In this episode of Mind Your Wedding Business, Kevin Dennis sits down with Kaitlyn Blair, founder of Virtually Vital and one of only 19 Certified HoneyBook Pros, to discuss one of the biggest missed opportunities for wedding professionals: following up with leads consistently and confidently.

Kaitlyn shares why so many wedding pros hesitate to follow up, whether it's the fear of sounding too pushy, getting overwhelmed by manual processes, or simply forgetting altogether. She breaks down practical strategies for creating an effective follow-up system that keeps your business top of mind, improves the client experience, and ultimately converts more inquiries into bookings.

The conversation also explores automation, CRM systems like HoneyBook and Dubsado, email templates, client communication, pricing transparency, and how simple workflows can help wedding professionals save time while growing their business.

If you've ever struggled to stay on top of inquiries, worried about coming across as too salesy, or wanted to build a more organized and scalable client experience, this episode is packed with actionable tips you can start implementing today.

Kaitlyn Blair is the founder of Virtually Vital and one of only 19 Certified HoneyBook Pros. She helps wedding professionals simplify and optimize their workflows through HoneyBook and Dubsado, creating systems that convert more leads, automate client communication, and deliver a seamless client experience. Kaitlyn has worked with hundreds of creative businesses and has been featured on multiple podcasts and industry summits, sharing her expertise on business systems and workflow optimization.

Highlights:

• Why consistent follow-up leads to more bookings

• Overcoming the fear of sounding "too pushy"

• Building an effective inquiry-to-booking workflow

• How automation saves time without sacrificing personalization

• The role of HoneyBook and Dubsado in streamlining client communication

• Why every wedding pro needs a follow-up system

• Creating email templates that convert more inquiries

• Simple workflow improvements that elevate the client experience

Connect with Kaitlyn:

Website

Instagram

Connect with Kevin:

Wedding IQ

Fantasy Sound

Instagram

YouTube

TikTok

LinkedIn

All right, folks, welcome to another episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. I'm here with Kaitlyn Blair of Virtually Vital. Welcome, Kaitlyn. How are you doing?

I'm doing great. I'm super excited to be here.

Good.

I'm excited to have you as well. And we're to be talking about the follow-up formula. And before we do, Kaitlyn, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how we got you here today?

Yeah, so I'm Kaitlyn Blair and I am a system specialist for wedding pros. So I'm only one of 19 certified HoneyBook pros. If you've heard of HoneyBook, that's awesome. If not, that's okay. But I mainly work with wedding pros to optimize your workflows. So...

It's more than just sending emails here and there. It's strategic, it's automated, it's efficient. So I work with you to make it as efficient as possible. I will also connect you with some of my friends who are like email specialists, like for your newsletters or web designers, all of that. So I have lots of other Wedding Pro friends. ⁓ yeah. Yes, yeah.

We all need some wedding pro friends. So, all right.

And then I also noticed on your bio, you also work with people in Dubsado and other stuff, not just HoneyBook as well. all right. All right. So we're going to be jumping into our topic today. It's the follow-up formula. Most wedding pros know they should, and it's an all capitalized on my little one sheet here, should be following up, but are afraid of feeling too pushy or simply

Yeah. Yeah.

Forget to do so. So, Kaitlyn, can you give us a quick version of like, you know, we know you help wedding pros, but what problems are you solving for them?

Yeah, so the biggest thing that I have heard is they know they should be doing X, Y, and Z, but they just don't. They don't have the time. They don't have the energy. So yeah, one of the big things that I don't think people realize is how important a follow-up is. Some people do know, which is great. And then some people are scared about how it may come across. They know

They can make it automated, but they have all these, what if scenarios, and then they just don't do it. So I think there's a lot of fear around follow-ups and automations in general, just trying to make things more streamlined and efficient for them. I would say that's probably the biggest thing that I've seen.

Alright, perfect. So why do think so many wedding pros are struggling with the follow-up even though they know they should be doing it or it is important?

