Learn how HoneyBook Pro Molly Balint signed up four students to her mastermind and booked three discovery calls—all within a week—using HoneyBook’s contact form, email templates, brochure and more.
The situation
Molly of Farmhouse Creative Marketing describes herself as a “business mentor that’s equal parts heart & know-how.” She works with women business owners through 1:1 consulting, self-paced courses and a mastermind program, helping them to identify their purpose and gifts—and how to use them to build a successful business.
As a busy entrepreneur, Molly needed a way to manage the different aspects of her business more effectively, including:
- To sell and book 1:1 consulting sessions
- Molly needed a way for website inquiries to easily schedule a discovery call, then book and pay for their actual sessions later. For those who were ready to go without a discovery call, she needed a way to let them pay and schedule their session right away.
- To nurture potential clients
- Regularly sharing valuable content with her Instagram followers has meant more DMs in Molly’s inbox from people interested in working with her. Molly needed a way to nurture them, providing them with the information and next steps they needed to turn from an inquiry into a client.
- To sell her mastermind
- In order to participate in Molly’s Heart & How mastermind group, interested entrepreneurs have to submit an application. She needed a way to manage the process—and get paid.
The challenge
Before she started using HoneyBook, a client management software for small businesses, she had her services set up as products in a Squarespace Shop.
“I had no way to effectively and professionally answer inquiries or set up Discovery Calls. Every time someone purchased a 1:1 session from me, I was re-writing the same email with the same questions over and over again,” she said.
“And because I didn’t have a system in place, many times people would purchase a session or audit from me and not receive a confirmation or information on how to schedule time on my calendar. I felt like I was leaving my clients hanging. I was winging everything, didn’t have a professional way to nurture leads, and I was spending way too much time re-doing the same tasks over and over again.”
The solution
Molly switched to HoneyBook to help her streamline and grow her business. “I truly feel like HoneyBook has helped me run my business professionally—from the moment a client reaches out in my contact form to scheduling consultations, sending questionnaires and getting paid,” she said.
I truly feel like HoneyBook has helped me run my business professionally—from the moment a client reaches out in my contact form to scheduling consultations, sending questionnaires and getting paid.
Here’s how she did it.
1. Personalize Project Types
“The very first thing I would suggest for a service-based business is to set up your account and then personalize your Project Types under Company Settings. Your ‘Project Types’ are actually the services you offer, and you’ll see why it’s important in the next step!” Molly said.
2. Create a contact form
“After that, the most important task is to create a contact form for your website so that potential clients can reach out to you and select which of your services they’re specifically interested in (those are the project types you set up earlier!),” she said.
“I have my website set up so that all the ‘Book Now’ buttons on my services page lead potential clients and students to my contact form. Once they submit the form, they become a new inquiry in my HoneyBook account.”
3. Set up email responses for web inquiries
After someone submits the contact form, Molly has a few different email templates set up that she can send to them. Each template is customized based on what the inquiry is interested in.
For inquiries who want to schedule a call first
“If they want to book a Discovery Call to talk about how we can work together, I have an email that includes a link to the HoneyBook online meeting scheduler. In the scheduler, I’ve indicated specific days of the week and time slots when I take Discovery Calls,” she said.
“And since HoneyBook syncs with my Google calendar, I don’t have to worry about double-booking or booking at a time when I may have another activity or event going on. I’m even able to create buffers around my meetings and choose how many days in advance before someone can book with me, in case I need time to prepare.”
For inquiries who are ready to buy now
“If someone is ready to purchase, I have a template set up that allows me to send them online invoices and a link to schedule their consultation session on my calendar as well. Because they are scheduling a 1:1 consultation, the part of my online meeting scheduler that they see is specific to scheduling this type of session. This is key because I can block out times and days in my calendar when I know I’ll have calls scheduled, and I can work my other business plans around these blocked off times,” she said.
For the Heart & How Mastermind inquiries
“For the Heart & How Mastermind, it works a little differently. Because I only work with a small group of students at a time, students must apply. When they reach out via my contact form, I can immediately send them an email template that includes my application,” Molly said.
