Some business owners are still analog, i.e., still writing appointments into paper calendars or manually entering things into Quickbooks.

Yikes on bikes, Batman.

The truth is that every day, week, month, or year, we waste dozens of hours on manual and menial bullshit. Copy/paste this and that. Switch from site to site for information. Get overwhelmed. Give up.

It doesn’t have to be that way and today, we’ll go over how you can use different programs that will elevate your company.

Note: I have not tried all of these, but about 90% I’ve spent a day or so in, for research.

CRMs

Salesforce

Salesforce is a highly regarded Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform known for its comprehensive and customizable features. It’s particularly popular for its ability to integrate with a wide range of applications and its scalability, catering to businesses of all sizes.

Key features of Salesforce include:

• Sales Management: Streamlines the sales process with effective tracking and reporting.
• Customer Service & Support: Offers tools for improving customer service experiences.
• Marketing Automation: Facilitates targeted marketing campaigns and analytics.
• Analytics & Reporting: Provides detailed insights and data analysis.
• Customization & Integration: Allows for customization to suit specific business needs and integrates with various third-party applications.

Salesforce’s versatility and robustness make it a popular choice among businesses seeking to optimize customer relations and sales processes.

Honeybook

HoneyBook is an all-in-one business management platform designed for small businesses. This is a really popular CRM and there’s a good chance you know someone who uses it—give a shout out to your network and I’m sure someone can give you their experiences!

Its popular features include:

• Online contracts: Customizable for professional appearance.
• Online invoices: Facilitate fast payments with professional layouts.
• Online payments: Simplify the payment process for clients.
• Online proposals: Combine invoices, contracts, and payments for easy client booking.
• Online scheduling: Efficient meeting bookings and reminder system.
• Automations: Automate tasks, emails, and follow-ups to save time.
• Integration: Seamlessly integrates with tools like Zoom, QuickBooks, Zapier, Gmail, and Google Calendar for enhanced efficiency.

These features are aimed at simplifying and streamlining business processes, from client management to payment processing. For more details, visit their website.

Dubsado

Dubsado is a versatile business management platform offering a suite of tools designed to streamline various business processes. This is one I’ve used for years and while it can run a bit behind in enhancing features, the automation is unparalleled.

Popular features of Dubsado include:

• Customizable form templates for contracts, lead capture forms, questionnaires, and proposals.
• Easy-to-pay online invoicing system with automated reminders.
• Personable automation for routine tasks and appointment scheduling.
• A built-in scheduler for efficient booking of calls, sessions, and appointments.
• A client portal that provides a centralized space for all client interactions and documents.
• Extensive customization options to align with your brand.
• Integration capabilities with apps like Quickbooks, Xero, Zapier, and various email and calendar apps.

Dubsado is particularly known for its automation capabilities, helping businesses to streamline workflows and client acquisition processes.

For Project Management

Trello

Trello is a visual tool designed to empower teams in managing projects, workflows, and task tracking. I use this for project management. You can change the view at certain pay tiers, but my favorite is the horizontal layout, which is more neurodivergent friendly!

Its features include:

• Boards: To keep tasks organized and moving forward.
• Lists: Represent different stages of a task, customizable to fit team needs.
• Cards: Tasks with details, progress tracking, and moving across lists.
• Automation: Automate tasks and workflows with Butler automation.
• Power-Ups: Integrate favorite tools with Trello.
• Templates: Use templates from industry leaders and the Trello community.
• Integrations: Connect with apps like Slack, Outlook, Gmail, Salesforce, InVision, Jira, etc.

These features combine to make Trello a flexible and powerful tool for team collaboration and project management.

Asana

Asana is a comprehensive project management tool that offers a range of features to streamline workflows and enhance team collaboration. I’ve only used it once and found the backend learning curve a bit frustrating (I have zero patience), but it’s extremely popular!

Key features include:

• Project Management: Manage all aspects of your projects, tracking who is doing what by when.
• Tasks and Subtasks: Break down work into manageable pieces, each with clear owners and deadlines.
• Customizable Project Views: Organize work as lists, calendars, timelines, Gantt charts, or Kanban boards.
• Boards and Lists: Visual organization tools for tracking tasks through every stage.
• Timeline and Calendar Views: Map out projects and schedules, spotting overlaps and gaps.
• Automation and Rules: Automate routine tasks for increased efficiency.
• Forms and Templates: Standardize work requests and project setups.
• Reporting Dashboards: Real-time charts and insights for project tracking.
• Integrations: Connect Asana with popular apps like Google Workspace, Slack, and more.

These features make Asana a versatile tool for various business needs, from simple task management to complex project planning. For more information, visit Asana’s website.

Monday.Com

Monday.com is a versatile Work Operating System (Work OS) that offers a range of features to help teams manage work and achieve maximum productivity.

