually. This is where official accreditations from Google and marketing institutions come in. Google hand out certifications based on the agency’s performance, spend (which means they have other clients) and have a minimum number of people certified with the basic Google certification within the team.
What other services do you provide?
A less focused digital marketing agency may offer other services such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and social media management, but if they have experts that solely manage Google Ads, that is preferred.
How do you charge?
Each project is likely to have custom pricing for each client. They will certainly ask you what your budget and revenue is in the consultation and assess whether they can work with you based on that.
What niche do you focus on?
You want to hear that they have experience in working with certain markets of a certain size, such as ‘mid-size professional services’, as supposed to hear that they have worked with a small pet-food company and also helped some schools. The lack of focus could affect their knowledge about a certain field and impact the targeting and quality of the content and design.
How do you differentiate?
The focus (niche) the agency serves is one differentiator. Being local is not so attractive anymore, but may be to you if you’re all in one office block and can have those spontaneous ideas from regular coffee meetings actioned. The tools and technology they use to assess, research and manage Google adwords is a sign of how savvy they are. For example, having a tools like Tallyfy for Solutions 8 transformed they was they strategized the entire client campaign, as they had so much more information to chew through before starting the service.
What are some alternatives to Google Ads?
Google Ads are a type of SEM (Search Engine Marketing). The expert should at least be able to list these other options and make a case for why Google Ads is right for you now: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), LinkedIn Ads, Podcast Advertising, Conversion Optimization, Content Marketing, E-commerce Marketing, Demand Generation, Blockchain & ICO Marketing, Email marketing, Influencer marketing, Youtube SEO, this list goes on.
