Communicating with Your Team: The Clickup & Airtable Combo (Building a Team Series) with Ana Natkins
Communication is key to building a successful and productive team—the tools you use to communicate matter. In today’s episode, Ana Natkins joins us to share how you can use Clickup and Airtable to manage team communication, store important business information, and stay organized as a business.
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Guest Bio:
Ana Natkins, mother, wife, neuro-divergent and owner of Ana’s Simple Solutions and obsessed with anything puzzle or logic-related. (Sudoku anyone?)
She helps overwhelmed CEO’s and their teams get out of the weeds and create kick-ass systems that are simple, easy to follow and can save you 16 hours a week in what use to be wasted time. She loves freeing up individuals time and energy to spend on the things that matter most to them, whether it be her 10 year old’s want to play football, her want to nap in a hammock, or help a femprenuer launch a new product or service.
Today’s episode is brought to you by my Love Your Leads private audio training! Are you providing an experience for your leads that sets an expectation on when they’ll hear from you, provides them with tools that will help them easily say yes and book you, while also making them feel seen and heard? In my private audio training, you’ll learn how to love your leads and get more booked clients through an automated booking process.
Here are the highlights…
[1:08] Using Clickup & Airtable
[2:38] Get to Know Ana
[4:23] Communication with Clients & Teams
[6:44] Setting Goals and Policies for Team Members (KROs)
[9:15] Three Tips to Having Hard Conversations & Giving Feedback
[11:24] Client Facing vs Internal Team Members – Training & Policies
[14:22] The Value of Communication with Team Members
[17:00] Organization for Business
[18:09] Finding Brand & Client Information
[19:00] Building Your Hub (Business, Client, Team, etc)
[20:20] Combining Tools like Airtable & Clickup
[24:24] Using Clickup for Communicating
Mentioned in this Episode
Connect with Ana
facebook.com/AnaSimpleSolutions
instagram.com/anasimplesolutions
youtube.com/channel/@anasimplesolutions
anasimplesolutions.com/airtable-business-hub
Review the Transcript:
Colie: Hello, hello, and welcome back to the Business First Creatives Podcast. We are still talking all about teams and today I am chatting with Ana Natkins and we know each other from the Jordan Gill space, the done in a day world. But what really caught my eye about Ana and she has since changed her stance, but I’m going to ask her anyways. Hey, Ana, why does everyone need Airtable and ClickUp in their business?
Ana: so everyone I think should use the tool that works best for them. And ClickUp is phenomenal with project management. And Airtable is phenomenal with information management. And together, they are the gear that I have worked with dozens, if not hundreds, of clients to make their business work. And, so it’s really the power couple when you ask me for small and growing businesses.
Colie: I mean, I happen to use both, so I 100 percent agree with you. I just remember we were on a call together. And someone said something and you are just so adamant about, no, I will not do one of them. Like the clients that I want need to do both. And I know I’m putting you on the spot, but one of the reasons that I just wanted to bring this up is that, you know, we have opinions about what we feel like everyone needs.
And if we have those opinions, there’s usually a reason. So, I mean, there are things that you might want to do, and if you are only looking at Airtable, you are probably missing this functionality, which is what we’re going to be chatting about today. So, guys, Ana is going to be slipping in here to talk about communication, because in the other episodes in this series, we have talked all about how to prepare your business to bring on a team.
But, like, once you have the team… What do you do? And so that’s what I’m going to chat with Anna about today. So Ana, why don’t you just tell us who you are and what you do besides loving both Airtable and ClickUp to get us started?
Ana: What? Just like spending my whole day and that technology isn’t enough. No, no. So I am Anna Atkins. I am the owner of Anna’s Simple Solutions and we work mostly with overwhelmed, stressed out mama bear CEOs and of course their teams as well to systemize and streamline communications in their business using ClickUp and Airtable especially.
My, uh, my favorite clients. are women CEOs that are passionate about what they do and want to grow and make an impact on the world, just like you. And, I specifically love working with neurodivergent clients. I am neurodivergent myself, so is my family. It’s just a bunch of superpowers all on top of each other and it makes everyday fun.
Colie: So let’s, let’s start with the communication because I love that like this, I I feel like the communicating part of my business is the part that I didn’t anticipate. Even before I started doing systems when I was a photographer, I feel like I thought I was just going to be getting all these amazing clients and they were just going to book when I sent them the proposal and I was going to photograph them and I was going to edit their images and I was going to send it and like that was going to be my process.
