3 Ways to Manage Client Projects in SmartSuite (Agency, Virtual Assistant, and Contractor Examples)

[@RenanMayaFitness]

Great video Layla! I started using Clickup and Whimsical mostly because of your videos and now, thanks to you, I'm transitioning to SmartSuit (which suits my needs muuuch better)

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Renan! I'm so glad the content was helpful and that you've found a tool to help you :)

[@EduardoPereira-iy7js]

This video is incredible because it teaches me how to think strategically, not just create solutions. This is brilliant! Very very well explained!!!!!!

[@LaylaPomper]

Thank you so much! I'm glad it was helpful!

[@sheenaandersonblog]

I would love more videos showing the details of how to do all of the link records.

[@LaylaPomper]

You got it! :)

[@michaelalliman4374]

Brilliant! I love the potential of SmartSuite, - especially the Goldilocks solution you showed here, but I'm "stuck" with CU because of the ability to create a "task" (in CU terminology) directly from email via the embedded icon in each email. I've asked SmartSuite about this a couple of times, and understand that it's in the works, but because we are so document driven (which are emailed to us from clients), it would significantly disrupt our workflow until that's possible. *sigh*. Thanks Layla. Your content is incredibly helpful. Oh, and PM!

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Michael! Hopefully the email piece happens quickly so you can make the jump! In the meantime, I'm so glad ClickUp works for you currently :)

[@michaelalliman4374]

@@LaylaPomper I'm a ProcessDriven member, and was on the site this morning looking for additional resources for SmartSuite, but I don't see them separated from the CU content. Am I just missing it, or is it it just woven in with all of the other resources? Thanks! (PS: I looked for a link to ask this question on the PD site, but it didn't jump out at me, so if I missed that, I apologize).

[@RossAndRossIntl]

@@michaelalliman4374 Good suggestion - I want to bring a few people up on SmartSuite and it would be great to share Layla's youtube site with just her SmartSuite videos

[@michaelalliman4374]

@@RossAndRossIntl I create a private "playlist" when I want to have a series like this to review. I share the pertinent sections with my business partner. You could do something similar that's almost as good as having a dedicated site just for Smart Suite. You just have to add new ones as they come out. (Layla's is one of the few KZbin channels that I actually turned on the notifications.)

[@clivemorrison1336]

Try ply

[@ChristineLawson-zj8md]

I have an idea of using Otter Ai or any AI note taker during my client sessions when we speak to automaticlly give me a recap of our meeting including takeaways or tasks and it live in a field on my client managements app(I used your tutorial on appointment tracker and customized the fields to include a prep session, an agenda, and a homework/takaways field) and drop those AI notes into the agenda(because no matter how hard I try my brain WILL NOT let me take notes in a coherant fashion) and THEN set an automation to when I put input(the Otter notes from the session) into that field recapping that session, set an automated email to send that info to the client with that recap. BUT then I want the opportunity to review it first so I am thinking of adding relay into that process.... SIGH... This is so much to learn and wrap my head around but I know all the pieces are there to make me be able to BREATHE... I am probably going to enroll in your classes because man.. I need Layla in my life rn.

[@craftedcontact]

Great video! I've found myself setting up something much like option 3, so I can have one central client services solution. Lately, as I've been experimenting with automations, I've noticed a potentially large drawback to this method - a lot of the automations in SmartSuite don't go "deeper" when they're referring to a linked record. So if you have a project table, and the client name is a linked record in a client table, the automations can't pick up the client name, just the linked record field. I'd like to avoid creating a solution per client (at least until SS roll out automation duplicating or copy to new) so curious if you have any suggestions for a workaround?

[@ManagementAcupunctureSolutions]

I am trying to figure out how to create one master task list/project that is the main solution that links to other sub solutions or departments. I was hoping you would explain the linked records on how to create one main database. It was not clear on how to do that.

[@adriennemccue-SUFMH]

Very nice, thanks so much Layla!

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Adrienne! I'm so glad this was helpful :)

[@user-rf1uy4it8b]

Thanks for such a helpful video, Layla! My biggest question in terms of linked fields has to do with the crossover between the Deliverables app and Client Projects app. Assuming all of my action steps for deliverables are in each of the records in the Deliverables app, am I able to use the same record for different client projects? Especially when clients are at different stages of the process? For example, I offer logo design. So the steps in the process would be in a record in Deliverables. But I have 3 different clients I'm designing logos for at the same time. Can I still link/use the same Deliverables record (Logo Design) for all 3 clients? Or do I have to create a separate Deliverables record for each one so they're not sharing the same task list inside the record? Thanks!

[@LaylaPomper]

These are great questions! While working with multiple clients, we suggest keeping your client projects separated. Just as you suggested in your last sentence. These are very similar questions we see inside ProcessDriven Foundations™️.

[@GarrettClawson]

This is great, Layla! Question - how should I think about checklist items vs a related "Tasks" list in another app within the Solution?

