When clients come to us to help them get their systems in place, it’s usually for one of two reasons:
The first reason? They’re absolutely drowning in client work and can’t seem to keep track of everything. They want to give their clients or customers an amazing experience, but they are a little all over the place.
But the second reason people come to us is the exact opposite: Their business is slow right now, and they know that it’s time to really focus on their operations. That way, they have everything in place when leads start rolling in again.
So, as business owners, what should we do during these slow seasons?
We might be partial, but we think these slow seasons are the perfect time to take a closer look at your systems and see how you can improve them.
Watch our latest video below, where we’ll walk you through a few different ways you can strengthen your business during downtime. Can’t watch now? No problem! Keep reading to get all the details!
First, we want you to take a few minutes to think about the experience prospective clients have when they have that first touchpoint with your business. Ask questions like:
Most businesses have these inquiry forms and questionnaires attached to an email, which requires a human to reply — and that can take time. Plus, you might have to write something from scratch if you don’t have a templatized or canned email.
Or you might have a lead magnet – like a brochure or a pricing guide – that you want people to download. Once they give you their email, you want to engage them quickly and see if they want to book you.
But the longer it takes to reply (and the more time you spend deciding what to say), the less likely you are to convert that lead. That’s why we love HoneyBook — a CRM that helps you capture and engage leads, so they feel really communicated with every step of the way.
You can use HoneyBook’s contact form or questionnaire forms to capture info about your leads, stay in contact with them, and funnel them through your sales process easily!
Next, think about your client onboarding experience. Let’s say you seal the deal with a client who submitted a form or scheduled a discovery call – awesome!
But now, you need to send out the contract and onboarding materials and collect the information you need from them to get started. If you’re doing this all manually, just think about all the emails you have to send — and receive — to make this happen.
When business picks back up again, you don’t want to be stuck sending out onboarding emails all the time. Your clients also don’t want to be fielding that many messages.
Again – that’s why we love HoneyBook. You can create client portals through HoneyBook Smart Files that include all their documents and necessary details in one place. Think of it like a mini personalized website for your clients where they can:
You can also drop deliverables for review in their portal and manage everything in there. The best part? You can set up some automations to make sure you have everything you need without forgetting something along the way!
Now, let’s talk about the actual work. If you’re in a slow season, it might be easy to just “dig in” to a new client project and get it out the door. But the whole idea of strengthening your business during slow seasons is to really think about your processes and systems and how they support you – no matter how busy you are. So, to make sure your clients are served well and every project goes smoothly, we always recommend having a project management tool.
As a Certified ClickUp Pro, my go-to recommendation is always going to be ClickUp. You can integrate your HoneyBook with ClickUp for seamless onboarding and client management, and you can even create templates that help you get started on projects based on the type of offer or package someone buys.
Plus, with a project management tool like ClickUp, it’s a lot easier to off-board clients when you’re done with their project. No more wondering what you need to send them, what you need to retire from your files, or what else needs to be delivered before your last day. It’s all outlined in ClickUp!
We get it: If you’re in a slow season, all of this might seem unnecessary. But the key to building a sustainable business isn’t just about doing things as quickly or as they come up. Instead, it’s about building a strong foundation in your business that helps you wow your clients, keep your team on track, and get lots of time and energy back.
Instead of letting your systems stay as they are now, take the time to really think through your workflows and the tools you use to support them. That way, you’ll have a much smoother time when the leads start coming in again!
And if you need support with your processes and tools, we invite you to join our Systems School!
Systems School is the one-stop-shop membership to give you all of the resources you need to kick-start your business systems today. You’ll get access to our HoneyBook and ClickUp courses, our template vault, and our private support community. In other words: Everything you need to take advantage of during slow seasons!
