E32 - Digging into HoneyBook

In this episode, Sarah and Stacey from Sweetly Simplified Systems LLC, discuss all things HoneyBook…

Stacey is the Founder of Sweetly Simplified Systems and is a Client Experience Strategist + HoneyBook Pro. 

She believes that solopreneurs CAN avoid overwhelm and burnout by implementing a streamlined client experience with HoneyBook.

As a certified HoneyBook Pro, she helps solopreneurs not only elevate their client experiences, but also simplify & streamline their processes to save them 20+ hours each month.

You CAN have the time freedom you’ve been dreaming of when you have streamlined processes in place and Stacey is here to help you with this journey!

Listen with us as Stacey reveals what you can do to optimize setting up your HoneyBook so your clients get that streamlined and elevated experience from inquiry to booking.

If you're a HoneyBook user or if you're considering it as a CRM, this episode is for you!

WORK WITH STACEY
https://www.sweetlysimplifiedsystems.com/bootcamp-live
JOIN HONEYBOOK
http://share.honeybook.com/gCthw
HONEYBOOK FEATURE REQUEST
https://form.typeform.com/to/xIZmzXdV


JOIN THE MOBILE BAR ACADEMY
https://mobilebevpros.com/join-mobile-bar-academy/
WORK WITH SARAH
www.mobilebevpros.com
JOIN OUR FREE FACEBOOK GROUP
https://www.facebook.com/groups/mbpgroup
CONNECT ON INSTAGRAM
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FREE MASTERCLASS FOR MOBILE BARS
www.mobilebevpros.com/masterclass

Transcript

Sarah: On the podcast with me today is Stacey Hooker from Sweetly Simplified Systems. She is a Certified HoneyBook Pro and, as a matter of fact, one of the six founding Pros for HoneyBook. Welcome to the podcast. 

Stacey: Thank you. So happy to be here. 

Sarah: Happy to have you. We have had a number of system experts and specialists join us over the years, but we have never had someone who is specifically certified and specializes in HoneyBook. I have a ton of questions. 

Stacey: Oh, and I am here to answer all of them. I'm here for it. 

Sarah: For listeners listening in who might not know, HoneyBook is one of the two main CRM software systems that we recommend to the mobile bar industry. It isn't ideal and perfect, neither is Dubsado. Most of these CRMs are built for a different type of business model, one that has a less complex pricing model than mobile bars or even catering, but it's the best thing on the market. A vast majority of my clients use HoneyBook, and our entire Exceed group coaching program uses HoneyBook.

I think it’s important to mention that I've heard from others and they feel like HoneyBook has a cap as to how much revenue you can do with it before you need additional functionality and flexibility. However, HoneyBook users in my group program are making half a million dollars a year through HoneyBook, so it is fairly scalable.

Do you find that there is a time or a place where the business becomes too complex for HoneyBook and other options might be preferable? Or do you think that there is a way that HoneyBook can be set up or adjusted to scale with a business? 

Stacey: Yeah, so it can definitely be set up any way to scale your business. The only time I would suggest maybe looking at a different option is if you have a huge team. HoneyBook does have team capabilities, don't get me wrong, but it is very basic. If you have complex teams doing different things, different calendars, and different service options that's when you might need to look at upgrading to a more robust CRM like Dubsado but, HoneyBook can definitely help you scale your business. It has helped me scale my business as a service provider and helped all of my clients. I've worked with several wedding pros, and in the wedding industry, a lot of people use HoneyBook. It is a great way to simply manage your business, your clients, and your client experience all in one place. With all of their new updates and new features coming, it's even more robust than it was when I first started, four-plus years ago, when it was very basic. Now, it can do so many things and meets you where you are to get things set up for success so you can stop worrying about stopping everything you're doing to reply to inquiries and allow automation to do the heavy lifting for you.

Sarah: Yeah, I was a HoneyBook user starting back in 2017, and I ended up moving to Dubsado, which was a rough learning curve to move from one to the other because Dubsado at that time had a lot more functionality. That isn't necessarily the case any longer. Over the past number of years, HoneyBook has continued to make updates and improvements that have put it on par regarding automation and the way that you can customize your proposals. It has pretty much everything that Dubsado has, with the exception of HTML, right? 

