How One Agency Rebuilt Client Trust with a Single Source of Truth: A Conversation with Jared Kirby of CEMM

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In the high-stakes world of shopper marketing, agencies often juggle a maze of spreadsheets, multiple stakeholders, and way too many “final” versions of the truth. But what happens when all that noise is replaced with one streamlined, centralized system?

That’s exactly the shift Jared Kirby, Head of E-Commerce at CEMM (Competitive Edge Media Management), set in motion when his agency adopted Shopperations. In a recent webinar, we shared clips of our conversation—but the full interview? Pure gold. Here's the inside story.

The Spreadsheet Spiral

Most Shopperations clients are on the CPG brand side. Jared and his team are outliers—one of the few agencies leading the charge. So why did CEMM adopt a tool that’s typically client-driven?

“Before Shopperations, every department had their own tracker—finance, e-commerce, shopper marketing,” Jared said. “And then the clients had even more versions. It was a mess. We wasted so much time trying to align.”

The fix? Centralization. Shopperations gave CEMM and their clients a shared source of truth. No more version-control chaos. No more "Wait, which spreadsheet are we using?"

Time Back. Confidence Up.

Trying to quantify the time savings is tricky, Jared admitted. “But the amount of time we used to spend auditing different trackers? It was a lot. Hundreds of hours between all of us monthly. Easily.”

Still, it’s not just about time saved.

“Confidence is a huge, underrated benefit,” he said. “Before, you only knew things were accurate on audit day. Now, we’re confident every day. That single source of truth makes everything run smoother.”

And when your clients can trust your numbers without cross-checking every cell? That trust becomes a serious competitive edge.

How They Rolled It Out (and What They’d Do Again)

Rather than tiptoe in, CEMM went all in—rolling out Shopperations internally first, keeping clients in the loop after they had their own workflows dialed in.

A key to their success? An internal super-user.

“Dana on our team really spearheaded it. She became the go-to expert, fielding questions and helping everyone adapt. That was huge.”

Jared's advice: start with one client. Learn the system. Refine your process. Then expand. It’s working for CEMM—and it’s replicable.

Favorite Features: Simple. Effective. Powerful.

Jared’s top Shopperations features aren’t flashy. They’re practical tools that make daily work faster, smarter, and less stressful:

Calendar View – “Seeing everything visually is huge for e-comm where timing is everything.”
Attachment Uploads – “Proof of performance, invoices, briefs—everything lives in the system. Perfect for audits.”
Custom Fields & Columns – “It’s like Asana for budgeting. We track IO status, creative needs—whatever helps our process.”

The result? One clean, centralized line item can tell the full story of a campaign.

Bonus Win: No More Excel Trackers

The true milestone came when the first client dropped their tracker, fully embracing Shopperations.

“That was a triumphant moment. It meant we’d built the trust. We were aligned. And we could finally let go of double entry.”

Can we get a hallelujah?

Why It Works: Support That Actually Supports

For Jared, the platform is only half the story.

“Your team has been the best support we’ve gotten from any external vendor. You really understand this tool is core to our business. And you act like it.”

That’s what we mean by “software as a service”—with the emphasis on service.

Final Thought: Don't Wait for Perfect

So, what would Jared tell an agency or still stuck in spreadsheet limbo?

“Just start. Pick one client, get it right, then scale. Shopperations has completely changed how we work. It’s not even the same workflow anymore—it’s better.”

We agree. And we’re ready when you are.

Let’s build your single source of truth together.
Reach out for a no-pressure consultation and find out what a streamlined, trust-building workflow could look like for your team.