Service: Dubsado VIP Day
About the Client
Katelyn Dekle is a kick-ass web designer who creates personality-infused websites for other business owners. She had been using Dubsado for 5+ years but her system needed a refresh so that her current customer experience was streamlined for herself and her clients.
“It would send out an email at the wrong time, or to the wrong person, or an invoice reminder for someone who hasn't even signed the contract yet.
I had a client reach out to me for a discovery call for a massive project. Unfortunately, she slipped through the cracks, so I was two weeks late responding to her inquiry. In the automated email it says that I will respond in one to three days and so I felt severely like I had dropped the ball. Luckily, she didn't care. We got to work together, the project turned out fine, but I was like, ‘I cannot let that happen. This is not a high-end experience.'
That was kind of the trigger for me like, 'I've got to get my crap together.'
–Katelyn
Current Dubsado user: 5+ Years
The Challenge
Service: Dubsado VIP Day
Current Dubsado user: 5+ Years
What Colie Did...
I really flexed my systems muscles with Katelyn’s project because instead of eliminating outside softwares, we developed a set of workflow triggers and reminders to help her automate + navigate between them. (Dubsado, Quickbooks, Calendly, ClickUp)
- Updated her emails to give them a pop of personality with GIFSs and added some more touch points to help clients use their client portal and remit payment for services.
- Improved her proposal process to bridge the gap between customizing the offer, client acceptance of the offer, signing a contract, and remitting payment inside Quickbooks.
- Created new client guides with extensive how-to videos to help her clients during their design process and after.
“I didn't know how much I could actually do successfully in an automation. Now she's got it all set up where it tells me what to do so I literally don't have to think about it.
She has the support window automated, so my clients know when it starts, know when it's ending, and there's actually an email that says, ‘Okay, we're done now.’ So there's a fine line in the sand where anywhere happening after that is a whole different project. I think the overall experience for my clients is going to be a lot better."
What happened next...
- Katelyn landed a $6k project immediately after putting the system in place.
- This project moved her closer to creating systems and SOPs in preparation for bringing on a VA so she can scale her business without increasing her workload.
- She feels more confident using her client systems so that nothing will be forgotten. Plus, moving her clients between her favorite applications is more streamlined.
- Her Dubsado is now amazeballs!
“Miracle worker! Colie was able to do in eight hours what I couldn't do in five years.”
Service: Dubsado VIP Day
Current Dubsado user: 5+ Years
Service: Dubsado VIP Experience + pictime setup
About the Client
Kati Douglas is a phenomenal wedding & family photographer based in the Bay Area, but more than that she is the best human. She came to me because her business was growing (YAY!) and she was long past the point of needing to automate tasks.
Ultimately, Kati wanted a system that would allow her to spend more time connecting with her amazing clients and less time scheduling and writing ALL the emails.
“I mean, I tried to get Dubsado to work and I think I got it to work some…. but I didn't know how all the elements worked together, and I didn't have the time to figure it out. Also, I am an artist and creatively speaking that kind of stuff really bums me out. I was finally like, ‘I might as well just outsource this.’" –Kati
Current Dubsado User: 2+ Years
The Challenge
SERVICE: DUBSADO VIP EXPERIENCE + PICTIME SETUP
Current Dubsado User: 2+ Years
What Colie Did...
Kati’s website is so amazing that I had to be sure that her clients had a cohesive experience throughout the booking process, especially when it came time to ask for the money. So I created her the most fucking awesome proposal I’ve ever made.
“She made it so it's really a breeze. Now I'm not going back and forth with clients, things are automatic.”
What Happened Next...
“I’ve made more sales with Pic-Time. Also there’s a much more emotional connection. Everybody was telling me, ‘Oh my gosh, this gallery brought me to tears.’
“I'm able to spend more time on what brings me joy, which is photography of course but also being with my children and balancing work and life.
“I don't feel burnt out by photography so much. My things that I am investing in are working for me and so I get to do the things that I love which is connecting with humans and documenting their days.”
“Colie really helped me level up my business and my back-end in a way that I didn't think was possible…."
SERVICE: DUBSADO VIP EXPERIENCE + PICTIME SETUP
Current Dubsado User: 2+ Years
what kati said
Testimonial
“I woke up and I didn't have anything to do a couple weeks ago, which has never happened to me. Because my contracts are out, everything's out, everything's automated. She automated my workflows to send me an email when I need to do the next step. Everything is so much easier now.” –Kati Douglas
This is what gets you paid!
Functionally, it's how you confirm a booking and collect your service fee. But the strategy and design behind it is what leads to higher conversions for your offer. Clearly articulate your offer and make the experience as on-brand as possible, particularly for photographers.
Your VIP Experience includes a full offer audit and customized proposal for your services.
Your proposal is a crucial piece in your booking process.
Maddie Peschong - Brand Photographer + Mentor
Meg Mosher - Family & Newborn Photographer
Annemie Tonken - Family Photographer + Educator
Service: Dubsado VIP Experience
About the Client
Kristyn Miller is a wedding and family photographer with a passion for helping families feel like their lives are valuable and worthy through documentary photojournalism. She’s also the founder of The Documented Heart, an education mentorship for family photographers.
