Level up your client bookings and take advantage of every minute spent working on your business success. Learn how to book more ideal clients using HoneyBook automation. Deanna teaches you useful HoneyBook tools to create an organized lead funnel and a dream brand experience for your clients.
As an independent business owner, your time is precious. Getting the most out of every hour spent working on your business is essential. As you probably know, there are dozens of tasks that can eat away at your productive hours — finding and vetting new leads, responding to said leads, sending out proposals, following up on projects, and the list goes on.
Luckily, HoneyBook automation can simplify this by saving you time and providing more opportunities to attract new clients! This article covers how to use HoneyBook’s tools, including automation, and book the right clients with less effort.
Obtain inquiries with a brand-optimized online presence
If you don’t have a beautiful, engaging website and brand that attracts your ideal client, you need one. That initial impression needs to be irresistible to potential clients. Your logo, colors, fonts, imagery, and writing style are all essential elements of your brand. If you aren’t attracting desired clients, it’s a potential red flag that your brand and target client need to align better.
Pro Tip: Make sure you have a clear call to action on every page of our website.
You also want to make sure your HoneyBook contact form is easily accessible and your inquiry form is brief but informative. Do you enjoy answering 20 questions to figure out pricing? I don’t, and I sincerely doubt your potential clients feel differently. Don’t make the mistake of having an overly complex contact form.
I recommend four to five questions max: (1) Name, (2) Email, (3) Services, (4) Details, (5) How did you hear about us? You can collect the other need-to-know details at a later step in the process.
Action items:
- Level up your brand
- Have a clear call to action
- Create an accessible HoneyBook contact form
Review your brand experience
Your website is working well and you are getting new inquiries. Now you need to assess your response time and content as these are the next opportunities to leave a significant impression on your potential client. Let’s be honest; there are a ton of choices out there. If you want to stand out, give clients precisely what they need. This next interaction is a glimpse at what working with you will be like. Immediately give prospects helpful information that addresses their needs.
Let them know you value their time by replying right away, even if it’s to say you will get back to them shortly with a complete response. A major mistake is not responding at all. This statement may make you feel sick if you currently have tons of un-responded leads in your inbox. (Don’t worry, you’re not the only one!) Stop that thought process right now — instead, give yourself some grace and commit to resolving the issue. It is a quick fix that will take some dedicated time to remedy.
Action items:
- Give yourself some grace; you are taking positive steps now
- Commit to resolving the issue
- Work toward a long-term resolution
Organize your lead funnel and pair it with HoneyBook Automations
Now that you’ve created an automated intro email to respond quickly to new inquiries, let’s dig deeper into using the automation tool to free up your time. HoneyBook automation ensures the client experience is seamless from the moment they submit an inquiry through to booking your services. For example, you can automate responses and send branded emails and digital brochures associated with each client’s specific request.
I’ll use my business as an example. If I get a lead for a website or branding project, the inquirer probably doesn’t want to know about my HoneyBook services. So, my solution is using the project type as a trigger to automatically send my website brochure through automation created specifically for website clients. That way each client is getting the exact information they are looking for at the moment of inquiry.
All emails, questionnaires, brochures, and proposals are designed specifically for that client. On a side note, I’m going to upsell HoneyBook and every applicable service I offer if, and when, it’s appropriate. However, I will not do this at the beginning of the experience because I don’t want to overwhelm a new inquiry.
Using project types will make it easier to identify and assign inquiries as they come in, ultimately leading to more bookings.
An example of great automation looks like this:
- The inquiry comes via your contact form.
- An immediate email with a brochure goes out.
- A follow-up email reminds the client to open the files.
- A follow-up tells the client you have their responses, and a call/meeting is the next step.
- Next, you’ll send a proposal.
- The client reviews and pays.
- An email confirmation lets them know their project is official.
- Continue the automation to fill in your remaining steps while simultaneously being concise but thorough.
- Set the automation’s triggers for each step.
- Set the primary trigger for the automation (project type).
- Test the automation to make sure it works properly.
- Set it live and start reaping the benefits!
With HoneyBook automation, you can spend less time shuffling paperwork and more time focusing on what’s most important: creating beautiful work.
Action items:
- Setup a solid automation
- Don’t overcomplicate it
- Test it, set it, love it
Use automation to decrease workload and increase productivity
HoneyBook Smart Files, which integrate with Automations, help create a seamless client experience. When you upload your logo, images, and information on your Smart File, you’ll be able to share it effortlessly with clients. Then, when they book a date through HoneyBook, they’ll automatically see all of your information on their schedule builder. HoneyBook can automate anything from sending instructions, gathering information, or sharing thoughts and ideas with HoneyBook’s Automations feature — no copy and pasting required!
Automate from start to finish
Say hello, send a brochure to share pricing plus gather details, set a meeting, follow through with great work, ensure I’ve done an excellent job, and ask for an endorsement — that’s my process with every client. By automating these main tasks, I’ve achieved a 75% close rate for new leads. This means I get booked faster, easier, and with fewer back-and-forth emails or phone calls (which makes me really happy). Read on for our simple automation tips so you can start booking more clients as well.
It’s crucial to automate as much of your client experience as possible. Lead management tools can help you do just that. I use HoneyBook’s project pipeline to manage leads from start to finish: from tracking their first signup through to scheduling time for a project. I also have a custom email sequence set up that allows me to gather information, ask for referrals from current customers, and provide them with easy ways they can share their experiences with others.
It’s no secret that referrals are one of the best ways companies grow their business. Using HoneyBook’s project and lead management tool has helped me achieve incredible results — including increasing my customer base by 60%. By keeping leads organized throughout each stage in the client flow, I make sure they feel welcome every step of the way.
To summarize, begin employing useful HoneyBook tools to create a more cohesive workflow with less friction.
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