Software for Creative and Design Professionals

Running a creative agency or design firm is not easy. You need to bring together the right people, skills and relationships needed for a successful business ... without losing that creative spark!

Each day, your staff work on a range of client projects. Enabling them to do their best creative work is a juggling act: Have they got access to the right tools and information? Are they collaborating effectively with each other? Is it easy to keep track of project briefs, working sketches, and final deliverables? And is the admin stuff, such as billing their time to clients, being handled as invisible and painlessly as possible?

At the level of the overall agency, there are additional challenges: How do you schedule projects and assign staff? Manage the sales process and deliver reasonable quotes? How do you market your firm to grow the business, while improving existing relationships? What about selecting, training and retaining the right staff? Or get real-time visibility on how your business is performing?

The right software can be a powerful asset in running a successful creative agency or design firm. There is software available to streamline and improve each key function in your business - are you taking full advantage of it?

Common types of software for creative and design professionals

Software is available for each key function within your agency. Some of the most common software solutions found in design and creative agencies are:

Design Software	Software to help creative and design professionals perform their day-to-day tasks, such as creating illustrations or artwork, editing photos and videos, designing websites, and so on. Typical examples are Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop, Flash, Director, etc
Timesheets	Keep track of your staff time against clients, projects and tasks, and use this to generate invoices and get insight into how projects or the firm as a whole are performing. Typically, timesheet software allows to you distinguish between billable and non-billable time, set different billing rates for different situations, and manage the approval process - amongst other things.
Project Management	Keep your projects on track with good project management software. Lay out the key tasks that need to be done, organise them on the time schedule, and assign responsibilities to each person. Run reports to see how projects are performing, and identify any emerging issues.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)	Relationships are key in any design firm or creative agency, and CRM software allows you to get proactive in managing your client relationships. From keeping track of client contact details through to a more sophisticated system that manages your sales prospects and records all interactions, there is a CRM system that can help improve your client relationships.
Human Resources Management (HRM)	People are one of your biggest assets, so it is important you manage them appropriately. Keep track of all your staff, manage their training and development schedules, and streamline the recruiting process. This and much more is possible with the right HRM solution.
Email Marketing	Manage your email campaigns or those of your clients with powerful email marketing software. Ensure high delivery rates, learn which content is working best, see who opened and responded to your messages, etc. Some even allow you to re-sell email marketing services to your clients
Practice Management or Professional Services Automation (PSA)	Manage all aspects of your design or creative practice with a single, integrated system. There are typically modules available to handle each of the above specialist functions, such as timesheet, expenses, project management, CRM, and HRM. If your agency is large and growing, it may well be worth investing in a fully-integrated solution.

Find the right software for your creative agency or design firm

There are many choices you will face in choosing the right software for your creative agency or design firm. Should you buy separate software for each function, or should you get an integrated practice management or professional service automation (PSA) solution? Should the software be installed on your servers or hosted by the vendor? Do you need internet or mobile phone access? Will it be intuitive and easy to use? And many other questions…

Rather than trawling through the many available options yourself, why not use Software Shortlist’s expertise to help you find management consulting software that is right for you?

Software Shortlist helps you build a shortlist of the best software to meet the unique needs of your management consulting practice – quickly and easily. Time is money, after all!