Firesnap, Inc. is a digital marketing agency and HubSpot Gold Partner based out of Los Angeles, CA and Austin, TX. Firesnap helps companies in the technology, manufacturing, insurance and financial services industries achieve smarter, more consistent growth via inbound marketing, SEO, web design, PPC, and marketing automation services. Dustin Hall, President and Co-Founder of Firesnap, explains why he chose Teamwork Projects to help them communicate seamlessly with clients, create more transparency within his teams, and coordinate effectively with outside contractors.

“We use Teamwork Projects for literally every aspect of Firesnap’s management, resource allocation, client engagement and profitability goals.”

Firesnap started its search for a new project management tool back in 2014, when full-featured project management tools were just starting to emerge. Dustin had tried several of them, including Basecamp, but was not finding software that could deliver all of the features that this team needed. One of his top priorities was finding marketing project management software that allowed his team granular control over information access. Other software didn’t allow for precise information sharing, leading to a lot of additional work to share information with exactly the people who needed it.

“We wanted to have one place to house all of our project information and then share it as needed with our clients, outside contractors and employees — but without blasting all of the information to everyone.”

Without granular permissions, it was difficult for Firesnap team members to offer the level of transparency they wanted with clients or to give anyone, from team members to clients, updates on project execution. Producing a report took too much non-billable time and relied on inaccurate third-party tools instead of accurate, native data.

In 2014, Firesnap started looking for their ideal software, and in just a few weeks they had chosen Teamwork Projects. The simple UI allowed team members to start utilizing the Projects right away, without having to wait for extensive training.

“We had two primary objectives that Teamwork Projects addressed right out of the gate. First, it managed all client and internal projects completely within a single tool, and second, it provided an attractive client-facing portal that allowed for transparency, communications, and collaborative strategy development.”

After the team explored the features and capabilities of Teamwork Projects, they moved from entering tasks and due dates to the development of templates that allowed them to streamline processes in almost every aspect of their internal and client-facing projects. Any list of tasks that can be standardized across multiple projects is plugged into a template, and everyone on the team knows exactly what actions they’re responsible for throughout the project. Using ongoing feedback loops and team-wide evaluations, Firesnap’s templates are continually being revised and improved.

“We’ve found the tools so helpful that we keep looking for ways to use them throughout the business. It’s so much easier to have all of the materials, communication and workflows centralized in one place.”

As Teamwork Projects has grown since 2014, so has the number of integrations with other SaaS tools. Today, those integrations keep Firesnap’s workflows connected to Box, Harvest, and Google Apps. They also directly tie Teamwork Projects into human resources and new client onboarding workflows which are automated using HubSpot, PandaDoc, and SurveyMonkey. Within the Teamwork.com suite of products, there is Teamwork Desk.

With task templates refined and communication improved at every level, Firesnap is able to provide a transparent and consistent client experience, which leads to greater client satisfaction — and fewer interruptions due to lack of organization or communication gaps. Better time tracking tools have provided predictable deadline completions plus more informed pricing strategies that continue to increase profitability. Even the human resources department is saving time and staff resources by conducting all of their contractor management process plus new employee onboarding and training through Teamwork Projects templates. Both HR team members and employees have found the tools easy to use.

“Our investment in Teamwork Projects is paying off on every level. The tools continue to save us time and money, and our clients love them, too. Without Teamwork Projects, our processes would require disparate tools, resulting in less effective execution.”