Yeah, that's a good question. I think it's a mental hurdle because a lot of times, yeah, they just feel like it's so salesy and that's not their brand. That's not how they want to come across. And my argument to that is how many times do you need a reminder to schedule a doctor's appointment or

you

a hair appointment, whatever, you're not being salesy, you're just making sure you're on the top of their mind. Because especially as a bride, planning a wedding, life can be crazy. So making sure that you're still just getting in touch with them. And then of course, we can be strategic about how but as long- just do something. And then a lot of times I'll see people who

they'll just manually follow up with every person and they get so many leads and then eventually they'll like forget or something will happen and then they just don't get to those people. So that can be really hard for them. So making sure that there's some sort of system in place to make sure that people are getting those follow ups, those reminders as you could say.

⁓ And getting over that mental hurdle because one of the things I like about automations is you're not thinking about it. So you're not feeling all the time. I'm being salesy or I'm I'm being pushy. No, the automation is doing it. So as long as you start and then run away and it'll do it for you. So.

You

I like that.

And I like that you called it a reminder instead of follow up, because then maybe like you said, it could be a mindset thing, where they feel maybe it's not as salesy if it's just, hey, reminder, I'm here. So yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,

it's a big mental thing. That's what I found.

Yeah.

All right, Kaitlyn, where do you think the fear of being too pushy actually comes from?

Ooh, that's a good question. think just, I feel like since COVID, the wedding industry's kind of gotten an interesting rap for maybe being not too expensive, but like everything right now just seems to be wanting your money. And so I think you guys don't want to feel like one of those people. ⁓

Mm-hmm.

So I think that's that's where it comes from. But at the end of the day, this is your business. They are inquiring with you. They're interested and something probably just came up. So just remind them. Yeah.

I get it. And COVID, yeah, it has really changed the wedding industry. 100 % feel I actually got asked to be on Judge Judy because of COVID because over a deposit, you know, over a retainer. I did not do it, obviously. So but yeah, it's yeah. Yeah. And the guy that was pursuing it was a lawyer. So that's the best-. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, we ended up in small claims court and we ended up settling on like,

You do it?

Wow, it's crazy.

my gosh.

half of their deposit, anyway, was long, long story, but like COVID was, I feel like it was so- something we don't ever want to remember again. yeah, so.

Yeah.

Yeah, I know.

And yeah, not just the wedding, it didn't just affect the wedding industry, but yeah, just everything I feel like now. It's just like, like on Instagram, when I'm just scrolling, half of it is just ads. So I think they just, they just don't want to seem like one of those people that just wants your money, you know?

Yeah, it's.

Yeah,

exactly. All right. So this is I've been waiting to ask you this question. So what is the real cost of not following up consistently?

I would say thousands of dollars because you, let's say you're manually following up. You have some sort of system where you know, okay, I haven't heard from so-and-so, I need to follow up. And then you have a super crazy wedding and then you take the next day, usually maybe Mondays you send those follow-ups, but you need to take that day to reset. So Tuesday, you get into your Tuesday routine.

Okay.

And then you miss the five people that you're supposed to follow up with. And then if they're acquiring for like $2,500 each, that's $10,000. ⁓ So it can really, really add up. So if you have a good follow-up system, again, if you have nothing, don't worry about making it strategic. Just start with something, a little reminder, and then you can add to it later. And then you can also...

Mm-hmm.

just take note of when are people reaching back out? Is it after the first follow-up or the second follow-up? Are you still getting ghosted afterwards? Like you can do some fun little like research almost about that. But yeah, thousands of dollars.

All right.

love that. I think you're 100 % correct there. People, if you're not asking for the business, you're probably not going to get the business. I don't know if there's a right answer to this question, but how many follow-ups should wedding pros realistically be sending before giving up on a lead?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

I like that. I would, it depends on who you talk to. You're going to get a different answer from every person. Yeah. But I'll tell you my philosophy. So there was a study, at least the last time I checked, I believe it was from rain group, like a sales marketing person company. And they said that it takes eight touch points.

