The Client Process Tools I Use Most in My Business

Over the years, I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the tools that I use in my business. All of my tools actually live on my website! I love having them all there because sometimes I can’t even remember them all, so that’s a fun place to go check them out.

I wanted to talk to you specifically about the tools I use in my client process. There are so many different types of things I do in my business—for podcasting, Facebook live, managing Heart Centered cheerleaders, and clients. All of those things have different tools and systems in place. I want to give you guys a behind the scenes look at the client process tools that we use!

I’ve been working very closely with Kathryn Brown of Creating Your Plan and she’s been whipping me into shape in terms of our client process! I’m hoping it’s going to result in being more seamless, effortless and a really great process for our lovely clients.

The first thing I want to point out is that Kathryn had me do a “tools audit”—so, writing down all of the tools that I use into a Google Doc and taking notes about how satisfied I am with them, how much they cost, and how often I use them. Sometimes there will be a better tool than what we’re currently using and it’s crucial to be able to figure that out so you can benefit your business!

Using Google Suites

When we start out the client process, someone fills out a form through my website and it pops into my inbox. I use Gmail for my business and I love all of the Google Suite products—plus, their apps are incredible! I use Google Drive for all of my organizing with my team as well.

One thing that people often miss in Google Suites is the Google Sites option. Google Sites is a really cool way of creating an internal website (like an intro web) for your team! It can help you create a Client System Process—or any process you’d like—and document it all in one place. Ours is certainly not perfect, but it’s a place where we have a lot of our systems documented, and details about who does what and when. Plus, it’s really pretty!

Client Gifts

There is so much talk about whether or not you should do client gifts. I just need you to think about:

•      Is this something that is important to me?
•      Am I still making a profit?
•      Am I making my clients feel special?

There are many ways that you can delight your clients. You don’t have to send a gift in order to make that happen. However, there are some resources I have in terms of gifting. I sometimes use Greetabl or I’ll just go into a store that I know and pick out something that my clients will love. Of course, it’s all depending on who my client is. I’ve also used BOXFOX and Alison of Bonjour Boxes—who created some beautiful boxes for my clients!

Here are the Client Process tools I use the most

Dubsado

The biggest tool I use right now to manage all of my clients and inquiries is Dubsado. It’s a really cool client management system where I can take in inquiries, accept payments and also use a lot of other functionalities! Kathryn and I are currently working together to get it all set up—so, it’s definitely something I’m going to be leaning a lot into for the next couple of months.

It’s pretty robust! I’d definitely recommend it. If you’re interested in checking it out, head on over to their website and use the code SUNSHINE to get a discount.

Loom

The next tool I use in the process is Loom. It’s a place where you can create videos without having to upload them anywhere and you can create a simple link to attach to emails. I use it for my team, for clients—it’s just such a great tool. I’ve been communicating with one of the Loom founders and she told me that if you share this tool with two people, you can unlimited recording time. Which is completely insane to me! You could record for hours if you wanted to. On the other hand, if you don’t share the tool with anyone, you have a 10-minute cap on your videos. Which, in my opinion is still pretty generous. So, go ahead and share that out!

Typeform

This tool is a beautiful system in contrast with something like Google Forms or Survey Monkey. Typeform allows you to have the survey contents sent right to your inbox in gorgeous text format. You can create surveys for your clients or intake forms, you can ask questions before calls and that kind of thing. You can make it really pretty—if appearance is something that is important to you. It’s a completely user-friendly experience and it’s free!

Zoom

Zoom is a really awesome tool that is similar to something like Skype. I used to use Skype—we still use it for the Creative Empire podcast—but we now use Zoom for client calls and any time I need to record something. The stability of the connection is so much better than other tools we’ve tried out. It also allows for multiple people to jump on a call at once, so if you’re doing a group program it’s perfect. I’ve really loved using Zoom!

If you use Acuity Scheduling it also integrates really well with Zoom. Here’s a fun fact: Acuity was actually the first tool that I ever spent money on in my business! So, besides my website, it was the first system that I purchased in order to manage my calendar. I still really love it, too! I think it’s super intuitive, easy to use, and combines really nicely with my Google Calendar. It also automates all of my client emails for me in terms of appointments, forms to submit, etc.—which is totally helpful.

Some of my previously used tools

Two tools I used to use—that have now been replaced by Dubsado—are HelloSign and FreshBooks. HelloSign is a contract-signing tool, that’s upheld in a court of law. So, if you sign it, it’s legally binding. FreshBooks is a fun system because it’s the best tool for simple bookkeeping. You can invoice somebody and it looks super professional. You can also track your numbers. It was a really great way for me as an entrepreneur to start billing people—and it connects right to your bank account so that’s an added bonus!

Although, for me, they’ve both now been replaced I’d still recommend them to others! They were both extremely useful for me when I was getting my business going.

In any case, you can check out the full list of all my resources by going to Reina + Co. I hope that you will find this super helpful because there are a lot of tools out there that I think are great but also some that aren’t. After doing my Client Process review and audit, this was basically what I was left with:

•      What are the things that I love most?
•      Which are the tools that I use most frequently?
•      How can we keep using those tools well?

In the past I’ve sometimes use Basecamp or Trello or Asana but those have seemed to fall by the wayside for me, as a coach. However, I know lots of people who love these tools too! I’m not saying not to use them—they just don’t work for me and my clients and the way that we work together. So, that might be something to consider in your business as well.

One last fun tool that I use with my clients—and definitely my team—is Slack. If you’ve never used Slack before, it’s a mix between a thread, a forum, a group chat and also a text messaging system. It’s a great tool for communicating with your whole team.

I hope you get a lot out of this and have a great rest of your day!

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