And of course, all of us know At least me. I mean, and I know that most of the clients that I work with are the same. We spend so much time in our day communicating with clients. And then when you add team members on top of that, like, communication is what makes a great team. If you can’t figure out a way to communicate with your team.
You guys are not going to be successful. You’re not going to be able to do whatever it is that your goals are. So, how is it that you approach setting up communications for a team when they hire you? I mean, and we don’t have to start with, like, the tech. Just in general, what are some guidelines that you think everyone should consider when they are laying out, like, a plan for communication in their teams?
Ana: So communication is really several different aspects. And one,, it is not only the talking or the speaking to someone. It’s not only the emailing to someone. It’s also being aware of where someone else is coming from. And a lot of us don’t consider that when we are working with. It’s just not what we think of on a day to day basis, but we think about where someone else is coming from.
It can change the message significantly from your mouth to their ears, so to speak. So one of the things that is really important when you talk about communication is kind of setting the scene, making sure they are in a place to receive the information. Making sure that you’re in a place to send the information.
And a lot of this is just kind of innate and you get used to it as you go on. But a lot of the pieces of which I work with clients on specifically have to do with setting up policies that they introduced their, their team to when they come in the business. Something for them to read through, to understand.
And then also talking through, answering any questions about the policies. Really hitting communications, not only through… Just the speaking, like I said, but also through the reading, through the way that you interact with them, asking them how their day was, and almost that little soft skills, touchy feely aspect of it, making them comfortable to be part of the team and to contribute, um, to the culture.
I know I just went through a lot of stuff there. Anything you want to pick? Good.
Colie: though. I mean, I’m finding this fascinating because, I mean, I think the worst thing that you can do is hire a team member and not do that kind of, in some way, you have to introduce them to their business. You can’t just hire someone and throw them in and be like, this is what I need from you and just expect it to get done.
So there’s the like initial intake, if you will, the policies that you said, putting in place, making sure that everyone is on the same page. Once you’ve kind of gotten through that. introductory phase, if you will, like, you know, you’ve brought the team member on, they seem to be a good fit, they’ve run through all of the policies, they seem to understand what is the next phase of communication that we need to consider, after, you know, after they’ve been with us for 60, 90 days.
What’s the next step?
Ana: So those policies and setting, we didn’t, you just kind of brought it into my head, like the setting of the goals for them, making sure they understand not only how to be part of this team, but also what the goals that they have and you have for them. So we’re, I think we’re still talking a little bit about policy and that, but understanding, the.
End results of the first 30, 60, 90 days is also very important, and making sure they are part of that, that understanding. So we call them, KROs, and I’m going to have to let you know exactly what that means. It’s a little bit like KPIs. And when you work with someone to kind of set like these are the things that we want you to do in the first 30 days, the first 60 days, the 90 days. So there’s no questions as to what those pieces are that there are going, going to, um, attend. Um, and I’m still kind of setting the stage. for the whole communication, because that is a large part of it.
But once you get into the actual work and the communication that happens when actual projects are being done, that’s almost the next phase of this.
Colie: Yeah. So once you get into that phase and you’re working with your team members, and let’s say that They are perhaps not hitting their goals as they should. Um, what is the, what is the best advice that you have for someone who needs to communicate that the goals are not being met? Because I struggle. To explain this concept to other people, because I, I feel like I’m, I’m good at it by nature.
Like, if you’re not doing what I need you to do, I’m going to create some loom videos. I’m going to, you know, like, when it, when it comes to training my editor, for example, what I would do is I would go in and I would specifically choose like 5 images that I don’t feel like they edited to my style. And I would screen record myself editing.
And then I would be like, this was what you edited. Okay. This was what I edited and this is the steps that it took me to get from your edit to my edit. So I need you to, you know, make a note in my client file or whatever it is, but like, this should be the end result. And of course, I would do that to enough to where I thought I was getting my point across and then I would be like, okay, now take another stab at that session and send it back to me when it’s done.
But for people that don’t feel like they’re able to like, you know, articulate that in a good manner, how is it that you help people like buff themselves up, if you will, to have those kinds of hard conversations when their expectations are not being met?
Ana: That’s a really great question. So I have kind of a three tips that I ask people to think through when they’re having these types of conversations. The first one is think about being approachable. You don’t want to comment someone like with a knife saying you did this wrong. You want to be like, okay, if I was, and we all know we all have had those conversations.
