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This post was updated May 2023 to reflect the updated HoneyBook discount rate.

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“Never did I ever think you’d switch to HoneyBook, why the change?”

“Ahhhh!!! Do I need to re-examine my life choices??”

Those are just a couple of the responses I got when I mentioned on Instagram stories I was moving from Dubsado to HoneyBook.

And I totally get it.

I’ve been with Dubsado since 2016, have launched multiple courses about how to use the platform, and set up countless accounts for clients.

I was even a part of an event, where I was a part of a team that essentially debated why Dubsado was the better platform than HoneyBook. I literally have a t-shirt that says “Team Dubsado.”

So why did I break up with Dubsado?

I broke up with Dubsado after 4 years

I’m not going to focus too much on the details of why I left Dubsado since my primary objective is to share how to find and create systems that work for you. I do know it is important to share my experience with a platform I used and promoted for the past 4 years.

Over the last 6 months I’ve had an increase in issues relating to customer support and workflows.  In regards to workflows the issues came as reminder emails not going out to leads for the appointment (lost those leads completely), workflow actions not triggering, and workflows pausing after you’ve unpaused them, and more.

I have not only been using Dubsado for myself, but with my current OBM and Project Management clients, and all of our accounts have had issues. As someone who lives and breathes systems and automation, I trusted Dubsado to help handle the lead and client management side of these businesses, and we were let down. 

While there are some differences in features between the two platforms that I’ll need to get used to, I’m excited about the change and to share more about Honeybook with you.

The decision to leave Dubsado wasn’t one I took lightly. In fact it’s taken 4 months for me to hit my breaking point, and another 2 months to research and test options. Over the years I’ve helped setup clients on Táve, 17Hats, and Dubsado. Each one has it’s pros and cons, but after plenty of research and talking with friends who use and love it, I decided to go with HoneyBook as my CRM (client relationship management).

There are several reasons why I’ve gone with HoneyBook, but today I’m sharing my top 3!

01. HoneyBook’s customer service

Going above and beyond, empathy, and knowledge

One of the top 2 reasons I left Dubsado is the number one reason I love HoneyBook. Their customer service.

I have had many conversations with HoneyBook support and every time they’ve been so helpful, full of empathy in helping me understand their platform and features, and are highly knowledgeable on the platforms’ capabilities. When talking with one of my clients who moved to HoneyBook with me, she shared how one support member helped her figure out how to set up her financial settings outside of their normal support hours. 

When talking with HoneyBook you can tell they know the program. They also understand exactly what it can and can’t do and are able to understand what you’re trying to do and articulate either how to do what you’re trying to do, or suggest workarounds. So far no one has said, “No it can’t do that, sorry for the inconvenience.” While HB support may not directly say no, they instead educate me on why I can’t do it the way I’m trying and their suggestion for what to try instead.

PLUS they have weekly training sessions and on-demand webinars to help you understand how to use the platform. And if you’re feeling overwhelmed about setting up your HoneyBook account, they have an incredible migration service that will get you setup in 72 hours or less. So all of your contracts, questionnaires, and pricing/service details get set up as templates in HoneyBook FOR YOU. Imagine what you can do in that time while someone else sets that up… for free!

02. HoneyBook’s Referral Program

Get 35% off your first year with HoneyBook

Holy guacamole. When I first asked fellow operations friend and candle maker, Annie, about Honeybook she gave me a code to get 35% off my first year of HoneyBook. Seriously, half off for the first year? Most companies do like 20% off, but HoneyBook went all the way to half and I’m loving it!

I don’t know many companies that have that generous of a referral program, but HoneyBook is at the top of that list for sure!

03. Using the Autosave Feature with HoneyBook

No more losing your what you’re working on

I can’t tell you how many times my clients or my client’s clients have poured their heart and soul into a Dubsado questionnaire only to forget to save before exiting the form, accidentally hit refresh, or lost their internet and were forced to refresh the page and totally lost everything they’d just written.

With Dubsado you have the ability to save drafts on questionnaires/forms, but you have to physically click the save draft button.

With HoneyBook it automatically saves your work. Both internally when you’re working on a template or something for a client and when your client is completing things, HoneyBook will automatically save your progress.

For example, if you offer website template customizations, you can send a form in HoneyBook to your client and have them fill in their content based on the template and they can do so at their own pace. They don’t need to complete the entire form in one sitting, they can fill in as much as they want, let HoneyBook autosave their place and come back to it later when they’re ready to finish it.

You no longer have to worry about getting a message from your client saying they just spent the last 3 hours filling out the questionnaire but lost it because XYZ happened before they could hit save. Having autosave on your client forms will help you continue to deliver a top-notch client experience.

Wrapping it up

It’s important to note that no system is going to be perfect. There are always going to be pros and cons for whatever platform you choose. My goal is to always make sure that you choose the system that’s right for your business because in the end you need to know how to use it or it’ll just sit and gather dust (which we definitely don’t want!).

If you’re looking for an alternative to Dubsado or if you haven’t set up a CRM (Client Relationship Management) yet, I highly recommend checking out HoneyBook—plus you’ll get 50% off your first year!