Why I Chose Dubsado Over Honeybook For My Wedding Business CRM
This post contains affiliate links for products that I love wholeheartedly and use daily. At no extra cost to you, I may receive commissions when you click my links and make purchases. My recommendations are always based on my positive personal experience. A girl's gotta eat.
Automation was at the very top of my list of 2020 business goals. I was determined to work smarter, not harder and I knew a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software was the way to do it.
I had previously completed two free-trials of Aisle Planner and was totally underwhelmed. I found there were some pretty basic functions missing. It also seemed that I had already worked out other functions using other free software such as Pinterest and Google Drive files.
Honestly, I took months to decide which CRM was right for my wedding business… Consulting peers in the wedding industry with Instagram polls and more. I even had a few gracious friends demo in person how they used Honeybook or Dubsado.
I must have read a dozen blog posts on the topic!
I struggled with the decision for a few reasons. Since 2020 was particularly difficult for the wedding industry, I wasn’t taking the added expense of a new subscription or software lightly. Particularly because I was faced with the USD to Canadian conversion rate. I wanted to be absolutely sure I was making the right decision for my business.
Spoiler Alert: I chose Dubsado.
Hindsight being 2020, I wish I had signed up for Dubsado so much sooner. Along with my Canva subscription, it’s the best money I’ve spent all year. I seriously can’t believe how long I did everything from contracts to invoices all by myself.
DUBSADO VS. HONEYBOOK
While I was still deciding between the two, I was a little intimated by Dubsado, because others had said it was complicated to set up. And I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of using Honeybook, given that when I had interacted with it previously as a client, I didn’t love it. When I had wedding planning clients connected to different proposals (or even my own bookings with service providers) on Honeybook, it seemed clunky to connect to the right projects and navigate from quotes to contracts. Getting Honeybook email access links is not the instant gratification process we’ve become used to nowadays.
Honestly, I think part of the reason that Honeybook users are so vocal about loving the product is that their referral program is more lucrative. Honeybook users get a $200 incentive for each referral. While Dubsado users earn credits to their account. Essentially one month free for each successful referral. Don’t let that sway you. Choose the option which suits you and your business best, not the one that could line your pockets. Most importantly, this is supposed to make doing business easier.
Updated to add
Dubsado has added the option for cash payouts of your affiliate credits. It’s a permanent change, so if you prefer the credit towards your annual renewal, be careful.
Both offered email templates, payment processing and online contract signing. (And of course, loads more.) The contact signing option was particularly helpful because it meant I could stop paying for HelloSign (now called DropboxSign). That alone would help offset the cost. I would be able to automate a lot of my onboarding process for all three types of clients, coaching, planning, and the wedding show.
In particular, I was drawn to Dubsado because there was a lot more ability to customize it, with my brand guidelines, and to white-label the system. I love how professional it looks with all of my customizations.
In addition, I could add another brand down the line, to manage my wedding show separately for example, or separate wedding planning clients from coaching bookings. This would allow me to keep the stats and details for each stream of revenue separate.
DUBSADO FREE TRIAL & PRICING
Honeybook’s free trial lasts 7 days, while Dubsado’s free trial lasts for three clients. So I was able to get most of the software set up, and get my bearings for quite a while before I needed to bite the bullet and sign up officially with payment. (By the way, read my #1 tip to extend the life of your Dubsado free trial right here.)
As of November 2022, Dubsado is the less expensive option of the two.
If you’re really trying to bootstrap your business and spend as little as possible, you can start with the monthly payment options which allows you to pay as you go and spend less at sign up. But my suggestion is to pay for the annual subscription, saving you money in the long run, and commit to trying the software of your choice long term.
Updated to add
In February 2022, Dubsado launched their less expensive “Starter Plan”.
The Starter Plan includes unlimited clients and projects. Plus invoicing, payment plans, form and email templates, and you can brand it to your business. A great option to get started. The “Premium Plan” includes all the features of the Starter Plan, plus public proposals, automated workflows, multiple lead captures at once, plus tons of Zapier integrations. The Premium plan also includes my favourite feature: scheduling.
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT DUBSADO
I opted for Dubsado and started a free trial. And I was hooked!
Dubsado has been incredible to help me streamline the onboarding process for my wedding planningand coaching clients and create a branded experience that was so much cleaner and more professional looking than my DIY system in place up to that point. With this CRM system in place, I firmly believe that it helps to validate my value and pricing for clients on an ongoing basis. On top of that, the ability to “white label” and brand through out Dubsado looks impressive as well.
It wasn’t nearly as complicated to set up Dubsado as I had feared. Granted, I didn’t get it all done in a matter of minutes, but with some patience, their very helpful how-tos, and YouTube, I got it all going over a few days.
There are already templates inside Dubsado for simple emails, contracts and more, that make for huge timesavers.
I love how professional and branded my proposals look now, and being able to link invoices and contracts makes the proposal to onboarding system run so much more smoothly than when it all use to go back and forth through email, step by step.
I consider myself tech-savvy, but when it comes to invoices, I’ve been creating them myself from an Excel template for the last eight years. Ridiculous, I know. Dubsado creates clean branded invoices automatically that work great and connect to payment schedules, with automatic reminder emails and late notices, as well as my payment system. So much faster than me scheduling email reminders like I used to previously. I could take this a step further and connect Quickbooks to my Dubsado account, but for now I’m okay working with out a separate bookkeeping software.
As I mentioned, the scheduler function is my new favourite thing! Instead of emailing back and forth with a client over the course of a few days to book an appointment, I set up a few different appointment types that are linked to my calendar. With the right link clients and colleagues can book in to my calendar in seconds. I keep the links saved in my bookmarks, as well as a note on my phone. So I can copy the corresponding appointment time link any time to DM or email clients and vendors to book in my calendar. That’s been such a lifesaver with the kids home on and off during school closures and virtual learning. Worth it for the upgrade right there!
DUBSADO DISCOUNT CODE
Don’t forget to use my Dubsado Promo Code “KJANDCO” for an extra 20% discount.
Get 20% off your first month or your first year, with my link right here.
Their sales run in February and November and can be stacked with the promo code as well.
If you’re on the fence about which CRM software is the right fit for your wedding or creative business, I highly recommend that you book a Dubsado demo and take a closer look.
STILL KEEN ON HONEYBOOK?
If you’re still not sold on Dubsado and would like to give Honeybook a try, you can use this referral link for 20% off your first year.