Clients at some point to get very, very frustrated very quickly. But so think about the other side of that situation and then also be very clear and concise with your messages. Don’t try to fluff it up saying I did this and I spent like wasted two hours of my time, et cetera, et cetera. Keep it very clear.
This is the issue that I saw. These are some ways that I think that we could think through how to resolve it. In your instance, you create loom videos, which is excellent. Anything that they can see is better. And then also embracing empathy. Again, those soft skills and a lot of people in the business world, I feel, don’t really feel like there’s a place for empathy, but when you talk about your team, this is the people that you spend most of your time working with and being able to see things from their angle, as well as helping them see things from your angle.
is a really great thing. So be approachable, keep it clear and concise, and embrace empathy are the three things that, I ask my clients to kind of like think through when they’re going to, talk to a, a team member.
Colie: So Ana, this just brought something up and I mean, I don’t even know if it fits into this conversation, but it just popped into my head. Is there anything that you recommend that people do different if the team member is like client facing or if they’re just on the backend? Cause I just, it just came to mind.
Like, I think I would talk to someone differently, or maybe I would have different policies if I knew that that team member was going to be directly interacting with my clients versus only interacting with me. And I mean, because regardless, they are a representation of your brand, even if the clients don’t see them.
But like, do you do something different if the clients are actually going to be talking to them and know that they exist?
Ana: Can I ask you some more questions just to dive into that a little bit more, so I understand where you’re coming from. So, from, from the surface, you’re asking if one of my team members is facing a client, let’s say a customer care person, and they’re answering questions. Do, if I see an issue with Their relationship with the client or the or how I treat them if there’s an issue at all.
Colie: Oh, I just meant any of it. Like, is there just anything different that you suggest in terms of setting communication policies and that sort of thing, if they’re going to have direct contact with your client, or if you and your internal team are going to be the only people that are, you know, communicating with this team member?
Ana: you totally hit the nail on the head policies at the beginning. This is how we treat our clients. I Have a client that I’ve worked with for a long time and we have a zoom etiquette. For her clients, the way that she wants her team, her coaches that work with them, like speak with them. Like you’ll notice, I had a situation today where I couldn’t be at home and I have like a background where there’s, very, you know, it’s very curated, but not so much.
It does fit my style. But I needed to be in a place today. I couldn’t be a coffee shop for this. as I’m representing my business to you. So that kind of, those kinds of policies and, entrepreneurs. When it comes to, someone that works with the clients a lot, I actually recommend having periodic, you know, like teachers have, people come in and observe them.
So periodically watch it and see the good interactions and commend them for it and then say, oh, we would like to do this a little bit more with our clients, make sure that they feel X, Y, Z. That is a bit of work, but it is your brand. So when you actually have those, not only does it connect you more with that team member, it helps that team member connect more with the client, which is what you want at the end of the day anyway.
Colie: Okay, Anna, literally in my head, what I was, you were talking, but what I was hearing was, you know, when you call, like, cause I called Marriott this morning, I had to change a hotel reservation and, you know, they have that this call is being recorded for training purposes. I was like, that’s exactly what you’re talking about.
Having someone watch recorded interactions of you with a client to like, give you that kind of feedback because I mean, I think that is just a brilliant idea. First of all, setting expectations for 30, 60, 90 days, just to recap what Anna has already told us is amazing because there’s nothing worse than working with someone and they think that they’re absolutely killing it and you’re waiting until 3 months in to be like, no, I’m completely dissatisfied with your work like that should never happen.
And if that does happen, that’s on you. That’s not on them. Like, if they’re not meeting your expectations, you do have to find a way to communicate this. But doing that periodic, especially for people who are client facing, where you might not be present, and you might not actually have first hand knowledge of like, what’s going on on the client calls, that’s amazing.
Ana: Yes, and I want to just touch on something else that I thought of seeing just going off in different directions here when you talk with your teammates a lot of people get very nervous sometimes they feel like big brothers watching if you say I’m going to be recording and watching these. They may feel you don’t have confidence in them.
So again, we’re going to go back to communication, how this is communicated to your team when they come in, and how you say that can have the complete difference between not feeling like part of the team and like you’re not doing things right, and then also feeling like, Oh, they want to help me get better at what I’m doing, and it’s not a negative thing.
