In May, we started beta testing a new service: one-on-one calls between clients and an Invisible Strategist — to build only the best processes.

With the emergence of DAL 2.0, we’re keeping lots of flexibility in this model, but essentially we’re providing clients with an Invisible process point person, talking through ideas and concepts on what kind of assistance would take their work to the next level.

Structure

When a client expresses interest in speaking with a Strategist, a call is scheduled as a calendar event and our Strategist Line Call Scheduling Form is completed by the DAL to chart out the specifics of the call. This allows the Strategist to research the client in advance. We then host the client in our dedicated Zoom Channel, recording the video so the Invisible Assistant can review the call afterwards. We’re keeping a list of all calls in a log, which will help us see what kind of value this service may provide going forward.

Questions

During each call, we try to get to the bottom of the client’s problems by asking three specific questions:

• What is the largest barrier currently facing your business?
• What task is currently taking up the most people hours?
• What repetitive work is distracting you from your mission?

After our 30-minute conversations, we often come away with two or three valuable processes that can make an immediate impact on their business and free them up to do more important work.

Results

We’ve already had more than a dozen calls with existing clients looking to take their processes to the next level. As we experiment with our new Digital Assembly Line, processes will be even more detailed and specialized to the client. We hope to build recurring processes that create a tighter bond between Invisible and the client. June will show the fruits of this project.

Centralization

As always, we began by unifying and organizing company data and workflow. By distilling our work into the most simple yet powerful of tools, exponential growth becomes inevitable as the machine takes care of itself.

Master Spending Data

Creating a single hub for incoming cash, client bonus credits, and account balance reconciliation turned out to be quite a project. Due to the multiplicity of data coming in, we decided to create a flow by which Stripe transactions links to our products, which links to bonus credits, which links to client code. It’s by no means the final answer, but this flow now provides us with a single dashboard for accurate spending. More on how this data will be used in the Automation section.

G-Drive

Our internal company folder has seen more positive steps towards heirarchical organization (Company, The DAL, Clients) — we’ve matched our Company folder to mirror our directory, which provides team members with a clear understanding of roles and expectations. It also encourages transparent and intentional document sharing, with no rogue files floating around our internal ecosystem.

LastPass

April saw the deprecation of some rogue files in our company password database, with the removal of prime-based folders in favor of set-based folders. We’ve also modified access to critical company passwords, following the Principle of Least Privilege and utilizing our Sentry Team as the safeguard between Invisible and agents.

Products List

While rudimentary, a single list of all product packages (and their applicable credit bonuses) was necessary for alignment throughout the company, so we drafted a document called Invisible Product Pricing, which holds our current product list and a link to the appropriate order form. It also calculates the costs of our various processes and how they affect client balance. More on this as well in the Automation section.

UX/UI

Designing better internal systems creates a ripple effect throughout the company, empowering the team to use their tools to the fullest. Here’s the latest on the services front:

The Assistant Line

We’ve been demoing a few different systems for calling and texting since January, but this month we made the jump to adopt a dedicated VOIP phonebank system for our Relationship Managers (RLM). We built an infrastructure powered by JustCall, with our 3-letter client code system as the crux of the workflow. RLMs simply choose who they want to call or text, enter the code of the client, and call or text using the same code for their assistant.

Agent Applications

With the influx of new agents around the world seeking to work at Invisible, we created a new interface for our Management Team to review applications. Managers can now scan through applications en masse while looking for the ideal candidate for a given position.

Automation

Only when systems are organized can they then be automated, and with the completion of our three client information databases — Master Process Data (a list of all client tasks), Master Instance Data (a timelog of when the tasks were accomplished), and Master Spending Data (a ledger of credits purchased), we can move towards the long-awaited goal of fully automated client dashboards.

The Data Matrix

Creating a live up-to-the-minute dashboard for every client has proven daunting, so for months we actually used agent manpower to review and manage client credit usage. This has quickly become untenable, so we’re crafting a fully automated system that amalgamates the list of instances performed, the time spent on instances, and the credit balance as reflected by the instances completed. This will be a major focus next month, as it will allow us to monitor client balances more accurately, offer ideal packages to reflect usage patterns, and stop service if a client approaches $0 of credit. We will also be able to expand to offer more products at different prices, without fear of inaccurate billing. Look for more on this in May.

