After $100,000 in projects, here’s how I feel about honeybook.
Earlier this year we hit an interesting milestone. We have processed our 100,000th dollar through our client management software Honeybook, and I definitely have some strong opinions about the platform. Is this something you could use and will it actually help you make money? Let’s talk about it. If you think it’s a fit I’ve included a code to get your first 6 months for $1 which is one hell of a deal.
First let’s talk about why you might need a project tracker or some form of software to help manage your clients. Poor planning leads to unclear goals or irrelevant tasks. The typical outcome is a project that falls short of the promised accomplishments. In many cases, milestones will not be met or the delivery date will have to be delayed. Lack of knowledge leads to inconsistency within the project. One person can complete a task that is in no way compatible with the task at hand. Organizational goals get lost in the day-to-day workflow due to a lack of sense of direction. Tracking your project with some tools, can help alleviate these problems. Although I've run our process 100’s of times so far, it's very helpful to know exactly what needs to happen next. The entire process is in front of you and all the files you send to your clients in one easy-to-view interface.
What is Honeybook:
Let’s start by saying that this article isn’t sponsored by Honeybook, but I know a lot of you out there may be curious about a way to manage your clients and your business. It was one of the biggest questions during some coaching sessions I had over the past few months. So let me explain what it is if you’ve never heard of it. Honeybook at its core is an online platform for booking, client management, and payment. It even has some handy marketing and automation features, which makes a total solution for some business models, but let me tell you we at Media Sensei use it for. For those that don’t know we started out as a video production company, but over time have evolved into more of a content agency with most of our business operating on retainer models, and a few different streams of income. We don’t use Honeybook for all of our revenue, and in the beginning we were pretty bad about skipping our process, but oh did we pay the price, but many of our most important deals have happened through it. Our SOP now is that any project that is not an advertised special, and requires a consultation or a strong contract is tracked and processed through Honeybook. Our payments for crew work, products, and flat rate services aren’t handled through Honeybook, and that’s because when it comes to things I consider “projects” Honeybook just excels at that particular category. So let me get into some of the positives for us.
A Project Tracker is amazing for both creating and tracking customers through your sales process. If you have just been keeping up with everything via emails, texts, or a notebook, this feature alone can be a game changer for you. Even though I’ve done our process literally 100’s of times at this point, it’s so helpful seeing exactly what needs to happen next. I’ve recovered many deals simply by being aware of who needs a follow-up and having all the details for the project visible by both me and my team, keeps communication professional and transparent. The whole process is there in front of you and all the files you send your customers are in one easy to look at interface. I can easily set up recurring payments or modify tem into pretty much any structure I like. Clients can use credit cards or ACH, and Honeybook even has an instant pay feature, where for a a small fee, payment can be sent instantly to a debit card of your choice. Sometimes you need that money asap.
Now the second tool that has really helped our business are the templates. OMG I love the templates. I can send customized visually appealing proposals in just a couple of minutes. Our video services contracts typically only have 3 blanks to fill out before it’s ready to go, it just pulls in all the details and is super easy to tweak from my phone or desktop. That’s the invoice, the contract, payment structure, and automated reminders, all built into one email branded with logos and our company info. The brochures and questionnaires are also great for getting potential clients in a sales funnel quickly and professionally. We get plenty of compliments on these documents that we literally make in just a couple minutes.
Alright now another feature that I’ve only recently started taking advantage of is the Scheduling. It took me a little trial and error to find out exactly how this feature would work in our business process, but now that I’ve got it down, it’s saved me so much time with bookings and meetings. There are quite a few reasons why I need to meet or have a video call with customers and team members and the problem has always been that depending on the reason, my availability could differ vastly. Time management is one of those things I’m really working on and being able to say, okay these are the times I want to be available for consultation, this is when I do photography, and this is when I’m set up for zooms has really helped me be prepared and focused. It’s a cool, really simple to use feature and each link has a unique customer message and sets off a different automation chain and I generally get positive results when using this feature.
Now when it comes to the marketing features, like email automation and batch email tools I find them pretty good. I do generally use other tools and software for our marketing campaigns and I can talk about those in another article, but it’s really nice to have these tools built in and as we were growing as a company I found them useful. As we continue to scale and add new team members, I look forward to using the automation and task delegation features a lot more. I also would like to add that the community of creators, specialists, and tutorials offered are outstanding. They even have a feature called opportunities that acts like a local job board and we’ve even gotten a few sweet deals from other creatives in our area who needed an extra hand or a service they didn’t offer.
CONS:
Alright now let’s talk about some of the things that I don’t like so much. My biggest complaint with Honeybook would have to be the reporting. For all the data that the software collects, it would be nice if I had more control and options to review it. It’s not a major problem, but I would like to see some dollar figures for each project type and I’ve been having to track certain details on my own just because the metrics in Honeybook are a little more basic than I personally would like. I’m sure this works for most people, but I’m a numbers nerd and Honeybook just won’t let me nerd out the way I would like.
Another thing that wasn’t my favorite, is how you can run into issues adding team members if they’ve used the platform before. I always find myself having to contact customer support and spend hours waiting on emails for something so simple. I’m not a big fan of having to send and keep up with more emails every time I run into an obstacle.
I feel like the other user should be able to receive and email and confirm they want to be on my team, but again not a big deal, just a minor annoyance. Now I do have to give kudos to the support team. They are very helpful when I hear back and they’ve even helped me fight through a couple illegitimate credit card disputes, which I really appreciate.
Ok so now the real question is, is Honeybook the platform for you and your business? Look I’ve used a lot of different platforms and when it comes to certain types of booking we absolutely love it. We do a lot of space rentals, film productions, weddings, and multi-service contracts that can involve several team member and let me tell ya, for us
THE VERDICT:
Honeybook has been the best at providing these features in an easy to use platform. Now if you do a lot of instant booking where clients just need to pick a date for service and show up, like let’s say classes or courses for example, I don’t think you need something as robust as Honeybook and it might even leave you wanting in a couple of areas. We actually do our availability based booking and product sales through Square, as the flexibility and customization they have for this type of booking just seems to fit better and I think our customers have felt the same, but I can cover this in more detail in another article if anyone watching is interested. I think if you are someone who offers multiple services with add-ons and packages, you use contracts and proposals frequently, or have/want to, develop a robust inquiry to invoice sales process, I think a system like Honeybook could really help you manage all of that. Now If you thinking about trying out Honeybook they do have a 7 day free trial, but I personally don’t think that’s enough time to really get into all the features and take a customer through the entire process, so if you’re really looking to give it go I would recommend clicking the link in the description and signing up for the $1/month promotion. We’re currently paying $40/month, and even though it’s well worth it to me, getting 6 months for only $1 each is a crazy deal for such a great platform. So $100,000 and almost 250 opportunities later, I’m still locked in and looking forward to the next $100,000. If you’d like to learn more about our sales process, retainer agreements, or could use a free consultation over how we’ve integrated any of the tools mentioned into our media business click the link in the description. It was actually created through Honeybook so check it out and see what it feels like from the other side. Find out more about their platform at Honeybook.com. Thanks for reading and supporting, let me know and if you have a topic you’d like to see let me know. Keep creating, and don’t forget to make money while you do it! I’ll catch you later Senseis!