Stacey: Yes.

Sarah: Dubsado you can use HTML to code your proposals and your contact forms, but honestly, there aren't too many people out there that are familiar with HTML and for the vast majority of entrepreneurs, they just want something that looks good and is easy to implement. HoneyBook checks those boxes. 

Stacey: Definitely. And that's one of the winning cases for HoneyBook. Just to be completely transparent, I tried Dubsado before I did HoneyBook. I tried about three or four different CRMs and they were way more than what I needed, which was what happened with Dubsado. It was way more than I needed, and I'm like, “I don't need all of this stuff.” When I found HoneyBook, It tipped all the boxes for me, it was easy. I was able to set up my main service offering and get it automated within a weekend because it just made sense. There were plenty of helpful articles. The pros didn't exist back then when I first started with HoneyBooks, so I had to learn how to teach myself how to use the platform, but there are plenty of helpful articles that walked me through the process. It was just easy to understand, I didn't have to worry about coding, like you said. I didn't have to worry about all these different aspects, you know? I'm not trying to put down any other platform, but Dubsado is a whole different animal. There is nothing simple to Dubsado until it's all done and set up, and then the simplification happens because it's all running. Honestly, you need a Dubsado Pro to help you get things set up if you're not very tech-savvy, whereas, with HoneyBook, it is simple enough that even if you're not tech-savvy there are plenty of support articles and plenty of ways that you can learn it yourself, and with the Pros Marketplace you can shop for a pro to meet the needs that you have to help you get your business up and going in HoneyBook easily. 

Sarah: Yeah, that's a really good point. People will oftentimes ask me, “HoneyBook or Dubsado?” I think they are both on par with each other, but you need to be specific about what your needs are.

If you're looking for something simple and easy to set up, then HoneyBook is the way to go. If you're looking for something that has more functionality and customization, Dubsado is the way to go. However, HoneyBook has a much lower learning curve. To your point, we work with a Dubsado specialist to help our clients set up their Dubsado if they want that done, and that process is exceptionally painful for them. Not a single person has gone through that program that hasn't wanted to pull their hair out or break down and cried. On the tail end, they're really happy they did it, things are great and they just love life, but that process is very painful because it is not an intuitive software to use.

I happen to be super techy, so it's not necessarily something that was a hurdle for me. The transition was very difficult from HoneyBook to Dubsado back then because they functioned so differently. I just kept looking for, what they call it, the proposal in one and the invoice in another, and I was very confused, but ultimately I got there. 

For anyone who's listening, if you're looking for something that's, beautiful and easy, HoneyBook's the way to go. If you're looking for something a bit more robust, Dubsado is the way to go, just know you're signing up for a little bit of a headache in the front end. They try to make it as easy as possible, there are lots of YouTube videos and lots of helpful articles, and I think they'll even transition your stuff for you, the information and the data. The reason we're talking about CRM systems at is because it's a vital tool for scaling a sustainable service business. CRMs that handle email, invoicing, contracts, payments, communication, light project management, all in one place, and calendar management, which is super important for events. 

Stacey: Scheduling too with the scheduler on HoneyBook. 

Sarah: Yes! There's just so much all in one place and I know a lot of people who wait to implement CRM, and I'm okay with that. If you've got two events a month, you don't necessarily need a fully robust system, but it should be one of the earliest investments that you make because trying to backward engineer a system into a very busy business is painful. Whereas having it set up to begin with and then funneling in the business makes it a lot simpler. 

What specifically would you say the benefits are that you've seen with your clients after they get their HoneyBook set up?

Stacey: The main response I get is, “I feel like I duplicated myself at least twice if not three times,” because HoneyBook is able to do the work for you, especially once it's all set up and automation is in place. Once a client reaches out through your contact form and submits, it activates your automation as well as creates the client project for you. So the client does the data entry for you. HoneyBook does the heavy lifting of responding right away with the automation. When you have the automation in place, you can have your tasks on there to remind you, so it supports you as the business owner, but then it also sends out all that client communication, so it’s supporting that client through their experience with you as well. The power of automation is what feels like you've been duplicated because it's doing all the work for you while you're at the beach with your kids. 

