In This Blog
Here’s the thing.
Everyone is talking and thinking about their product or services, their sales pages, their social media posts or something else that’s client-facing.
But, what about something behind-the-scenes, specifically the client/business management aspect?
How do (online) business owners manage and funnel their prospects and clients from being a lead to their exit?
Yes, through a funnel system. But how?
There’s a multitude of ways and software to help create that funnel.
One popular software – and the one I like using – is Dubsado.
If you’ve been around online service entrepreneurship for a while, you might have come across Dubsado when looking for a CRM (Client Relationship Management).
What does Dubsado do?
A LOT.
I’ve used Dubsado for a couple of years, and I use the majority – if not all – of its features.
Here’s a quick list of Dubsado features:
– Forms (Lead Forms, Proposals, Contracts, Questionnaires, etc.)
– Invoicing, Payment Reminders and Payment Plans
– Workflow Automation
– Project and Client Management
– Client Portal
– Canned Emails
– Scheduling- Reporting
– Customization
– Integrations
– Customer Support
“Ok, but can’t I just use a Word Doc or spreadsheet?”
You can. Heck, I still do for some aspects of my business.
I love Dubsado because it can do multiple things in one place (look above again for its features).
✓ No more spreadsheets to track my leads and where they’re at in my funnel.
✓ No more PowerPoint or Word docs to build my proposals, contracts and invoices.
✓ No more writing or recycling an email every. single. time. for “routine” emails.
✓ Speaking of emails, no prospects are falling through the cracks.
✓ No copying and pasting of emails and forms with the wrong name or info.
✓ Scheduling is now a breeze because my work calendar is synced with my clients’ booking calendar.
If you want to cut your tech stack by a few, getting a business/client management software is a great thing to do.
Tell me more about Dubsado
Dubsado is functionally robust without the unnecessary frills.
Some software has soooooo many bells and whistles that confuse you and you end up never using them anyways.
And some have very basic features and Dubsado caters to your business needs a little bit more.
Dubsado does need a little bit of time for “playing around” while you set it up for your business and your needs. But once you have it set up, you can leave it and forget it – unless you want to make adjustments, of course.
1. Customization
I wanted to start with this because this is such a given feature, but I feel like other software found this hard to nail.
Your forms, email templates, schedulers, and other things don’t have a Dubsado logo splashed somewhere. (Ok, you might get them in the URL links, ONLY IF you didn’t set up your website’s info.)
As far as I know, there are only 2 telltale signs when someone is using Dubsado:
1. They explicitly say they’re using Dubsado.
2. You’ve been with Dubsado for so long that you know how Dubsado assets look even without branding (aka you pretty much have become a Dubsado expert 😉).
So, yes. You can customize Dubsado, from font to colour, to links and pretty much everything.
2. Forms
You want to gather routine information from your leads before a Discovery Call?
Create a Lead Form with all the initial questions you want to know and embed it on your website, or use the form’s direct link.
You want to make sure you’re communicating the same information about a service across all your leads?
Create a Proposal and Contract Templates with Smart Fields in the “Forms” section and have it auto-populate the info from your lead or contact.
Oh BTW, they have AMAZING templates on hand that you can use and they add more from time to time.
3. Invoicing, Payment Reminders and Payment Plans
I know of some business owners that still manually create their invoices. Heck, some even forget to send invoices before they start the service. That’s ok if you want to micromanage that part of your business, only get a couple of clients now and then or if you don’t plan on scaling your offer (services/products).
BUT if you’re like many other entrepreneurs and me, you might want this automated. With Dubsado, you can automatically create invoices and recurring invoices with just a signed contract. You can also make sure that you’re paid by sending your leads/clients email reminders when there’s an upcoming payment, invoice due today, or any unpaid invoices.
As much as we’d like, not everything is Pay-in-Full (PIF). That’s where Dubsado’s payment plans (aka payment schedule) come in.
You can set different plans that work for your business or use the 5 that Dubsado has pre-made – you just need to update the email reminders to your branding.
You can have someone PIF, someone else has 3 payments, a 50/50, a fixed deposit and someone else can have recurring payments.
4. Workflow Automation
Do you want to have a seamless lead, proposal, contract signing, and invoice sending?
You got it. Streamline those up (and more) using Workflows, where you can also include schedulers, emails, invoices, to-dos and so much more.
