I recently wrote a post about how change means you’re growing, whether it’s in a professional or personal context! At the start of this year, I worked really hard to look at my client experience and just my business overall to see what areas could use improvement. Also, in August, I’ll officially be a full time photographer, so I also had to think about how to start preparing for that change NOW.
One of the ways I’m starting to prepare for that change is to look at what I’m spending my money on, and whether or not it’s a worthy place to be spending it! I made a pretty hard decision to switch studio management systems for my business so that I could provide a better and more simple experience for my couples. I was using Pixifi before, and have now switched over completely to Sprout Studio.
I want to clarify that I did NOT have a bad experience with Pixifi! I had a GREAT experience! However, at this point, Sprout Studio was able to do more for me and my business than anything else out there.
There’s a free 14 day trial for anyone who wants to try it out, and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a new management system! One of the pieces that I LOVE about Sprout is their client portal. Below is a screenshot of what the login looks like for my couples. The best part is that Sprout can house EVERYTHING within their client portal. I can have contracts, galleries, invoices, notes, questionnaires, album proofs, etc, all in ONE place! By switching over to this, I was able to save money by having it all in one spot instead of paying for a studio management system AND an online gallery system.
It’s super simple for my clients to use, and it looks super professional, and I love it!
Below is an image of the dashboard when I log in. This provides a great overview for if anyone has signed any contracts, made any payments, completed a questionnaire, and so on. It also shows me what’s coming up in terms of invoices and any workflow tasks that I have set up for a couple.
Okay, so, why should you use Sprout? Here we go!
It’s aesthetically pleasing.
I really like how everything looks and how CLEAN and SIMPLE it is. It never looks cluttered and things are always really easy to access from one page to the next!
Workflows.
I didn’t really use the workflows in Pixifi because it wasn’t as intuitive for me. The workflows within Sprout, whether you make your own or work from a template, are incredibly simple to use and set up, and it has been a game changer! It automatically sends e-mails with questionnaire links and reminds me of when I need to check in with couples or place orders. It’s pretty fantastic and I’m surprised at how much of a difference it has already made for me! I still keep a paper workflow because I don’t personally believe in having everything digital for a business (but one checklist that houses all my clients doesn’t take up too much space in my binder, so I’m okay with that!), because I’m too worried about the internet crashing one day, haha. Having a system that automates your workflow and does most of the work for you is so crucial when running a business!
Galleries.
Having the galleries in the same place as their invoice, contract, questionnaires and notes is so fantastic. I love only sending ONE link to my couples and having that be the only place they need to remember to access their stuff.
Fantastic customer support.
I had a couple of issues in the beginning with not being able to figure something out, but the customer support they provide is amazing. They also have incredible tutorials for EACH page in Sprout and you can hide them or show them at any time in case you need a reminder!
Cost.
For having everything in one place, the monthly cost is so reasonable, and I’m actually saving money using Sprout instead of using different providers for different things in my business!
Phew! Did you make it to the end with me? That was a lot to take in! However, I really enjoy using Sprout and if this helps even ONE photographer or small business owner, then it’s worth it!
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