Jessica Lorraine is the founder of Lorraine Virtual, a digital marketing and website agency that helps small businesses improve their online presence. The Australia-based company works with clients on everything from website overhauls to email marketing and automation. Read on to find out how Jessica managed to save hours each week by syncing Trello cards from one board to another with Unito.
As Lorraine Virtual started to grow and attract more clients, Jessica noticed that she was being forced to allocate more and more time to managing tasks and client communication.
The challenge
Too many boards
Jessica had started to reach the limits of Trello, her project management tool of choice. While Trello makes organizing projects a breeze, if you’re working on several different projects across multiple boards things get complicated fast.
“I had been using Trello for a while with my clients, (one board for each client with all of their tasks and other relevant information) but found it cumbersome to have to go into each client board to see the tasks and communications,” Jessica explains. “My workflow would be to go into each board, write down my tasks in a bullet-style journal and then go back into the boards once I had completed the tasks.”
Essentially, she was being forced to look outside of her work management tool to manage her work — not ideal.
Different tools
Jessica also ran into another challenge that every agency faces at some point: clients who prefer different tools. When you and your customers want to manage work in two independent pieces of software, something (or someone) has to give.
“I also had a couple of clients who used Asana, which meant I had to keep track of two project management systems,” she explains. “It was time-consuming and there was no ‘flow’.”
The solution
Centralizing information with a master board
Jessica needed to find a way to gather all of her Trello cards across each client board into a single place, so she could quickly and easily plan her day. She also needed to find a way to collaborate with clients who wanted to work in other tools like Asana.
To address these challenges, Jessica turned to Unito. She specifically sought out Unito’s board sync functionality which allows you to sync boards together in just a few clicks. Once boards are synced, cards can exist in several boards simultaneously, and any updates made to a card in one board are reflected in the other. This, for Jessica, was a “game-changer!”, freeing her from having to double handle cards.
“I can complete tasks on the checklists, add comments, change due dates etc. without having to leave my main board,” she says.
Jessica has a single Trello master board which she uses to stay organized. All of her tasks are synced from the individual client boards to that master board, so she doesn’t need to jump in and out of boards or rely on external tools.
“I have now ditched the bullet journal and have moved fully online with the help of Unito.”
Unito has also allowed Jessica to sync projects and tasks between Trello and Asana, so both her and her clients could collaborate without having to leave their preferred tool. As most businesses rely on an entire suite of digital tools to manage their work each day, it’s nice to not have to add another one to the pile.
The results
More time for clients
So how has the switch to Unito affected Jessica’s day-to-day business?
“I actually received an email from Unito the other day that said based on the workflows I have in place, I’ve saved 3 hours worth of meetings a week! It would definitely be close to that, if not more in terms of overall time saved,” Jessica explains.
“It has simplified my workflows immensely — I honestly could not run my business without it!”
When it comes to managing workloads and keeping clients happy, an extra two or three hours per week can go a long way for agencies.
Unito’s internal estimates of Lorraine Virtual’s usage (a combination of items in sync and users working with Unito workflows) calculates approximately 16+ hours and $1,600 USD saved per week in time that would otherwise be spent on manual upkeep between Trello and Asana.
Watch how you can sync Trello cards in minutes flat
Follow our guide to sync Trello cards between boards with Unito.
Or check out Unito’s pricing plans to see which might be the best for you (there’s also a two-week free trial!)
About Lorraine Virtual
Lorraine Virtual is a digital marketing and website agency that helps small businesses improve their online presence.
