Insider Tips for Dubsado Success

Implementing Dubsado into your business can be overwhelming. Let me say that again so your feelings are confirmed:

Dubsado implementations can be very, very overwhelming.

There are several details in any Dubsado setup. But that doesn’t mean it cannot be done. Once all of these details are put together, this tool can have such an enormous impact on your business. It’s crazy what a difference it can make!

Between helping you streamline your processes, saving oodles of time, and keeping your business chugging along smoothly, what’s not to love? Plus, happy, engaged clients? That’s the golden ticket to growth!!

If you’re in the middle or near the end of a Dubsado setup for your business, these insider tips can take it from good to amazing!

BTW, if you’re on the fence about Dubsado, or you’re dipping your toe in the water with it….or you have no idea what it even is, check out my other articles about it or click here to set up a time with me to talk it over.

Insider Tips for Dubsado Success

Use Custom Fields

Use custom fields to capture any intricate details you need from your client to carry throughout the project life cycle. Then Dubsado will carry these details onto almost any asset within your workflows. Here are a few examples of what a custom field can do for your service business:

• Wedding Stationery Designer

  • Capture the couple’s invitation color HEX codes in a text field

  • Use a date field to capture the couple’s wedding date

  • Use a date field to capture the proof approval date

• Florist

  • Use a text field to capture the selected flowers for a client’s event

  • Capture a wedding client’s color HEX codes in a text field

• Interior Designer

  • Use a text field to gather names of pieces chosen for a mood board

  • Use a text field to confirm paint color names for rooms or pieces of furniture

• Maternity Photographer

  • Use a date field to capture your client’s due date

  • Use a text field to get the name of their requested maternity photo shoot location

  • Use a text field to capture the name of their intended birth place (hospital name or home birth)

• Event Venue Manager

  • Capture a client’s list of chosen vendors for their upcoming event

  • Use a date field to capture a lead’s intended event date

These fields can then flow between your proposal, onto your contract, and any sub-agreement or questionnaire you may use.

Imagine capturing that information once, and having it magically appear on every project or client specific document throughout your process. Pretty cool right? You’ll look like a hero instantly!

If your workflow will be sending an email or a form and you’re not 100% sure it should be automated, require it to be approved by you before it goes out to your client.

When you’re asking clients to do something like complete a proposal & contract, it’s a good idea to draft at least 3 reminder emails. Those reminder emails should be sprinkled throughout the time between when you first send the proposal until it expires.

For example, if your proposal is valid for 14 days, your reminder emails might go out at this cadence:

• Reminder 01 - Goes out 3 days after the proposal was originally sent to the client

• Reminder 02 - Goes out 5 days after the Reminder 01 email, and taps into a possible emotion they’re feeling

• Reminder 03 - Goes out 5 days after the Reminder 02 email, but cuts right to the chase. It lets them know there are no hard feelings if they changed their mind, but you’re closing the door {politely} on the opportunity.
  
  BONUS TIP: The last reminder email should warn them that the proposal will expire in the next 24 hours and their job will be archived. Remind them that they’re always welcome to engage you again in the future for updated pricing, when they’re ready to move forward. Using urgency tends to get anyone’s attention.
  
  
  

Before venturing down the road of workflow automation, test your process manually. That way you’re not only getting used to the Dubsado interface, but you have a chance to make tweaks to everything before piecing together your first workflow.

Use the tabs at the top of the Projects view to practice using Dubsado, but to also see what your clients will see as they flow through your process.

This will also give you an opportunity to find holes where you might need to add an asset (an additional canned email, a follow up questionnaire, etc.).

Test ALL of your Dubsado assets using 1 of the 3 free projects. Before paying for full automation capabilities, start at the top of your client journey with a lead capture. Use a separate, personal email address and make that address a “dummy project”.

Reschedule meetings with ease. But be aware of the impact your actions have in Dubsado. When you’re in a client project and you have to reschedule an upcoming meeting, know that when you move the meeting date or time here…

Your client will receive an automated email about the change that might look like this….

On the plus side, you don’t have to send an additional message telling them you have to move their meeting. On the possible minus side, those small meeting tweaks have a major effect on the client without you having to lift an additional finger. Just be careful please!

Are you looking to automate more of your business processes? Feel free to click the button below to grab some time on my calendar for a quick conversation.