Creating a smooth path for liftoff — that is the goal of the Product Team. We’re excited to see where these improvements will take the company next month.

“To live à propos is our great and glorious masterpiece.” — Montaigne

Centralization

Sales

Perhaps our largest accounting hurdle was keeping a single record of all orders by client regardless of the payment channel. By integrating Stripe directly into our Onboarding Form (OBF), we’ve eliminated the issue of clients entering our accounting system through external means (like personal checks or pledges). We’ve also linked our Stripe account with Xero for accounting. As a result, client data is now being handed off smoothly from the OBF into Xero. More on this in the UX/UI section.

Sentry

In March we rolled out a brand new role to fill the gap between onboarding and operating. We found that the steps required to create a new Invisible Assistant were too time consuming to be accomplished by our Operations Team, so we created the Sentry Team (STT) to accomplish these tasks. These specialized team members focus solely on building the technical foundation for the client (via the [Creating an Assistant] process) so our Relationship Managers can do their job in the following stage.

Relationships

We also cleaned up the flow by which our client-facing agents can dialogue and brainstorm processes with the client. Known as the Relationship Management Team (RLT), these agents help the client structure their ideal delegations (via the [Relationship Managing] process). The Relationship Managers follow a series of text prompts to ensure a smooth experience.

G-Drive

We’ve honed our Google Drive structure even further, utilizing our three main folders (Company, The DAL, and Clients) as our guide. We’re creating a folder structure that will host only company data, with personal files removed.

LastPass

Our internal password database has been radically simplified: a single Clients folder now holds every client credential (listed as “Client -- Service”) which cuts down on search time and internal procedures for the Sentry Team.

UX/UI

Sales

Our major focus in Sales this month was collecting important client data from the OBF to make accounting easy and painless for both company and client. We streamlined the OBF to include direct charge with Stripe and a simplified delegation list. This allows both Sentry Team (STT) and Finance Team (FNC) to hit the ground running, collecting payment effortlessly and quickly addressing the client’s most pressing need.

Call/Text

Until last month, all correspondence between the client and their assistant took place via email. Since our goal is to become a channel-agnostic service, we’re expanding into calling and texting for communication and delegation. This is a very new option, so we are exploring a variety of systems for this. Currently we are running tests on Zendesk, but may be exploring a proprietary solution within Slack. More updates on this in April.

Automation

This month we focused primarily on automating high-level data from the Digital Assembly Line (DAL). Our 3 main areas of tracking for clients are Processes, Instances, and Spending. The overarching goal is to create a single Master Automated Client Dashboard with all metrics available in an easy-to-read format. This will be our task for April. In buildup to that goal, here’s what we achieved last month:

DAL — Master Process Tracking

Our Master Process Data sheet is now fully synchronized with the DAL, which gives us a single viewpoint for every process currently operational at Invisible (P.S. — it’s currently at 581). This allows anyone at the company to quickly pull up the most recent version of any process and read it on a simple text-based HTML page (here’s a sample).

DAL — Master Instance Tracking

Collecting all time spent executing processes required some collaboration with our Engineering Team. With the addition of “Start” and “Stop” buttons in the DAL, all billed time is now tracked and viewable by anyone in the company. We developed a similar sheet called Master Instance Data to show the date of the process, the agent it was assigned to, and how long it took the agent to complete.

DAL — Master Spending Tracking

We’ve built automated systems with Roter Blitz (our internal automation bot) to create a New Contact and New Invoice in Xero, which provides a more organized interface for our Finance Team internally. The Master Spending Data sheet is still in the making, but when this final piece of the client dashboard is complete we will have a completely automated spending record to round out the dashboard.

March saw the completion of Zone 1 (onboarding and setup) in the Client Journey, with a move into Zone 2 (delegation and execution) to come in April. We look forward to streamlining the core of the DAL in the upcoming months, which will increase overall performance in the most important arena of the company.

“To live à propos is our great and glorious masterpiece.” — Montaigne

Our primary focus in February: continuing to build systems and infrastructure that will set the foundation for unlimited scale. Let’s take a look at each area:

Centralization

The Journey

The need for a single point of reference for every procedure at Invisible necessitated a new project: a chart that outlines the complete client experience from start to finish — we call it “The Journey”.

