Blog written by: Certified Dubsado Specialist Ashley Tindall
Dubsado is a wonderful tool for service-based entrepreneurs. It helps you manage and automate your business to create an elevated and cohesive client experience. Dubsado has everything you need - contracts, invoices, customizable forms, email templates, and client information, all in one place.
The setup process can take some time, but it’s worth planning and thinking through before jumping right in. This article will review how to effectively set up your Dubsado to give you more time back in your day, more confidence in delivering your offer, and the foundation to help you scale your business.
The first step before even considering automation is to map out your current process steps and compare them to your DREAM process steps. Think of everything that you need to intake a new and interested lead, the steps you need to make it official by securing that lead, how you want to onboard your new client, fulfill your offer and offboard them.
Here are some steps to help you map your processes.
• List the activities needed to inform, educate and support your new lead and client: Even if they’re small and tedious, list everything that goes into achieving each phase. For example, do you want to qualify all leads using an application or allow someone to directly book a discovery call with you?
• List the activities needed to make it official: Will you send a detailed proposal and/or scope of work after meeting with the lead? Will you require a contract to be signed and a deposit to be paid before getting started on any work?
• Identify the activities or actions that your client needs to take to help you fulfill your offer: Do you require prework of any kind? Do you want to share a welcome guide to help the new client know how to contact you for support, what happens next in your process, and when?
• Consider the activities that your team may need to be involved in and share the process with them for feedback: If you have team members, share your new process steps with them. Do you need an internal client list created for your team to know when to take action and what actions to take? This is a great chance to get feedback and make edits to your process steps before going live with your clients.
• Create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): SOPs are instructions to replicate the process. You may have everything mapped out in your head, but begin to document the repeatable steps and actions you take to get the job done.
Now that you have your dream processes in mind, it’s time to identify the collateral that you need to build within Dubsado for each of the process phases you’ve mapped out. If you aren’t super tech-savvy, Dubsado templates are a great place to start. You can build what you need and even get inspiration for future automations you can implement.
You may also need collateral from outside Dubsado, such as graphics, files, presentations, etc. Collect those and add them to your process plan. The goal here is to prepare as much as you can before implementing Dubsado into your business.
A couple of examples of Dubsado collateral items could be a Lead Capture form as an application, a Proposal/Contract/Invoice combo to make it official, or a well designed Questionnaire to be used as a Welcome Guide and/or project intake form.
Dubsado is the leading tool on the market for managing clients and creating automations within your business. Using Dubsado automations and workflows can take repetitive work off your plate, such as:
• Sending invoice and payment reminders
• Appointment Confirmation and Reminder emails
• Proposal follow-up emails
• Homework reminder emails
Leveraging Dubsado workflows and automations can not only give you time back in your day, but they can also ensure you’re checking in and following up with clients without having to lift a finger. If you aren’t utilizing the power of automation, you aren’t working as efficiently as you could be. I often hear a fear with automation is that it can take the personality out of an email or follow up.Well, with Dubsado, you can personalize everything you set up and add your unique brand voice in every client interaction. Here are a few tips to leverage automation within Dubsado:
• Pro-tip : Instead of having an email or form sent immediately after a previous action, delay the workflow action by 0.25 hours to make an automated email not feel so automated.
• Get paid with ease: Try to create invoice automations for as many clients as you can. Think about the day of the month the invoice sends and what day a reminder should be sent if they haven’t paid. If you have defined payment terms, leverage Dubsado’s new auto-pay feature to ensure you’re getting paid on time.
• Leverage the power of the follow-up: Build in proposal follow-ups if a potential lead hasn’t completed a proposal with you. I recommend atleast 1-2 follow-ups. People are busy, emails get missed - don’t lose out on a sale because you didn’t follow up or check in after originally sending the proposal.
• Build in quality checks: If you’re a bit hesitant to have automations fire without your knowledge, leverage the approval actions and/or to-dos so that certain workflow actions don’t continue without you first reviewing them.
The possibilities of automation are truly endless in Dubsado.
There are probably more things you can automate in your business than you realize! The best part is that Dubsado ensures nothing falls through the cracks. With a thousand things on your plate, you might forget to send a meeting invite or invoice reminder. With Dubsado, you don’t have to worry about it. Explore the wide range of capabilities available within Dubsado. You may even be inspired to create more automations once you know what’s possible!
Dubsado is an amazing tool all service-based CEOs should utilize. Once you implement it into your business processes, you’ll wonder how you ever did it before manually. Get started with Dubsado today, and let us know if you need assistance. We are here to help.
Log in to your Dubsado account today.
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To keep it simple, I'm Ashley, a Chief Systems Officer. I take your complex problems and find ways to simplify them. My goal isn't just to save you time (saving you time is the easy part!) - I want to fully level up the way you interact, manage, and fulfill offers for your clients. I want to help you provide a cohesive experience. An experience that not only feels like quality but looks that way too. From onboarding to offboarding - I want to transform each phase of interaction from lead to signed client. Let’s work together!
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