Some firms define growth as increasing team size, while others define it as increasing client base size. And others define growth based solely on the state of their bottom line—even if that increases in conjunction with less staff or clients, but greater efficiency.

Importantly, its definition is never static. For example, a firm that defines growth today as increasing their client base, might, in five years, define growth as a diversification of services offered.

Growth is a fluid term, reflective of your firm’s current goals and strategy.

However you define growth at this point in time, it’s important that you have the right tools and systems in place to support your growth. And depending on what ‘growth’ means to you, those tools differ.

Here are three different types of growth, and the key tool needed to make each a success.

Growth type one: Increased team size

Essential tool: Workflow management

There’s more to see when you employ more team members. There’s more work, there are more projects, more tasks, communication, etc.

And without visibility across your team’s day-to-day, you will struggle to support them, to understand what is (or isn’t) happening, and ultimately, your growth will suffer.

A practice management tool like Karbon that can also manage your workflow will provide you with the visibility you need to manage your team and optimize your growth.

For example, with Karbon, you can visualize your work activity against specific work timelines—analyzing this information will help you assess if your team is collaborating in an effective and scalable way.

Importantly, workflow management tools help you identify areas of concern, so you can catch any issues early, before your growth is impacted.

Growth type two: Increased client base

Essential tool: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool

To grow your client base, you need to track and measure your sales efforts. Without a dedicated CRM, you will struggle to understand: