Operational & Financial Excellence in Professional Service Firms

Reaching operational excellence is a challenge for agencies and service businesses of all sizes. From workload visibility and resource management to identifying the right metrics, many leaders struggle to balance efficiency and growth.

I was interviewed by Marija Kata Vlašić from Productive about how agencies can address these challenges. I shared my approach to solving operational challenges, the must-watch metrics for workload management, and how agencies can identify the most valuable metrics to drive their success.

What is your career background and current focus?

00:00 Marija Kata Bighin: Albert, before we begin going through today's topic, can you tell us a bit about your career path so far and what you're currently focusing on?

00:09 Albert Banks: Yes, happy to. I am a longtime agency founder and leader. Starting over 20 years ago, I founded my first agency, MyJive, in the early days of the web. We were primarily a web shop; I was the first developer and eventually the first technical director as we grew. Over the years, we added different services, incorporating strategy, account service, social media, and digital advertising, adding a media function to our company. We also built out a production arm for video, animation, and 3D. In addition to client work, I ran the business, heading up operations and finance, which included HR, resourcing, IT, office, legal, and insurance.

02:55 About six years ago, we sold MyJive to Union, a local competitor in Charlotte. I led the integration and took over operations for the combined agency. We eventually repositioned to focus on creative and performance marketing. I also led internal initiatives like compensation strategy, career path frameworks, and the formation of our DEI committee. A couple of years ago, we sold Union to Valtech, a global digital agency. After leading that integration, I have moved on to my next chapter: Apertus, my advisory practice. I help other business leaders through three main areas: operational and financial excellence, employee satisfaction and engagement, and navigating potential exits and M&A due diligence.

How do you approach initial operational challenges?

07:12 Marija Kata Bighin: When an agency leader comes to you with questions about operational challenges or how to become more efficient, where do you typically start? What is your initial approach?

07:34 Albert Banks: Often, they come with a specific thing they want to fix, usually falling into categories like measurement, tools, or processes. For example, they might say they want to change their project management tool. I want to make sure that isn't just a symptom of an underlying issue. I start with a broad assessment involving executive stakeholders and subject matter experts. This goes beyond operations and finance into employee approach and long-term plans. Often, this reveals that they aren't aligned on what they want to measure, meaning the issue isn't actually about the tool, but the metrics. Once we have a collaborative framework, we can move into specific projects or sprints, like evaluating the accuracy of metrics before adopting new tools.

What are the must-watch metrics for healthy agency operations?

10:32 Marija Kata Bighin: No matter the size of the agency, what would you say are must-watch metrics? Is time tracking one of them? What is the foundation for healthy operations?

10:47 Albert Banks: Most agencies struggle with either having too few or too many metrics. You need to find the right number that allows for actionable decision-making. Straightforward ones include qualified leads for marketing and new clients for sales closure. I am also big on account growth and renewals. Key financial metrics include the effective bill rate, cost rate, and billable utilization compared to targets. All of these require time tracking as an input. Additionally, I look at cultural metrics like voluntary turnover rates and pulse checks to understand the "vibe" and team feeling, which is highly impactful.

How far into the future should agencies forecast work?

14:57 Marija Kata Bighin: How far into the future do you advise agencies to forecast work?

14:20 Albert Banks: It depends on the work. If you are project-based, it's different than having annual retainers. You should be granular with scheduling on a weekly or monthly basis. For capacity planning, you should look at least three months out. Beyond that, so many things change that it can be a bit of a fool's errand. You should do annual planning but modify those expectations every quarter.

How often should operations audits be performed?

15:18 Marija Kata Bighin: Regarding operations audits, how often should the person in charge of capacity and efficiency be doing them?

15:41 Albert Banks: I am a big fan of real-time or daily dashboards so leaders can answer their own questions asynchronously. However, for scheduled planning, weekly is the minimum. At the beginning of the week, you look back at the prior week's actuals and then look at the forecast for the coming week to adjust resourcing. Monthly or quarterly audits are better for macro trends once you have the finances from a closed month, allowing for further-out capacity planning.

What were the biggest lessons from your agency acquisitions?

17:00 Marija Kata Bighin: You spoke about your two acquisitions and mergers. What were the biggest lessons you learned?

17:22 Albert Banks: The Post-Merger Integration (PMI) process is critical. When Union was sold to Valtech, they had a robust team for M&A and PMI with a dozen workstreams covering finance, HR, and tools. Having a counterpart on both sides is essential. It really comes down to change management and transparent communication while keeping the team away from the "mess" of the integration. Another lesson is that as an agency grows, the challenges remain the same; there are just more zeros behind them. Whether you have 70 people or 6,000, you still have to ensure everyone is clocking time and measuring utilization.

What is your top piece of advice for better operational decisions?

20:01 Marija Kata Bighin: For agencies looking to make better operational decisions, what is one piece of advice you find yourself repeating?

20:15 Albert Banks: "Clarity is kindness." Based on the Brené Brown quote, clarity in operations prevents major misunderstandings. You can have all the tools and measurements in the world, but if you don't have clear communication around expectations, it's a mess. This means making sure the leadership team is aligned on goals and the staff understands the rationale behind things like time tracking. Repetition is also key; you might have to say things five times in different mediums like email or Slack. Finally, encourage people to ask questions if they don't understand—there are no stupid questions.