I currently use Google calendar and a Google spreadsheet - plus referring back to emails when necessary - Does anyone use a 'one-stop-shop' for keeping all this together - some sort of CRM that's not going to break the bank (like salesforce) and is cloud based maybe?

In the UK we only really have one option as ShootQ has been 'Coming' to the uk since 2009 :S

Tave. We use it and can honestly say it has changed our business and increased conversion rates.

If you give it a go we would really appreciate it if you could use our refferal link MintySlippers invites you to try Táve for free (http://www.tave.com/join/mintyslippers)

Why is it good to use a one stop shop?

Emails, it handles the storage of all emails and can also send them. EVERY email interaction with a client is kept in their record for easy retrieval.

Calendar can be linked to Google or your iPhone type device so as a glance I can see if a date is free

Website integration. Every enquiry via our site is automatically put into Tave. It then sends automated replies, I can use email templates to quickly respond.

Because EVERY enquiry is logged we get excellent reports out of it. I can tell you for any time period how many bookings we took, how much we made, how many we turned away from being booked, how many went elsewhere because of cost. What can you do with these stats? Plenty.

Automation. Workflows in Tave are amazing. I can see what stage each edit is at, at each stage it can email clients. It creates to-do's, tasks.

Invoices, does them for you.

Online. Clients can logon to a custom portal, pay balances, book you. All sorts.


Enough of that. Give it a go, you get 30 days to try it. My advice though is set aside a day to get to grips and really use it in ernest. Put in all your data for the month and see how it benefits you.

Oh, and why has it changed our business. Because I can easily see which enquirys are still in the sales stage and chase them. So many people come back with 'Ah yes, that reminds me, here take my money'. Well, words to that effect ;)

If you advertise on the wedding wire they have a CSM tool that comes with their service. I've used it for this wedding season and it's been fantastic. Brides can sign a contract on the website, answer a questionnaire and pay.

I use Shootq in Aust and apart from some minor quirks - it's fantastic! couldn't do without it

Our client base is around 50 a year, so we stick with Google services:

Google calendar x2 (one basic one on our website shows our availability, the private calendar has contact info, notes, and payment info);

I email all finalized notes for each wedding to my gmail, as insurance, just in case.

Google spreadsheets for bookkeeping and year to year tracking (I know how many weddings I have booked by a certain point in the year, so I know if we're on track to stay busy).

Dropbox has all my important files, including sent & signed contracts (I use DocuSign for online signatures) and email backup, so I can access it across all computers or remotely, and they're automatically backed up.

When someone asks about availability, I check my 'sent contracts' folder to make absolutely certain there isn't a potential client I forgot about.

I use...Táve Studio Manager (http://www.tave.com)