For me the first time I had the automation set up and working, I went to the zoo with my kids. It was over spring break or fall break, one of the two, and we were at the zoo and my phone buzzed cuz I have the HoneyBook app. With the HoneyBook app, you get notifications when anybody inquires, emails, or pays. You get this nice cha-ching sound when somebody pays an invoice. It's kind of fun, but I got a buzz on my phone and so I checked it and there was a HoneyBook notification that somebody inquired. Instead of stopping what I was doing and telling the kids, “Hold on, here, have a snack while Mommy, replies to this person really quickly,” so I don't lose the lead, I just did a happy dance knowing that the automation was being activated. They just received an email thanking them for reaching out with the next steps of how to proceed with booking a project with me, and I didn't have to do anything else. I just stopped, saw the notification, and did a little happy dance, like, “Yes! I'm gonna be talking to them soon,” cuz I saw the notification that they booked a discovery coffee chat, and I went about my day. I did not have to stop everything I was doing to hurry up and respond to that lead, so I didn't. 

We always have that fear of losing the lead. Whoever responds first is gonna get the lead, and with automations in place, you don't have to worry about that. That has been the biggest win for my clients once we get everything set up. Like you said about Dubsado, it is painful, it may not be as painful as Dubsado. 

With all of my VIP experience clients, that's my highest level service where I do everything and set everything up for you, there are a lot of growing pains and there are a lot of groans, moans, and, “I don't know,” and I coach my clients through that. In the end, when they see the power of it, they're like, “Oh my gosh, I've gotten so much time back and I feel like I have an assistant, I feel like I've been duplicated,” and that is the most freeing aspect of it. This is the most rewarding to me, as a service provider, to get that feedback, and I tell them, “See, all the hard work was worth it.” There's so much work on the front end, but it's so rewarding on the back end when you get that freedom that we all created our businesses to start out with.

We didn't create and start a business to work 24/7, although that's how we feel once things kick into gear. We're like, “Oh, we get to work when we want, where we want,” and then we start to realize we're working 24/7. With HoneyBook in place and automation in place, you can take that step back and enjoy that time freedom that we originally created our businesses to have.

Sarah: I love that you brought up automations. It is, to me, the biggest benefit of having a CRM set up correctly and it pays for itself in such a short amount of time. It's almost crazy to me that people are resistant to paying for setup, even though it is potentially a four-figure investment to get it set up. The HoneyBook software itself is like 40 bucks a month. And if you're triplicating yourself, even if it saves you one hour, that pays for itself in a month, and it will save you way more than an hour. It’s really truly the only way to scale a business, to utilize automation. One of the things that I hear a lot of pushback on is that they want to build a personalized business and they feel like automation is going to cheapen the client experience. What do you say to that? 

Stacey: Oh, I love this. Yes, and that is the biggest pushback I get when I'm talking to clients on discovery calls, they are like, “I'm afraid of automations because I don't want my clients to feel like they're getting an automated email. I want to have that personal touch. I want them to have that experience,” and that is 100% doable in an automated way or in a non-automated way. You can create your email templates so they are personable but still general enough that they can go out automatically. You can spiff those up and make them sound fun and personable and have your personality come through, but still, be automated. The fun thing or the most amazing thing that I love about HoneyBook automation is that it can be as automated as you want or as manual as you want. You can write your email template with all the meat in there, write it once and you're done. Then set it in your automation as ‘approve before sending’ that way, all you have to do is click ‘view edit’ and it pops the email up and you add those client-specific details. So if you need to add specific details that are related to that specific client, you just open it up and add those details, the rest of the email is there, and then you just send it on its way.

So it shortens the process, which would normally take you longer. If you're like me and I'm staring at a blank email screen and I'm like, “Oh, where do I even start?” It could take me 15 minutes to write a general email because I'm like, “Where do I start? How do I wrap up?” Whereas with automation, even if you have it set as ‘approved before sending’, It takes all of that guesswork out for you. All you have to do is worry about the client-specific details that you want to plug in there. The intro, the pleasantries, the meat of the message and the outro, and your signature are all there. All you have to do is add the pertinent details and send it on its way. So you can totally have that personalized experience for your clients while it's still automated. It all comes down to really spending time writing those email templates. There are so many copywriters out there that offer email templates that you can buy from them that have copy-and-paste text that you can copy and paste into there and then make it your own. So if you do struggle with copywriting, with not knowing what to say, there are so many copywriters out there, pros that have those types of resources. 