Even just thinking about how to communicate that aspect. is, is a really good point.
Colie: I mean, but I’m just going to take it one step further because if you are currently having any interactions or calls with your clients, everyone should be recording these. And for the sole purpose of you might miss something if you’re, you know, taking notes furiously, you might miss a really important thing that your client says, but also in the.
In the, you know, the land of client research and using your customer’s voice in your marketing, everything should be recorded because you never know when your client is going to say the most amazing thing about you and your business off the cuff during one of these client calls, offboarding calls, intake calls, like all of them.
If you’re doing something, right, your clients are probably going to communicate that to you. And so having these taped where you can then create a transcript where you can then pull this for testimonials and case studies and all of these things. I mean, I think that if I. I mean, I think now we expect everything to be recorded now, 10 years ago, that wasn’t the thing 10 years ago.
I think that if I was someone’s employee and they told me that they were going to, you know, tape everything that I did, I’d be like, why? I mean, but like, now that wouldn’t be my stance. Everyone records everything. And so I think it’s different now than it
Ana: That’s a whole other podcast episode.
Colie: I mean, I feel like this is a good segue into talking about, and I’m going to, I’m going to start here and I’m going to let you run with it. Why do you think that Airtable is a great tool for businesses to use in order to manage some of that communication? And then maybe we’ll talk about what’s missing and why it needs to be paired with a project management tool, which you and I love ClickUp, but really it needs a project management tool.
Period. Even if it’s not ClickUp.
Ana: So, I’m gonna just kind of compare the two. One of the big things about communication that can be difficult for a team is even the ability to find In find information, find documents. Are you okay?
Colie: am girl, like, like finding emails is like, I mean, that’s what I tell everybody when I’m trying to explain to someone the difference between using like Dubsado. And I know that that’s not the topic of this, but like using Dubsado to communicate with your client versus Gmail, I’m always like, but you can go to one place.
To see everything that you have sent this one client, how many of us, like five, six years ago spent hours in our Gmail looking for a particular email that we know we sent, but we just can’t seem to put our finger on it. Like, all of these tools help you eliminate that kind of, you know, hide and seek, if you will, with your
Ana: I could go on a whole tangent about how, uh, Slack should not be used for project management, but that’s a whole other story. I mean, it is important to talk about in context of communication, but when going back to kind of the air table example, being able to pull together All information for your clients.
So not only conversations that you’ve had, but also, when they signed up with you, how long they’ve been on your, on your email list, like anything marketing related, on there, as well as just where are your brands. What are your brand colors? What are your social media links that you need, like, on a whim?
I could go on and on. What are your Zoom meetings that you need to send to somebody if they don’t have it at the last minute? The amount of time that you and your team spend looking for it, could equal days in a week. I could tell many, many stories about this. So, actually, one of the first things that I do when I set up Airtable for a client or recommend it is creating something called a business hub.
I’ve heard it called an executive hub. Basically, it’s a team hub where all of the information Anyone could possibly need is accessible through that hub, whether it’s a list of all the clients that are active, or all the information, those quick links that I talked about, a list of the SOPs, the SOPs are standard operating procedures, speaking of communication and how important those are, where they are when they were last updated.
And everything of that nature is what I first set up because that will save the most amount of time, um, of anything that I could do for them. Now people say, well, can’t you set that up in ClickUp as well or a project management tool? Yes, but it’s harder to get to, generally speaking, in project management tools, because project management tools are meant for the doing of the projects or the operations and to track the resources doing XYZ and how long it takes them.
It’s just not. Super strong at that. And what’s great about Airtable is that you can actually embed that into a project management tool, like just the screen of it, and you can have it in the same place, but have the right tool doing the right job. I’m getting a little techie, so I just, I decided to bring this back around to the communication
Colie: you know, I appreciate the techie and I, I do, I do also appreciate the fact that you are like saying, but you can use ClickUp for this. It’s just not the best tool because often people are like, well, I don’t want to use multiple tools. And you know, for a while, I think that you can get away with that.
Like if you want to pick one tool and stick with it. That’s great. Maybe you need a little buffer time in order to get everything you know, organized, but quickly in a lot of cases with the tools, you are going to outgrow that function like Anna saying, like, you’re gonna realize that, oh well, you know, it took me 10 minutes to find this today.
