Baby Steps To Automating Your Business

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Want to add more automation to your workflows, but are scared? Don’t want to sound robotic? What if something triggers when it shouldn’t😱? These are common fears when starting to automate your business for the first time. Don’t worry! There are ways to ease yourself in whether you will always want a little bit of control or until you are ready to let your workflows do the work.

Approval Buttons

This is the simplest and easiest way to automate while still remaining in control of what gets sent out and when. Many systems like Dubsado and Honeybook allow Approvals to be added to each workflow step to allow for control and customization. The system will alert you when you have a workflow action that needs your approval and then you can go in, review, edit, and check it off for the system to ship out. You may be thinking, “How does this save me time”? I understand that it might sound like work, but having all of your actions, triggers, forms, and emails, already set up and just needing to click a button saves a ton of time.

Create ToDos

By creating ToDos in your workflows, you have more control over the next steps. A ToDo will pause your workflow until you check it off that that item is completed. This allows you to add, edit, or delete steps in your process for that particular client. Some people even like ToDos better than Approvals due to their customization. In the ToDo, you can smartfield in the client name, project, and what exactly you need to do for that particular step. You can also include links to any resources you need at that point in the workflow. That way, when your system alerts you that you need to take action, you know exactly who it is for and what exactly needs to be done. With Approvals, you do not get this detailed information and must log into your account and go into the client project to see what step needs to be reviewed.

Hold Actions Until

This option may not be available in all CRMs, but it is in Dubsado. If you want to make sure 2 or more items are completed before the workflow continues, use this. For example, say you want to make sure the client has not only signed the contract but also paid the invoice before sending out their Welcome Packet. Use hold actions until contract is signed by client and hold actions until invoice is paid in full. REMEMBER: Make sure to use after all previous actions are completed in the next step for your workflow to trigger appropriately.

So, there you have it! Three easy ways to ease yourself into automating your workflows.

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