However, you also, if you would just take the time, you can totally do it yourself. Look back on previous client communication you sent through, because that's when you were genuinely you in those real-time communications with clients. You can take those emails, copy and paste them into an email template, adjust them as needed, and save them. Now it's like, you do it once and you're done. You don't ever have to look at that email again unless you need to tweak it again later. 

Sarah: Yeah, I agree. Templatize your life. It will save you time and sanity. If you don't know about chat GPT, that's always a great place to get your email templates kicked off too. That's my favorite hack of 2023.

Tell me what your favorite new feature is that HoneyBook has released. 

Stacey: Oh my gosh, there are so many. My favorite right now is the smart files and being able to create a complete booking process all in one smart file. For example, I had a previous client reach out to me yesterday needing some tweaks done to her system, and she wanted to meet with me or go ahead and book the project. So all I had to do was just send one smart file that gave her the information about that service. The contract was in there, the invoice, and she could also go ahead and book her project all in one file. Before there were legacy files, and that would've taken probably two steps to complete. Now with the smart files and all of the features that they're adding to that. you can do it all at one time. With smart files, you can add a video to your smart files so you can have a nice welcome or intro video that you keep in general, you record it once, plug it in there and you're done.

On the invoice side, after they pay, you can have, “Thank you for paying. Thank you for booking,” Thank you for whatever, on the outro of your booking smart file. Smart Files have revolutionized HoneyBook and brought it up to par with other CRMs, like Dubsado, because it was lacking in that aspect before Smart Files came along.

Now you can have somebody fill out your contact form, they get your booking smart file, and they can go ahead and sign, pay, and schedule all in one go without you ever having to lift a finger. It needs to be simple enough that you can put it all in one place and not have to edit it, but if you want it that simple, it can be done that simply, and that is just amazing. Also, their public smart files are coming folks, and that's gonna be even more revolutionizing for HoneyBook to where you can just put that smart file link on your website, and they can fill it out, sign, pay, schedule, book, whatever, and you're done, and you never had to do anything. 

Sarah: Yeah. I don't know if that's gonna work out for our industry, mainly because there's so much customization that goes on. I've had people ask or try in the past to put on an Insta book link or calendar on their website, and it does not go well in this particular industry. I do see how the value of smart files in simplifying processes that are done over and over again with very little editing, just copy and paste automatically. 

What is the one thing you wish HoneyBook would add or release as a feature? 

Stacey: So one of my feature requests have already been answered, and that was scheduler-based triggers. That was just released a couple of months ago in the automation. We did not have a way to trigger an email to send once a session was booked. So you always had to guesstimate when that would happen based on either when the automation was activated or based on the previous step. So that was one of my huge wish list items, to have scheduler-based triggers, and they've made that wish come true!

The other one would be triggers based on an action. So if they did this, then send this. If they did not, then send this. So especially with smart files, if they didn't open it, send this email. If they did open it but didn't sign or pay or click or do whatever, then send this email. So those “if-then triggers” would be, amazing. I know, it's on their radar because all of us pros have been requesting things like that, and other people, in the HoneyBook community Facebook group that they run, have requested it as well. I know it's on their radar, but there are more pressing items right now that they are working on. They are working on so many things right now that are going to be released, and so many updates over the coming months. That's the one thing I love about being a pro, I get noticed before anybody else, and they let us know, “Hey, this is coming. That's coming.” It’s hard for me to be like, “Nope, can't talk about it,” but I can say, amazing things are coming. So if you are a HoneyBook user, know that amazing things are coming. If you're not, keep it on your radar, check it out. Let me know if you have questions because it's gonna be amazing. 