Whereas if I would just stick it in an Airtable hub, I could have clicked a button and had it like lifetime client value. That is my big thing when I ask photographers, okay, who are your top 10 clients? And they’re like. Oh, I don’t know. They’re like, well, what, wait, what do you mean? And I’m like, who’s, who’s paid you the most money over the years?
And they’re like, oh, well, I. I don’t know. Let me get a calculator. Let me go on Dubsado and type the person’s name and look at each project and like, write down how much they paid you and add it all up. Guys, that’s, that’s ridiculous. You should be able to look in one place and be like, oh, over the last 7 years, it’s.
This one family has paid me 14, 000. Like that’s something that you should be able to find rather quickly. If you are trying to send out client gifts or send out appreciation notes or like any of those kinds of things, it’s good to be able to answer those kinds of questions quickly, because it can help you with your marketing.
It can help you with your client experience and, you know, elevating that. I just, there are so many reasons that you want to have
Ana: help with your stress level. I can’t tell you how many times I lose my keys and I’m running around the house like ten minutes at a time going crazy.
Colie: You need air
Ana: Yes.
Colie: which I mean, funny story. We’re going to go off on a tangent slightly. I went to my mom’s house yesterday and I was taking her something and when I was knocking on the door, I heard something like bang against the door and I looked at my keys and I was like, oh, well, that’s maybe my keys hit it.
I went inside. I dropped off what I needed. I left. I got in my car. I got to the light and my phone is alerting me that I don’t have my keys. And I’m like, well, no, I have my keys. I’m, I’m driving my car. I have my keys. Turns out that bang was my AirTag coming off of my key chain. And so I told my mom, Hey, go outside, go get my AirTag, bring it in the house.
Um, but that’s how I make sure that I can find my keys because. Yeah, I lose my keys all the time. And that little timing or being able to see where they are in my phone is great. And oh my gosh, that’s what an AirTag does. And Airtable is that version for your business. All right. You guys saw me put that together in my mind right
Ana: I saw that come all together. No, that’s great. Yeah, it’s, it’s a great place to keep all that information. And another great aspect to it is that It really is the hub that connects your whole business. So even if you have a separate CRM bit system and project management system, and let’s say you use Circle for group coaching or what have you, for photography, Airtable is one of those systems that can actually pull that information in.
It integrates with a lot of, software naturally, , but it also works very well with Zapier or Make, to name a couple. So if you have that there as a way to look at all this information without having to double enter it, that’s another good aspect to it that is probably the next step in the process once you’ve, you’ve kind of started using it.
I did realize this was going to become an Airtable commercial, but, um,
Colie: know they should be
Ana: I just love it that much. It does so much for you.
Colie: maybe we’ve talked enough about Airtable. Let’s click over to click up. . Oh my gosh, guys, this is me. I’m not enough coffee. Okay, so communication and click up. I think I perfectly understand how things are working inside of Airtable. What is it that a business would use click up for in terms of internal communications, but then also is that where they’re doing all of the communicating with the actual clients, like outside of the business?
Talk to me about why you love click up.
Ana: So I love ClickUp because it provides multiple ways for communications. So of course it has the project management aspect and the task management aspect. I also love that it has custom fields that you can communicate information quickly on each of the tasks without having to dive into each one.
That’s phenomenal. The documents, there’s a lot of people. are kind of 50 50 on whether they like the documents of ClickUp and as ClickUp becomes a more solid software It’s developed very quickly. So it’s had some glitches in the past. I believe that the document section for things like Client briefs, client updates, and things of that nature, because they can be shared very easily with a client, is going to become more and more, prevalent in how it’s used.
I use it, for many clients as the SOP base as well. I could go on and on. There are chat features that happens. I run most of my meetings out of ClickUp, and meaning I have a dashboard that has the agenda for the meeting. I have an area where chat is available. So. the team members can put concerns or questions in there.
We even have calendars that go in there. So it’s also a really great way to kind of pull in some other information. But what is really important when it comes to ClickUp is to really focus on communicating team. All within ClickUp and not in an outside source, like, so not within email, not within Slack when it has to do with project specific things.
Because once communication goes into other channels, nobody knows what’s going on and you can’t find it. Going back to that.
Colie: I mean, because you’ll sit there and you’ll be like, okay, no, I know I sent this message. Oh, let me check Gmail. Oh, let me check Slack. Oh, let me see if I texted it to you. And then it’s like, oh, but if you make everybody go to ClickUp, it will all be there for anyone to access. So that if you have to step aside, if you’re going on vacation, your team members have access to the things that you’ve already communicated related to that project.
