the trickle down effect of effective internal processes
TRANSCRIPT
MN Search 11/18/15
@NatePlaunt
Sr. SEO Strategist at Three Deep
Workflow Engineer sub-contractor for 3M
Optimizer of things@NatePlaunt
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
Client successes
SEO
PPC
Analytics
Business successes
13% increase in revenue YoY
Largest increase in 4 years
New office – we’ve outgrown our capacity
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
Marketing success
52% increase in website traffic YoY
31.5% increase in organic traffic YoY
318.5% increase in website conversions
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
1. AM sells project
2. PM estimates the project
3. SME works on the project
4. SME Completes the project
5. All talk about why the project was over budget
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
Unclear input – the ask
Time wasted up front
Unclear output – deliverables
Time wasted at the end
Little transparency into the work of other teams
Unnecessary projects
Inaccurate estimates
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
Clearly defined upfront ask
No work is started until this is clean
Clearly defined project deliverables
Agreed on and stated at the project start
Measure ourselves
Improved internal communications
More accurate estimates
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
1. Account/Strategy teams sell the right thing
2. SME/PM estimates the project
3. SME teams work on project tasks
4. Operations team measures input (ask), output (deliverable), and time per task
5. All complete the project
6. All talk about how great the project was
7. Give/get high fives
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
Accurate estimates =
Time saved on project =
Happy client =
More business from client =
Ability to apply project learnings to new project =
More at-bats with prospective clients =
More new business!
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
- Paul Wellstone
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
Attempting to quantify effort led to an unsuspected side effect
Each delivery team created their own internal processes to make their work easier to quantify
Transparency into work
Efficiencies in project work
Efficiencies in day to day
Improvements in outputs
More accuracy in estimates
Time savings
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
“Automated” SEO sales scan
Development of SEO audit process documents
20% time savings
Clearly defined deliverables and expectations
Everyone knows what to expect
Repeatable results time after time
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
Rebuilt our entire internal workflow process
Utilized tools to help measure and improve problem areas
Invested in internal training
Deployed it company-wide
…2+ years to get here
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
Start small – take one process or department on at a time
Be consistent – pick a driver
Socialize the results
Continuous improvement
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch
@NatePlaunt#MNSearch