Automation, Honeybook

The Scoop on the New Honeybook Automation Builder

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A podcast where you join me (Colie) as I chat about what it takes to grow a sustainable + profitable business.

Business-First Creatives Podcast

CRM Guru, Family Filmmaker, and Host of the Business-First Creatives podcast. I help creative service providers grow and streamline their businesses using Dubsado, Honeybook, and Airtable.

Hey, I'm Colie

Have you heard about the new Honeybook Automation Builder? I’ve only had it for 24 hours… but I am HOOKED! I wanted to share my quick thoughts as I prepare to create new templates for the Systems Shop and educational videos for my YouTube channel based on the new features coming in the new automations builder.

Conditional Automation Steps

There are TOTALLY different things I should address first, but conditional automation steps are the biggest benefit of the Honeybook new automation builder… period. Now you can design a customer journey based on whether or not your client take a particular action.

Did they schedule the consultation call from that scheduler you sent? If yes, do THIS. No? Let’s remind them to do it again.
Did they book your services from the SmartFile you sent? If yes, let’s send them a booking confirmation email and next steps. No? Let’s remind them why YOU are the person to solve their problem and automatically send some follow-up booking reminders! [I talk about this HERE.]
Did they view your file? …pay you the deposit? …sign your contract? …schedule a session? Now you can offer a different path or set of actions based on what they did (or didn’t do).

Apply more than one Honeybook Automation to a project, concurrently

In the previous automations builder, you could only have ONE active automation on a project at a time. Major bummer as you would need to delete one automation in order to apply another. Now? You can have many automations running simultaneously. This is a game changer, particularly for those who offer more than one service inside the same project.

For wedding photographers, you can have one automation running for the wedding and another running for the engagement session.

For newborn photographers, you can run one automation for the newborn session and another for a maternity/milestone session. Very helpful if you currently have (or want to add) Baby Plans in your offer suite.

💛 Want to ask for feedback? Now you can have this action inside its own automation! Click here to read more about my feedback questionnaire template, which includes. emails + workflow actions!
💛 Want to separate your inquiry and booking processes like I have discussed HERE? Create a separate inquiry and booking automation and apply both to the same project.

Here are the Honeybook Automation red flags 🚩

I promise you, the good outweighs the bad, but I am compelled to show you the red flags for the new Honeybook Automation builder.

All of your old automation templates will be removed from your account when you switch to the new automation builder. It’s okay, your new one will be better!
Y~~ou cannot apply a new automation manually~~. You can now add an automation manually, but you need a automatic version and manual version.
You cannot edit, pause, or delete an automation once it is applied. NOTE: they are already working on this, but for now, ~~you can’t edit an email inside an automation once applied to a project~~. No more customization or placeholder language allowed. You can now load an email draft inside the automation, but this cannot be used when you are sending a file. You still cannot edit or pause an automation, you only have the option to cancel it.
You cannot resend a SmartFile without the system duplicating it. This has always been the case, but I had my fingers crossed for an improvement for this.

Final thoughts on the new Honeybook Automation Builder

I am very excited about the opportunities the new Honeybook Automations afford us as photographer and creative entrepreneurs. It’s like my FAVORITE Honeybook feature and most LOVED automated communication had a baby.

If you’re feeling a little stuck or just want some tips on how to create your new Honeybook Automations, I’m here to help! Newly designed automation templates are coming to the systems shop!

Also, feel free to reach out if you want to set up a quick chat. Be sure to follow me on Instagram, I love talking systems and helping others simplify their customer journey so they can focus on the parts of their business they truly love. Let’s make your client experience the best it can be!