Any reccomendations on how to stop clients from submitting service selections in progress

Hey ​@Briana Helm! I’m a HoneyBook Pro and would love to help ya out. I have some questions though to make sure I’m understanding it correctly.

It sounds like after they make the selection, an invoice is generated, correct?

Do you call them at all before or after sending that file? 

How much time after they’ve submitted the file do they get back to you requesting changes?

Hey there!
I’m Deanna Burks, a HoneyBook expert since they launched. We’ve run into this with our clients too, and I totally get how messy it can be to fix stuff after clients finish making their service selections. A couple of things that have worked for us:

• Edit as Client:

  • If you notice something is off after a client submits the file (but before they pay), you can go into the project, open the file, and choose “Edit as Client.” This lets you tweak their selections or fix any mistakes without starting from scratch.

  • Just note: this only works if payment hasn’t been made and the file isn’t marked as “Completed.”

  • If the file has been marked as completed, you can make edits to it still. 

• Draft Invoice:

  • A lot of us now use a two-step process:

    • Step 1: Have the client pick their services in one file.

    • Step 2: HoneyBook automatically makes a draft invoice with what they picked.

    • This way, you (or your team) can review and adjust everything before sending the final invoice/payment request. It saves a ton of back-and-forth!

Hope this helps—let me know if you want more details on how to set that up!

Deanna Burks

deannaburks.com

​@deannaburks thanks so much for the follow up and the idea of using the draft invoice. I will have to check this out for the next client. 

Thanks so much for the curious questions ​@Kaitlyn Blair !

we are a Bridal Makeup specialist service. 

We follow up to their inquiry with confirmed availability and our service selections for their review along with instructions. 

Typically the next step is 1. they have follow up questions \ ask for a phone consult \ or check off that that they are ready for contract and invoice.

We review each inquiry \ service selections to ensure both align which can trigger questions on our end of its straight forward and we can generate a contract no issue. 

So in the situations where edits and changes are needed, the overall back end process to do that just feels clunky. 

​@Briana Helm Thank you so much for this info!

Yeah, I can totally understand how it can feel clunky if they’ve already submitted the form but you have questions/they want changes made. 

I have a few suggestions!

1. Keep the process as is. Depending on how often you receive requests about edits/you have follow up questions, it may actually be the most efficient flow for you. Yes, it’ll still be clunky, but you won’t have to jump on a call with every client.
2. Instead of sending them the service selection, ask to hop on a call with them. If you’re concerned about the lead not knowing your pricing before the call, you can attach a brochure to the email for them to look through. This way you’re:
   • Connecting with the client 1:1! They can see your face, you can see theirs. They see that they’re talking with an actual person.
   • You can eliminate the potential of back and forth by asking all the questions you need up front. You could end up saving yourself the time from those emails and closing the sales cycle MUCH sooner than if you were to go back and forth with the client
   • You’re showcasing that you CARE about the client and it shows the luxury your services provide!
   • It builds excitement with the client when you talk with them. It’s easier for you to sell and again, could decrease that time it takes to get that contract back and signed

However, it DOES take time to be on those calls, which is a reason why I’m sure you only have calls as optional. It also may be a bit longer of a process for those that are ready IMMEDIATELY to book. So, it really depends on how often this is happening to consider switching your process. And you can always experiment for a given time! For example, you can try the sales calls for a month or a quarter and decide if you want to stick with that flow or go back to the service selection previously (but that is more work to go back and forth.)

All in all. It depends on some other factors and it’s ultimately up to you how you’d like to do it!