How to Use Dubsado as a Wedding Planner
At this point, we think we’ve established that Dubsado is the perfect CRM for service-based businesses. Really, it doesn’t even matter what kind of service-based business you are or what industry you’re in– Dubsado is almost guaranteed to be a surefire option for you.
However, many people use it in different ways depending on their industry and their own client processes, one of those people being Wedding Planners. So, today, we want to cover how to use Dubsado as a Wedding Planner! If you’re a Planner who’s been on the fence about whether Dubsado will work for you, hopefully this will clear up any worries or confusion you may have about the software!
New Inquiries
Your process for new leads will be easier than ever using Dubsado because all the tools you would use are native Dubsado features! Dubsado has different form options for you to use, including lead capture forms. You’re able to create a lead capture form to collect new leads/inquiries that you can then either embed on your website or share the direct link that Dubsado generates.
You could even attach a lead capture form to your scheduler (which is also housed in Dubsado). This would be awesome for allowing leads to go ahead and book a call when filling out the lead capture form instead of having to email them in between. However, some people prefer to review the lead capture form and make sure the client would be a good fit before scheduling a call, which is understandable!
Form Builder
We mentioned lead capture forms already, but Dubsado also lets you build your own questionnaires, proposals, contracts, and subcontracts. Questionnaires are especially versatile because you don’t have to include questions; they can serve more as informational sheets, so the possibilities are endless! Subcontracts allow you to get client approvals on different aspects of the wedding that you need them to sign off on.
Their drag-and-drop builder makes designing and customizing your forms super easy, so you can create the most beautiful and jaw-dropping forms you’ve ever seen! We know how important design is to you as a wedding planner, so you can relax knowing that you’re able to create fully functional forms that aren’t plain and boring.
Getting Paid
When you send a proposal in Dubsado, you have the option to make it a streamlined, 3-step process, so getting paid is beyond easy. Clients are able to select their package, and from there they’re taken to the contract. Once they sign and submit, they’re then able to pay their first invoice. You can also apply a payment schedule to a project and Dubsado will automatically send payment reminders to the client!
On the payment end, Dubsado is able to connect with Stripe, PayPal, or Square. They also have a direct integration with bookkeeping software, Quickbooks and Xero. This could be awesome if you’re booking tons of weddings and need a more robust bookkeeping system to keep track of your income and expenses, but we’ve gotta say that Dubsado has their own bookkeeping tools as well. You’re able to:
Create project sources, track where projects came from, and see how much income is coming from those sources
View and export complete lists of your invoices and transactions
View a Chart of Accounts that lists your income and expenses, where you can filter by time range, as well as export your profit & loss
View colorful charts of an overview of your income, expenses, net profit, and sales
If you want to read more in-depth about how to use Dubsado for bookkeeping, check out this blog post.
Client Portal
The client portal is the ultimate client hub! Inside, clients can view basically everything related to their project in one easy spot. They’re able to find:
A home page overview that tells them right off the bat how many unread emails from you they have, incomplete forms are left to view or complete, and open invoices they have to pay
Your business contact information
All of their invoices, contracts, forms and documents, appointment dates, and tasks (if applied to the portal)
All emails that have been sent between you
The business and contact info you have on file for them, plus the ability to edit this info
You’re able to add links and PDF documents to their portal, meaning you can send basically anything to be kept inside the portal for easy access! We go over the client portal in more detail in this post.
Automation with Workflows
As a busy planner, we know how powerful the ability to automate can be to you. Luckily, Dubsado has that functionality with their workflows! You can automate your processes so that you barely have to think twice about them aside from needing to edit an email or two here or there for more personalization to the specific client or project.
Since there are multiple step options for workflows, the possibilities here are endless. You can automatically send off emails a certain time after you’ve finished a project to ask for a testimonial (with a questionnaire form), respond to new inquiries, send out vendor questionnaires, send out other forms/documents that are timely (90 days out from the wedding, for example), etc.
For a full step-by-step on how to create workflows, head over here.
Aside from workflows, there are other simple automation-like features that make a big difference, like smart fields and custom mapped fields! You can insert smart fields into emails or forms, and it will automatically generate information in that field that’s specific to the project (i.e. the client name, project start date or end date, your business info, the current date of the year, etc.).
With custom mapped fields, you’re able to gather more custom information about the client or the project. For example, on your lead capture form or a questionnaire, you can add a space asking the date of their wedding. From there, you can link it back to the custom mapped field that you created for the wedding date, and that date will show up on their project page. If it’s a client mapped field, that info will follow them around on other projects.
As you can see, Dubsado is basically Cinderella’s glass slipper for service-based businesses, especially Wedding Planners. It’s the perfect fit for all that Planners have to do for their clients in preparation for their big day.
If you’re ready to get on board with Dubsado, you can learn more about the software and save 30% off your first month or year right here.
