Synergist

The only package that does everything well

Comments: As a package (software + support), it's the best product in the market - and we tested 6 of the leading solutions in great depth. If you're looking for a system that's customisable for your own business and the way you do things, you won't find a better system.

Pros:

For us, the quoting side of the system is fantastic. It's super configurable and allows granular customisation across products, services and mark-ups. Time tracking is also very good. Support has been fantastic - very quick to respond to any questions and they always take the time to make sure you understand.

Cons:

There is a fairly steep learning curve. It's not immediately the easiest software to get in to, but it is worth the investment.

Excellent all round platform for agency management

Comments: Having used the platform for more than 10 years, and recently upgraded our use of it, we have had a very positive experience both from a tech point of view as well as the excellent support from onboarding to ongoing help.

Pros:

Synergist offers a complete platform for managing our agency, from finances to projects, all interlinked and integrated. The platform is intuitive, adaptable and covers most aspects of agency life where we need visibility and the ability to manage. In addition the support and training is outstanding.

Cons:

The user interface could do with an update but I believe that is on the cards.

Alternatives Considered: Productive, Teamwork.com and Scoro

Reasons for Switching to Synergist: Had used Synergist for many years and made comparisons against these new platforms. They could not offer everything that Synergist did and would require a complete change in the way the agency worked to have implemented

Synergist is fantastic

Comments: The system has a very easy to navigate UX and UI so it doesn't take a long time to train people and the system is generally easy to use. We have been using it since 2019 and are still struggling to find anything that it cannot do! The support team are always on hand to help with any technical questions or more strategic advice on how to use the system in the best way.

Pros:

Very detailed and intricate system that captures a lot of information by offering different functionalities and most importantly, all data that is logged can be reported on.

Cons:

It takes a while to utilise the various functionalities and you need to invest time to integrate them into your processes as the system has so much to offer. But once everything starts to be used fully, the system becomes an invaluable part of the business.

Could be done so much better

Comments: Would not recommend, other tools such as Workfront would be better to use!

Pros:

I like the fact that it's a multi purpose tool. It allows you to add projects, complete timesheets and raise invoices in one area.

Cons:

The UX is awful. Navigation, use of features and elements and the overall slowness of the tool are things to name a few. There are too many sub-navigations on sub-navigations making moving around the tool awfully hard.

An excellent scaleable agency management solution

Comments: We have used other systems in the past and they have either been too simple or overly complex with a nasty UX. Synergist has the depth of thinking and functionality to run large projects and meet all agency needs with an intuitive and visually strong UX (which does matter to ensure teams engage with it, use it and find it simple to use). It also has all you need 'out of the box' – you're not left having to 'engineer' components you want – it's all there to be scaled and deployed as required and as you grow. You also get great support from both an online platform and consultants.

Pros:

Synergist is a joined-up agency software solution at the heart of agency ops/management. Built into the system, it can cover all facets of agency operations from initial client/supplier set-up, estimating, quoting, work planning, timesheets, invoicing, POs, reporting and third-party accounts platform integration. It also has a good level of customisation to suit how different agencies cost and manage projects from simpler single-phase projects to more granular phases with sub-stages.

Cons:

The CRM functionality could work harder and there are a few UX features that would be great to have like creating billing plans from an estimate but with future updates rolled out over the year, additional and updated functionality is never far away.

Alternatives Considered: Scoro

Reasons for Choosing Synergist: TrafficLive was being closed down but we were looking to move anyway as the platform was hard to use and not intuitive.

Switched From: TrafficLIVE

Reasons for Switching to Synergist: The breadth of features, scalability, ease of use and value for money.

Key tool for our agency

Comments: Really good , especially the customer support provided by Agency Works who help us get the best from the system.

Pros:

It is an end to end system from CRM, project and time management / tracking through to billing. Keeps everything in one place.

Cons:

Scheduling feature doesn't quite suit our work flow and granularity of projects but this hasn't really negatively impacted our overall use of the system

Easy to adopt and easy to use

Comments: Agency Works which distributes Synergist within the UK were amazing in the adoption of the system in the company and have been excellent partners going forward to make sure we get the most out of the product. We have been using Synergist for the last 6 years and not once considered looking elsewhere.

Pros:

Ease of use and adoption within the business. It can be as simple or as complicated as you want. Integrates with most popular accounting packages.