[@LaylaPomper]

They both can function in the same way, but Checklists are best for simple assignments whereas related Tasks can work for assignments, data, or anything where you need a bit more power! However, we've got a video coming out ?next month? about understanding where to build in SmartSuite that should help clarify this further!

[@DannoPritch]

Thanks for the great video Layla. Can I ask if all three methods have been created with standard SmartSuite templates?

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Dan! They can be, yes! That's what I've used in this setup with just a bit of modification based on personal preferences.

[@DannoPritch]

Thanks@@LaylaPomper , can I ask which templates were used for the Projects with Linked Records method?

[@alisonwhite9866]

I haven’t found anywhere on any of your or smartsuites videos, the ability to have blocked actions which become unblocked based on a dependency. How is this possible? So in our use case we run a market research company and only want the action of “loading a data file” to be “available to work on”, after the “receive data file from client” action has been completed. Any ideas?

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Alison! Right now, you'd need to do that via an Automation that uses statuses, fields, or comments to alert people about when to/not to work on something. However, it sounds like what would really be helpful for you is SmartSuite's Dependency feature set which, as of now, is still being built. I wouldn't be surprised if it's released within the next month or two, but it's not yet here! Here's the link for the feature request: smartsuite.canny.io/feature-requests/p/dependencies

[@PrivatePracticeGrowthClub]

Hey Layla. I quote like the project per record for managing tasks related to patients as the use case I am building is very simple, basically a task list per patient. I was wondering though, is it possible to create record templates? One of the things I like about CU is the ability to create template lists that I can apply to each new patient. It would be great if I could make a template record that I just reuse everytime I have a new patient, so using records kinda like SOPs in way. Hope I'm making sense

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey! Great question! In SmartSuite, you can create a Solution Template. This means you create your views, records, and apps for a patient to be stored in one Solution. You can save the link and use it every time for new patients. If you'd like to keep patients by Apps instead, you must create everything inside the App and duplicate it each time. It can be possible, but the App or Record features cannot be saved as Templates. Only Solutions can be saved as templates.

[@sheenaandersonblog]

Is smart suite able to calculate equations like in a spreadsheet? If so, will you show how in a video?

[@LaylaPomper]

That's a great suggestion! We don't yet have a dedicated video on App-wide Formulas but I did feature Formulas briefly on our "overview videos early on. For starters, check out the videos on Dashboards (kzbin.infoM7GF9EHqkAE?feature=share) if you haven't already! I'll also add a deep-dive on SS Formulas into our idea list for future content. :)

[@iobtax]

So is clickup out and smart suite. How do you know you need to change, Which is better?

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Richard! Here's a video I did on ClickUp vs SmartSuite. There isn't a one size fits all answer as it depends on you and your business. Give it a watch here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKOYgH6Ll7B3jdU

[@TomaszPasiut]

Hi Layla, great video as always! Thank you for your content. I'm ClickUp user, but Option 2 in above video looks interesting. I'm wondering... is there any way in ClickUp to build sth similar? For example... I'm managing 15 projects and they are in different stages. Each project is a list with their own tasks. But I would like to have a one list (with board view) where can I have overview for all projects. "One list/board to rule them all" :) Every project would be a task/card on this overview list/board.

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Tomasz! Absolutely -- the same strategies apply. Relationships in CU are slightly weaker than SS at this point, so I'd suggest using Dependencies instead of CU's Custom Relationships. 👍

[@XxStupendousManxX]

Layla, this video was wonderfully helpful. A question on email automation, does the “date sent to client” trigger an email at midnight? Can your date field use a time so that the email sends during working hours? Also, “date sent to client” is a past tense field, but you would fill it with a future date? I’m new to this field name and curious.

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Paul! Good questions. RE: does the “date sent to client” trigger an email at midnight? I haven't tested the exact time of day, actually! Great idea for a follow-up. However, I suspect the answer is "Yes" since that's the behavior in all comparable tools out there. I'd suggest that you ask SS's support for the official answer, though! Note: Regardless, we can work around this by adjusting fields if we want to keep things within business hours. RE: Also, “date sent to client” is a past tense field, but you would fill it with a future date? You'd want to put it in as whichever day you'd like it to send to the client, yes! That'll trigger the automation and, as time passes, become the historical record for the sending. 👍

[@stephencollard]

So method 3 is what standard template in SmartSuite?

[@LaylaPomper]

Each of these options can be created by either using and modifying a template OR creating from scratch. Honestly, both are very quick to do!

[@CameronCox_1969]

Rockstar 👌

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Cameron! Thank you!

[@benjaminmartin3054]

PM

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey! Thanks for the feedback!

[@rushabh5423]

Layla focus on Clickup only

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey! While we love and use ClickUp at ProcessDriven, we know that it isn't the right choice for everyone. We're exploring other tools like SmartSuite to help our audience learn about other options. I explain more here: kzbin.infodnIfyrwUZEA

[@derekpage8393]

PM

[@LaylaPomper]

Thanks for taking the time to watch and vote, Derek! We're on it!