That's what I was thinking.

to finally get on a call with somebody. And that's not taking into account like the wedding industry where there's a higher investment and things like that. So not saying eight, but I'm just saying keep that in mind that on average it will take a lot of touch points to get on a call with somebody. And that's, i think that's for like cold calls and stuff, but still. I usually recommend at least three and that is for

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

If you're having a consultation and somebody doesn't schedule that with you, have at least three. And then after you send that contract, have another three because any type of action that you have the client do, that's a place for them to fall through the cracks. So you want to make sure that you're covering that with follow-ups. And you can, one of my favorite things to do is add a resource for them, whether that's a blog, like, hey, take a look at our recent blog or

Hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Here's

a review from so-and-so about how we brought her wedding to life. Something to add value to it. But if that stresses you out, just have something first and then add to it. any time that you need action done from the client, have three follow-ups. A questionnaire or a kickoff call, literally anything. Yeah.

I like that power of three. right.

So take us through like an effective follow up process. You know, what does it actually look like from I got the inquiry through the website, you know, all the way now through booking, like what is an effective way to get us all the way to get us that thousands of dollars we were talking about earlier.

I'm

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah

Yes,

okay. So you will want to have a contact form, a way for you to ask questions. And even this you can get strategic with, with like what types of questions you're asking. So that way you can qualify the lead beforehand, because you're going to want to know what their date is. So if you're not available, you can tell them. Maybe ask their budget. You can ask, of course, what

type of projects they're interested in if you offer more than weddings, if you offer like family sessions or whatever. And then like you don't want to make it too long though because then people aren't going to fill it out. know like if they're inquiring with five different people that all have super long text box. Yeah.

Well, I

was going to say there was for a while there, was like everyone was telling you less is more. And now I'm hearing you got to put back a little bit more question. Yeah. So it just it is there a magic number to have on there or.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

I wouldn't say magic number. It's more of the types of questions. You could have like a drop down for them to just quickly choose if their budget like a range for their budget. You can have a multiple choice. I would just say try to limit the amount of text boxes because that again, yeah, and it's time for them to fill it out. So.

Okay.

slows them down.

I've also had people who are scared to ask questions because they just want to, yeah, as fast as possible. So they just ask their name and what can we do to make your event special? I'm like, no, you need to qualify them first, right?

Well, yeah, I'm going to say you got to get some kind of information because

what if they're not, like you said, date is probably the biggest one because if you're already booked, yeah, that makes sense.

Yeah.

or their budget's like $500 and you're like, I'm not working with you. Or like, something super small. So that's the first thing. And then I always recommend some sort of automatic response. So you're gonna want a system to do this. Of course, I use HoneyBook and Dubsado and that's what I recommend. But some sort of automatic response to lay out the expectations and let them know, hey,

Yeah, no, yeah, you're, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

I got your information and I will be responding within two to three days or whatever time frame you want to say. Because when you follow through, you're building that trust from the very beginning. The only thing is if you don't, like let's say you're super ambitious and you say, I'm going to respond to you within three hours and they inquire at 1 a.m. or something that hurt. Yeah, I know people can be crazy. Like that can hurt.

Mm-hmm.

jeez.

your trust. So make sure that whatever timeframe you're doing, you're actually following through. But again, let's line up the expectations and we're starting, we want to start the relationship off on a good note. Lay that out. And then of course,

Is there a good

time to write for that?

I usually say around 48 hours because then that gives you some breathing room. you're capturing a wedding and then you can even be more specific saying during business hours and then list your business hours. and then if you're out of office, they'll, HoneyBook and Upsado, there's both out of office settings. So you can just do that and then it will solve all the problems.

Okay.

