You can't have an agency event without Teamwork.com, which is why we attended Mirren Live 2023 back in May.
Among the inspiring conversations and new connections, we had the privilege of meeting Olivia McCormack, VP of Business Development at Tag and a loyal Teamwork.com user.
In this customer Q&A, Olivia delves into her agency journey, sharing her passion for #agencylife and how essential Teamwork.com is for keeping Tag organized and efficient. Tag has been a Teamwork.com customer for 9 years! Keep reading on to hear why Teamwork.com has been their go-to tool since day one.
To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you work, and what kind of work you do?
Professionally, I’m VP of Business Development at Tag, a global powerhouse for all things creative production. My full-time job is to oversee our Toronto accounts team and to support our top customer satisfaction and growth. My part-time jobs are a little social media, a little marketing, a little new business… you know how it goes.
Personally, I love to cook, spend time outdoors playing tennis or at the lake, and travel to different football stadiums across the US. Go Bills!
What type of clients does Tag work with, and how many?
Globally, we work with hundreds of brands and agencies across many verticals like pharma, finance, CPG, and retail. Our team in Toronto focuses primarily on clients within the food and beverage space which is a ton of fun. By the end of the year, we should cross the 900 mark in terms of the number of clients we’re working with.
How long have you been working in the agency realm and what do you love about agency life?
Previous to my time at Tag, I spent a couple of years working in PR. Both shops taught me a lot in a short amount of time and reassured me that I was onto something in the agency world. When I transitioned to Tag, which was called The Hot Plate at the time, I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into but I trusted my gut and here we are 9 years later.
Ultimately at the beginning, I was inspired by the fast-paced, unpredictable, and very rewarding nature of agency life. No day is ever the same and it allows my type A personality to shine.
We know Tag has been a Teamwork.com customer for years now, what does Teamwork.com offer that's kept you with us for so long?
I’ve literally worked with Teamwork.com since my first week at Tag. Given the number of clients we work with and the hundreds of jobs that flow through our creative production studios each month, it’s paramount we have a tool that keeps us on track and organized.
The best part about our experience with Teamwork.com is that it’s so user-friendly and everyone from marketing to creative to finance can dive into the tool at any point and figure out exactly what goes where and who to tap for information.
What other tools did you look into and use before choosing Teamwork.com?
Nothing. Teamwork.com has been our go-to since day one.
Can you tell us a bit about how Tag uses Teamwork.com, and who at your company uses it?
We use Teamwork.com to input client programs and jobs so we can track the work from the kick-off all the way to the final delivery. We use the files to upload key shared documents, the notes to track feedback from clients on photos and videos, and the timer to track our time and hours.
There isn’t a single person at our agency that doesn’t use Teamwork.com one way or another.
What are the Teamwork.com features that most help you accomplish your goals?
Since we work with clients on multiple jobs and projects throughout the year, the archive feature is a big one for us. When onboarding a new account manager to the brand or when we need to reference a previous style guide, all the information is housed in one place and can easily be found.
Within Tag, how do you track time and do you specifically track billable versus non-billable time?
We definitely track billable vs non-billable time. Currently, our account team and social media team use the timer tool to track hours each week and our management team uses the reporting functions to easily pull hours and understand capacity. Once again, very intuitive and easy.
At Teamwork.com, we value failure and see how important it is for growth, we even have a dedicated chat room where we can shout out our failures! Are there any so-called failures you've learned from while working at agencies?
When I moved into a management position years ago, I found it really challenging to carve out time in my schedule to just sit and THINK. Think about the team, think about the opportunity, think about the growth… there was no to-do list to check-off or invoice to send or sales number to hit. What do you mean I have to just sit and think and be present and be strategic? How do you transition from a doer to a thinker? Can there be both?
In the agency world, moving fast is a requirement, but it’s so important to slow down once in a while and take a step back to get that 10,000-foot view as they say.
Keeping that thinking time in my calendar can be challenging at times, but it’s all about setting boundaries and knowing how/where to say no to being too far in the weeds. If you’ve got that all figured out, call me!
Mirren Live 2023 was a blast and we are super excited to keep the momentum going at INBOUND this September! If you’re a Teamwork.com customer and are attending, be sure to pop over to our booth to say “hi” and pick up some fun swag! See you there!