Overservicing is a bad habit that agencies need to break. According to a recent survey of agency leaders, the majority of agencies found that overservicing was costing them thousands each month. On top of the financial loss, staff in agencies frequently feel overwhelmed from out-of-scope requests, leading to burnout or a constant state of catch-up
Whether it’s a case of going the extra mile for a client or trying to appease dissatisfied clients, it can become just too easy to provide those few extra hours for free. However, falling into this trap can be damaging for the health of an agency, both from a financial and organisational perspective. As we all know too well, time is money, and if resources are working overtime on client A, then client B will inevitably suffer. Teams dismantle once-defined work processes, and eventually they struggle to see the end goal, let alone work toward it.
What is Overservicing?
Essentially, overservicing occurs when an agency provides more services than what was originally agreed upon in the contract or scope of work, often without additional compensation. This can happen when an agency team goes above and beyond to meet a client’s needs or expectations, but the effort ends up being unprofitable and unsustainable in the long term. Overservicing can lead to burnout, unmanageable workloads, and strained agency-client relationships, ultimately affecting profitability and agency efficiency.
Understanding overservicing is also crucial for agency leaders to prevent underpricing and the overextension of resources. Often, overservicing is a result of unclear client expectations or a failure to establish proper boundaries with clients. Identifying and addressing this issue early can help agencies maintain a healthy balance between delivering high-quality work and protecting their bottom line.
Ways to Avoid Overservicing
So, what can agencies do to prevent overservicing and protect their best assets? Here are a few vital points to consider if your agency has fallen into the trap of overservicing.
Analyse Past Work and Agency Communication
At an initial stage, assessing past projects to identify possible shortcomings will help ascertain where changes need to be made. It’s important to ask these questions for clarity:
- What is the typical client profile associated with overservicing in your agency?
- Are certain project types more susceptible to overservicing than others?
- What styles of agency-client communication seem to have enabled these issues?
Analysing the answers to these questions and others will prove beneficial in determining clearer processes and guidelines for your agency.
Define Benchmarks
For consistent clarity on how resources are being used, its critical for agencies to set benchmarks for different tasks or projects. For example, if it takes a Content Executive an average of four hours to write a blog post, then you may need to investigate if a resource ends up spending eight hours on this. Having easy access to this kind of information is crucial for efficient visibility and time management across the team.
The best way to implement benchmarks is with the right agency platform. More often than not, teams will grow tired of logging time on clunky, out-dated systems, and time-tracking can fizzle out. A good agency management system, however, will enable teams to track time quickly and easily while offering the manager offer insight into employee utilisation on a granular scale—letting them see exactly who is working on what and when.
Set Clear Expectations
Both your team and your clients need to have clear expectations on the work or the level of service to be provided. Establishing a Service Level Agreement (SLA) will provide clarity on the type of work, the duration of the work, service standards and any other relevant information that is of importance to either party. An SLA sets boundaries for both staff and clients, keeping everyone on the same page about the work to be completed and reducing the chance of disputes over service levels.
Establish and Enforce Boundaries with Clients
Effective agency communication and setting clear boundaries with clients is crucial in managing expectations and preventing overservicing. Clients often ask for extra work beyond the original agreement, and agency teams overservice when they don’t say no. Agencies that set clear boundaries from the start help clients understand and respect the project scope.
Agencies need to communicate openly and transparently with clients about what the scope includes and what counts as overservicing. By addressing these points early, both sides stay aligned on deliverables and timelines and avoid misunderstandings.
Ensure Transparency throughout the Agency
Team-wide transparency is critical for any organisation that wants to avoid the trap of overservicing. For agencies, this means that expectations are well established for executives, each team member is made aware of what overservicing looks like, and the use of time and resources is easily visible to managers.
Again, deploying an effective agency management platform will enable you to get the visibility you need on employee utilisation and allocation. Not only that, but it will also provide you with a real-time view of project progression so you can quickly discover any bottlenecks and act quickly.
Use Agency Management Software to Streamline Workflows
Another effective way to avoid overservicing is by utilising project management or agency client management software. Agency management software helps streamline project management, track time, and set clear deliverables, making it easier to avoid going beyond the agreed scope. With tools like real-time project tracking, resource allocation, and automated task management, you can ensure that your team is staying within project boundaries and isn’t doing more work than necessary.
By using agency management software, your team can stay organised and aligned with the scope, reducing the likelihood of overservicing. This also provides real-time visibility into the status of projects, making it easier to spot potential scope creep and adjust accordingly before it becomes an issue.
Prevent Overservicing with the Right Agency Management Tools
To ensure your agency avoids the trap of overservicing, it’s essential to implement effective systems for transparent resource sharing and project tracking. Screendragon’s agency project management platform is designed to simplify these issues for agencies, letting them manage projects and client expectations naturally.
Ready to take control of your agency’s workflows? Request a demo and see how our agency management platform can benefit your team.