CLIENT CASE STUDY · REVIEW, SYSTEMS + AUTOMATION
Creating more space for the work that lights DANIELLA up
Client: Daniella Blechner, Founder | Author | Book Journey Mentor
Business: Conscious Dreams Publishing
Service(s): Business + Lifestyle Review followed by a Custom CRM architecture, build and implementation
Resources: Dubsado
The Challenge
Daniella loves working directly with people and helping them bring their books into the world.
But behind that work was an increasing amount of manual administration.
As her business evolved, those repetitive tasks were taking up more and more of her time. Instead of being able to focus her energy on supporting authors, she was getting bogged down in the fiddly, manual parts of running the business.
And as someone who freely admits she isn't a fan of systems or technical things, figuring out how to change that herself wasn't exactly top of the wish list.
The Support
Before we touched Dubsado, we needed to understand Daniella and the business the system was going to support.
Daniella first went through our AMPLIFY review process (since upgraded to our current comprehensive review, ALIGN), giving us a much broader view of Conscious Dreams Publishing than the administrative tasks causing friction day to day.
We explored her lifestyle, goals and desires for the business; the way she naturally liked to work; the experience she wanted to create for her authors; and the responsibilities she wanted to retain personally as the founder. We also considered where support from an administrator could fit into the business and where systems and automation could carry responsibility instead.
That gave us the context to look beyond what could be automated and determine what should be automated, what could be delegated and where Daniella's personal involvement added value to the client experience.
From there, we mapped the client experience in detail, identifying the stages, touch-points, information, decisions and actions required to move someone from initial enquiry through to becoming a client, completing their publishing journey and providing feedback afterwards.
Only then did we move into the custom CRM architecture, build and implementation, using Dubsado to translate that mapped experience into a practical operating system.
Each element had a purpose within the wider client journey. Automation was used where the system could reliably carry the process forward; administrative tasks could be assigned where human support was appropriate; and Daniella's personal touch-points were intentionally retained where she wanted to show up and her involvement mattered most.
So rather than configuring Dubsado around a generic version of how a publishing business should operate, we built it around how Daniella wanted Conscious Dreams Publishing to work - for her and for the people she served.
The Transformation
The result was a business that relied far less on Daniella’s cognitive capacity, or on her manually completing every task.
Her new Dubsado setup created a structured journey from initial enquiry through to becoming a paid client, with multiple pre-determined workflows automatically moving people through each stage. Call scheduling, detailed information, proposals, contracts and invoices were brought together into a considered process, including a one-step proposal → contract → invoice experience that made progressing from “I’m interested” to “I’m in” much more seamless.
Once a client came on board, that structure continued. Automated milestone emails kept communication moving at the right points in their journey, while tailored forms gathered the information Daniella needed and a dedicated client portal gave clients one place to access the important details of their work together. Feedback capture and testimonial follow-up were also intentionally built into the process, rather than relying on Daniella remembering to circle back once the work was complete.
Crucially, none of this was automation for automation’s sake.
The architecture was developed through an extensive client experience mapping process, looking at both what the client needed at each stage and how Daniella wanted to show up within that experience. We identified the moments where her personal involvement mattered, where the system could carry the process forward without her, and where tasks could be assigned to an administrator while Daniella retained visibility and oversight.
The result wasn't simply a more automated Dubsado account. It was an operational structure designed around Daniella, her clients and the way she wanted Conscious Dreams Publishing to work - creating the space and mental capacity for her to focus on the work that lights her up: working with people and helping them publish their books.
Before
✘ Enquiries and client onboarding required significant manual input from Daniella
✘ Key steps relied on Daniella remembering what needed to happen next
✘ Proposals, contracts and payments involved separate administrative steps
✘ Client information and communication had to be manually managed throughout the journey
✘ Daniella's personal involvement was woven into much of the administration
✘ Delegating administrative tasks was labourious without a defined process
✘ You're ready to make intentional decisions about the future of your business and the life it supports
✘ Feedback and testimonials depended on remembering to follow up after the work
✘ Running the client journey placed a significant demand on Daniella's cognitive capacity.
After
✔ Pre-determined workflows moved prospects from initial enquiry through to becoming paid clients
✔ Automated triggers, milestone emails and defined next steps kept the client informed and client journey moving
✔ A streamlined proposal → contract → invoice process created a simpler route from decision to signed, paying client
✔ Tailored forms, automated communications and a dedicated client portal gave each stage a clear structure
✔ Daniella's role was intentionally defined, preserving the touch-points where she wanted to show up personally while automation handled the rest
✔ Specific activities could be assigned to an administrator, with Daniella retaining visibility and oversight
✔ Feedback capture and testimonial requests became an intentional part of the client journey
✔ The system held the process, creating greater space and mental capacity for the work that lights Daniella up.
The Client Perspective
POSSABILITIES BY DESIGN.
LIFE BY CHOICE.
POSSABILITIES BY DESIGN. LIFE BY CHOICE.
What Became PossAble
The CRM was the tool. The automation was part of the operational improvement.
The bigger shift was in where responsibility for running the client journey lived.
Processes that had previously depended on Daniella remembering, initiating or manually completing the next step are now held by an intentionally designed system. Her personal involvement could be focused on the moments where she wants to show up and where it adds the most value, while automation and administrative support carry more of the operational load.
And because the system has been designed around Daniella’s goals, lifestyle, ways of working and desired client experience - rather than simply around what Dubsado can do - greater efficiency didn’t have to come at the expense of the personal relationships at the heart of Conscious Dreams Publishing.
The result is more space and mental capacity for Daniella to focus on the work that lights her up, with an operational structure working alongside her to support everything around it.
Ready to change what your business relies on you for?
If too much of your business still depends on you remembering, initiating, managing or manually moving things forward, the answer isn’t necessarily another tool or another automation.
First, we need to understand how you want your business to work - and the role you want to have within it.
ALIGN™ is our founder-first ecosystem review. We look at your life, across your business, your goals, the way you work and the experience you want to create to uncover what’s working, where responsibility is sitting unnecessarily with you, and what needs to evolve next.
Because the goal isn’t to automate you out of your business.
It’s to intentionally design a business that supports the way you want to run it.