Why a TC NEEDS a Project Management tool for their business

Uncategorized Feb 21, 2026

The Real Value of Project Management for Independent TCs

A message worth repeating: As an independent Transaction Coordinator, you are a Business Owner FIRST.

I’ve shared the following post before (see the post that follows this introduction), but it is simply meant to serve as a “prompt” or “idea generator” for any TC trying to think about “What other systems should I consider building out?”

While we are experts at creating scalable task lists for our clients’ files, we often neglect the "Business of the Business." There is massive value in applying that same purposeful attention to your own operations like financials, onboarding, and marketing, as you do to a listing or a contract.

Today’s Recommendation:

Map the Logic: Outline your internal systems (Onboarding, Financials, Newsletters).
Choose Your Tool: Pick a PM tool to house these systems (I highly recommend ClickUp or Asana).
Template Everything: Build these out as repeatable workflows so you can stop reinventing the wheel or just "winging it" each time these tasks need to be completed.

To show you what this looks like in practice, I put together a 6-minute video summary of how I use ClickUp to manage our entire business ecosystem. You'll find the video at the top of this blog. Enjoy!!

Note: For the AI enthusiasts, I actually generated this video using NotebookLM!

Check it out below.

--- Example of Systems to architect and build out in a PM tool ---

People and Team Operations

Hiring and onboarding

Hiring workflow (define role, post, screen, interview, decide)
New team member onboarding (accounts, SOPs, tools, expectations)
30-60-90 day plan (training milestones, roadmap & performance checkpoints)
Training plan for a new process/tool (ex: AFRAME, Skyslope, Dotloop updates, etc.)
Contractor onboarding (1099 setup, agreement, deliverables, comms norms)

Ongoing team management

Weekly team meeting (agenda, metrics, issues, action items)
1-on-1 meeting template (wins, blockers, training, expectations)
Performance review cycle (quarterly/biannual review + KPI snapshot + feedback)
Team capacity planning (current volume, bandwidth, hiring trigger points)
Process improvement sprint (identify bottleneck → fix → document → train)

Offboarding and risk control

Offboarding team members (access removal, handoff, documentation, final pay)
Tool access & permissions audit (quarterly: passwords, users, permissions)

Client Lifecycle and Service Delivery

Client acquisition support (business owner side)

Lead intake + qualification workflow (fit check, pricing tier, next step)
Discovery call workflow (agenda, questions, follow-up, proposal)
Proposal + agreement workflow (scope, contract, payment terms, start date)

Client onboarding and success

New client onboarding (agent/team/brokerage)
(kickoff, expectations, communication norms, shared docs, tool setup)
Client kickoff meeting (script + checklist + what success looks like)
Client success plan (first 30 days) (quick wins + adoption + boundaries)

Ongoing relationship and retention

Client health check (monthly/quarterly: satisfaction, issues, improvements)
Client feedback + testimonial request (process + assets collection)
Client appreciation plan (quarterly touches + annual gift strategy)
Scope creep & change order workflow (identify → document → price → approve)

Client offboarding

Offboarding clients (wrap-up, deliverables, archive, next-steps, referral ask)
Win-back / reactivation campaign (past clients, past agents, cold accounts)

Financial Systems and Admin

Weekly/monthly close and review

Weekly money meeting (cash, receivables, payables, priorities)
Monthly bookkeeping close checklist (reconcile, categorize, review)
Monthly financial review (P&L review, margins, trends, decisions)
Accounts receivable workflow (invoices, reminders, collections, policy)
Accounts payable workflow (subscriptions, contractors, approvals, schedule)

Quarterly/annual financial rhythms

Quarterly financial audit + cleanup (errors, categories, subscriptions, leaks)
Quarterly tax estimate prep (income, expenses, set-aside, pay schedule)
Annual tax package + CPA handoff (docs, reports, questions, deadlines)
Annual subscription/expense audit (cut tools, renegotiate, right-size)

Pricing and profitability

Pricing review + package refresh (tiers, inclusions, boundaries)
Profit margin review by service line (listing vs transaction vs add-ons)
Compensation review (owner pay, contractor rates, bonus triggers)

Planning, Strategy, and “Owner” Work

Quarterly/annual planning

Quarterly planning session (wins, misses, priorities, rocks, calendar)
Annual planning / vision reset (direction, constraints, goals, key moves)
Quarterly marketing plan (themes, campaigns, offers, channels, calendar)

Business model + systems audit

Quarterly business model audit (offer, positioning, pricing, delivery, capacity)
Annual business model audit (bigger redesign decisions + 12-month bets)
Quarterly SOP audit (what’s outdated, what needs documenting)
Quarterly tool-stack audit (keep/replace, integrations, workflow friction)

Compliance and protection

Annual legal/compliance review
(contracts, insurance, independent contractor docs, state rules awareness)
Data protection / backup plan review (what’s backed up, where, who has access)

Marketing, Content, and Lead Generation

Content systems

Content creation pipeline
(idea capture → outline → draft → edit → publish → repurpose)
Content repurposing workflow
(turn 1 piece into 5: email, post, reel, blog, checklist)
Social posting schedule template (weekly batching + engagement follow-up)
SEO / blog publishing checklist (topic, keywords, formatting, internal links)

Email and newsletter

Newsletter production (outline, write, design, send, track)
Email nurture sequence (new leads: 14–30 days)
Client education email series (agent-facing systems education)

Lead gen and relationships

Lead generation follow-up plan (180-day) (touch cadence + scripts + tags)
Referral partner outreach system (lenders, title, attorneys, stagers)
Networking event workflow (prep, attend, follow-up, track)
Testimonial & reviews system (Google, FB, website, screenshots)

Campaigns and launches

Webinar event (topic, promo plan, registration, reminders, delivery, replay)
Workshop / training for agents (monthly “TC systems” training)
Offer launch checklist (new package, pricing change, new service add-on)

Operations, Tools, and Infrastructure

Documentation and systems building

SOP creation sprint (record, write, screenshot, store, train)
Quarterly systems maintenance (update templates, checklists, canned emails)
Template library build-out (email templates, forms, scripts, checklists)

Tech/tool management

Tool implementation project (new PM tool, CRM, AFRAME setup, Wise setup)
Automation build sprint (Zapier/Make: triggers, tests, monitoring)
Quarterly tech cleanup day (folders, naming conventions, archived projects)

Asset and brand ops

Brand kit + marketing assets refresh (logos, fonts, templates, Canva)
Website update cycle (services, testimonials, SEO, booking links)

Events and Community

Customer appreciation event (plan, invite, execute, follow-up)
Client appreciation touch campaign (quarterly “surprise & delight”)
Community/charity initiative (partnership + content + relationship-building)

A few improvements to your original items (quick notes)

“Newsletter” → treat as a repeatable production workflow (draft → review → send → track).
“1-on-1 or team meeting” → split into Weekly Team Meeting and 1-on-1 Meeting templates (different rhythms + outcomes).
“Quarterly/Annual Taxes” → split into Quarterly Estimated Tax Prep + Annual Tax Package/CPA Handoff.
“Content creation and posting” → split into Content Pipeline + Posting/Engagement cadence (creation and distribution are different systems).