Sarah: I'll tell you mine, I wish that they had a way to have multiple logins because, people grow their businesses and one of my biggest recommendations is to hire a VA as soon as you can so that they can start helping with those $ 15-an-hour tasks, such as replying to leads or sending out proposals because they might need a little tweaking or following up with a client. Currently, there's only one login, correct? You have to give your login, which also has all your financial information too. 

Stacey: Yes. They have, and I don't work with teams very often so I don't stay as up-to-date on team aspects, but I know they have made a tweak for when it comes to team members you can assign a team member like admin access without them getting access to everything. I know that is an option now. 

Sarah: Okay. That's been released or it's coming?

Stacey: Yes. I will have to get back to you after this recording so that you have the resource to plug into the show notes. I know they have added that capability with teams where they have a more dynamic way of interacting in the projects. 

Sarah: Awesome. That's such good information. The other thing, and perhaps they've changed this, I really wish that they had the ability to turn off automation based on a response. The thing that I recommend to my clients is that once someone comes in they have at least five to eight emails that will follow up and add value and introduce themselves to try and nurture a lead into the buying process without them having to be like, “Hello, I sent you a proposal,” but if you forget to turn that off and they've already responded, then they keep getting those emails, which is not ideal. Have they implemented that? 

Stacey: No, but my pro tip for that, is because I've worked with a lot of industries and clients that have the same situation, and we create an automation that is just that nurture sequence. I coach them that when you send them the proposal before you send them the booking documents, you move them over to what I call project-specific automation. So if they're booking your services for a wedding, then they go to that automation, you move them there and the first step of that automation is to send the proposal. Then it's just training yourself in your brain that once they reply and say, “Yes, I'm ready to book,” the first step is removing that automation, and adding the project-specific one. Whether it's a wedding, a birthday party, or an anniversary party, whatever automation you choose is best for your services, you move them to that project-specific automation. The very first step is to send that booking document smart file. It's just training your brain that's the next step to do, and then once they do that, it's gone without a hitch and they haven't had to worry about that nurture sequence continuing because, in their mind, they don't send the booking document until their automation tells them to. So they won't get that until they move them to that project-specific automation. It becomes just a trigger when they reply, they remove that automation, add the new one, and then send the booking document.

Sarah: Yeah. I think for me the struggle there is that if it's supposed to train the brain and there are multiple people’s hands in the pot, whose brain are we training? Everybody's brain on how to do this right? So ideally there'd be a way for that automation to end when a reply email is sent. Obviously, it's not going to be perfect because if someone calls you, you still have to remember we haven't been able to AI everything yet. Hopefully, soon they'll release that feature. 

Stacey: Yeah, and there's another one that's requested that it automatically starts another automation. With that nurture sequence, once it wraps up then it could kick another automation off. So that's another feature request that we've heard a lot of - the ability to kickstart and activate another automation once one automation ends.  For example, once the project wraps up, then they get kicked into a follow-up nurture sequence that just goes into a year's worth of nurturing and following up after the project wraps up, where you don't necessarily want that in the project automation, but you want a follow-up that goes for a year maybe or something afterward, and it would automatically kick off once it's marked completed or something like that. I know that's on their radar to have. 

Automations are really on their radar and they're really working hard to meet, the majority of the needs of their users with the automations because they know the automations are what makes HoneyBook worth it. Having things as automated as much as you want them to be automated and having that power not having to lift a finger and things are going and running in your timeframe. That's another thing I love about HoneyBook, as a business owner, you don't have to fit into the HoneyBook box.

When I was trying out other CRMs I felt like I had to revise my business to fit into their box. Whereas with HoneyBook, it's completely workable to where it works for you instead of you having to work into their system. You can build a system that works for your business. It supports your individual needs instead of having to tweak them to make HoneyBook work for you if that makes sense. 

Sarah: Yeah, it does. I do feel like our industry doesn't get to enjoy that benefit that most other professionals do in that its pricing functionality is limited in our industry. The best way to price our services so that they scale and protect our profit margins is to have a functionality that allows you to price something per person per hour. You can either do it per person or per hour in HoneyBook but not per person per hour. What we find is that people who use HoneyBook are really redesigning their pricing in a way that doesn't necessarily scale so that it fits inside their HoneyBook proposals. It's less than ideal, but I completely concur with you regarding all the other bits and pieces of HoneyBook, if it wasn't just for that pricing thing, which hopefully someday they'll do, I don't know that there's enough of the mobile bar industry or catering industry even to be very high on their feature request list. 

