Automating emails

​@Shanna-Kaye Fancher -  You are not alone in feeling like you're overcomplicating things, this kind of balance between automation and client ease is something a lot of us wrestle with, especially when juggling business and family life!

You're right that Lead Forms are simpler and quicker for clients to complete, but they don’t support auto-triggering payments or files like Smart Files do. On the flip side, Smart Files can feel more robust (and sometimes overwhelming for certain clients), but they do allow for booking, contracts, and payments all in one seamless flow — plus you can automate them using HoneyBook’s new Automations 2.0.

Here’s a suggestion to try:

• Consider using a Smart File that’s broken into clear, simple steps:
  → Page 1: Welcome / Quick “Let’s get started”
  → Page 2: Basic info fields (what you’d collect via lead form)
  → Page 3: Booking/scheduling, contract, and payment — all optional or conditional as needed.

By splitting it into sections, it feels less overwhelming, and you can still get all the functionality in one automated flow — no second email required.

You can pair this with an automation so that when someone submits the form, they’re automatically moved to the next stage (or receive a follow-up only if they haven’t completed it).

Hi ​@Shanna-Kaye Fancher , 

I totally get this - we have 4 kids plus running a business… if Honeybook didn’t have automations I’d probably be drowning :) 

When you say BOOK, do you mean schedule a sales call? or hire you for your services? Depending upon your answer I might recommend a few different things!

If your process and services allow people to hire you without a sales call first (let’s say mini sessions for photographers), I would consider a Lead Form. Clients can easily choose which setup they want, pay, and schedule their session all from that one form.

However, it sounds like you have some recurring services. If that’s the case, and/or if you have a sales call before people actually buy from/hire you, Smart Files are the way to go, in my opinion, since they have the ability to send recurring invoices/collect recurring payments. I would ask yourself these questions: 

• What percentage of your clients were overwhelmed by Smart Files before? I tend to oversystemize things or solve problems that don’t exist 🤪, so asking myself this question helps me understand if there’s actually a problem or not. If it’s 10% or less of your clients, you may just need to adjust how you communicate about the SmartFile while you’re on a call with them.
• How clear is your email that sends the clients the Smart File? Does it tell them exactly what they’ll find inside?  Do they know you aren’t officially hired until they sign and pay (or whatever those steps are for you)? Setting clear expectations and communications up front eliminates a lot of the confusion I have with clients. :) 

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have other questions.

Cassie, this is incredibly helpful and makes me stop to think!!

The majority of my clients book with me, before we have a conversation on the phone. 

I’ve gotten were I call many clients beforehand, but most book me thru my form online. 

Percentage wise - I’m not actually sure. Probably 20% or so. 

And you know what - I’m sure my email wasn’t actually very clear on the smart files and how it worked. 

Clients DO know that they are not booked until a session retainer is paid and the contract signed. 

What I love about the smart files is I can take a session retainer, and the client can set up payments for the balance. Otherwise, I’ve been using lead forms and I have to manually send a seperate invoice and that is time consuming and I forget. 

So, for example, a full maternity session is $575, and I collect a $100 session retainer to book the date. Then the balance of $475 is due by the session date, and often I have clients choose to pay in payments over the timeframe before the date. 

So that’s what I would like to automate without me having to send seperate invoices.