Favorite client reports revealed Clients & Profits offers hundreds of reports that give you a 360° look at your shop's production, costs, billings, and finances. Many, according to consultant Mike Wonnick, can be shared with clients to prove that you're a valuable partner, including: Job Status & WIP. Sort these reports by client, AE, and more for up-to-the minute status on current jobs. Job Schedule. Use the job schedule to keep your clients informed, on track, and accountable so they don't hold you up. Detailed Job Summary. This report sounds contradictory, but it's the only way to describe something that fits so much valuable information all on one page. It provides loads of information, from hours to estimates, billings to budget remaining. This report along, with Job Progress, are longtime agency favorites. Production Planner. Get a one-page look at the timelines of all jobs in your shop and keep everyone up-to-date on target dates for all client jobs, as well as identifying heavy and light workload periods. Client Invoice Aging. E-mail this report to better manage cash flow. "This keeps us and the client up to date on how much is outstanding before it gets out of control," says Rod Delahey of Heyday Communications. "If the invoices have already been approved, my client can e-mail the PDF to accounting, making things easier for everybody." Mike Wonnick is a Clients & Profits consultant based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Contact him at (306) 373-6795 or wonsystems@sasktel.net.

By Mindy Williams

Get your meetings organized like a pro with just a few keystrokes and clients may think you've hired a meeting specialist. From location to duration, who'll attend, and what's on the agenda, your meeting prep work will be so precise that clients will think they're getting hours of special attention.

Clients & Profits' new Meeting>Manager informs key staffers in your shop and at your client's office about upcoming meetings, their topic of discussion, location, job number, and more.

Once all meeting details are added, send an e-mail -- with no re-keying -- to all attendees so they know the specifics. Also, take a printout of the meeting worksheet to make summary notes.

Got too many meetings to manage? The Meeting>Manager window summarizes all client meetings, including date and time, location, coordinator, topic, job number (if related to a particular job ticket), and current status.

No more last-minute confusion as location details are clearly listed when you select a particular meeting.

It's easy to cancel, postpone, or reschedule meetings with just a few keystrokes. You won't lose any data, and attendees are automatically emailed with the new date.

After the meeting, demonstrate to your clients just how a well-organized AE operates by sending a follow-up meeting summary e-mail. The meeting summary includes areas to recap the discussion at a meeting, outline any resulting action items, and even schedule a follow-up meeting!

So your clients may think you've hired someone to manage your client meetings but -- come on -- let's give credit where it's due. Your marvelous meeting manager is none other than you...with a little help from Clients & Profits!