And then, like I was saying earlier, have a resource for them, either your Instagram or website, or I mean, they inquired on your website, but maybe your blog, or if you have a, here's a 10 checklist things to have for your wedding. I don't know, a freebie. You can send them that. And then have some email templates ready saying, one, I'm available. Hey, I'm available for your wedding. Let's hop on a call.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I always recommend hopping on a call specifically like a face-to-face call because you're building that relationship. And a phone call, I mean, that could let the client, when you're on a Zoom call or Google Meet, whatever, you're getting their undivided attention. Whether like for a phone call, they could be driving. They could be, I mean, I've been on calls with people going through the drive-through once. I was like,

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

I

it's crazy because I meet with couples all the time and they're in their car and I'm like, how are we going to have a productive and me show you photos for what you're asking for while you're driving down the highway anyway? Pet peeve, pet peeve, pet peeve, sorry.

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah.

Yeah. I mean, there's always you're not it's not going to solve it 100%, but it can definitely limit it having a face-to-face. And if you use HoneyBook or Dubsado, it has a scheduler for you to use. So you don't have to use Calendly. But if you already use Calendly, that's fine. You can just put that in there.

Yeah, I agree.

And I recommend having some sort of link so that way you're not going back and forth with the person, with the lead saying, hey, does 9 a.m. tomorrow work for you? And then you're waiting on a response from them and all that. Because again, any action that you need from the client, you need some sort of follow up there. So trying to limit that. ⁓ And then some other email templates I like to have is if you're unavailable, like, hey, sorry, we're booked. Here's a list of my vendor friends.

And I sometimes, depends on the situation, but I like to have an email template for asking if their date's flexible. So whether maybe it's a courthouse wedding or something and saying, hey, I'm booked on that date, but the week after I'm available, are you open to? Yeah, so just something like that. ⁓ And then at least you have it. You might not use it very often, but you have it.

That's a good idea.

Yeah.

And then

an email template for if they're under budget, if they're saying, yeah, my budget's $1,000 and you're like, my packages start at five. so, something like that, just saying ⁓ thank you for thinking of us. Our packages do start at this rate, which we notice is a bit higher than what you had put in the form. However, if you do offer a la carte options, you can put that in there.

But if not, then maybe you could put vendor referrals, whatever. So yeah, those are the email templates I recommend trying to get them to schedule that call with you. And then we have the three follow-ups. making it personal, so having things populate like their name or ⁓ their wedding date, whatever, like those things so it feels less like a template. And.

Then you could also, like I was saying earlier, have some fun case studies or reviews here and there. Or if you're a videographer, link to a hype video or something like get them excited. Anything like that. And then you have the consultation call. could even, if you wanted to have a confirmation that they've scheduled their consultation call saying, hey, thanks so much. We're super excited. You could have, I'm sorry, I'm blabbering lot about all these.

No,

this is great. This is good information, Kaitlyn.

But another thing that I like to do is having a hype email. That's what I call it. A day before their call, getting them excited. Again, if you have a video, this is a place to put it saying, hey, we're super excited. Here's a video or pictures. Here's a gallery, whatever. To just some way to get them excited to hop on the call, because we want to limit ghosting for that call. Because sometimes people will inquire and they're just.

not cancel or they won't show up, which is annoying. So that's a way to limit it. ⁓ And then after the consultation, you'll send that contract an invoice, getting them booked. And then having an email there that again lays out the expectations saying, hey, super excited. This, if you want, you can expire it after a certain amount of time. So saying this is going to expire after a week or a month. Make sure to fill it out.

And then have three follow-ups in between that expiration phase. So first one's saying, hey, checking in. And then second one, you could be a little bit more strategic with, again, hey, here's why people book with us. Here's blah, blah, blah. If you want to hop on another call, let's do it. And then the third one's saying, your proposal is going to expire soon, or tomorrow, next week, whatever.

And then I even like to do a fourth one saying, your proposal's expired. If something changed, I call it a proposal because that's what HoneyBook calls it. But your contract and invoice have expired. If something's changed, let me know and I can reactivate it. ⁓ And then a confirmation email saying, yay, you're officially booked. Let's get started. Whether that's a kickoff call or we'll be in touch three months before the wedding with a questionnaire, whatever that is. So yeah, that was a lot of info.

