Dolly Delong: Hey there, friends, and welcome back to another episode of the Systems and Workflow Magic podcast. I’m your Systems and Workflow BFF and launching guide, Dolly DeLong, and we’re here to help you kick off 2025 in feeling more organized, intentional, And just more clear in running your business. So you are entering, I forget which episode this is on for the series, but I’ve been leading a shorter series all about helping you be more intentional and preparing for 2025.
Because if you are listening to this live, this is the last Monday of 2024. Isn’t that crazy? Let that sink in for a moment. Um, in a couple of days, it’ll be 2025. And, um, for business owners who like, they like starting fresh and whole new clean slate, new intentions, everything. And then there are business owners who just may feel like a hot mess express.
And then there are business owners in the middle. So, regardless of who you are, I thank you for listening in. And I really hope that this series has been. Really helpful for you in just like having some areas of your business just to clean up, button up, or just look at for the first time to make better-informed decisions.
And like, so again, like looking at the backend of the systems and the finances and your workflows and your SOP. So it’s all fun for me and I hope it’s fun for you too. So this week’s, um, Episode is all about how to prep your client relationship management tool better. And I’m going to be using Devsado because Devsado is one of my most.
Favorite tools. It’s like my digital assistant that helps keep the backend of my business, both sides, running seamlessly and smoothly. So whether you’re a new to Dubsado or you’ve been using it for years, this episode will be packed with actionable steps and tips to get your CRM ready for the new year.
So again, if, even if you don’t use Dubsado and let’s say you use HoneyBook, um, still take these steps. action steps and apply it to your CRM, right? But before we dive in, I have to mention that this episode is brought to you by Dubsado. So, if you’re ready to get started with Dubsado or just need an excuse to finally streamline the back end of your business, you can use my code for 30 percent off.
which is a really amazing discount. All right. So head on over to the show notes for all the details and just take the first step towards organizing your business like a pro. Okay. So let’s dive in. So the first step I want you to do when you’re Looking at your CRM, again, we’re using Dubsado as an example, is auditing your current workflows.
So this is the bread and butter, I think, of Dubsado. So I want you to take a moment to review all of your existing workflows. Are they still serving you? Do they align with the services you plan to offer for 2025? And if you’re adding new offers or tweaking your client processes, now is the time when it’s like slower, when we’re sitting in a slower season now is the time to take those updates and to make those updates. Sorry. So I would, my pro tip to you would be to streamline any redundancies and automate as much as possible. So, for example, do you send the same follow up email after every inquiry? Why not automate it?
Your future self will thank you. Your 2025 self will thank you. So for example, a very simple thing to do, action step from this would be anytime somebody fills out your contact form, why not like have an automated email, send out to them, thanking them for filling out your contact form. And then you can follow up with them after that.
And so that way that is one canned email you can create in Dubsado. And. That way, whenever somebody contacts you initially, they get an, like, uh, an immediate response from you. They’re not waiting for you to respond to them, because you might take two to three days because you’re either, like, away on vacation or life happens, and so you need to stay top of mind, alright?
So, why don’t, just, like, Work through your workflows and audit your current workflows and see if it’s working for you for 2025. Um, another step I want you to take is to update your forms and your templates. So let’s talk about your forms, your proposals, and your canned emails. When was the last time you updated them?
Okay, so check to see if your branding is consistent on all of these forms and these proposals on these templates, like your logos, your fonts, and the colors, like, are they up to date or are they old branding? Also, look at the text. Does it reflect your current policies and pricing? This step is really important if you’ve recently increased your rates or let’s say you’ve taken out certain packages or adjusted your services.
I know I have. Like in the past two years, I’ve adjusted a lot of different services in the photography side of my business. I’ve adjusted a lot for the systems of workflow side of my business. So I have had to audit a lot of these workflows and to, to, Put in the correct wording of what I actually like offer.
So for your canned emails, like take a moment to add maybe like a little bit of personality. So make them engaging and reflective of your current brand. Believe me. Like this small tweak can make a big difference in how your clients will perceive you. So I love to add, I know like not a lot of people like this, but I, this is my personality.
Uh, instead of sending, uh, a canned email of your payment has been received. Thank you. As some people like that. And it’s like very like, okay, this is a business, very business focused. Yes. Very cut and dry. That’s fine. But I like to add like a thank you gift, like to that canned email, like, Oh, thank you so much for your payment has been received.
And so, um, my, my gift I use is a golden girl gift. I I’m probably aging myself, but I grew up watching golden girls. Like, and I. It’s still like, I, I still talk, I mean, my boys know the theme song. Cause it’s really sad. Um, but I, or at least my oldest does. And so I add that gift to my thank you emails and Dubsado and my clients think it’s so funny.
So update your candy, go through and see if you can add just a little bit of personality, still keep it professional, but then. You know, your clients, well, they know your personality. And so if you need to add a little personality.
Excuse me, Scott. Okay, so let’s talk about reviewing and cleaning out your lead capture forms. So, I want you to go through all your lead capture forms and maybe like update them or test them, make sure they’re working properly and still make sure they’re relevant to your offers that you’re promoting in 2025.
So, I have been on the back end of many Dubsado accounts in the past because in the past I used to offer Dubsado setup So, And I don’t do that anymore, but I do remember like there were horror stories of just like clients who would just make unlimited lead capture forms for everything. And so you need to like have a handle of your lead capture forms.
And so, And be intentional with your lead capture form. So go through and do an audit to see like, can you narrow down your lead capture forms? Can one lead capture form, um, be enough for like, can you have like a dropdown box of it instead of putting a different lead capture form on everything? Um, how can you be strategic with your lead capture forms?