Cons:

Scraping the bottom of the barrel for this as I don't have anything I dislike so going to plump with the look and feel is a bit outdated BUT they are refreshing this at the end of 2024 so quite a mute point.

Agency PM software without the limitations found in many of its competitors

Comments: The implementation of Synergist was part of a wider (and thankfully successful) agency turnaround strategy I had been managing, and it certainly did its job!

Pros:

The depth of its functionality was not found in many other PM software when carrying out my research. Plenty of options for setting up projects, retainers, rate cards, roles, departments, etc. Its ease of use for non-financial agency staff, client services and PMs made for much happier teams compared to previously used PM software. There are lots of great options available for analysing project performance - and the variety of reports and data extraction options massively helped with timely management reporting.

Cons:

The data viewer option for creating bespoke reports took some time to get my head around.

Alternatives Considered: Zoho Projects, WorkflowMax, Harvest, Basecamp and Scoro

Reasons for Switching to Synergist: Mostly due to functionality requirements. Synergist was the best fit for the agency based on what we needed it to do. Customer support from Agency Works (Synergist's implementation and support partner) was also a factor.

Synergist

Comments: A work in progress (mainly as we wasn't sure what we needed it to do, very trial and error in the beginning). We had a lot of support and had bespoke training provided.

Pros:

A central point of truth - opportunities becoming projects etc. Good for billing and timesheets. Charge codes by departments/team members in particular we have found useful.

Cons:

It took a while for us to work out what suited us best, and we had to do quite a bit of work to get the system to do what we needed it to. We did have a lot of support provided. Prep work and having a good understanding of what you want the system to do is important.

Great agency project management tool

Pros:

Synergist has a lot of very useful features to help support the running of a busy agency and its projects all of the way through their lifecycle. It sits at the heart of our agency, is used daily across the business, and has allowed us to make many data-driven decisions over the past five years. Our core use for Synergist is: - tracking opportunities, - building quotes, - monitoring billing plans, - resource scheduling, - time recording, - invoicing, - utilisation reporting Synergist is bigger than this though as it has many other features.

Cons:

Its vastness is also a challenge - there is so much it can do that we typically feel behind the curve on its use. This isn't too much of Synergist's fault though. The admin-side of agency life is a balancing act between efficiently staying on top of admin versus focusing on clients and their projects.

Alternatives Considered: TrafficLIVE

Very Powerful Management Tool

Comments: Great customer service, The Agency works are extremely knowledgable and helpful. The product is great but like any proprietary software there are compromises relating to config.

Pros:

Once you get used to Synergist it is an extremely versatile and powerful management tool.

Cons:

There are multiple options in how to use the system and configure it. It is not the simplest software to configure. I would recommend having a very clear vision of how you want the system to work before implemetation.

Alternatives Considered: Traffic Travis PRO

Excellent Agency Management System

Comments: Very positive - I have used it in 2 agencies now and i think compared to other tools it is very well developed.

Pros:

Synergist is made for marketing agencies and the development team have listened and incorporated alot of features that agencies need which other general workflow/ project management systems might not consider. It provides accurate data and insight, allows very good management and financial control of projects and allows you to manage and agency workflow by integrating into the agency processes well.

Cons:

the CRM needs some development to help new business categorisation

Fantastic Agency Management Software

Comments: I really like the system, having used other agency systems and had other systems demonstrated. Great system with a great support helpdesk.

Pros:

Great all in one agency management software. Good resource planning to help with efficient planning across the agency. The system enables you to look at client profitability at a job level and client level during and when the job has been completed. Manages with accrued and deferred income, we found that many systems state that they can manage and report on deferred and accrued income but very few systems can. A big plus of synergist is not only the deep dive on implementation but also the ongoing support from the helpdesk.

Cons:

This is not a plug and play system, implementation is expensive in terms of time. However if implemented correctly you will get this investment back in a short time - which we did.

All run brilliant system!

Pros:

All round, all in one brilliant project management system! We've used it for years now and it continues to help support our business grow.

Cons:

The UI, but they are working on that. We're looking forward to the impending upgrade.

A great Agency management tool

Comments: One of the best Agency management tools you can buy. Great customer service, tech support it very fast and helpful.

Pros:

It covers all areas of Agency management from onboarding new prospects, planning & build tasks and hours, traffic management, through to revenue recognition.

Cons:

attaching briefs to jobs isn't as easy as it could be.

