You've Jumped Across To Dubsado - Now What?

Here are the steps to get you started now that you’ve switched to Dubsado or are signing up for a CRM for the first time | She Is Moxie

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So you're interested in using Dubsado. You're either currently using another CRM and want to make the switch or you're completely new to the whole CRM thing and this will be the first time using one.

You probably have a lot of questions like: Where do I begin? What pricing plan should I choose? How do I transfer my current clients over? Can I make it on brand for my business?

Today I'm going to give you a bit of a jumpstart and guide you through getting started with Dubsado.

Pricing

Dubsado has 3 different pricing plans. Each one comes with the same features so you have full access to the system regardless of which one you choose. However, each plan has their own advantages so you should pick the plan that works best for you and your business.

Free Trial - Limited to 3 clients. This option lets you test out the system without a time limit to see if it will work for you and your business.

Monthly Plan - Need to pay by the month? Dubsado has you covered. You have full access to the complete system for $35 a month.

Annual Plan - Purchase the yearly plan and save $$. It's $350 for the year (giving you 2 months for free).

And if you'd like to save more money then use my code 'sheismoxie' or my link and you'll get 20% off your first month or your first year depending on what plan you choose.

Switching CRM'S

If you've been using another CRM and are making the switch there are a couple of different options for migrating your clients and contacts over to the new system. Though be warned - you can't upload all the details automatically. There is hands on work involved in making the switch. Though the same is true if you switched to any new system.

Dubsado White Glove Migration - Dubsado has a white glove migration service where they will transfer your data from another service and into Dubsado for free. They'll transfer clients, jobs, and invoices up to 2 years back, along with any filled forms and signed contracts. All you need is a paid account.

What they include:

Migration from one system
Jobs and contacts attached to them
Import of client data if your previous CRM allows for a mass export
Invoices and payments made on that invoice
Forms on projects will be brought over as PDFs

What they don't include:

Client email conversations/email communications
Bookkeeping categories or anything outside a project invoice
Templates
Workflows
Canned Emails
Tasks
Payment Schedules (applied and templates)
Taxes
Tracked Time

As you can expect this is a pretty popular service so the estimated timeframe on they give you is approximately 4-6 weeks.

So depending on how quickly you need everything set up, this might be a great option for you to avoid a lot of data entry. Click the link to find out exactly what they do and don't do, plus you can also use the contact form to get in touch: White Glove Migration

Hiring a Dubsado VA for a one off project - If you can't wait for Dubsado to input everything for you, you don't have the time to do this yourself or the idea of inputting all your past client data into a new system makes you want to poke your eyes out then hiring someone to do it for you may be the way to go.

There are a lot of Virtual Assistants and Dubsado Specialists you can hire to complete this task. Your best options are to either get recommendations from someone you know who's hired a VA or use Google and Facebook groups to find one.

Another resource that Dubsado has compiled is list of businesses from people in their Facebook group. This list isn't Dubsado sponsored or verified so make sure to make your own decisions regarding who you hire. You can check out the community directory here: Visit the Community Directory

Do It Yourself - And finally the last option, do it yourself. If you don't have the time to wait for Dubsado to enter the details for you and you are limited with your budget then the best bet is to just start inputting everything yourself.

I won't lie, this is a time intensive task so you'll have to set aside some of your day for a while to input everything, especially if you have a lot of clients.

The good news is that if your current CRM has a CSV export function then you can import some of your clients details like their name and email so that all you'll have to add are the projects (jobs) to them.

I would then save all of your clients data from your current CRM their invoices, contracts etc as PDFs so that you can upload them into Dubsado. And copy and paste across any notes or other details that need to be added.

What's Next

Once you've sorted out your past clients it's time to set up your account. Best place to start is actually in the settings menu. Here you can make sure all your business details are correct, sync your email, add your payment processor details so that you can get paid, set your timezone and a few other unsexy things that aren't necessarily fun to set up but will make everything go much smoother if you do it at the start.

The Getting Started Videos

Dubsado has created some great, short videos to walk you through their system once you've signed up, called the 'Getting Started' Series and you can find them in the help section when you’re in Dubsado. Or I've linked to them below:

Getting Started Series

Before trying to add your own stuff into Dubsado, I suggest you start here.

Watch the videos and see what Dubsado is capable of. By watching the videos you'll get a better understanding of how Dubsado works, what it's capable of doing and exactly how you can implement it in your business to make the most of it.

Your Client Workflow

Then it's on to your client workflow. This is the next step I suggest you take before setting anything else up.

Now I could tell you to start inputting your canned emails, your forms, your packages etc but I think that before you start doing any of that you need to write down your client workflow first.

This is everything you do for your client and everything your client receives from you - from the first contact when they inquire about a session with you to the final delivery of their products and/or digital files.

This way you can see a step by step list of what you do each time you have a client. And you can refer back to it when setting up Dubsado.

By knowing each step of the process you can then break it down into what emails you need to send, what forms you need to create, what packages you need to add, the contracts you need to use etc.

That way you don't spend time setting everything up only to realise that it's not the way you want it and you need to do everything again.

And if working through your entire process from Point A to Point B is overwhelming, try breaking it down into sections.

For example, what happens when a potential client (a Lead) inquires with you > up until they're booked. Then work through what you need to do once they’ve signed their contract > until they have their session.

And then keep going until the final products have been delivered and the job is complete.

These are the categories that I used in my business when I went through the same process to work out my client workflow:

Lead > Booked
Booked > Pre-Session
Post Session > Delivery (products and files)
Off-boarding

Implementation

Then once that's sorted you can start creating and putting everything you need into the system. And don't worry, you don't have to do this all at once. Just stick to the initial Lead process first if you're getting a lot of inquiries and implement that.

Or if you're dealing with more clients that have already booked with you then I would implement their needs first, eg. Booked > Pre-Session. It's really up to you and what you need first. So go on, dive in and get started. I promise you, it's not as hard as it appears at first glance.