Time saving program!

I have had more leads turn into proposals, which have then turned into bookings. This was my number one concern. I would get a lead that would then fizzle out because I had no way for clients to fill out an online questionnaire. With the form section I was able to create a simple questionnaire that leads could fill out on their computer or phone easily. I can then automatically create a proposal for them based off of one of my templates.

Pros

This has been the best decision I have ever made for my business! Not only does this program save me time and energy, but it looks professional and is easy to use. My clients love it as well! The entire process from start to finish with my clients is now seamless. The proposals look clean and modern and clients can e-sign the proposal once they approve it. letting me know that they would like to book. No more guessing if it was received or not, or if it was even viewed. This program has been a lifesaver! I have booked more weddings than ever before and I still get to have a life!

Cons

I wish I had more time to explore the program more in depth. I'm discovering new things every day that are great tools. Luckily the Curate team has been fantastic about answering questions or concerns and the onboarding sessions were super helpful to get started.

What would I do without curate?

I know that I don't use the program to it's full ability... I don't create recipes or or create orders through Curate, which I'm sure, if I ever grew to be a bigger company with multiple employees, I would definitely see the benefit in but how I use it, is perfect for me. As I have been using it for several years, I have had the pleasure of seeing all of the functionality changes that have been made to the program (for example, adding a section for html color codes is such a fun new feature!) I have raved to other florists about my experience with curate and I have heard from clients about how my quotes were night and day from other floral quotes they had received with presentation, the amount of photos for visuals and the level of detail. Once my clients receive and sign off on their quote, they are confident about what they will be receiving on their wedding day and I am always able to recall exactly what the game plan is months after I've written the quote and am getting ready for production/design.

Pros

Curate has totally changed the game when it comes to writing clean, beautiful quotes for my clients plus it has saved me so much time. It used to take me hours to write quotes and now I've cut my quote writing time in half. I have had clients book me because they were blown away by the detail, and ease of reading the quote compared to other florists they had spoken to. I love that I have all of my financial reporting in one place here, I use the reports function all of the time, it makes my monthly accounting tasks so easy.

Cons

There are a few things I would love to see developed on curate. First of all I would love it if there was an app I could download to my phone. When I'm away from my computer I have to access Curate through my phone's internet browser and it's always a pain to log in and navigate. I would also love to be able to attach external documents to any emails I send through curate. For example, my company has a pdf rental guide that we frequently send to our clients when we send them their proposal. As far as I can tell, there is no way to attach a document to these outgoing emails so I have to send the client a second email with the document and it always seems less clean to me. The less emails my clients get, the better. I'd also love to be able to bold or italicize or underline text in the description boxes (not a big deal but sometimes I need to make a point or draw attention to what is written.

Feeling confident on my pricing has been such a huge boost since I've subscribed to Ularas!

Individual pricing per stem in arrangements is a confidence booster and knowing my proposals are clean and professional when delivered to the end client.

Pros

The client support has been fabulous and super responsive whenever I've had a crisis question or needed clarification.

Cons

It's a bit complicated and I'm not sure I'd say the last few upgrades have been intuitive. If there's been an offseason and I have not used the software, it's a huge learning curve to catch up to the updates. Again, the intuitiveness of the software is lacking and needs improvement.

Curate changes the game for us!

Honestly it is a game changer. We used to spend hours creating proposals and having to add/subtract stems and pricing and the software does it for you. It has streamlined our processes and communication with our clients and our wholesaler.

Pros

The ease in creating proposals, receiving content and keeping all details in one place. Our company is a full service floral, design and planning company. We use curate through the entire process from initial inquiry, contract management, floral proposals, client intake forms and correspondence, receiving payments, floral ordering and creating using the recipes. The real question is is there anything we don't use curate for? The templates for all the things! The forms for our clients to complete

Cons

ahhh. I wish I had the option of organizing the event properties to my preference instead of alphabetized. I would like to be able to create a detailed timeline for my vendors and clients that I could use the customization feature for instead of having to transfer all my information into canva. I probably need a tutorial on the photo upload feature. It is basically a dump all for our inspo. photos over the years. I would like to be able to search them instead of scrolling through tons of photos. i=I'd also like to see popular pantone colors available in the new color feauture. Also,

My clients love the format of my proposals!

Sometimes I consider the monthly payment to be a lot since I am a small merchant. But, Curate allows me to do many things without having additional employees.

Pros

It's like having an administrative assistant 24 hours a day. Curate (formerly steam counter) allows me to work on my proposals faster, with attention to every detail. My clients love being able to see photos of the items and decoration items included in their proposal.

Cons

I have to work better the distribution of photos in categories and update the products. Sometimes photos take time to upload. It would be nice to be able to work without internet and update after having connection.