This week’s podcast we interview Kendra Coons from Confetti & Co. Kendra is an award-winning wedding planner based in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario who also has a passion for helping wedding vendors automate elements of their business. In this episode, we’re going to go over some practical things you can do to automate your wedding business.
Like many wedding pros, Kendra started off her business by manually doing all the things in her business. It was only when there was a scary situation where she almost forgot to send an invoice that she decided, enough is enough. She has always loved to find ways to streamline her business and stumbled into the world of CRM tools (Customer Relationship Management).
Why invest in a CRM tool?
After finding that in the middle of wedding season, Kendra forgot to send an invoice to a client. With her business rapidly scaling she knew something had to change. After a quick search through the Rising Tide Society, she stumbled upon 17 Hats, Dubsado & HoneyBook which had promises of automating parts in your business that really don’t need you! In fact, a whole year of a CRM tool cost way less than the value of that potentially missed invoice – it was a no-brainer.
How do I choose a CRM Tool?
Kendra started with HoneyBook and didn’t not like it. It’s important to decide on your own preferences when deciding on a CRM tool. Here at Schift & Co, we use HoneyBook and have loved it (get 20% off here). Start with their free trial and go from there.
For Kendra, she loved that Dubsado did not have a time-limited trial and that you could try it free for up to 3 clients. This eased the pressure of having to make a decision within a given time frame. She also discovered that Dubsado doesn’t take an additional fee on top of the credit card fees so could potentially save you a lot of money!
Overall, she loves that it’s robust, intuitive and they have great customer service too.
If you want to try Dubsado free for up to 3 clients, click here to get Kendra’s link for 20% off the platform.
How can you automate your wedding business?
Anything, where you find yourself copying and pasting the same email response over again, can be automated. In Confetti & Co’s business, this includes an email 12 weeks out reminding them to book a meeting (including the option to book the meeting right in Kendra’s calendar) and will also send them a reminder before the meeting. Kendra also automates a welcome package that includes vendor recommendations and links to blogs with advice that may help them.
Does automation lose personalization?
At Schift & Co we often hear wedding pros being nervous that automation loses the personalized touch. We totally get in and would suggest a hybrid approach. You do not need to be personalizing quick answers or invoices, those types of things can be templated and automated. If you are automating emails, make sure to write them like you are talking to a couple so it still has the same tone of voice that a non-automated email would have.
When should you get a CRM tool?
Day 1! This gives your clients the elevated experience from the get-go and stops you from having to do all the work when you’re already overwhelmed. CRM tools give you the confidence that you’re not going to forget something along the way.
If you want to learn more about how to level up productivity in your wedding business, read this blog.
Ready to get started? Here’s the first step.
You do not have to implement the whole system from the first day. Decide what you want the tool to help you with and make a list of your pain points. Your biggest pain point whether that is forgetting invoices, or clients not showing up to meetings can be step one. Remember that everything can be changed and your business will evolve over time. Just get started and avoid that perfection wall.
If you’d like to learn more about what Kendra has to offer, check out her Dubsado Resources for Wedding Vendors and connect with Kendra on Instagram, TikTok or Pinterest.
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