Mm-hmm.

No, I know, but it was all great

info because I think everyone has a different from inquiry to booking process. And I think people can take from that what works for them. know, because if you could be a caterer and it's going to be different, you could be a photographer and your process is way different because you're offering an engagement session part. You know what I'm saying? Like, there's so many different things that are different, but I think people can kind of get the gist of that and kind of really kind of go through there.

the

Yeah.

Thank

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

One thing you mentioned, like, you know, the budget part, this could be a whole nother like podcast episode. But like, what are your thoughts on having like pricing ranges or some kind of pricing on the website?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I Okay, this is a good question because as as a Past bride I loved having some sort of starting range and that's usually what I recommend people Not just not having nothing but not saying here's exactly my pricing Just saying it starts that my full planning package starts at 7,500 or my my

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

partial starts at 2,500, whatever, because then that gives you flexibility if you're on the call and they're adding XYZ for you to raise your prices and get paid accordingly, because then if you're like, oh, my pricing is 2,500, and then, I don't know, I've had people have a yes problem saying yes to everything, so that will help not get you locked in with that 2,500 price.

Well, and

I think it I'm a big believer in exactly what you said and It just qualifies the client so you're not wasting their time and you're not wasting your time chasing, you know Chasing something that's not gonna work,

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

I've had people who want to have a more detailed pricing guide that they send during the automatic response. So they've inquired with the contact form, you're saying, hey, thanks, we got your information. In the meantime, take a look at our pricing guide with more like maybe they inquired for weddings. And then that pricing guide has your different wedding packages in there. So that way they

they know more of what to expect, you know? And then with Honey Book and Dubsado you can allow them to choose. So that way you can see what they're interested in. So that's fun.

that

I love that. All right,

what's the biggest mistake wedding pros make in their follow-up emails or communication, you think?

Yeah, I think that's a good question. There's a few things. One thing that I do hear all the time are it's with people who have they get leads all the time and they're like, I don't need a follow up because I'm not I don't want to chase them. You know, like, I already have so many leads coming in. If they don't want me, then I'm not going to I'm not going to fight for it. You know? So yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm.

It's a bad idea. That's a bad approach.

So I've heard that many times actually. So I always say, okay, but we should just one, please, like one follow up. So that just not getting in that mindset because things can change super fast or you can scale, have a team member take it on. Like if you're a photographer, have a team member do another shoot like that you're.

Yeah.

You can get a virtual assistant that

will do that. Yeah, there's lots of different avenues that won't cost you a lot of money. And like you were saying earlier, the return is thousands and thousands of dollars.

Yeah,

cocky isn't the word, being too used to having an influx of leads. ⁓ So just making sure there's a system for everything. As a business owner, need to have a system for when you don't get those influx of leads.

Arrogant me? I don't know. Yeah.

Well, and I think our

current client needs a lot like you were saying earlier, they need a lot of touch points. They're not, you so if you go in there, you can't, you know, we can't do business like we were five, 10 years ago, you know, you got to continue to evolve your business based on our clientele, especially in the wedding industry, because our clientele is ever changing every year, you know, every year we get a different, you know, group of couples and their communities.

⁓ It sounds like really slow.

education style is going to be different than what we've been dealing with. you know, I think that's why, you know, some couples want to talk to you through Instagram, because that's where they live, know, some couples want to text some couples want to, you know, very, you know, email is, you know, probably the least of their, you know, they would rather Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's what I

was going to say to people. like these systems, HoneyBook and Upsado are built around email automations and not text automations. So they're like, I'll just text them to follow up or I'll just, yeah, send them a DM or whatever. But to build efficiency and to build a business that scales, you need to have a system in place. You can't be that all the time. So

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, you really do.

when they fill out that contact form, you can say, I will be emailing you for communication. if something comes up, if there's an emergency, like later on, happy wedding week, you can say, here's my number, whatever. So I think just trying to like, need, we need to cater to our clients 100 % while balancing efficiency, you know? So if there's a system, if there's a tool that

I know HoneyBook and Dubsado are working on automated texts. So, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, it'll be here before we know it. really, yeah.

