One of the most common questions I receive is “How do you manage all of your business clients?” My secret weapon? Honeybook! If you haven’t yet made an account, Give it a try HERE, this link gives you 50% off as well! This platform has been one of my top tools in my business for many years now. I personally love their workflows and automations feature. In today’s video I’m giving you a behind-the-scenes look at how I set up workflows in HoneyBook!
Honeybook is a CRM (client relationship management) tool that allows you to do everything from manage your inquiries, book clients by accepting payments, and keep all your questionnaires and communication organized in 1 space.
First things first, you’ll need an account. Start a FREE trial & get 50% of Honeybook if you choose to stay. I have a feeling you won’t wanna leave!! 😉
I’m going to share with you my best tips about how to strategically use the automation function for tasks that you are constantly repeating. I’ll also walk you through how to begin creating workflows of your own. Getting workflows and automations setup in your business will allow you to free up a ton of mental space!
HoneyBook Workflow Set Up Tips
Creating Workflows
First, we need to actually create the workflow. Give the workflow a title associated with what the workflow is associated with.
Inside a workflow, there are four different things that you can do for every step: create a task, send an email, send a questionnaire, and send a brochure.
- A task will populate in the task box on your homepage (a good built in reminder for you to keep track of things you need to get done).
- An email will send them a canned email that you create based on what stage of the process they are in.
- A questionnaire will prompt them to fill out set questions. You can have various questionnaires set up in your HoneyBook, based on what you are offering. This is helpful so that it does not have to be customized every single time. I prefer to send these out a set number of days before the project date. (I will elaborate more on this below!)
- Lastly, a brochure will be sent to the client for them to look at options for purchase. This will also give them ideas about what they can do with their photos, beyond just digital files.
Automate Or Approve Steps
Additionally, with emails, questionnaires, and brochures, you have the option in the workflow step to send automatically or approve before sending. This gives you the opportunity to tailor and personalize the message a little more based on the client before sending. It will still alert you within HoneyBook and via email that it’s time to send XYZ follow-up email.
Each action can be triggered at different times based on things that happen. You have the option of a task being triggered after activating the workflow, before the project date, after the project date, or after the previous step in the workflow is complete. This helps you keep things on track. A great example of how to utilize the different options with this is if a certain step needs to happen two weeks before the event, you would select 14 days before the event. This will ensure it is triggered despite the progress or status of the other steps.
A Look Into My Workflow
Finally, I want to provide you with a look into my own workflow. A few of the initial tasks I have in my workflow include a thank you for booking email, task to send client gift, send vendor recommendations, and sending a relationship questionnaire.
For me, it is extremely helpful to have the emails 99% written – and for them to be set on “approve before sending”. I don’t want the emails going to my clients to be completely canned, and I love to add a personal note. Furthermore, I want to ensure that they make sense. For example, if we’ve already talked about things I don’t want the canned email to say “I know I don’t know anything about you…”
The different steps in my workflow allow me to have to think less about all the details however, it ensures I’m getting the information I need from my clients and that they are being taken care of. If I want to shift steps around, I have the ability within HoneyBook to do so. I am not locked in to the order of steps once I create it. Lastly, I’m a fan of any steps that are independent of the other steps in the workflow to be at the bottom. An example of this is a testimonial being sent 40 days after the event date. Having them all at the bottom allows me to view them all in one spot.
Your Turn!
Now it’s your turn! First, pull out a sheet of paper and think about/take note of your client journey. What things come to mind when you think of your workflow and client experience? Some things that you might have in your workflow include welcome and follow up emails, client gifts, meetings, any education you would like to send to your clients, and questionnaires to gather their information and input.
Keep it simple! You can add and alter this as you go, so start out with about 10-15 steps that you take ALL of your clients through. Think about things you do not want to forget about in this process. Some of these steps may even be completely on the backend and your clients won’t even be aware they’re happening (backing up files, sending your second shooter all the wedding information, etc.)
I hope this was helpful and I’m SO excited to see what you all create within your workflows to automate your business! If you want a step-by-step tutorial on how you create workflows and automations in your business, my amazing team member Dahlia has a mini course on this too! You can learn more about it HERE.
If you decide to use any of the links above and buy through them, I’ll receive a small commission back. All of those affiliate income commissions really add up over time and help generate revenue to help support this channel
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