I mean, that’s just. It’s so time saving, but it’s also just so efficient and efficiency is my love language. So,
Ana: efficiency and effectiveness. I’m gonna, go on to that bandwagon here because if you are, if you are efficient, efficient, uh, I forget the quote. It’s efficiency is doing a lot of things quickly and effectiveness is doing the right things.
Colie: Ooh.
Ana: so if you’re able to do both, winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Um, so that, that’s kind of like what I, what I ride on when, when I talk, talk about those types of things within ClickUp. And also, there are functionalities in ClickUp, such as being able to send emails out through tasks. Which is great, but, so the name of my business is Ana’s Simple Solutions. I’m always very much, I want to look at the simple way to do things first, and then understand, oh, there’s this feature, and I have a need to do this, that I could use this to do that feature, rather than trying to do everything at once, which is what a lot of people do with ClickUp, because it can be overwhelming.
And then add that in once they have a really good use case for it.
Colie: I feel like those of us that set up systems, regardless what tool we’re using. I feel like sometimes we have to, like, hold ourselves back. Like, I know that you could do this, this, this, this, and this in your business. But, like, we have a responsibility to recognize that they probably don’t need all those things set up at once.
Because we want to, we want to create systems for you that you are actually going to use. I would feel heartbroken if I turned over a system to someone and they’re like, I’m so overwhelmed, I don’t even know that I can use this. Like, That would be the worst feeling. And so when it comes to these tools, these tools have a lot of amazing features.
Does not mean you have to use every single feature. You need to use the features that are most aligned with your business, your goals, and your needs. Versus, oh, it does this. How can I use this in my business? Yeah, no. Let’s start with your goals. Mm hmm.
Ana: Well, and like, kind of go back to what I’m going to bring this back to the conversation we’re having at the beginning about how to talk to your team. Being even approaching a tool like think about the same types of things. approach it, you know, and look at it at like, okay, these are the things that I want to use.
This is what I’m actually looking at it for. Make sure what you’re putting in there is clear and concise. Same thing, you know, when you talk to someone, okay, I need this project and these subtasks within this project and kind of start it off that way. And just think about how the person on the other end is going to understand that information, that empathy piece.
And that’s kind of how, why I always start off with like mapping out processes and client journeys to kind of understand the whole flow of it to make it simple for those, for people to use. Again, a lot of people want to use one tool for everything, but in, when you do that, you have to think of everything at once, how you could possibly use everything.
And I just, I think that’s a recipe for, for inefficiency.
Colie: Well, and the thing about Airtable using it as your base is if you’re using all of these different tools, because I feel like people, people, number one, don’t want to pay for a bunch of tools. And the truth is, guys, like Airtable, like I pay for Airtable, but most people could probably get away with the free plan.
It could be perfectly fine. So it’s not that we’re going to force you to pay for like yet another tool, but like, this is the tool that could house and like, tell you where to go for everything else, which really helps with the organization and the management of your business. Instead of, you know, trying to figure out how to make everything work inside of the one tool.
I always use the Dubsado calendar as like a real, the scheduler as a really good example.
Ana: Oh
Colie: I ask clients a lot of questions about what you need your scheduler to do. And I don’t recommend that everyone use the Dubsado scheduler. Like there are a lot of reasons.
Ana: I don’t use it
Colie: I mean, there are a lot of reasons why other tools may suit you better, even if we then can’t trigger workflows and things after something is scheduled or anything of that nature, the benefits.
Of the other tool being like Acuity or Calendly, for example, those were made to be schedulers. So they do a lot of things that like this Dubsado scheduler. That’s inside of the, of the system does they don’t do the same things. And so I struggle to tell people, you know, you may want to continue to pay for your scheduler because I don’t think Dubsado scheduler is a good fit for you.
And sometimes they insist. No, I want everything inside one tool. Okay. And then they come back and they’re like, well, how do I do recurring? Okay. Recurring schedule. I’m like, yeah, you can’t. That’s why I told you to keep a Q and a in the first place
Ana: How, how do you cancel a one and reschedule? That’s, that’s always been a brain scratcher.