We switched over as a company, we switched over to Zoom because Zoom allows us to text with the clients. And I know there's other texting platforms out there. ⁓ You know, there, you know, I don't think there's a right or wrong, but I really think if you're not looking towards having some kind of text platform, you're going to be, you know, going to be left behind.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

⁓ Yeah,

So how can automation help with the follow up without making communication feel impersonal? Because I feel like that's the hurdle is everyone feels like letting a HoneyBook Dubsado or any kind of CRM 17 hats, whoever you use, because everything in the wedding industry, it's like, ⁓ it's

customized and personal and hospitality, but there's also a little bit of a system to that.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, so the big thing is having those little automated fields to populate. So their name and their partner's name. You can make your own. So if you have a question saying, you have any pets, you can insert their pets names or whatever.

Mmm.

Having those throughout everything, the email templates, any files that you send, that will help a lot. And then I always recommend having some sort of balance with automations. Because I've worked with people who want zero automations and people who want everything automated. And I think in order to have a great client experience, you need a balance. So that would look like an email popping up.

Hmm.

two months before the wedding, but instead of it automatically sending, you can edit it before it goes out. So you can add your own little blurb or say,

for that available email template saying, hey, like maybe they found you through their sister's wedding. You can say, I love working with your sister. It so fun. Like having those templates that allow you to edit before it goes out, that's the balance with, with automations and the fields too. That helps with any ones that are automatically going.

Mm-hmm.

I like that. Good idea. All right. So what are some of the follow up touch points most wedding pros are like completely missing?

The consultation call, that's a big one because I found they either remember the consultation call or the contract, not both. So some people don't have a consultation call which is like it's fine but I always recommend having one to build that relationship. those are the big two but then of course if you need

If you're sending them a questionnaire, like you're a DJ and you're sending them a music questionnaire and you haven't gotten it after a certain point, you should have some sort of follow up there. ⁓ Or if you're having a kickoff call, maybe people aren't going to schedule that right away. They're like, I'll it next week. Have a reminder. If that helps you think of it as a reminder, not a follow up, a reminder to schedule that kickoff call.

Mm-hmm.

I,

there's something I've gotten out of this is, that a calling it a follow-up is calling it a reminder. And especially cause all the, all us Apple people, you know, reminders already built into our phone and yeah, no, it just, it feels less like you said, used car salesman ish, you know, by going that route. So.

Yeah, it's

Yeah. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. that's the thing I've found the most when I meet with clients is I ask them, you have a kickoff call. Do you want to do a follow-up? And they're like, ⁓ yeah, I probably should because they've had people that don't schedule it. Like, of course, most people will. But there's some people who might take their time. So yeah, that's always my big recommendation.

Yeah.

Is there- so this is probably not a right answer for this question either. So sorry. So how long should someone wait before following up on an inquiry or even like a ghosted lead? Is there you know, what's the timing of this?

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah,

that's a good question. ⁓ I usually recommend between two to four days in between each because then you're still at the top of their mind. After a week, maybe they've inquired with other people ⁓ or they've just like something happened and they're not staying on top of their emails. I don't know. It allows you to stay top of mind between two to four days.

Okay.

And anything before that might feel a little bit that I've had people be like, that feels too much. But it also depends on your cycle. Because I've had people who want the sales cycle to be super fast. So they'll have a follow-up 24 hours after. And I've found the people who are more like, ⁓ I have leads coming all the time. They're like, we'll follow up with them two weeks after. And I'm like, ⁓

Mm.

Yeah, no, that

seems that they're going to forget about you and they probably have hired some other wedding pro has probably already followed up with them a handful of times and they're the ones that are going to get the business.

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So

two to four days I found is a sweet spot in between each. you can do three days, three days, three days, whatever. But that's my recommendation.

I like it. All right. What type of messaging tends to convert best in the follow up communication? Is it like being very, you know, business, very silly? Is there humor? Like, is there some type of communication that works works best?

