Hello, Darling! Welcome to Le Blog.
My name is Chloe, and I’m a client experience strategist. And as a client experience strategist, it’s my job to be aware of all the changes happening in the world of CRMs. This includes updates, big changes, and overall trends. And in the wedding industry, I have seen one very interesting change this year. Many wedding vendors are making the switch from Honeybook to Dubsado,
Honeybook and Dubsado are two rival CRMs, and most wedding vendors use one or the other. There’s an ongoing conversation about which CRM is better. In fact, I wrote a whole blog post dedicated to comparing HoneyBook vs Dubsado, but I’ll give you the SparkNotes version here.
I like to call Honeybook the “training wheels” system. It is very user-friendly and ideal for wedding businesses just getting started. The system is more rigid and structured, which can feel easier at first because there are fewer decisions to make. However, this rigidity can become a problem as your business grows. Need something custom? Want to automate a process that doesn’t fit their template? You’re often out of luck, which means you end up doing things manually – defeating the entire purpose of having a CRM.
Dubsado, on the other hand, requires more time and effort to learn. Dubsado is built for flexibility and customization, meaning you can make the system fit your exact business needs. Whether you’re creating perfectly branded forms or automating a workflow to match your specific process, Dubsado can mold to your needs instead of the other way around.
These differences have always existed between the two platforms. But the uptick in businesses switching from Honeybook to Dubsado this year is mainly due to the big changes Honeybook has made. The biggest of which came in the Workflows department.
Honeybook updated the way workflows operated, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But they didn’t migrate or update any existing workflows that users already had in their systems.Users were just left to figure it out on their own – rebuild everything from scratch, update workflows manually, and essentially re-learn a system they’d already invested time and money into mastering. For busy wedding creatives juggling multiple clients and peak season? That’s not just inconvenient – it’s devastating to operations.
Second, they also severely limited automations, grinding admin work to a standstill. Many business owners are back to sending files and email manually, which eats away at valuable time. And, if we’re being honest here, automation is the heart of a CRM. The entire point of these systems is to save time by automating repetitive tasks. So, yeah, Honeybook lost a lot of clients over this change.
These changes might not seem like much on the surface, but when they impact the day-to-day operations of your business, it’s hard to ignore. A recent client who switched from Honeybook to Dubsado raised a valid point. She said, “I’m concerned Honeybook is not sophisticated enough for what we do. We’re approaching a million dollars in revenue. And we handle a million dollars worth of business for people every year. We’re not quite where we should be.”
If you feel like this client, that Honeybook simply isn’t cutting it, you should consider switching to Dubsado.
The thing I love most about Dubsado is how it grows alongside your business. I see this most often with photographers who start expanding into education – offering workshops, courses, and mentorships. Suddenly, Honeybook’s rigid structure can’t accommodate the complexity of your evolving business.
With Dubsado, you can create multiple services with completely different workflows, complex payment structures, unique client journeys, and even manage your courses and educational offers. You don’t have to switch systems as your business evolves – you just build onto what you already have.
Plus, Dubsado’s automation processes are only expanding. Instead of being limited to simple automation structures, you can create complex flows that do exactly what you need them to. The newest update, Dubsado 3.0, is going to expand these automations even more (along with updating the user interface with a more organized dashboard, among other things I discuss in this blog!) And lastly, despite offering more robust systems, Dubsado is still more affordable. With more pricing tiers, better automations, and greater customization, Dubsado simply offers more value for your money.
I’ll be honest with you, darling, switching from Honeybook to Dubsado can be a daunting task. That’s why I will do it for you! I understand the interface of both systems, making the transition seamless and stress-free.
First, we need to understand your current setup and your actual business needs. This isn’t about recreating your Honeybook setup in Dubsado – it’s about building something better. I review your current workflows, client journey, and service offerings. Then, I find the pain points in your current system and all the opportunities for better automation (aka, less time on admin and more time on client work!).
This is often the most overwhelming part of the process. Luckily, I’ve done this before! There are a few things that can easily be transferred from Honeybook to Dubsado, like your client’s contact information, project details, contracts, and email templates. Other things are a little trickier. You cannot migrate your workflows, schedulers, and I do not recommend transferring specific client invoices (don’t worry, I’ll get into that more below!)
This sounds scary, I get it. But here’s the best part! We’re not recreating your Honeybook system – you’re building a better system from the ground up, informed by what you’ve learned about your business needs.
This is my favorite part! We’ll begin building your new system in Dubsado, starting with custom forms that match your brand (and actually work on mobile). We’ll dive into workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and build email sequences that walk your client through every step of working with you. We even build proposal, contract, and invoice flows that make booking easy.
I go above and beyond to make sure every element of your CRM works the way it should. Before we fully migrate you to Dubsado, we will test every workflow with dummy clients, walk through each client touchpoint, and train you on how to use your new system so you feel confident without me!
If you’re reading all of this and thinking, “Uh, Chloe, how on earth am I supposed to do this while working with my current clients??” Valid question, darling. We never switch everything overnight (unless that’s what you want!) Most clients who switch from Honeybook to Dubsado run both systems in parallel during busy season by starting new clients in Dubsado while finishing current Honeybook projects. Ultimately, we will move at a pace that makes sense for your business. No rushing necessary!
The best part of making the transition with a client experience strategist like myself is all of the support you get along the way! The first 30-90 days in a new system are the learning period. I provide Slack support during the whole transition, help troubleshoot as questions come up, and make adjustments to workflows as you discover what works best. You even get lifetime access to my library of tutorials and resources.
Switching from Honeybook to Dubsado is a lot of work, and I don’t want you to do it alone. I specialize in Honeybook to Dubsado migrations, making this process as easy as possible for you! My Signature Package is perfect for migrations because it includes:
If you’re interested in switching from Honeybook to Dubsado, we should absolutely chat. Fill out the form to schedule a (completely free!) coffee chat to discuss what’s working in your business and what needs to change.
Not Ready for Full Migration Yet? I also offer Strategy Soirees – 1-hour consultations where we can discuss whether migration makes sense for your specific business, what the process would look like, and what your options are. Sometimes the answer is staying with Honeybook but optimizing what you have. Other times it’s a phased migration. Or you can dive in headfirst. Let’s figure out what makes sense for YOU.
