How an SEO Designer Automated and Improved Conversions in One Week

THE CHALLENGE: “I wouldn’t even call what I had a Dubsado setup. It was very basic.”

In 2023, Kelli was two years into running her brand and web design studio, priding herself on exceptional client experience, a VA on board, and her admin seemingly working with a mix of tools like Dubsado and Clickup.

But she knew she wasn’t using these tools to their fullest potential — still running on mostly-manual processes and generic proposals that needed sprucing up.

“Client experience has always been very big for me. So I knew that I needed to elevate it. I just didn’t know if what I wanted was possible.”

Despite being tech-savvy and having set up Dubsado in the past for some of her own clients, Kelli’s inconsistent follow-ups and unclear delegations meant the business was running her, than the other way around. 

THE TURNING POINT: “I could just brain-dump, tell Ashley what was on my mind, and have her put it together.”

Kelli wanted efficiency, clarity, and the confidence to hand off tasks to her VA — she just didn’t know where to start. But she saw what it could look like when Ashley had hired Kelli for her own brand refresh.
During that time, Kelli saw the behind-the-scenes of how Ashley ran her business, the incredible work she was doing for her clients, which made Kelli realize this was exactly what she needed for her own business.
And she knew it was exactly what she needed when they hopped on their first call. For the first time, she felt supported without having to micromanage — and that relief was immediate.

“It really surprised me how I could just spit everything out while Ashley just took it and ran with it.”

The Systems Sprint was Kelli’s opportunity to hand off the heavy lifting to someone who could implement every idea she had, faster and more efficiently. 

THE PROCESS: “Tell Ashley what you want, she’ll create the plan, and just do it for you.”

The Systems Sprint isn’t just an audit. It’s a one-week transformation that takes your business goals, turns them into a plan of attack, and has Ashley tackle it for you — from start to finish.

For Kelli, that process began with a short form outlining her goals and what she wanted to achieve. 

From there, Ashley handled everything. Here’s what that looked like step by step:

Step 1: Short Intake Form

Before the sprint even started, Kelli filled out a simple form with her top priorities, from delegating tasks to her VA to creating a capacity planner for client bookings.
She didn’t need to overthink it — just share where she was stuck and what she wanted more clarity on.

Step 2: A Plan of Action

Kelli walked Ashley through her current setup; how she managed projects, communicated with clients, and delegated work to her VA.

Ashley instantly spotted time-wasters, inefficiencies, and untapped opportunities and came back with a plan of action for the week — organized by urgency and priority — so that Kelli knew exactly what was about to change. 

Step 3: Ashley takes care of it in one-week.

While Kelli ran her business as usual, Ashley got to work and built out the systems behind the scenes:

1. Audited and optimized Kelli’s client journey (both internal and external)
2. Automated onboarding and offboarding workflows through Dubsado
3. Integrated Zapier automations to connect ClickUp, Airtable, and Dubsado
4. Created a capacity planner so Kelli could see her availability week-by-week
5. Mapped SOPs and created training videos so her VA could take ownership confidently
6. Centralized SEO client tracking to monitor progress and updates in one view

Kelli also loved how collaborative yet hands-off the process was:

“I didn’t realize how hands-off it would be. It was like a breath of fresh air. I could just brain dump before she took care of everything.”

Step 4: The Handover + Knowledge Transfer

By the end of the week, Kelli had a brand-new operational system and the resources to manage it.

Ashley provided SOPs, Loom walkthroughs, and documentation for every new process so Kelli and her VA could confidently use her tools without needing ongoing tech support.

“I’m tech-savvy, but having someone in my corner come in and do it a whole lot faster and efficiently made me realize how much I wasn’t using the tools I already had. 

I was also surprised by how well she was able to set up everything to connect and talk together to keep it all in sync.”

Step 5: Immediate changes

While there was still the two-week handover support, once Kelli received her deliverables, she instantly started seeing changes in the way she ran her business, because Ashley had already automated a lot of her onboarding processes. 

THE RESULTS: “Before my leads get on the call, they already know they want to work with me.”

By the end of the sprint, Kelli had more than just organized systems — she had peace of mind, clarity, and measurable improvements with:

• Nurture sequences for leads: Before leads hop on a discovery call, they receive a whole sequence of nurture emails learning about Kelli’s business and prepping them for the call — it’s a yes even before they get on call. 

“All my leads compliment the experience, right from filling the form till we get on the call and after. I know they wouldn’t have that same experience if it wasn’t for Ashley.”

• 10+ hours saved per week: With a lot of her manual admin automated, being clear on which tasks to delegate to her VA, and setting up her client communication to run at the click of a button, Kelli estimates having saved a minimum of 10 hours per week. 
• A massive upgrade to the client experience: Personalized proposals, nurture sequences, and follow-ups now consistently delivered on time, with Kelli’s involvement not needed at every step. Specifically for her SEO clients, Ashley created a centralized system to track progress across all her SEO clients, reducing errors and follow-up time. 
• New capacity planner: This was something that used to truly overwhelm Kelli. Now, she has a tool that helps her manage her workload and instantly spot the gaps in her calendar that’ll allow her to take on new clients. 
• Ease of delegation to her VA: With her first VA, the experience was a trainwreck. The sprint got Ashley to create SOPs and workflows for her new VA, and determined which tasks could be handed off so that Kelli could delegate and save over 30 hours of work a month. 
• Automations & Tools that work together: Ashley was able to make sure that her Dubsado, Airtable, and Clickup were all set up to connect with each other, and being able to see the numbers that were important to her business — like lead management and conversion rate. 

“It’s a whole hub I have inside of Airtable where I’m able to see year-over-year and quarterly what my conversion rates are and where clients are coming.”

Since the Systems Sprint, Kelli and Ashley still work together.

While the Systems Sprint (previously called VIP week) took place in 2023, Kelli and Ashley still collaborate on a lot of projects.

“So many of my own leads will say, ‘I already know I want to work with you. Whatever it is you have in your onboarding process, I needed that.’
And I just tell them, ‘Well, go to Ashley because she’s the one who set up.’”

For an SEO Brand & Web designer like Kelli, she wasn’t just handed over tools or systems. It’s a whole “ecosystem” that allows her to run her business like a CEO. 

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This case study was built on a conversation with this specific client, going through our work together.

Anything in quotes is a word-for-word statement said by the client on a recorded call or in feedback.

If you’re still copy-pasting those same onboarding emails 10 times a month , let’s fix it in one week.

Onboarding (or even offboarding) a client doesn’t have to be a source of overwhelm. It can be something that actually excites your leads, like it does for Kelli.

All you need is one week with Systems Sprint.