Yeah, that's a good question.

Yeah, I have found that a mix between professionalism and friendliness. So you're not being straight salesy. We're like, hey, this,

Mmm.

we'll give you 10 % off if you respond within 12, not like that, but you're not being like all exclamation points super bubbly. So a mix of that saying, hey, we're following up regarding your inquiry, wanted to check in, see how you're feeling. We'd still love to get to know you. Let's go ahead and schedule a call. And yeah, that's what I found the most. But also it's interesting that when you inquire and you, or when somebody inquires and you follow up,

A lot of times they'll say, thanks so much for the follow-up. Like life got crazy or something like that. They just want some sort of reminder. So I wouldn't say there's a right answer, but I've just found that the mix of being professional yet still approachable and friendly gets the most. yeah.

Makes sense. All right. So we've talked about HoneyBook and DubSado a lot. You know, how can a CRM like HoneyBook or DubSado make like follow ups easier, more consistent?

Yeah, so the automations, that's like the gold of it. You can automate.

If they haven't scheduled that consultation call, automatically send that follow up after three days. And then if they do, you can say, Hey, we're super excited to meet you one day before like, you can automate so much and that saves you so much time. But I've had people who are afraid of automations or not afraid, but it gives them anxiety. It overwhelms them. It's completely normal.

But they will say, well, what if somebody emails me instead of scheduling the call? Will the emails still go out? And if that's one of your worries, can make any step require approval. So that means that it won't automatically go out without you knowing. Yeah. So that's my safety net for those people who get anxious around automations.

You, okay.

Yeah, sorry. Yeah.

So it's kind of like a good little crutch. like you, yeah,

kind of like you want to automate, but you're afraid of the machine taking over. So therefore you can go, okay, yeah, we're in that right process. Click, click, click, click. Yeah, yeah, I can see that.

Yeah

Yeah, it gives you control.

The automations are super helpful, but so are the files, the file aspect. So you can send questionnaires and contracts and invoices and the pricing guide that I was talking about earlier. And you can make it all branded and consistent. So if you're sending like a Canva document of your pricing guide and then a docu-sign for the contract and PayPal for the invoice, it's not consistent. And so it builds that legitimacy of your business, having those branded files.

Hmm.

gives them a better client experience because they're investing a lot so they you want this experience to be good for them so having those files and it teaches them what to expect and everything with you so yeah.

Alright, so is there like one simple automation or template that will immediately improve like lead conversion? Like one thing that they can do?

that. ⁓ Yeah, let's see, let's see. A template. I wouldn't say there's one. There's, they come in like a bunch, like least like three or four. So definitely that I call it the inquiry workflow. So they fill out the contact form and then having automatic response available in a follow-up. If you have those four, then that will help you immensely.

It's a little bit of a loaded question, I think.

Okay. Okay.

Hmm.

And

same with that booking process. So a file that has your contract and invoice, an email saying, here it is, and then a follow-up. So those three, super helpful, super great. But yeah, I mean, you can even have asking for reviews, like have that in automation. And I've had people be like, what if I don't want them to have my link? You don't have to. You can edit it before it goes out. ⁓

⁓

Yeah, there

we all have those weddings where like don't ask for reviews on this one.

Yeah, I'm talking

to you after this. no, like people will be people. ⁓ yeah, having the, I say it comes in pairs. So the first email asking them for something to do something and then a follow up, those are great.

Yeah,

yeah. I love that. And the review one, you want to make sure you have to approve it before it goes out. So, all right. ⁓ So a lot of us in the wedding industry struggle with ADHD. We're disorganized. We can be a little inconsistent. So when it comes to follow ups, where should they, is there somewhere where they could just start to get, you know?

Yeah, I agree.

Yeah, I really,

I, so I have three siblings that all have diagnosed ADHD and I'm the only one who doesn't actually. So I think it's funny that like I'm organizing. So anyway, I work with dozens of people who have ADHD and I grew up around it.

