Completely automate the booking process, follow ups and payment.

Ever scheduled a full day of back-to-back appointments and felt totally overwhelmed? Whether you're a photographer, dog groomer, coach, consultant, or running a pop-up clinic, managing a packed schedule can quickly turn into chaos—endless emails, missed payments, and no-shows.

There’s so much to think about– location, logistics, deliverables, scheduling, getting paid, sending a LOT of emails….

But what if the entire booking process ran on autopilot? Bc that’s exactly what Dubsado can do.

With the right setup, you can streamline your booking, payment, reminders, and follow-ups so that your only job on the day-of is to show up and do what you do best.

Let me show you how keep this process simple, stress-free, and seamless.

What it looks like for your clients

Let’s start with a 30,000 ft view of what exactly we want to accomplish:

1. Client selects an appointment time via your scheduler.

2. Client fills out a short form and pays for the session.

3. Client receive a confirmation email with details and the contract (if needed)

4. Reminder emails automatically send when you choose.

5. After the session, client receives pertinent follow up emails

All of this happens without you manually lifting a finger, leaving you free to focus on doing what you do best in a highly concentrated day.

Here's how to do this:

Create your assets:

To make Dubsado your personal assistant for managing back-to-back appointments, you'll need to create a few key assets. Each piece works together to automate your entire process from start to finish. I suggest creating these in the order listed for th emost streamlined setup.

Write your emails

Emails are your lifeline for keeping clients informed and ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

• What to Create:

  • Confirmation Email: Sent immediately after booking. Use smart fields to include the time, location, Zoom link, or other relevant details. If you require a contract, you can include the link to that here and cut down on extra emails.

  • Reminder Emails: I suggest scheduling these for 24 hours before and 1 hour before the appointment, but it’s up to you! Make sure to add in any details about parking, or anything else that would make this process smoother.

  • Follow-Up Email(s): Automatically send thank-you notes, next steps, or feedback requests after the appointment. I like to send one very soon after (that evening or the next morning) and let them know what the next steps are. If you have a delivery email (like gallery links), go ahead and write a template for that. Don’t forget to write one asking for testimonials too!

  • Additional emails: ^^That’s all that you NEED, but if you choose to add a workflow, you can send more— like a testimonial request and follow ups for those who complete the booking process.

Pro Tip: Add a personal touch! Even though these emails are automated, you can customize them with client names and specific details to make them feel personal.

Lead capture form ~or~ public proposal

These two forms ^^ are the only ways to create a new project in Dubsado, and they’re both crucial for gathering client information. You only need one or the other, and I recommend Lead Capture, unless you want to add any upsells. In that case, go with a Public Proposal. (go to settings of the proposal and toggle on ‘public’).

What to Include:

• Basic contact information (email, phone, etc.). Make the fields required.

• Any special requests or notes (e.g., preferred grooming styles or topics for coaching calls).

• Agreements or disclaimers. If it’s fitting, include a checkbox and link to your terms & conditions here. You can also send a contract separately if needed (details on that below)

★ Only ask what’s absolutely pertinent. Name, email, + 1-2 (max) other questions. This isn’t the time for a long questionnaire. If you need to send one of those, you can do it later in a workflow.

★ Note if you need to send a contract, you cannot send it the normal way through a proposal here. It needs to be sent separately (through a workflow is easiest).

Contract

For certain types of appointments (like consultations or pop-up clinics), having a signed agreement is a must.

• What to Include:

  • Cancellation policies.

  • Liability disclaimers, if applicable.

  • Any specific terms that protect both you and your clients.

  • Smart fields for the client’s name, invoice information, date and time of session.

    
    

Scheduler

This is the heart of your workflow. Everything is connected to the scheduler.

• Tips for setting this up:

  • Name: This is client-facing, so keep it relevant and specific. “August 1st Mini Session at X Park)

  • Decide what your range of times will be, and tell Dubsado how long each appointment is will be. Add a buffer in between appointments or build it into the times. Use the calendar on this page to select your exact dates.

