CASE STUDY
JZaccor Designs Branding, Photography & Web Design Studio
Burlington, Vermont · Freelance Brand & Web Designer
HoneyBook Setup
Client Journey Mapping
SERVICE
HoneyBook Setup
CRM, proposals, contracts & payments
KICKOFF SESSION
90 min
End-to-end journey mapping
KEY WIN
One hub
Proposals, payments & leads — all in one place
THE CHALLENGE
Jakee came in after dissolving the Shopify agency she co-founded — 8+ years of design experience, a strong client roster, and a backend that had never quite caught up. Proposals lived in Adobe or Notion depending on the day. Payments came in through Venmo, Zelle, and ACH. Calls were scheduled one by one, manually, every time.
“Her client experience wasn’t broken — but it wasn’t sustainable either. She was doing creative work at a high level while running her operations out of her inbox.”
The bigger question she was wrestling with: could a traditional CRM actually handle the level of proposal customization her design work required? Line items, custom packages, bespoke scopes — the answer needed to be yes before committing to a platform.
Proposals built ad hoc in Adobe or Notion — no consistent system or template
Payments scattered across Venmo, Zelle, and ACH — no single place to track
Every discovery, check-in, and delivery call scheduled manually, one by one
No automated lead tracking, testimonial requests, or follow-up sequences
THE APPROACH
We started with a 90-minute journey mapping session — no tools, no setup, just mapping Jakee's entire client experience from first contact through testimonial request. That gave us the full picture of what the software needed to hold before we chose anything. After evaluating both HoneyBook and Dubsado, HoneyBook won on UX, template flexibility, and its ability to handle customizable invoice line items alongside standard packages.
01
Journey mapping
90-min session to map the full client workflow end-to-end before touching any tool
02
Platform selection
Evaluated HoneyBook vs Dubsado — chose HoneyBook for UX, templates, and line-item flexibility
03
CRM build
Brand kit, services, pipeline, lead form, templates, and automations configured end-to-end
04
Handover
System delivered with the flexibility to add new templates and invoices independently going forward
WHAT WAS BUILT
Logos, fonts, and brand kit imported
Service offerings and pricing added for easy proposal use
Custom project pipeline configured for lead tracking
Brand & service setup
Pre-loaded template with proposal, pricing, and contract
Deposit request and onboarding questionnaire built in
Customizable line items for bespoke project scopes
Smart proposal template
Lead form embedded directly on her website
Auto-reply to new leads on submission
Consultation booking triggered once lead is approved
Feedback and testimonial request sent on project completion
Lead form & automations
All payments centralized through HoneyBook
Pending proposals, invoices, and projects visible in dashboard
No more chasing late payments across multiple platforms
Payments & pipeline
THE RESULT
Jakee now runs her entire client process from one place — proposals, contracts, payments, and follow-ups. The executive function she was spending on manual admin is freed up for the creative work that actually grows her studio.
BEFORE
Proposals, payments, and scheduling spread across 5+ tools
AFTER
One centralized CRM running her full client lifecycle automatically
KEY SHIFT
Processes she didn't know she could automate — now just run
New templates easy to add — no outside help needed
All invoices and payments tracked in one dashboard
Lead pipeline visible at a glance — no more spreadsheet hunting
Testimonial requests go out automatically — no more forgetting
System built to scale as the studio grows
“Ilana helped me come out of the dark ages of freelancing and helped me realize how much I had been doing manually that I really didn’t have time for as a solo-entrepreneur! She was kind but firm that I needed to shift to a CRM and program that could help me with booking and automation flows to make my life easier — and she was right. Super grateful for her support and for setting me and my business up for the future.”
READY WHEN YOU ARE
Still running your studio out of your inbox?
Creative work deserves a backend that keeps up. Let's map your client journey and build a system that runs while you design.