“The application is created using the HoneyBook Brochure feature with an included questionnaire. It’s branded and professional looking and allows me to collect their application and keep everything in one place under their project. And because I have everything set up and ready to go, I’m able to respond quickly to their interest and not risk losing a potential customer because of the lag time between their interest and my follow-up email,” she said.
4. Create a brochure for general inquiries
Remember when we said Molly’s inquiries don’t always come from her website’s contact form? She created something unique to nurture this group, too.
“I also have a branded Brochure set up in HoneyBook that outlines all of my services and packages. This is something that I have at the ready to send to a potential client that has expressed interest through my Facebook Group or Instagram account, but they haven’t necessarily visited my website. This gives them all the information they need to know what I offer and the next steps they need to take to book a session with me,” Molly said.
5. Take advantage of time tracker and recurring payments
While HoneyBook is great at helping businesses with their booking process, we also help with general project management. Molly uses two tools that help streamline her day-to-day tasks.
“I use tools like HoneyBook’s time tracker to track hours working on follow-up projects for clients—like help with website updates. I’m able to take notes on what I did, record my hours and rate, and invoice easily,” she said.
“I also have recurring payments set up for some clients I work with regularly, I’m able to set up payment plans for students that choose to pay for the Mastermind this way, and can keep track of sending follow-up emails when needed.”
Results
By using HoneyBook to get organized and streamline her booking process, Molly signed up four students to her brand new Heart & How Mastermind, which is her highest dollar offering and booked three discovery calls—all within a week.
“When I gave my website a complete makeover recently, part of that process was that I was committed to making sure I had everything integrated with HoneyBook. Before I had even announced the launch of my new website on social media, I had booked 3 discovery calls and had 4 students signed up for the Heart & How Mastermind. And I hadn’t even told anyone about it!” she said.
“I know the fact that my website was professional and clearly directed clients to my contact form made all the difference. I was able to streamline all my contact with each inquiry and move them from initial interest to a paying client. If I didn’t have HoneyBook set up, I would have been scrambling. I can’t imagine running my business without it.”
And aside from the organization, HoneyBook helped her get into the headspace she needed to continue growing her business. “Honestly, for me, getting everything set up in HoneyBook was not only about being professional and more streamlined, but it was about taking my business and myself seriously. It was no longer playing things safe and small, but letting myself build the business that I knew I had the experience, expertise and heart to build.”
Before I even announced the launch of my new website, I booked 3 discovery calls and had 4 students signed up for the Heart & How Mastermind. I know the fact that my website was professional and clearly directed clients to my [HoneyBook] contact form made all the difference.
Want to take your business to the next level with HoneyBook?
Here’s Molly’s advice:
1. If you’ve been putting this off, STOP.
The time it takes to get your HoneyBook account set up and your client processes streamlined is worth it. It’s not just about the time you save, but also about creating a great client experience.
2. Map out your customer journey.
I think one of the best ways to figure out how to set up HoneyBook for a service-based business is to think of your customer journey from the moment they land on your website (or Instagram profile!) until the time they pay and book your services.
When they land on the homepage of your website, what do you want them to do next? What are the most important things they know about you? What’s in it for them? How can you help them? Do you understand their needs? And most importantly, WHERE do you want them to go next? Your contact form, your services page, your freebies?
Then, you need to think about what happens after they make that initial inquiry—will they need more information, will they have their credit card out and ready to buy? Mapping this out allows you to see the places where you’ll need communication and information for your client. And then you can use HoneyBook to deliver it easily and professionally.
3. Don’t worry about what to say.
If the thing that’s holding you back from getting things set up is that you don’t know what to say, HoneyBook has you covered! With each template or tool, they offer suggested copy that you can tweak and make your own. They’ve thought through many of these processes already and know what you’ll need—even if you didn’t think of it first. Their templates and guides give you a great starting point.
Thanks, Molly!
Get ready to simplify & scale
HoneyBook takes the heavy lifting out of running—and growing—a services-based business off your plate. From managing inquiries to helping you get paid to streamlining your projects, HoneyBook can be customized to fit your process, whether you’re a business mentor like Molly, a web designer, an interior designer or a doula, just to name a few.
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