  • Make sure you check the box to mark you as busy so that only one person can grab each time slot.

  • I’m a big fan of not accepting appointments less than 24 hours from the time of scheduling. That might be something you want to consider for this. If you don’t sell out, do you want people booking the morning of? It’s fine either way, but take that into consideration.

  • On the advanced tab, you have the option to add your lead capture form, confirmation email and reminder emails.

  • Invoice: Whatever amount you put on here will be due at booking, and the appointment will not be saved unless it’s paid for. For simplicities sake, it’s HIGHLY recommended to have clients pay in full for these types of appointments.

★ Note: You could call it a day here. Everything above ^^ is enough to set up a sucessful mini-session. But if you’d like to get the most out of what Dubsado can do, then keep reading 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

Create a mini-session workflow

This is where Dubsado really shines. Adding a workflow is a ~slightly~ advanced technique that will elevate your client experience and carry more of the load for you.

Again, you actually don’t NEED to do this to create a simple mini-session (you can add the contract to the confirmation email if you HAVE to), but there’s too much of a benefit to not do it.

I actually suggest creating TWO workflows 👉🏼 The first workflow be a follow up in case they don’t complete booking. The second one will be for those who grabbed a time, filled out the form, and then paid for the session. The first will be triggered from the lead capture, and the second one will be triggered by the first.

Here’s what you can include in mini-session workflows:

1. Contracts.

   You can send the contract through a workflow with the trigger “after invoice is paid in full”, and then send built in reminders if it’s not filled out. Unfortunately, you cannot attach the contract to the proposal in this situation.

   
   

2. Follow ups:

   When creating mini-sessions, the FORM (lead capture or public proposal) that’s attached to the scheduler is what starts a new project. But the session is not SCHEDULED until it’s paid. Which means it’s possible for someone to pick a time, fill out the form, and then abandon the process before paying.

   Which means, that you can attach a follow up workflow to that form to reach back out with the link to the scheduler and remind that person that they’re appointment is not confirmed.

   
   

3. Additional correspondence:

   There are a few other options on what you can include in a workflow. This all depends on your specific business and what is included in your offerings. I suggest using a new workflow for each date/session. This way you can send everything here below at a fixed date/time.

   • Send a follow up email shortly after the session, thanking them for their time, and let them know what to expect next.

   • If you have any deliverables to send, write a template email. Put a pause in the workflow as the step before to give you a chance to edit it with a link, then edit it inside the workflow (IN each client’s project), and unpause the workflow for it to send. (this way, the emails are all in there and all you have to do is add each link)

   • Testimonials: super easy to send through a workflow with a fixed date.

     
     

Dubsado Mini-Session Tips

★ Contracts. You actually have TWO options on when to send. You can cut down on emails if you add the contract smart link in the confirmation email. BUT you still have to add the contract to the portal in a workflow in order for it to show up for the client. Do this with the action SEND CONTRACT, but instead of emailing it, check the box to add to portal.

★ Include any guides for extra info in the confirmation email.

★ If you add a pause in a workflow, it will only affect actions with that are triggered ‘after all previous actions complete’. Anything with a fixed date or time will still send.

★ You cannot add any actions to the workflow with appointment based triggers. The workflow is not sending the scheduler, therefore, it cannot watch for nor trigger any actions based on that event.

Final thoughts

I’ve put together a step-by-step guide that walks you through how to automate your entire booking system in Dubsado—from setting up schedulers to writing automated emails. Yes, email swipes are included!

Grab the guide [here] and start running your back-to-back appointments with way less stress.

* Resources I might have mentioned

• Start a free trial with my preferred email marketing platform, Kit

• get 30% off your first payment with Dubsado after the free trial (click HERE for a free setup guide)

• Free Canva Pro credits when you sign up for a free account to make your promo materials

• Get your legal stuff in place with affordable and customizable legal templates through the Boutique Lawyer

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