Yeah.

There needs to be a balance between getting into the rabbit hole of maybe you've never heard of HoneyBook, now you're like, I really want to learn about this. And then you start, and then you just get so overwhelmed that you stop. Because these, they're both, they're learning curves. And that can be hard for people with ADHD just kind of staying focused there.

for someone who feels like disorganized or inconsistent with their like follow-ups, you know, like a lot of us in the wedding industry have ADHD and you know, we're just, you know, overworked, you know, all stressed out. Is there somewhere they could start with the follow-up process that just kind of...

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

you know, I guess it's follow up light, you know, like just somewhere to dip their toe in the water, you know.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

whether, okay, yeah, whether you're having, whether you use HoneyBook or Dubsado or nothing, 17 hats, whatever, just have some sort of email template and start there. You don't need to go making the automations if that overwhelms you. You don't need to get into that. The shiny object syndrome and the

just have some sort of follow-up template, even if it's a Google Doc, you can start there and then slowly progress when you feel like you can. So, yeah, that's my recommendation.

I like that.

it's also too like I feel like the more you follow up with people and the more you're Bookings from it. I think it's almost like a drug probably you're gonna you're gonna want to do it more You're gonna want to get more creative with it You're gonna want to have more fun with that process because you could you could see it convert

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, 100%. And yeah, just have something, have some sort of, that's my recommendation.

Yeah.

Yeah.

All right, so I'm someone that has a strong follow-up process. So what do you think that communicates to potential clients that, hey, this person's checking in with me, ⁓ they're constantly communicating with me. What do you think that tells the consumer?

Yeah, so that is all about the client experience I found and that's especially these CRMs will help make it consistent across the board. So definitely it shows them that you care obviously and it shows them not only that but the value of what you're doing. So if you have a questionnaire and they haven't filled it out following up with them

shows them, you really care about your job. You really care about doing a good job for my event. So more than just, they care. No, they care about the event and doing a good job and everything. So especially at the beginning, too, having those follow ups. The thing that...

Mm-hmm.

I just keep coming back to these people feeling like it's too pushy. Like don't want them to feel that way. For the most part, it's a reminder. So you're just helping them realize, okay, I really, I inquired about photography. I need to make sure that I'm following through with this, with booking my photographer, you know? ⁓ So it helps them stay on track too.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I think it helps you stay top of mind with them and it also looks like you're running a serious business. So that's what I think a lot of us in the wedding industry, struggle. We're all artists, I always say. ⁓ We're really good at our art, but we struggle on the business side. And it's those folks that are really good on the business side tend to be the ones that are booked more often and constantly whether they are

Yeah.

Yeah, 100%.

Mm-hmm.

better or not than the other person, because they have good systems in place. yeah, I don't know. Just my little two cents. All right. All right, Kaitlyn, we made it. Did we miss anything? I think we covered it.

Mm-hmm. Yay! I don't think so. yeah,

talked a lot about all the good stuff.

All the

all the good stuff. All right. So, Kaitlyn, where can listeners learn more about you and connect with you?

Yeah, so you can find me on Instagram at @virtuallyvitalVA and I'm working on a YouTube channel to make more content about workflows and kind of just information like this and more tutorials about how HoneyBook and Dubsado work because

⁓

i think it's so important to be educated about these tools, because if you get overwhelmed, then you're going to stop and all of that. So working on that, hopefully should be dropping soon. ⁓ Yeah. And then you can find me. If you have a question, you can email me [email protected], not .com .co.

Alright, I love it.

All

right, and we will have all of Kaitlyn's information in the show notes as well as the email blast that goes out to say Kaitlyn's episodes ready to go. So Kaitlyn, we can't thank you for being here.

Yeah, thank you. This was so fun. We talked about so many good things. So get to it. Get to following up.

Yeah.

Yeah. Well, was pleasure having. Yeah, we'll

make sure we follow up with you and go from there. thank you for listening to another episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. We will see you next time. Bye, guys.