6 Ways a Dubsado Setup Can Transform Your Photography Business
Say hello to your new best friend, robot PA and digital hat rack
When I first started out as a VA, I was blown away by how much admin went on behind the scenes of a photography business. I mean, you guys have to wear a lot of different hats! Answering enquiries, sending pricing guides and questionnaires. Creating invoices, proposals, and contracts. Chasing payments, keeping track of your finances. Photography admin is a full time job! But you wanna know a crazy secret? Psst! A Dubsado setup can do all of this for you!
This beautiful beast of a CRM allows you to put your photography business admin on autopilot. And not only does this free up hundreds of hours a year for you to focus on the things that earn you money and make you happy, it completely streamlines your client experience. And if nothing else, a better client journey will help take you to that glorious next pricing band.
But if you’ve never heard of Dubsado before, or you’re used to a more basic CRM like Studio Ninja, it’s difficult to imagine just how powerful and versatile a full Dubsado setup really is. So just to give you an idea, here’s 6 ways you could use Dubsado to transform your photography business.
1. Set up Dubsado workflows to streamline your client journey
A full Dubsado setup can make your whole customer journey feel effortless, streamlined and professional. Imagine if this was your client journey:
As soon as someone enquired, they’d instantly get a friendly response with a handy link to your pricing guide. When they were ready to book, your on-brand proposal would take them straight through to a personalised, e-sign contract. When they paid, they’d get a nice little email thanking them. Along the journey, any questionnaires would be sent, without even needing to remember. The day before their wedding, they’d get an email saying how excited you are. And another one the next day, saying how much fun you’d had. Doesn’t that all just scream professionalism?!
Just think how much perceived value this would add to your business. And here’s the best part: once it’s set up, Dubsado would do all this for you without you tapping a single key.
2. Make your automated responses personal
Just because Dubsado is automated (as much or as little as you’d like), it doesn’t have to mean everything will read like it was written by a robot. You write the emails yourself and upload them into Dubsado, so they’re all your own words. They come from your email address, with your signature and logo at the bottom. Dubsado’s smart fields will even pull through the client’s name so it’s addressed personally to them.
I know so many photographers who are worried about losing the personal touch if they migrate over to Dubsado. But you can choose how much (or little) you automate. And anything that is automated has still come from you, in your own words. You just haven’t had to do anything to send it.
3. Set up Dubsado to automate proposals, contracts, invoices and payments
OK, so this is a game changer. Not only will it save you tons of time creating contracts and sending invoices. But it’ll give you an air of effortless professionalism that’ll make your client feel like they’re in safe hands, at that crucial stage of when you’re asking them for money!
The initial proposal can be completely bespoke to you and your brand, with all your imagery and testimonials in there to seal the deal. Dubsado will also pull through the client’s details. So not only will it be unique to your brand, it’ll be personalised to the client you’re sending it to. They’ll select their package and extras in the proposal, and then be automatically taken through to their bespoke contract which Dubsado will put together for you from details included and selected in the proposal.
Once they e-sign the contract, they’ll then be automatically taken to an invoice. Once they pay the invoice, they can get sent a confirmation. If they don’t pay, you can set up automated emails to chase payment. And if they get funny about getting sent chase emails? Just blame your automated workflow!
And now go and pour yourself a glass of wine to celebrate. You’ve just fully automated the most important, stressful, time-consuming part of your business! Don’t you feel all light and fluffy just thinking about it?!
4. Check the ‘project status’ of potential clients
Don’t you just hate that feeling of getting ghosted? Wondering if they’ve signed the contract, or even looked at their proposal?! Continually checking your bank balance to see if they’ve paid. Dubsado might not be able to take away the frustration of waiting for people to get their sh*t together. But it can at least help you stay on top of it all.
Once you’ve sent off a proposal to a client, Dubsado’s dashboard will tell you what stage they’re at in the process. So no more wondering!
You can also use the dashboard to filter out all the clients in the same status. So you can see a list of all the people you’ve sent proposals to, who’s signed their contract and who hasn’t, who’s yet to make payment and if they’ve been chased. Whatever helps you manage your client journey best.
It gives you a really accessible, clear visual of all your potential clients, all bunched up in one place for you to see at a glance.
5. Set up Dubsado to be your helpful robot PA
Dubsado can be set up to send you reminders for pretty much everything. And let’s be honest, when you have so many clients to keep track of, eventually you’ll forget something (or someone!) You’re amazing, but you’re only human.
You can set up Dubsado so that when you get an enquiry, it’ll remind you in a couple of days to follow it up. It can have your pre-wedding questionnaire automatically sent out 5 weeks before a wedding. If you ask it to, it’ll send you a reminder to arrange a final consultation at a set time before a wedding. Think of it as a robot PA that never forgets and always has your back.
6. Use Dubsado’s scheduler to manage your diary
Imagine not having to keep going back and forth with clients arranging calls and shoot times. Yep, Dubsado can do that for you too. Dubsado’s scheduler function allows clients to book in calls and shoots with you online. All you do is put in your availability in advance, and then clients can click the link to the scheduler and book a time that works for both of you.
So for example, if you need to have a pre-wedding consultation call with a customer, it will send them a reminder before their call is due, along with a link to your scheduler for the next few weeks. They’ll then pick a time when you’re both free. And you both get an email confirmation with an automatically-generated Zoom link. You can even set it up to send you both 24 hour and 1 hour reminders so you don’t completely gap it!
If you’re a family photographer, you could set up your Dubsado scheduler to automate your entire diary of shoots. It could literally change your life.
So I take it, you're sold? Do you wanna do a Dubsado setup yourself or shall I do it for you?!
There’s no two ways about it. If you’re a photographer, Dubsado has the potential to transform your business and make your whole life a whole lot easier.
But a Dubsado setup is like a guitar. You can pull off a few clumsy kumbaya chords, or you can riff like Prince on his best day. As a Dubsado recommended supplier, I’m more on the Prince end of the scale. My Dubsado setup strategy calls usually last for hours! We’d delve into every little facet of your workflow. And then I’d go away and craft a full Dubsado setup that’s completely bespoke to your business and your brand. And trust me, once it’s all set up, you’ll wonder what you ever did without it.
If you’d like for me to create a full Dubsado setup for you with some (or all!) of the above features, get in touch today and let’s have a chat. Or if you’d prefer to set it up yourself, at least use my affiliate code for 30% off your Dubsado for simply all the free tips I’ve given you!
Either way, once your life has changed, feel free to send me a DM thanking me for showing you the light (or wine, I like wine).