I hate moving, friends. Probably because I did it so much growing up. And every fall and spring when I shoved all of my precious belongings into my tiny Honda Prelude to move home for the summer. I hate moving even more as an adult. The day that we moved from our rental into our newly purchased home? We only had our U-Haul for 12 hours (overnight), and there was a massive thunderstorm that caused the power to go out, so we were stuck moving in the dark. And when we decided to sell our house and move to an apartment downtown? The day that we picked to move it was snowy and icy and miserable. Thank goodness for our amazing family members. 

And then there was the time we decided to literally move 3 blocks away. For this move, we finally got smart and decided to hire movers. Which, of course, being the perfectionist and semi-control freak that I am, made me super paranoid. Which resulted in my packing up and moving all of our most prized possessions (camera gear, laptops, tv, artwork, etc.) myself. 

BUT. Do you know the great thing about hiring those movers? I didn’t have to lift a damn thing to move us. AND, instead of the move being drawn out over a whole day or even week? We were done moving in 3 hours flat. Talk about a great investment. The lesson that I learned from that last, tiny, three block move that we made was that hiring someone to do the heavy lifting for you isn’t a bad thing, even if you can do it yourself. 

The same thing can be said for hiring someone to help you move from one CRM to another.

You might think that you can’t hire someone because you’re super unorganized and you’ve got emails and forms and client info all over the place...or maybe it's because no one but you can understand your systems and workflows. But the truth is? It realistically will only take you a little bit of time to get organized to hand-off your CRM set-up. And then you’re not stuck doing the heavy lifting and can spend your time doing other, more important things…..you know, like tackling your editing queue or photographing a wedding…spending time with your family doing a fun fall activity like pumpkin patching…or even doing a little self-care like a quiet trip to the library to get a new book and then holing up in your favorite coffee shop to read for a few hours. 

Wait…did I just say it would only take you a few hours to get organized enough to hand-off your CRM set-up? 

You betcha I did. 🙂 And you know your girl isn’t going to leave you hanging. Here, dear friends, are the steps that you need to take to prep to hand-off your CRM set-up. 

Prepping to hand-off your CRM set-up

Moving from no CRM to a new CRM

Gather your brand elements.

In order to customize your CRM your set-up specialist will need things like your logo (different variations), your brand hex codes and colors, and your brand fonts. Keeping your brand consistent across all areas of your client workflow will help provide a stellar client experience from start to finish for your clients. 

Map out/list out your workflow.

Keep it super simple when you do this. I recommend listing out each and every interaction that you have with your clients in Google Sheets. Once you’ve got that list, add what you need for that interaction: an email template, scheduler, form, so on and so forth until you’ve worked your way through your workflow. This will help your set-up specialist know exactly what email/form, etc. goes with which part of your workflow. This will also help you identify any emails/copy that you’re missing and will give you a chance to create it before handing off your set-up. And that will make set-up go so much smoother and easier. 

Create an email template bank.

Gather every email that you’ve sent more than twice, and copy them into a Google Doc. I recommend doing this in order of how you send them to your clients in your client workflow to help make set-up easier. 

Gather any pre-existing collateral.

I recommend putting it all into a Google Doc. Things like links to blog posts, pricing guides, galleries etc. As your set-up specialist builds your workflows in your CRM, they’ll likely need all of these things from you and by gathering them ahead of time you have control over what goes into your workflows and what your clients see. 

Create a folder of 10 of your favorite photos.

Be sure to include a headshot of yourself. Your set-up specialist will need photos for various parts of setting up your CRM, like forms or questionnaires. By providing them with your favorites you’re ensuring that you're putting your best foot forward. 

Make the mindset shift.

One of the very hardest things you can do as a solopreneur is letting someone else into your business. Trust me, been there, done that time and time again. BUT - trust me when I say you have better things to do with your time than figuring out how to set up your CRM and all of the tiny little aspects of it. Repeat after me: “I can trust someone else to do this for me.” 

Moving from one CRM to another CRM

Double check your email copy.

I recommend doing this once a year anyway, but the perfect time to make sure your email copy for your canned emails is exactly what you want is before you migrate from one CRM to another. Make any updates you need now, before you hand-off your set up, so that once you’re in your new CRM you’re set and ready to go and don’t need to make any updates. If you need to make updates to your copy either make them in your existing CRM email templates, or drop the emails with the updates into a Google Doc for your set-up specialist. 

Review your existing workflow.

Again, this is something I recommend doing once a year anyway, but before you migrate from one CRM to another is the perfect time to make sure nothing needs changed. If you DO need to make adjustments, list out all of your new steps in a Google sheet, and list out all of the pieces of collateral you need for each step, just like for those moving from no CRM to a new CRM. 

Update any pre-existing collateral.

Double check the links to blog posts, pricing guides, galleries, etc., that are currently included in your workflow are indeed the links you want to be sending and that they’re up to date. If you need to update them, either update them in your current workflow, or drop them into a Google Doc to send to your specialist. 

Create a folder of 10 of your favorite photos.

Photographers are constantly creating new work that they love and this is your chance to make sure your CRM reflects your most recent work. Be sure to include a headshot of yourself. Your set-up specialist will need photos for various parts of setting up your CRM, like forms or questionnaires. By providing them with your favorites you’re ensuring that you're putting your best foot forward. 

Make the mindset shift.

One of the very hardest things you can do as a solopreneur is letting someone else into your business. Trust me, been there, done that time and time again. BUT - trust me when I say you have better things to do with your time than figuring out how to set up your CRM and all of the tiny little aspects of it. Repeat after me: “I can trust someone else to do this for me.” 

Not sure which CRM is best for you? Get my FREE guide to the Best CRMs for Wedding Photographers by clicking here. 

Thinking of migrating to a new CRM but don’t have the time or energy to do it yourself? Hit your girl up and let’s chat about my Move Me, Please offer, where you hand-off your CRM set-up to me. I dig in and do all of the heavy lifting for you so you can focus on doing other more important things…like taking photos, running your business, or spending time with your family. 

Don’t need a new CRM but still want the inside scoop and additional tips and tricks on all things systems? Sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter (complete with cute corgi pics) here.