Focal Point Marketing is used to dealing with change. In fact, the agency’s site states, “We believe in variety, challenge, and the continued pursuit of knowledge.”

Since 2010, a lot has changed for Focal Point, from the services it provides to the clients it serves. When it came to a client communication strategy, however, Focal Point Partner and Co-Creative Director Derek Nelson was pursuing consistency, not variety.

Before Growth Suite, Focal Point was spending hours on reporting ongoing maintenance efforts for its Flywheel-hosted clients. The process involved manually screenshotting individual Google Analytics reports for each client and adding that snapshot into an old template. With only five people working full-time at the agency, reporting back to clients was starting to pile up and cause time management issues.

Additionally, Nelson and his team would field questions from clients wondering why hosting costs were higher through Focal Point’s preferred managed WordPress host (Flywheel) than with cheaper options. Communicating the true value of managed hosting proved difficult, and many of Focal Point’s clients struggled with the concept that not all hosting is created equal.

In the fall of 2021, Focal Point turned to Growth Suite, an all-in-one suite of tools built for growing agencies and freelancers. Even though the agency didn’t need help with client billing, Nelson said as soon as he heard about Growth Suite’s automated client reporting feature, he decided to give it a try.

Focal Point began aggregating information about its Flywheel-hosted sites immediately and released its first Growth Suite reports in December of 2021. Now, the agency has 21 active sites on its Growth Suite plan, and it’s running reports for the majority of them.

“We’d been using the hosting service for a while, and while we’re always looking to grow, the reporting feature, for us, was more attractive than the ‘Growth’ side of Growth Suite,” Nelson said.

“We were able to add tons of value for our customers without increasing prices for them.”

Simple, transparent reporting a snap

According to Nelson, setup for Growth Suite and its reporting features was simple and the reports have already started numerous conversations with clients. Most importantly, Focal Point is able to show the true value of its services while conserving its lean team’s time.

Because Growth Suite’s automated client reporting feature integrates with Google Analytics, the Focal Point team can include all the important information they were including before, but in a fraction of the time they used to spend on reporting. In fact, time spent on reporting for Focal Point’s Flywheel-hosted clients has decreased to less than an hour per month.

Nelson and his team are able to showcase the exact security and monitoring measures they’re taking with client sites. The reports clearly show clients what has been done to improve and maintain site health, so Focal Point can provide peace of mind to individuals who are concerned about the added costs of managed hosting.

When asked if he’s had any issues or problems with Growth Suite’s client reporting, Nelson’s only response was “I just wish my reporting process for digital campaigns could be as easy to integrate and simple to use as Growth Suite.”

His current clients are happier because they’re able to see exactly what’s being done each month or quarter to keep their WordPress sites operating at peak performance. In turn, Nelson has created a regular cadence for communication, so clients have the opportunity to bring up questions, ideas, or additional projects where they could use Focal Point’s expertise.

By saving the agency time, providing clear insight into the work it’s doing, and integrating with important tools the team already relies on, Growth Suite’s automated reporting feature has laid the foundation for a simple, reliable communication strategy that increases trust and transparency between Focal Point and its clients.