Key features include:

• Boards: Central to monday.com, allowing customization and management of various projects and departments.
• Multiple Views: Offers different ways to visualize work, such as Kanban boards, calendars, timelines, and Gantt charts.
• Dashboards: Customizable dashboards to track progress, timelines, and budgets.
• Integrations: Seamlessly connects with tools like Slack, Dropbox, and Adobe Creative Cloud.
• Automations: Streamlines processes with a variety of automation recipes.
• Apps: Enhances workflows with custom views, widgets, and integrations.
• Docs: Facilitates real-time collaboration and execution of ideas.

These features aim to centralize work, processes, tools, and files into a single platform for efficient collaboration and management across organizations. For more information, visit monday.com.

For Automation

Zapier

Zapier has changed the game for my business. The automations are pretty powerful and save me so many hours every single week. For me, some automations I use are:

1. Posting Instagram posts onto my Google Business Profile
2. Doing the same for new blogs
3. Registering event attendees to my Mailchimp lists

Zapier offers a range of features to automate and streamline business processes, including:

• Multi-Step Zaps: Automate several tasks in one go.
• Paths: Implement if/then logic for different action scenarios.
• Filters: Set conditions for when Zaps should run.
• Schedule: Decide when your Zaps execute.
• Formatter: Transform data into preferred formats.
• Webhooks: Send requests to URLs or receive data without coding.
• Advanced Workflows: Build workflows with custom logic and conditions.
• Security: Enterprise-grade security for data safety.
• Customizable Notifications: Set rules for error notifications in important Zaps.
• Team Activity Tracking: Monitor Zap activities across your account.
• AI Program Make sure to check out their interfaces program, which is a new AI program

These features make Zapier a powerful tool for automating a wide range of business processes without needing to write code. For more information, you can visit Zapier’s website.

Pabbly

A direct competitor to Zapier (And arguably cheaper) is Pabbly. This is an automation tool that can help streamline your business processes. Pabbly offers a variety of features to help manage subscriptions and automate billing processes.

Key features include:

1. Coupons Management: Create and manage discounts and offers for your services.
2. Subscription and Invoice Status Tracking: Monitor different statuses like Dunning, Trial, Live, Pending, etc.
3. Product Deletion Process: A structured method to delete products, involving steps from transactions to plans.
4. Auto-Fill Checkout Pages: Automatically fill in customer details on checkout pages.
5. Credit Notes: Manage credits for plan changes.
6. PayPal Integration: Offers options for both PayPal Standard and PayPal Payments Pro.
7. Payment Recording: Record offline payments and change invoice statuses.
8. Collect Charge: Direct debit from stored customer billing details.
9. Refund Processing: Easily manage refunds directly from your Pabbly account.
10. Currency Support: Supports over 25 global currencies.

These features are designed to streamline subscription management, enhance customer experience, and improve billing efficiency for businesses. For more detailed information, you can visit Pabbly’s website.

Mailing Lists

Mailchimp

Mailchimp offers a range of marketing tools to enhance business processes.You can create audiences and develop drip campaigns for potential clients. You can also send out newsletters to keep clients in-the-know!

Key features include:

• Email Marketing: Personalized email campaigns.
• SMS Marketing: Reach customers on multiple devices.
• Social Media Marketing: Manage marketing across channels.
• Website Creation: Build your brand’s web presence.
• Audience Management: Target and segment customers effectively.
• Marketing Automation: Deliver timely messages.
• Templates: Customizable layouts for different needs.
• Reporting & Analytics: Track sales and campaign performance.
• Content Creation: Develop unique brand content.
• Integrations: Connect with apps like Shopify, Salesforce, and Google Analytics.

These features aim to optimize marketing efforts, from email campaigns to social media strategies. For more information, visit Mailchimp’s features page.

Hubspot

HubSpot is a comprehensive CRM platform designed to support businesses in growth and customer management. It offers a suite of tools for marketing, sales, customer service, content management, and operations. It’s tailored for businesses of all sizes, providing scalable solutions for managing your customer relationships and streamlining various business processes.

HubSpot offers a diverse range of features across its CRM platform, with key functionalities including:

• Free CRM: Manage customer relationships.
• Live Chat: Real-time customer interactions.
• Meeting Scheduler: Easy appointment setting.
• Website Builder: Drag-and-drop customization.
• Marketing Hub: Inbound marketing campaigns.
• AI Tools: Advanced content creation.
• Email Marketing Software: Efficient email campaign management.
• Lead Management Tools: Streamline lead processes.
• Chatbot Builder: Automate customer interactions.
• Marketing Analytics: Track campaign performance.
• Landing Page Builder: Create engaging landing pages.
• Web Hosting: Reliable and free hosting services.

For a detailed overview of all the features HubSpot offers, visit their website.

What’s Next

It can be a lot, starting your business processes and getting everything going. Trust me, I know what it’s like.

However, in the end, it’ll be worth it. It’s a unique and satisfying experience to see curated canned emails go out on a schedule in a workflow or see Zapier zaps make magic happen. Make sure to keep an eye on our Lunch & Learns for upcoming education how to improve more things in your business!