You can have all of those in one workflow or divide them up by stages for a cleaner and more controlled flow.
You can set up a simple one (like the one here attached) or a complicated one which has multiple triggers or actions moving in place.
5. Scheduler
Do you want to make sure that you’re not overbooking yourself with clients and the other things in your calendar?
Sync your calendar, and it will make sure that your schedule is good. You can set up automated confirmation and reminder emails for all booked appointments. You can also create “Scheduler Groups” to send multiple appointment types in one go.
I love how I don’t have to use a different software just for all my bookings.
Also, any appointment can be attached to the client’s Project “folder”.
6. Project and Client Management
Know what stage in your sales pipeline your client or project is right when you log in. Perfect for seeing those clients that take their sweet time responding to you.
Dubsado creates a “folder” for all emails, appointments, invoices, forms, and other things related to a client in a form of a “Project”.
Here are 2 ways I can explain the “Project” system.
1. Different clients and different tasks
a. You have a social media management client, you’ll have a “Project” for that.
b. You have another client that you do project management, you’ll have another “Project”.
2. Same client, different tasks on different dates
a. VIP Day client on March 1 to March 14.
b. On-going coaching client from April 1st onwards.
You and your client also have a “dedicated space” – the Client Portal – for all your correspondence, like the emails you’ve both sent to each other, forms, appointments and invoices.
So, both you and your client don’t need to dig through mountains of emails and folders.
No more “resend plz.”
7. Canned Emails
Speaking of emails.
You know how you routinely send an email for things like “Hey, this is our scheduled appointment info!” or “Reminder: Our meeting is on at 48 hours!” or even the overlooked “Here’s a copy of your signed contract”?
Well, you can pre-write and customize all your emails and, of course, auto-populate them with the correct info when it sends.
PS, you can send a customized email for everything.
PPS, all your emails are nicely housed and accessible inside the Project and the Client Portal.
8. Reports
I don’t use this as much as I should, but it’s great that it’s there.
It gives data you need, like where your projects (or clients) are coming from, an overview of all your invoices and transactions, and your income and sales – it even has a Chart of Accounts that you can integrate with QuickBooks btw.
9. Integrations
At the time of writing, Dubsado integrates with 5 applications:
- CloudSpot
- Xero
- QuickBooks
- Video Conferencing (Zoom, Google Meet or 8×8)
- Zapier
I have mine connected to QuickBooks for obvious accounting reasons and video conferencing through Google Meet.
Video conferencing links can be automatically added to scheduled appointments.
10. Customer Support
Whenever I get my hands on any software, my brain goes deep into “play mode” and figuring out ways to use it effectively. Because of that, I run into a multitude of questions.
Dubsado has the standard Help Centre, which is incredibly helpful with photos AND highlighted numbers to show which steps you need to make.
Of course, they also have YouTube videos for people who don’t like reading (which is me sometimes 😅). But what surprises me is the level of customer service you get with their CHAT.
I haven’t asked them anything that was left for me to read tomorrow in my inbox. There’s always someone there to answer any of my questions.
When I was setting up my account, and again when I was updating, I was sure their CS team knew me on a certain level 🤣.
In a nutshell…
If you’re a solopreneur or a small business owner, you probably already have so much in your tech stack.
Dubsado helps shrink that stack, lessen the accounts you need to log in and provide you with a heavy-lifter business/client management software.
Dubsado keeps updating, and it just keeps getting better.
How can I start using my Dubsado?
If you’re looking for a simple way to manage your clients, I highly recommend Dubsado! Dubsado is a creative-friendly software that makes it easier for solopreneurs and business owners to address the necessary business side of clients and projects.
Click this link (code: christineobm) to start a new free, no-time-limit trial AND get 30% off of your first month or year of Dubsado automatically when you’re ready to upgrade to a paid plan.
If you prefer that someone build your Dubsado setup for you, I got you.
Aside from knowing Dubsado just by using it, I’m also a Dubsado Certified Specialist (I’m proudly part of the first cohort of specialists 😃)!
Because of this, I can proudly offer my Systemize My Empire Dubsado VIP service, which allows me to build your Dubsado for you. Click here for more info.
I’ll talk about another amazing CRM in the next blog, so make sure to subscribe here to get notified in your email when it’s out!
What features do you look for in a CRM?
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