I couldn't do my job without it

Comments: Great. It gives me to the tools I need to keep on top of my both my clients and the whole company's clients.

Pros:

I can see at a glance what our billing plans are across the company for the coming months.

Cons:

It takes a little bit of time to get used to at the start. There are a lot of filters on the reporting, which can make it tricky to run basic reports.

Finn Synergist implementation with Agency Works

Comments: Definitely requires some investment in time, money and effort, but if done properly, will pay back with interest.

Pros:

I like the fact that it is a fully comprehensive operational management solution. It offers a fully integrated approach from quoting and estimating, to resource scheduling, to project and operational management and reporting i.e. all in one place and all consistent.

Cons:

Because it is such a comprehensive solution with lots of functionality and options, it can be a little complex to get your head around at first. However, with some pre-planning and help from experts like Agency Works, processes can get embedded pretty quickly.

Transforming the way we do business!

Comments: Excellent, we are really pleased we implemented this system into the agency.

Pros:

An all in one solution- and now the backbone to our agency! We do not know what we would do without it, or how we ever managed,

Cons:

Its does take a while to really understand the set up and just what it can do. The management information you can get out of it is robust and extensive. We provably still dont know the half of what we can do....

Couldn't run our agency without it

Pros:

Insight on job profitability and visibility of productivity by project type too

Cons:

Time to value requires input from the team but this would be the same with any implementation

Synergist for IT Professional Services Consultancy

Comments: Synergist got us off spreadsheets and onto a fully enterprise platform. Month on month is continues to surprise us with what else it can do and how else it can help our business. Invoicing for example used to take us a couple of days and these are now done in moments at month end as Synergist builds them for us based on the timesheets. We've also found the support to be the best we have ever experienced. Whenever we have a question or query it's resolved so quickly and the team are super helful!

Pros:

The features provide everything we need to run our business and move away from Excel. It's intuitive and very easy to learn and requires very little maintenance overhead. An absolute game changer for us!

Cons:

We work in professional days but Synergist is largely an hours based system. It still works for us but we just have a couple of calculation we need to do on certain screens where we can't see day rate, day cost etc.

Synergist Review

Pros:

The product is great for managing multiple clients and projects. It is simple to use and the training videos/information have been a great asset. We mainly utilise the functionality for quickly pricing new jobs and phases, invoicing and allocating work loads. Integration with the Xero accounting software is also great and saves time.

Cons:

Some of the error messaging isn't always clear on how the problem can be resolved. It may be useful to hyperlink to a more detailed explanation.

10 yrs in and going strong

Comments: Positive, helps run the business

Pros:

The software is great for running jobs, which is vital to ensure we deliver to budget. The integration initially (10 yrs ago) was difficult, mainly due to us having to ‘know’ our processes, before we could integrate Synergist.

Cons:

The fact Synergist is database driven; means you can cut the data in so many different ways. Although this can be beneficial it can sometimes be confusing.

Synergist is pivotal to our profitability as an agency

Comments: The ability to track our time and analyse the profitability of our jobs has really helped improve our future quoting and planning. Forecasting tools also help us plan effectively as a business.

Pros:

Synergist is a robust and tailored workflow management software which we use from budgeting and quoting through to invoicing. Our success as an agency has come through leveraging the reporting tools and insights that Synergist allows us to capture and analyse.

Cons:

Synergist has expanded to overlap with task management software. It is not a feature we currently use as it doesn’t offer the same level of user experience as more established software in this niche. We don’t find this an issue as it does what we require of it very well.

Overall, pleased with the software as it is a 'whole approach in one place' .

Comments: One central area for the life of the project to be able to budget for future, fee quote more accurately for the future, track the life of the project and analyse data at the end of the project more efficiently.

Pros:

One central place for the life of the project i.e. from fee quote to completion, cutting down on previous needs for quite a few spreadsheets !

Cons:

Data Reviewer reporting isn't as simple as we would like it. We would like more things bespoking to our company. Calendar bookings if far too complicated for our needs.

Synergist is great for time based businesses where you need to track and manage your teams

Comments: Productivity, reporting, profitability, better management of people and time.

Pros:

It has enabled my agency to understand the hours spent on client work, helped manage utilisation and productivity of the agency. It has helped agency profitability. It has helped us manage over servicing and most importantly where our team are being overworked or working too many hours.

Cons:

Nothing really in the cons - other than some people might find it labour intensive on top of the client work they are doing.