A Guide to Planning Your Dubsado Workflows

Sharing is caring!

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Dubsado is a powerful project management platform, and one of its key features is the Workflow. The Workflow allows you to automate your client process within Dubsado to provide a smooth and efficient client onboarding and working experience. The goal with Dubsado workflows is to automate the entire client process so you can focus your energy on other aspects of your business. 

How does Workflow work?

In Dubsado, you can apply a workflow by creating a “Project.” With every project, Dubado will run each step from the first reach-out to the final farewell. The program will auto-submit essential documents such as emails, booking invites, forms, etc., to your client in one project. You can also create a to-do list and change a project's status on Dubsado. Dubsado will do most of the heavy lifting, so you're not stuck doing repetitive tasks. 

Of course, executing a sound client process requires careful planning. If you're ready to build your business workflows on Dubsado, here are some tips:

Guide to Planning Your Dubsado Workflows

Developing a Client Process for the Workflow

Outline Your Process

The most crucial step in creating an efficient client process is to determine the process of working with your clients. Each step works as the basis of your workflows in Dubsado, so be as thorough as possible. Outline every step, every form, email, contract, payment schedule, scheduler, and other tasks involved in the client process. Take note of the timing too. List everything down to avoid missing a step.

Create the Content

Lead capture forms, opt-in offers, questionnaires, contracts, proposals, email messages, and other templates have to be created in advance before setting up a workflow. Dubsado offers various form templates so that you can make these docs quickly. 

You'll use a scheduler for booking and highlighting important dates. Some schedulers come with a lead capture form; it depends on the service you're using. Whatever scheduler you use, add it to the client process. Canned emails should be written in advance, but these can be updated anytime.

Testing the Process

Don't activate a new workflow without trying it manually first. Expect errors or bugs during the initial tests and manually smooth out the kinks. To conduct the proper test, you must understand how workflows work and note what you're adding into Dubsado before sending sample proposals, contracts, and invoices to clients. During the testing, keep an eye out for missed steps or content that needs changing. 

How to Plan Your Dubsado Workflow

Step 1: Brainstorm what goes in the workflow

This is the most essential phase; you need to list down all the steps in your client process to provide a smooth, consistent experience. Think of all the tasks that you are doing now to work with a client and list them down, such as:

• Questions to ask clients
• Files and forms to send to clients
• Calls and meetings 
• Emails to send
• Wrap up or offboarding tasks 

Write everything down in the proper sequence, so you don't forget them. This includes reminders for client deadlines, client deposits, and asking for feedback. You can add more steps if you want to incorporate a couple into your process. 

Step 2: Determine the sequence 

Go through the task list you made and start grouping similar tasks together. You can divide the tasks between onboarding and offboarding. Some processes are defined by time; others are defined by project types. Go through each task, figure out what forms and processes they belong to, and decide what order you want everything to happen. 

With Dubsado, you can update the order manually for smoother automation, but we suggest getting it right during the initial stages, so the flow feels natural for the clients. 

Step 3: Create the workflow action

After figuring out the onboarding and offboarding sequence, you can start using Dubsado to align the tasks to a workflow action. Go through each process' steps and write next to the task the activity that fits the options given by Dubsado. The current actions available in Dubsado are: 

• Change Project Status
• Add Tag
• Send Email
• Send Form
• Create Todo
• Send Contract
• Send Primary Invoice
• Create Invoice
• Activate Portal
• Deactivate Portal
• Pause Workflow
• Hold Actions Until
• Send Appointment Scheduler
• Start A Workflow
• Archive Project

Once you're done, review the draft workflow. Go through each line to check if the timing is just right. Certain actions are relative to specific timing. You can set certain workflow actions when: 

• The Workflow has started
• After completing the previous action
• Once a project begins or ends
• After receiving a scheduled payment
• After signing the contract
• After completing a form
• When a form was not completed

As for the actions, once the client takes the next step, they'll receive a welcome or thank you email or a reminder email in case they did not take the next step. After this has been completed, your Workflow is ready for testing. 

After testing your Workflow, you can activate it and move on to another workflow. Rinse and repeat! As you learn the system, you'll find more ways to refine your workflow. Are you ready to create your first Workflow on Dubsado? Try it today and start growing your online business.

Sharing is caring!