The intention here is to provide both internal and external visibility to every step of the client experience. We started at the beginning, standardizing our procedure for interaction with all prospects in the Intro Stage. This led us to create the Process Capture Form (PCF), a simple email template by which Sales Team members can collect information about clients who have not yet joined Invisible. We continued with the Onboard Stage, in which we outline very specific setup procedures and duties of the Sentry role. Finally we looked att the Manage Stage, in which we introduced a new Relationship Management role. More on this later in the UX/UI section.

The Client Index

Much of the information about our clients was spread across various databases. We’ve centralized our Client Index to now include Onboarding Status, Current Relationship, Payment Record, and Archived Clients. This provides our team with a streamlined interface — a single point of truth for every client.

The Process Library

Another major goal was to centralize our list of processes, allowing us to leverage those we’ve already built instead of traversing the same paths over and over again. We’ll continue to tighten this list so we can create more robust processes augmented by human and machine learning. The long-term goal with this library is to have powerful templates, utilizing the valuable feedback we’ve received from clients to provide limitless customization.

Slack Optimization

As we iterate on yet another version of the Digital Assembly Line, we’re streamlining our Slack infrastructure and eliminating legacy channels and systems in order to simplify internal routing and navigation. This will provide increased clarity and improved execution times within the DAL.

G-Drive Optimization

Our internal storage structure has taken a step forward as well — we’ve rebuilt our company drive into three distinct categories: Company (What we are), Digital Assembly Line (How we function), and Clients (Who we serve). It’s made finding things much easier.

UX/UI

Good design speaks for itself. This means Invisible needs beautiful systems — both internal and external. Here’s the progress we made this month:

Stage Restructuring

In order to properly scale, there needs to be a very clear division of labor between each department. In 2017, Sales Team members were doubling as Relationship Managers and Process Builders. As seen in the Journey Index above, roles are now more clearly defined. Sales Team (SLS) focuses solely on collecting ideas in the Process Capture Form, sending the Onboarding Form, and collecting Stripe Payments. Support Team (SPT) builds client accounts, credentials, and DAL infrastructure. Relationship Management Team (RLT) dialogues with the client as the SI, helps ideate processes, and assists in account sharing.

System Building

As the company grows, more robust tools will be required. Three new systems being implemented are: Zendesk for RLT tracking of email and phone correspondence with clients, Stronghold for internal password management (built by our own Technologies Team), and Sentry for secure automated configuration of accounts (also built internally by our Operations Team). These systems are brand new, so expect case studies in our next report.

Company Semantics

Words matter. And we want every client to have a transparent relationship with Invisible. So we’ve adjusted copy on the Onboarding Form, standardized copy for the RLT, and simplified our Billing Page and Client Contract. We want our procedures to reflect the simplicity inherent in the Invisible experience.

Automation

Much of the improvements mentioned above already include small elements of digital automation. Yet it’s important to outline every step of The Journey that’s become automated (labeled as “AUTO” above) because that will provide Invisible with the potential for unlimited scale. Our goal is to implement complete automation in Zone 1 (Setup) for all administrative tasks. Here’s where we’ve made new progress:

Onboarding Flow

The need for automatic onboarding systems was pressing — we won’t be able to scale rapidly without these systems in place. So we built Roter Blitz, our automated bot that completes important steps before any human steps in. This includes the sending of Onboarding Form (OBF) data to our internal systems as well as adding clients to our database. The client also receives an email confirmation upon joining Invisible thanks to our internal automation.

Client Index Flow

As more clients join Invisible, streamling our CRM will become a necessity. So we’ve automated more steps to reduce the workload off our agents and routers. Every client who joins Invisible is now automatically added to the Client Index. Every client who terminates service is now automatically moved to the Archive (by way of a dropdown box in our CRM).

Instance Tracking Flow

Thanks to some excellent work by our Technologies Team, we now have all instance time-tracked down to the second, storing all data in our MongoDB database. Agents begin tracking instances with a “Start” command and end them with a “Stop” command. This gives clients peace of mind knowing that our work is being logged accurately.

That’s what happened in February. Expect our systems to be further simplified and streamlined in March. We look forward to making your life simpler.

“To live à propos is our great and glorious masterpiece.” — Montaigne