Colie: if the, , if your reminders have already gone out, they’re like, oh, Coley, they rescheduled and they didn’t get the reminders. I’m like, yes, because the reminders don’t reset. So, I mean, guys, these are things. That people like Anna and I, like, we know that these are the little quirks and all of the tools because we have thoroughly tested them.
But like, you know, before you end up choosing a tool and like, going all in, you have to do your research. And if that includes having conversations with people like us, you should do that because there’s nothing worse than you, like, going all in on a tool. And then 60 days down the line, you realize it doesn’t do these, like, very key.
Pieces that your business runs on, and all of a sudden you’ve invested all this time and money in a tool that isn’t going to get the job done. There’s nothing worse than that. Nothing.
Ana: I know. I always feel that that is the One of the hardest things about being in business and trying to grow is kind of figuring out what those tools are and I love getting messages on Facebook or Instagram from people asking these questions because I would, even though I love ClickUp and Airtable, I’m not just going to recommend that because it’s what I think is important.
that works well for me. It really depends on lots of aspects of your business. And I’m always open to those questions because at the end of the day, I just, I want to see small businesses prosper. And so that’s just a little plug to send me a DM.
Colie: I mean, and I will, you know, chime in with that as well, girl, because what I love is I tell people I’ve got a five minute rule. Like, if you send me a question and I can answer your question in less than five minutes without doing any research or anything of my own, I am happy to answer those questions for you because I don’t want everyone to switch to a tool just because I tell you it’s great.
It’s great for me. It’s great for the person that I set it up for. It may not be great for you. And so again, I just want to say, I mean, I’m sorry. It’s like my, it’s like my disclaimer on every one of these episodes where we heavily talk about tools, I’m like, do not run out and just get these tools because we talked about them.
And we talked about our love for them because these tools do not work for every single business.
Ana: And to bring this right back around to communication, if you are using a tool and you just cannot wrap your head around it, you’ve, you know, gone online, you’ve tried to do trainings, then it’s not the tool for you to communicate your team with to your, I mean, it’s communication with yourself. It’s making notes to yourself as well.
That is not the tool. Don’t use it just because everyone’s like, this is great. It’s, you know, The cat’s pajamas or whatever you want to call it, you know,
Colie: I mean, we’ve, we’ve said a lot of phrases in this episode.
Ana: I, I love catchphrases. They’re great.
Colie: All right, uh, do you have any other closing thoughts, like just something that you want to, that you thought that you wanted to tell the listening audience about communicating with your team that we didn’t quite hit on?
Ana: What a great question. there’s nothing specific other than I want to encourage thinking about how the, the person on the other end. of the communication is going to receive the message. If I can drive anything home, it’s that aspect of communication. Because we’re, we’re business owners, we work fast, we want to make sure that, you know, we’re, we’re communicating everything.
But the way that it is absorbed, regardless if it’s a client or a team member, and this is something that I think All businesses struggle with and work through over and over and over whether you’re Google or you know the person who sells cookies next door is, is like how to communicate in a way that they’ll actually absorb it.
And every person is different. So, it’s the simplest part of business and yet the most complicated at the same time. And I think it needs to be given the thought that, that it deserves, because that is how you’re going to actually be successful in the long run, internally and externally to your clients.
Colie: I mean, I have been saying for quite some time, I think every business owner should be forced to take a marketing class. I think every business owner should be forced to take a communication class. That’s my next thing I’m going to, I’m going to say every time.
Ana: For you to get a business license, you have to take these
Colie: Yes. Yes. That sounds great. And I tell the listening audience where they can find out more about you and your services.
Ana: You can find out more about me. My website is Ana Simple Solutions. So it’s A N A S I M P L E solutions. com I didn’t shorten that to A S S even because, even though I work on the back end of systems. And then you can find me, mostly on LinkedIn at Anna dot net or Anna dash napkins. And then on Facebook, Anna Simple Solutions, Instagram, Anna Simple Solutions.
And also, for the people listening to this podcast, I am giving away a free Airtable hub, like template. And so I’m going to send you
Colie: I will put that in the show notes.
Ana: And I would love to hear, how, how that helps. And, and if you have any questions regarding Airtable.
Colie: Awesome. All right, guys. I hope that you guys are motivated after listening to this episode to examine the communication inside of your business, whether it is with your team members. or with your actual clients. And we would love to hear your takeaways on Instagram. So DM either one of us.
Ana: woof! Woohoo!
Colie: All right.
That’s it for this episode. See you next time.
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