Um, if you’re running like a new campaign or adding services, um, can you add that to a current existing lead capture form, like with the dropdown menu, or do you need to create a fresh new form? Um, again, Dubsado makes this very easy for you. I do want to say like a more advanced technique is for if you are especially running Google ads.
I did this with, um, my Google ads manager, and he’s going to be on the podcast. Um, he had me create a new Google, I’m sorry, new Dubsado form specifically for one, um, landing page on a website that’s just being used for Google ads. Like nothing else. Like that is where all the Google ads are being driven to.
And so in order to analyze it better and to know if people are filling out the form, he had me create a specific Dubsado lead capture form to embed on that. So it’s very separate from my main lead capture form that somebody would fill out on my contact form. And so that way we’re making like better, we’re seeing like.
If the ads are working and the ads are working by the way, like, I can’t wait for Donnie to be on the podcast. You are going to love learning from him, but, um, it has been like, it’s very cool to know that your lead capture forms can be used very strategically for your business. So the first thing I want you to do in this is like review your lead capture for him, see, assess them and see, like, are they necessary?
Can you blend, can you merge any of them together? Or, can you also create new ones for add purposes to see if those are converting? All right, going on. I want you to step forward to organize your client data. So, archive any old projects and keep your dashboard clean and easy to navigate. I want you to segment your active clients, especially if you have workflows specific to those clients.
And to make sure all of your contact information is set up to date. So this step, I believe is key to staying organized as your business grows. And it’s, it may seem really small, but it is very impactful. And for you to feel just more streamlined to know, like your dashboard is clean. Um, because if you have like all of this data.
These old client data, like they filled out your early capture form. They never follow through or they never worked. Like they never ended up booking with you, but their information is still there. Like you need to archive that. Like you need to only if you want to, I’m not forcing you to, but it just makes my brain feel so much better for the new year.
So that’s something I encourage you to clean out. Um, step five is to streamline payment processes. So, okay. I love talking money. Okay. Very quickly. If you are not getting paid easily, something needs to change. Let me repeat that. If you are making paying yourself really complicated, this is something that needs to change for 2025.
Okay. So make sure that you have like Stripe or PayPal automated linked to Dubsado as an easy way to pay you. You do not need to be paid in Venmo. Let me repeat myself. You do not need to be paid in Venmo. You are a business owner. All right. So you need to attach your business account. Like that is attached to either PayPal or Stripe and attach that to Dubsado So it can be an easy way for your clients to pay you. And so that way it’s like one step of removing the emotion out of like. Asking for money. Like you feel like you’re, you’re bothering your clients by having them pay you. Like, I know that there are business owners out there. They’re like, Oh, I just feel bad for asking for payment, but I did all this work for them.
Come on. Like you are a business. You need to be paid so you can streamline it. You can automate it and you can make it unemotional. All right. So, um, Do it. Okay. Um, just make sure that you set it up, test your payment integrations to avoid any hiccups when invoices do start rolling in. So like send yourself an invoice for a dollar and like pay it and just see what happens.
But, um, makes it very simple. So make sure you are streamlining your payment processes. Okay. I’m step seven or I’m sorry. I just said step seven, step six, sorry. Step six is automate where possible. So I love automation. So I want you to identify areas where you can save yourself time, like things like client reminders.
Follow ups or even sending questionnaires automatically. So I want you to wrap your head around this. Automation isn’t about being lazy. All right. Okay. And also automation isn’t about just setting it and forgetting it. Like I want you to, if you do have automation set up right now, like go back and assess them and see if they’re really working for you or if they’re confusing you or if they’re confusing your clients, like, Assess it.
Use this time to audit. Automation is about being smart with your time so that you can focus on serving your clients well. Like just because you’ve said it, it doesn’t mean you’re like, you’re going to go on a beach and drink margaritas for the rest of your life. Like you still have to serve your clients.
Like, so I want you to look at automation in that lens. So see, like when you’re auditing your workflows, like Remember step one, you’re auditing your workflows. See if there’s any like steps that can be automated, that you feel comfortable letting Dipsada do. Okay. All right. And speaking of serving your clients, well, I’ve got a little gift for all of my photographer friends who are turning to blah, blah, blah, blah.
Sorry, Scott. And speaking of serving your clients, well, I’ve got a little gift for all of my photographer friends tuning in. So if you’re planning mini sessions for 2025, which I hope you are, I have something that will help you stay more organized and streamlined for 2025. So I’ve created a free resource just for you.
It’s called the Dubsado mini session roadmap, and it’s a master checklist of everything you need to set up your mini sessions in Dub Sado. So head on to the show notes. And grab it and you can grab this copy and print it off and literally It will be a checklist for you to know exactly All the elements you need to have ahead of time In order to set up your mini sessions very seamlessly in Dubsado.
All right? Okay, friends, that’s it for today. I wanted to make this episode short and sweet. I hope you’re feeling excited and ready to tackle your Dubsado prep for 2025 Remember, this episode is brought to you by Dubsado. So you can use my code to get 30 percent off your subscription. I want to encourage you to head over to the show notes and grab the link and start streamlining the backend of your business.
And again, don’t forget to. Snag that freebie, especially if you’re a photographer wanting to plan out minis for 2025. It’s my way of helping you stay ahead and organize and streamlined as you head into the new year. Anyways, thanks for tuning in. I’ll catch you on next week’s episode, where we will talk about another system you can prep for a better 2025 until then have a streamlined and magical week.
You amazing muggle you bye.
