From Tool Overload to Control: How Flatline Agency Simplified Operations

I’m the Managing Director at Flatline Agency, which I founded almost seven years ago. Over the years, I’ve worn pretty much every hat you can imagine, from Chief Commercial Officer to CMO, and as the company grew, we built a leadership team to take over those roles. Today, I’m back in a more holistic managing director role, which basically means I’m involved across the business, keeping everything moving in the right direction.

Flatline operates across three core areas. The first is commerce, where we work primarily within the Shopify ecosystem. In fact, we’re market leaders across EMEA. In addition, we handle rebranding and website projects, helping companies shape and rebuild their digital presence. The third pillar is marketing strategy, where we help clients define their go-to-market approach and grow sustainably.

To be honest, it was pretty fragmented. At one point, we were using around 25 different tools to run the business. Finance was handled in a separate Dutch financial system, and everything else, project management, planning, and resourcing, was spread across different platforms.

We were constantly switching tools, trying to find something that actually worked for the way we operate as an agency. That lack of a single, reliable overview made things more complex than they needed to be, especially as we scaled. You never had everything in one place, which made decision-making more difficult.

Honestly, the final push was there from the very beginning. We always knew that using that many tools wasn’t sustainable — we just couldn’t find the right solution. That was the biggest challenge.

We continued searching, trying new platforms, reviewing and watching videos, and testing different setups. Eventually, almost by accident, we came across Productive. The moment we started using it, it was clear this was different. Once we landed on Productive, we stopped switching. We’ve been using it for several years now, and that alone says a lot.

The biggest benefit was the overview — without a doubt. Having a clear picture of projects, planning, and performance in one place made a huge difference. Productive reduced the time we spent on project setup and planning by roughly 25%. Over time, analytics and reporting have also improved significantly, helping us make better, more informed decisions.

We also gained a lot more structure, both internally and on the client side. Productive allows us to define clear roles, hierarchies, and permissions. We can decide exactly what clients see and what they don’t, and we can structure projects in ways that make sense for both our teams and our clients. That clarity helps everyone understand what’s being worked on, why a project has its current scope, and how progress is tracking.

There are three standout features for me.

First, roles and permissions. Being able to clearly define who can see and do what, both internally and for clients, is incredibly valuable.

Second, resource planning. Properly planning and allocating resources is critical for an agency, and Productive makes that much easier and more structured.

And third, the Kanban boards. We can customize them, adapt them to different workflows, and even build them so clients can interact with them. That flexibility helps us align internal execution with client expectations.

Less organized — definitely. There are other tools out there, and we’ve tried many of them, but Productive feels built for agencies. You can really see the agency methodology behind it, and that works extremely well for us.

Switching away at this point would be a hassle, not because it’s impossible, but because Productive fits so well into how we operate today. For Flatline, it brings structure, clarity, and consistency, which we wouldn’t want to lose.