As a Dubsado expert and family photographer myself, I know the importance of having a streamlined and efficient client onboarding experience. For one, it saves us time as business owners if the process is streamlined. For your clients, it presents an amazing experience right from the start. Your client will feel taken care of from the first moment you work together – and that means so much in terms of their experience with you!
But, the question becomes: how do you create that ultimate client onboarding experience?
The solution: automation and workflows with Dubsado!
Before we get into how to use Dusbado to onboard your clients, let’s talk about why it really matters. When you onboard a new client, you’re telling them so much about you and how your business operates. Do you want that first impression to be something solid and powerful? Or something that’s scattered and full of lots of back and forth? I’m pretty sure if you’re reading this post you want a strong first impression. Despite that (and despite good efforts!), I often see a few things happen during the onboarding process that’s preventing a business owner from creating the ultimate onboarding process.
First, and probably the biggest mistake, is NOT even having an onboarding process. If you’re someone who just sends a bunch of emails and hopes that you got them everything you needed, I’m talking to you right now. Haphazard emails, random check-ins, and sticky notes on your desk do not constitute a strong onboarding system. This approach results in confusion for you and the client, and it’s likely you aren’t even sure what you need or already have from the client. That leads to way more stress and anxiety about approaching work every day! This whole problem also leads to another common mistake: not being consistent. If you don’t have a consistent flow for onboarding, there’s a chance your clients aren’t actually receiving the same service and attention from you!
As you can see, not automating your onboarding system creates confusion, stress, and a less-than-stellar client experience.
So, how do we go from frazzled and stressed to a process that’s streamlined and efficient? The answer lies in Dubsado. A system like Dubsado is going to allow you to create automation that will do most of the leg work in your onboarding process. By creating a workflow (or automation) with every step of your process, you’ll be able to ensure you never forget anything, everyone gets the same experience, and there are no delays in those conversations or documents going out.
After you build your workflow out in Dubsado, you can decide what you want to automate or push manually. Either way, by having a pre-built checklist you’re taking the guesswork out of your onboarding process. Dubsado can and easily shows you where you are in each project. It can automatically send out proposals, contracts, and invoices – so you never have to worry about doing so! Once this automation is activated, you’ll be able to step back and let the software do its thing. Again, you can totally make some steps manual so you can add your own flair or personalization before it goes out, but for the most part – try to automate what you can.
This automatic and professional-looking system immediately elevates your client experience!! When your clients don’t have to chase you down to sign their contract (or send you a PDF back) and if they can easily pay for their session, everything just runs way smoother. This means that your time is also freed so you can be out shooting or editing with your families instead of trying to remember who needs what from you. From the start, your clients can tell you’re a professional (not a hobbyist) and have yourself together. This is the BEST kind of impression to make from the get-go.
If you’re ready to start automating your onboarding process, get set up on Dubsado and get started today! It’s never too late to get things running more smoothly for yourself and your clients. In the end, this onboarding process is really important in your interactions with your clients – so make the most of it.
Want to tune in to the Podcast about this topic? Listen in to Episode 31 of The Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast HERE to learn “why your client experience is holding you back”
Dolly DeLong is a Nashville-based family & branding photographer and a creative business owner who educates other family photographers on how to best streamline their family photography business by using powerful automation tools in order to find the JOY in workflows and systems. Dolly loves serving families, and business owners with her timeless, radiant photography. And, she also loves educating other creative business owners on how to set up systems and workflows that will ultimately help them save time in their business-she does this by producing weekly blog posts and weekly podcast episodes on The Systems & Workflow Magic Podcast.
She has a heart for serving the larger business community. Dolly shares her knowledge of tools like Dubsado, Email Marketing, and Business Systems with new creative business owners & family photographers in an encouraging and supportive way because she believes that anyone can find joy in automation! Plus BONUS: Systems is where the MAGIC happens!
Dolly’s faith and love for her family motivate her to help other business owners find the joy and freedom she’s found in running a successful small business.
Whenever she has a spare moment, she enjoys watching TV (i.e. Survivor), loves eating way too many sweets, and listens to podcasts while running or walking. To work with Dolly DeLong Photography LLC, fill out her contact form here.
Interested in learning how to best automate a part of your business but you have no clue where to begin? Check out www.dollydelongphotography.com/automate to begin your automation journey today!
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