Replacing Spreadsheets with Asana: Growthpharm’s Success Story
FOCUS
Process Optimization, Software Implementation
SOFTWARE IMPLEMENTED
Asana
TEAMS TRANSFORMED
Client Services
Marketing
INDUSTRY
Healthcare Marketing
Growthpharm, a healthcare marketing agency in Austin, Texas, was thriving with over 50 clients and a growing team. But rapid growth brought challenges. Processes and communication were breaking down, tasks were scattered, and their existing systems couldn't keep up.
They struggled to manage client requests efficiently, using HubSpot for tickets and spreadsheets for content approvals. Without a clear workflow or integration, important details got lost, which slowed down their team and risked delays.
How Scattered Tools Became a Growth Bottleneck
As Growthpharm expanded, their processes struggled to keep up with the demands of managing over 50 clients. Key challenges included:
↳ Scattered Task Management: Client requests were funneled into HubSpot, but the tasks created lacked detail which made it difficult for the team to understand and execute them efficiently. Tasks often fell through the cracks, leading to delays.
↳ Inefficient Content Approval Process: Monthly email and blog approvals relied on spreadsheets, which were time-consuming and prone to errors. Tracking progress manually added unnecessary complexity.
↳ Communication Breakdowns: Without a centralized platform, internal communication suffered. Teams couldn’t easily see the status of tasks or know who was responsible for what and that caused confusion and misalignment.
Growthpharm needed a streamlined system to centralize tasks and improve communication. They wanted automated workflows, a scalable structure, and better visibility into tasks to keep pace with their growth and deliver for their clients.
We Had a Plan: Streamlining Growthpharm’s Operations
We mapped out Growthpharm’s workflows during discovery sessions with the goal of identifying their pain points, and understanding what needed to be done to streamline their operations. Based on what we learned, we outlined the following objectives:
✅ Streamline Client Request Intake: Create a centralized, form-based intake process in Asana to capture all client requests and internal initiatives. Establish a triage system to route tasks to the right team members efficiently.
✅ Replace Manual Content Approvals: Develop a blog and email production workflow in Asana to replace the spreadsheet-based process for a more streamlined system for content creation, client approvals, and publishing.
✅ Optimize HubSpot and Asana Interaction: Explore ways to align HubSpot and Asana processes for better task management.
✅ Improve Visibility and Collaboration: Build a system of master projects, portfolios, and dashboards to give teams and leadership better oversight of task progress, resource allocation, and client deliverables.
✅ Lay a Scalable Foundation: Design workflows and systems that could grow with the company so that the team can easily adapt and optimize as their client base and internal operations expanded.
“It really has changed a lot of things for us. I think we were at a point where this was very much needed and necessary and has already made us more organized. We started implementing our own organization within Asana as well as setting up other projects.”
— Asa Brown | Director of Operations and Accounts, Growthpharm
Bringing Everything Together with Asana
Armed with a clear plan, we designed and implemented solutions to tackle the challenges Growthpharm faced. Our focus was to streamline their workflows and equip their team with tools and resources for long-term, sustainable productivity.
Centralized Client Request Intake
To address their scattered client request process, we designed a centralized intake system in Asana. Using a custom form, client requests and internal initiatives could now be captured and automatically converted into detailed tasks. These tasks were categorized, assigned, and routed to the appropriate team members based on service type and client.
While we explored integrating HubSpot with Asana to streamline task creation, after reviewing the team's workflows and priorities, we determined that using Asana’s custom intake form provided the most clarity and flexibility. By doing so, we eliminated unnecessary clutter and made sure every task included the right details for execution.
Improved Blog and Email Workflow
To replace their spreadsheet-based blog and email approval process, we developed a robust project template in Asana. This template streamlined the monthly cadence of content creation, client approvals, and publishing. We collaborated with the Growthpharm team through recorded videos and live sessions to refine the template until we made sure it perfectly aligned with their workflow. Once approved, we deployed the template for each client and created a master project to provide a high-level view of all content-related tasks.
Customizable Client Task Management
Managing client-specific tasks became more streamlined after we collaborated with Growthpharm to improve their existing “Client Ticket & Tasks” project template. While they already had a basic version in place, we worked with them to customize and optimize it. This included creating new views, refining sections, and automating how tasks moved through the workflow. These improvements centralized all client-specific tasks into a single, well-organized project, grouped by status and priority for clear visibility into progress. We deployed the optimized template across all active clients to make sure task management remains consistent and clear.
Service-Specific Projects and Portfolios
For a holistic view of tasks across all services, we designed service-specific projects, such as Shopify development and paid ads. These projects allowed Growthpharm to easily monitor service-related tasks across clients. Additionally, we set up a master client portfolio with sub-portfolios for each client to consolidate all their projects in one place for better oversight and management.
Universal Dashboards for Insights
To provide actionable insights, we built three Universal Reporting dashboards in Asana. A "Ticket & Tasks" dashboard tracked the status of client requests and time spent in each stage. A "Resourcing" dashboard offered a clear view of team workloads, while an "Email & Blog" dashboard monitored the progress of content approvals and publishing. These dashboards gave Growthpharm the real-time data they needed to make informed decisions quickly.
Scalable Foundations for Growth
Finally, we created scalable solutions to support Growthpharm’s continued growth. We established a flexible foundation for Growthpharm that could scale alongside their ambitions, by implementing dynamic workflows, comprehensive master projects, and strategic portfolio management systems that could adapt as fluidly as their business evolved.
Rather than simply handing over tools, we invested in their team's capabilities through immersive training sessions and video-recorded process documentation to empower them to confidently navigate and expand their Asana ecosystem independently. This dual focus on scalable infrastructure and team enablement focused on laying the the groundwork for Growthpharm to thrive through every stage of their continued expansion.
“Our experience with Cirface has exceeded expectations. The Cirface Team is awesome - very patient, professional, and great to work with! From the beginning, it was clear we made the right decision to partner with Cirface. We are looking forward to working together again for future projects.”
— Asa Brown | Director of Operations and Accounts, Growthpharm
From Chaos to Clarity to Confident Growth
With newly-streamlined workflows and an optimized Asana, Growthpharm saw significant improvements in their operations:
↠ The team took back valuable hours through smart automation. By cutting out manual data entry and simplifying content workflows, the team was able to focus on growing relationships with their clients and getting results.
↠ Teams now work better with a clear view of everything. New dashboards show everyone exactly what's happening and who's doing what. This clarity cut down on confusion, removed bottlenecks, and kept everyone moving forward.
↠ The business is now ready to grow bigger and faster. Their new system easily handles more clients and team members. What used to strain their old process now runs like clock work, giving them confidence to expand without worry.
↠ The team shifted from constantly putting out fires to focusing on continuous improvement. Excited by these changes, they began actively seeking ways to optimize other areas of their operations.
We’re Here to Help
We’re here to transform your organizational workflows and team collaboration, and put an end to team burnout. Book a call with us to learn how our process optimization services and software solutions can meet your specific needs and drive success in your projects.
