I’m thrilled to introduce you to my friend Jenn Bays. Jenn has the breakdown on how to choose the best CRM, set your system up for success (without losing your mind) and how to hire a CRM set up with the right service provider – when you don’t have the bandwidth to do it yourself.
Today we deep dive and compare two popular CRMs head-to-head: Dubsado and Honeybook. Jenn tells you how to know which one is right for you based on your unique business needs – and what she shares might be a surprise!
Jenn is the owner and visionary of Success Beyond the Lens, a business management and marketing company for photographers. After spending years in the online space and realizing that her favorite clients, the ones she could help the most, were photographers who create BOMB photos but are drowning in their business.
Now SBTL has grown into a full-service operations and marketing team ready to take your business to the next level while taking more and more off your plate!
If you know you need support – like yesterday – you can download your free Dream Team Starter Kit at www.julietraining.com/starterkit. You’ll not only get access to the kit, but also receive the most up to date emails and learn about all the other crazy fun things we’re doing in the business like our April 2022 Audio Summit!
Highlights from this Episode
- How Jenn got her start as an online service provider, and the steps she took to get where she is today- from launching a business while on maternity leave, to niching down to her photography clients, to launching a successful agency
- The differences between two widely popular CRMs (HoneyBook and Dubsado) and insights about why business owners might prefer the features of one over the other.
- Jenn breaks down the competitive pricing plans for both CRMs, and the time-commitment clients could be looking at for systems setup based on individual needs and workflows.
- Guidance on how to start planning for what you want your CRM to do when you are in the beginning stages of setting up your automated systems.
- How to know if you’re ready to hire out the right person to do your systems setup, and what steps you should take to get it launched well for your business and the clients you are serving.
- Her Success Behind the Lens podcast that offers tons of value to connect with and serve all kinds of business owners. See link below to a favorite episode.
- She introduces the amazing strategy sessions she offers as a service to business owners not necessarily in the photography space. Connect through the link below.
Captivating Quotes from this Episode:
11:06 So a CRM is essentially a platform that helps you manage the relationships you have with your clients. So in order to take advantage of the systems and really run it efficiently, you have to have all of the pieces in place and then put those pieces in where they’re supposed to be within workflows, and automations. So that when, for example, someone completes your inquiry form, they’re automatically getting an email saying, hey, thanks so much for reaching out, I will get back to you within 48 hours, or here’s a link to schedule a call, or here’s a PDF for more, you know, information on my services, it gives you the opportunity to streamline your processes save you time and actually make you more money.
22:45 As someone who’s done hundreds of setups, I would hate to see what my first 10 looked like. It’s like that photographer’s first wedding. It’s like,Oh, they actually liked these images, like, Oh, they actually liked the setup. So now we have a really, really streamlined approach to setups. So If you’re doing it on your own, the very first thing I encourage someone to do is to grab a pen and paper or a big dry erase board or post it and a big blank wall and map out your process. Even if you think you don’t have a process you do, it’s probably just like, clunky and crappy because you don’t think it’s there. And I promise you, you have a process. You just don’t know what it is yet, even though you do the steps.
27:28 So if you have your packages, and your branding, and you’re ready to get clients, then you’re probably ready for a system setup. You know, I think if you have those three things in place, or you’re ready to like, get your business rolling, then it’s time for a system. I had my business for six weeks before I signed up with dubsado. I think I had one client who gave me time to learn the system as I was building the business. So to answer your question, as far as hiring someone and my recommendation, if you have the ability to hire someone, the first thing you need to consider is when you hire someone, you want to hire the person that’s going to teach you how to use the system, this system will be completely useless. Even if it’s 100% set up
30:30 If you’re a photographer, working with someone who knows photographers is going to be super beneficial. If you are a DJ, or a, I don’t know, business coach, you know, those types of different niches, there are dubsado specialists who have niched down even further to serving those types of businesses. And the benefit in working with people within your niche who serve your niche is they’re going to have particular insight to how to better run your business. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten on calls with photographers. And I say, Okay, well, let’s add this stuff here, or this information for your client here. And they’re like, Oh, I never would have thought about that. But it’s because I’ve been working with photographers for four years. And I know what makes a successful photography business.
Connect
Email: hello@successbeyondthelens.com
Website: successbeyondthelens.com
Link to her Success Beyond the Lens podcast episode mentioned during our conversation: How to plan your CRM set up
Click here for more information on Dubsado.
Click here for more information on HoneyBook.
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