She came to me because she was spending too much time sending proposals and contracts manually. And while she generally knew what she wanted Dubsado to do, she didn’t have the time and brainspace to actually sit down and do it.
“I hustled my way manually through so many pieces of client interactions. Too much time being inefficient in ways that were a detriment—both to the client service experience that I was trying to provide, and also to my own mental space, my own brain clarity, and my own ability to manage my time.”
Current Dubsado User: Less than 1 Year
The Challenge
Service: Dubsado VIP Experience
CURRENT DUBSADO USER: LESS THAN 1 YEAR
What Colie Did...
We also took a strategic look at all of Kristyn’s processes so that she could save time by eliminating or streamlining tasks while maintaining a high-touch experience for her clients.
“Now I can see the Stripe payment come through and then I can go and check the workflow and know that they've received an email with, ‘Thank you so much for booking, I'm so excited to work with you’—but it's an evergreen video! It's not just a long annoying email, and that feels good on a million sides.
“That’s one thing that I am always very sensitive to, because I would consider my services to be at the high end of pricing around here. I never want someone to feel like they've paid an invoice or gotten an invoice and there isn't some love wrapped around in it.”
What Happened Next...
- Kristyn is delivering a consistent experience for all clients, helping them feel loved and cared for from the very beginning.
- Tech is no longer a bottleneck. These automations give her more time and mental space to focus on growing the education side of her business and enjoying her family.
- Her studio manager is spending more time on marketing and customer service (her zone of genius!) instead of manually sending emails and trying to stay on top of workflows.
“I feel like I am closer than ever in my seven years of business to delivering the experience that I want to be delivering.”
Service: Dubsado VIP Day experience
Current Dubsado User: Less than 1 Year
what Kristyn said
Testimonial
“Colie has such a solid handle on what is possible from a 50,000 foot perspective—from initial inquiry all the way through to getting reviews and delivering products—and I really wanted to work with somebody who could look at the huge picture and not just be a task monkey about it. I was really looking for someone who could say, ‘Okay, I see that you're doing this and then you do this, but what if we accomplished 95% of it all in one step?’”
“She's no-BS and I appreciate that about her a lot, because in the rest of my life, there's a lot of BS. I just appreciate when someone is like, "Your options are A or B, what do you want?"
Service: Dubsado VIP Day
About the Client
Mary is a motherhood and brand photographer based out of Richmond, Virginia and a romantic at heart. She loves beautiful things and capturing beautiful things. But the business side of photography? Not her favorite.
Mary came to me because she was using Honeybook to send contracts but almost everything else was manual, basically creating invoices from scratch every time. She initially had a lot of hesitation towards templates & automation because her offers were custom and different for each client.
“I thought maybe if people got automated emails, they would think I was inauthentic. It didn’t feel natural to me, but then once I started hearing Colie talk about it on a podcast I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is not inauthentic. This is care for your client. This is showing up consistently, full information, no questions left to be had.’” - Mary
switched from Honeybook to Dubsado
The Challenge
Service: Dubsado VIP Day
Switched from Honeybook to Dubsado
What Colie Did...
- 17 canned emails
- 3 custom proposals
- 2 contracts
- 8 packages
- Dubsado settings and integration
I also created 5 workflows taking her clients from inquiry to delivery with a fully-automated booking system and the collection of client information for planning and feedback after delivery.
“I was so impressed with how quickly we set that up. That was crazy!”
Now, instead of endless customization, Mary is running her inquiry + onboarding with maximum automation, making more money with way less effort!
Her transformation...
- Honeybook user
- Only used a CRM for contract + invoice (created manually for each client)
- No automated workflows, just a checklist for limited task management
- Spending too much time running the business with less time for client interactions
- Struggling to manage a work-life balance
“I was so pumped because having this system set up, my time has been given back to me.”
Service: Dubsado VIP Day
Switched from Honeybook to dubsasdo
- Moved into Dubsado in a VIP Day
- Consolidated consultation scheduling and lead management in one system
- Fully embraced an automated booking system (proposal + contract + invoice)
- Utilized workflows that created a consistent experience for all clients
- Reclaimed time allowing her to book more clients
- Created boundaries to limit work and spend more time with her daughter
- Meeting her monthly financial goals with no burn out
what mary said
Testimonial
“I feel so confident in the business side that it's actually giving me the opportunity to just focus on what I naturally enjoy, which is the artist / creative side.”
So after trying to set up Dubsado yourself you figured out it isn't in your zone of genius. That's O-K-A-Y!!! Let me use what I’ve learned in the trenches running my own photography business with Dubsado - so you can curb any business backend uncertainties and have a system that works for yourself like clockwork.
It's time to focus on actually running your business without the burnout.
Here’s The Bottom Line…
Just take my money!
Kick your feet up while I do all the heavy lifting!
