Picture this: It’s yet another busy workday, and you’re already calculating how late you’ll need to stay glued to your computer to get it all done. You’ve already decided on takeout for dinner because the last thing you want to do is think about preparing a meal after a long day. 

Wouldn’t life be so much easier if you could clone yourself?

Fortunately, it doesn’t require any scientific experiments to reclaim more time in your days. With the help of automation, you can cut down on unnecessary tasks and free up your schedule for growth opportunities, personal development and rest (yes, finally!). 

“I think automation is key when it comes to running a small wedding business,” said Nora Sheils, founder of award-winning planning firm Bridal Bliss and co-founder of client management platform Rock Paper Coin. “By automating manual processes with software, you’ll get a significant return on investment!”

This isn’t just a trend—it’s a necessity.  The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that current technologies could automate 57% of US work hours, while using generative AI automation tools such as ChatGPT in business improves users’ performance by 66%. 

Automation doesn’t mean losing your personal touch. Rather, optimizing some of your business processes with technology means reclaiming your time to focus on what matters—creating beautiful weddings. 

The time audit and untethering from your desk

For the data lovers out there, you can run the numbers to see how automation can change your business and your life. According to Nora, a good place to start is with a simple time audit. During the week, track how much time you spend on every task—from sending emails to posting on social media. If you’d like, carry this practice into your personal life by tracking the time you spend on household chores, errands, and other recurring activities.

At the end of the week, review your time audit and identify tasks that you don’t need to do manually. (Keep reading for suggestions about what to put on autopilot right away!)

For wedding pros, managing inquiries from a desktop all day is one of the biggest bottlenecks. It can be clunky, cumbersome and downright inconvenient. Think of it like responding to text messages on a computer rather than on your smartphone—you’d be at your desk all day, into the night.

The good news: You don’t have to be glued to your computer to be responsive. We’ve updated the WeddingPro app to let pros like you easily manage their unified inbox anytime, anywhere. Not only do these new app features help pros reclaim valuable time on the go, but they can also help couples book faster. 

The need for speed (automating the first touch)

Once you have clarity on the unnecessary time-suckers in your schedule, it’s time to begin automating!

The goal is to set triggers to prompt additional events. This does not have to be complicated to start—you can first take a bite of some low-hanging fruit: For instance, as a pro, it’s essential to get back to prospective couples quickly. As a first step, you can use calendar schedulers like Calendly and CloudHQ to avoid back-and-forth emails trying to nail down a time that works for everyone. Setting up simple triggers eliminates the mental load of remembering to reply and saves you from manually typing every response. 

WeddingPro’s new Auto-replies feature is the ultimate “set it and forget it” trigger. Auto-replies let pros send a fast, customizable response—such as sharing rates, availability or timelines—to a lead’s first message in real time. The benefit? Pros reduce response times, stay competitive and keep leads warm even when busy working a wedding or otherwise unavailable.

Nurturing leads without sounding like a robot

Once you’ve tried automating some of the low-hanging fruit, it’s time to move on to the “next level” of automation. With AI on the rise, many platforms are adding automation to increase productivity and support customer growth. For example, customer relationship management (CRM) software has changed how we interact with customers through follow-ups and built-in sales brochures. Now, they’re making it easier than ever with automated features like follow-up emails, built-in schedulers, digital sales brochures and reminders for your clients to write WeddingPro reviews.

“Using AI is a must,” Nora said. “From blog posts to social media verbiage to design deck ideas, platforms like ChatGPT can save you an insane amount of time and also help get your wheels spinning. Your competition is using it, and you will fall behind if you don’t adopt current tech and AI.”

Automating email follow-ups is great, but couples want to feel special—not like they are part of an email blast. Through our Auto-followups tool, pros can use proven templates to build their workflow once and then customize their email sequence to run 24/7. WeddingPro Inbox surfaces the couple’s personalized details, such as wedding date, location, guest count, and budget, which pros can then use in their automated templates so that couple communications feel highly tailored and meaningful.

Closing the deal and streamlining your workflow

Transitioning a warm lead into a booked client takes multiple steps, channels and back-and-forth emails. Increasingly, the automation and technology systems you use in your wedding business can actually be a selling point in your conversations with prospective couples. 

“During consultations, share about the tech you will use, client-facing and non-client-facing, to give you a leg up over your competition,” Nora said. “Use tech to seal the deal, and you will instantly build trust! Your clients will love how easy it is to book you, and they will be excited to continue working together.”

Using an overarching project management tool combined with digital sales tools can help you stay on top of all your lead-related activities and communications, keeping you organized and focused on what your prospective couple needs to know to book you.  If you’re already using a program like ClickUp, Asana or Trello, take advantage of their robust automation functionality. Set recurring reminders, trigger task assignments for new projects and let the software keep you and your team on track.

Before you send the contract, you need an organized pipeline. WeddingPro’s unified Inbox lets vendors prioritize conversations, filter by status and mark couples as booked so they always know exactly where a lead stands. Bonus: We built unified Inbox with feedback directly from vendors.

Once you’ve successfully converted a prospective customer into a booked one, it’s time to send the contract. Did you know that companies that use eSignatures for contracts report an 80% increase in close rates? Using a digital contract program can increase your sales while saving time. Once the lead is marked “booked” in WeddingPro, seamlessly transition them to invoicing software like Rock Paper Coin to streamline the payment process for you and your customer, saving you money along the way.

Give yourself grace to grow

No matter where you start your automation journey, know it’s the beginning of a new chapter in your business. The more you experiment, the more you’ll learn—so take it slow and seek training to expand your knowledge. 

“New tech can be daunting! It’s always intimidating at first, but more often than not, you hear vendors regretting not onboarding earlier, rather than regretting incorporating tech into their business,” Nora said. “The first step is to give it a try—you don’t know what you don’t know!”

As you get comfortable, take some time to track what works and what doesn’t. Give yourself at least 45 days before making any significant changes; accept that your automation journey will not start perfectly, and embrace the learning opportunity. With the right mindset, you’ll see results in no time!

Ready to infuse the power of automation into your wedding business and turn leads into bookies faster? Set up your first Auto-reply in WeddingPro today, and watch what magic can happen when you trade in tedious tasks for time saved.

Photo credit: Diana Grytsku/Shutterstock