Stacey: Yeah, and I can put a plug-in as well. As a pro, we have our own feature request process, so I can definitely plug that in to have a more dynamic way of pricing out things. The way it's set up now, it would be more manual where you would create a package template that is just the details of what all is included in that, then they would have to customize that pricing. Each time they send the invoice, collect those details in the inquiry process and then plug them in before they send it out to the client to give that quote. Then the final invoice at the end when you get the final numbers, tweaking that. So I can totally see that pain point being there for you guys. I will plug that into HoneyBook's ears, I can't promise anything, but I can hope that it'll bump it up too to be more on their radar.

Sarah: Oh, I appreciate any amount of plugging, it would be a game changer for our industry. 

Stacey: Definitely. And I know they're wanting to reach different industries, and they're trying to get away from, “HoneyBook is for photographers and wedding pros,” because they can be used in so many different industries. So, I know they are wanting feedback from different industries on how they can make it more robust to meet your individual industry needs, and they would love to hear that feedback. 

Sarah: Yeah. Have them give me a call. I've got lots of them.

Stacey: Yeah, and in the HoneyBook community Facebook group that is managed by HoneyBook they have a pinned post with a feature request form. So, anybody listening, and you Sarah, when you have things like this go there and fill out that feature request because they can't read our minds.

One thing that they are constantly sharing too is if somebody's asking, “Man, I wish HoneyBook could do this,” they are replying with that feature request form because that's the only way it can get on their radar if we communicate with them. So, it is there for everybody who is a HoneyBook user to share how they can make it more dynamic for you. Totally look that up if something comes to mind. You don't have to contact a HoneyBook Pro to get that, to make that happen. Although I'm happy to help as I can, it's there to help you get that communication flowing on what your industry needs from Honey Book. 

Sarah: Awesome. I love that. We'll put that in the show notes, and the link to the form as well, that way people can hit it up. There is strength in numbers. 

What is the biggest mistake that people make when they do their own HoneyBook setup? 

Stacey: I think the biggest mistake most people are making is thinking they can start with automations. I'm gonna tell you, I totally set my system up backward when I first started. I know this is a mistake because I made the mistake myself and everybody thinks, “I'm gonna sign up for HoneyBook, I need automations, I wanna duplicate myself. I wanna automate things.” They go to automations and they start there and try to figure out what they need. They'll decide; Step one, I need this inquiry response email, then they'll back out, write that email, go into automations, plug it in, okay, next step. So, instead of coming up with a game plan ahead of time, they're trying to piecemeal it together from the automation builder first.

One of the most important things you can do for yourself before you even start digging into HoneyBook, or any CRM for that matter across the board, is to sit down and write out your business processes and your client journey for each service that you offer because they are going to differ. Like with your industry, it might not differ a lot but the language that you're using is going to be different from a wedding versus a birthday party. So, you can set up automation specific for the different event types that you hold or that offer and that you service, so that way the emails say, “Thanks so much for reaching out about your bar service for your wedding, or your anniversary party, or your birthday,” you can specify that. The only way to know what you need from automations and how you need HoneyBook to support you is by mapping out your business processes, what you need to do to follow a project from the initial inquiry till you're wrapping it all up, sending that final thank you email and asking for the testimonial. Don't forget to ask for testimonials friends. Mapping that out and then also mapping out your client journey, what does your client need to receive to have the best possible experience with you? Then automations marry those two things together. So within automations, you're able to have those tasks to remind you to do things, and then also send out emails, files, questionnaires, and booking documents to support your client.

Once you map out those two things, now you know what tasks you need to make sure are included in your automation. You know what emails you need to create because you've mapped out your client journey. Now you know what you need to communicate to your client, so now you have a list of emails that you need to write. Then you also know what files you need to create. So while you're mapping out that client journey, you wanna send an intake questionnaire, you need to have a booking document, you need to have a project kickoff questionnaire, and things like that. Now you know what files you need to create. So that's where you would start first. Map those things out. Create the email templates, create the files, and then you'll be able to go into automations and start building things out to flow the way you want them to. 

Sarah: Yeah, I too made that mistake. I also think that's what makes people cry when they work with professionals because a professional, like yourself, is going to ask them for that information. “What's the client journey here?” And the new entrepreneurs are like, “I don't know. I don't know. I'm just winging it! I'm just figuring it out. Why are you making me do this?” It's such a valuable process though, making yourself sit down and think it through. 

Stacey: Yes, and that's something I help my VIP experience clients with. I also have an Elevate Your Client Experience service where we just map out your client experience. So regardless of what platform you use, we can map out that elevated client experience. That way whatever CRM you use you can take it and run with it to implement it in that CRM. With the VIP experiences that I offer, we actually get on a call, that can sometimes last three hours, where we are discussing your business processes and I'm asking you the hard questions while mapping it out together because sometimes it takes somebody outside. I've heard the phrase, “You can't read the label from inside the bottle,” and I'm that person on the outside helping you realize and identify gaps and help you build that elevated experience for your clients that you might not think of because you're so stuck in the everyday things. Sometimes you don't think of the gaps that are there or adding an email here is gonna elevate that experience and make your client feel more supported. So finding a pro that can help you navigate that and map those things out with you is important. 

There are clients that have done the work and they just send me the Google doc and I take it and run with it and there are other clients that they're like, “I have no idea where to start,” and we book a session and we map it all out together, and that's all included in their investment for that service.

Know that there are pros out there that will help you through that process. It's not just like, “When you get it done, send it to me and we'll book,” it's, “Let me help you, let's get this done,” because procrastination gets the best of us. Second-guessing gets the best of us. There are pros like myself out there that will help you through the process so that you know it's the best possible process, not just for you to support you, but also to support your clients and create that elevated experience that we all want our clients to receive.

Sarah: That's an awesome service. I'm no longer a mobile bar owner, but I have clients and I think that there's value in even being able to have someone from the outside look at the onboarding process, the offboarding process, what are the questions that people have throughout the journey that we can help support them before they even ask those questions. That's awesome that you offer that. Is that part of your VIP package or it's a separate package? 

Stacey: Yeah, that's part of the VIP experience, but I also offer it as a standalone service. So if you're like, “I just, I don't wanna focus on anything else right now. I just need to focus on elevating that client experience,” I have a service that can help with that. We just solely focus on that, then after you're done, if you're like, “Yeah, okay, I'm ready to implement this in HoneyBook,” I can help you get that taken care of and check that off your to-do list too. Or if you can take it and run with it and implement it on any CRM that you choose that is best to meet your needs and meet your client's needs.

Sarah: Awesome. Awesome. I thank you so much for your time today, Stacey. We will obviously have a lot of show notes in this one, so if a listener is like “Man, I wish I had a link to that,” it'll be in the show notes. We'll also have all of your information in there so people can reach out to you directly about getting started or getting polished in their HoneyBook experience. We thank you so much for your time in sharing your expertise with us. 

Stacey: Oh, thank you for having me. This has been so much fun and I always love learning about different industries and sharing best practices and tips on how to make HoneyBook work for your specific industry. It’s been so much fun learning more about the mobile bev. industry and how your processes work. HoneyBook can one-hundred percent support you and help you scale your business with ease. My business is Sweetly Simplified Systems because I believe in the simplicity of business and the simplicity of systems. They do not have to be overly complicated. My goal is to make it as simple as possible for everybody that I work with. 

Sarah: Ah, Amen. That's the mastery, simplicity. When you're able to create simplicity in your business, you know that you have mastered what it is that you are doing. 

Stacey: Exactly, yes. 

Sarah: Awesome. Thank you so much.

Links Mentioned in this Podcast Transcript:

WORK WITH STACEY
https://www.sweetlysimplifiedsystems.com/bootcamp-live
JOIN HONEYBOOK
http://share.honeybook.com/gCthw
HONEYBOOK FEATURE REQUEST
https://form.typeform.com/to/xIZmzXdV