So you’ve made the leap and done what’s best for your business: you signed up to vcita! Congrats! Now you can be well on your way to improving your business operations and building a business you’re proud of. 

In my experience as Director of Customer Success, some new vcita users claim the beginning of their journey to be a bit overwhelming considering the amount of features and tools, but it doesn’t have to be. If you learn the ins and outs of the platform early on, it can save you a ton of headaches and help you get the most out of your vcita account, and your business at the same time.

Here are the first things you should do in order to get the best vcita experience and maximize your use of the platform.

First, get set up!

The first obvious step is to get set up with your account. This means more than just starting a free trial or subscribing to an annual plan. In order to set yourself up for success, there are a few things you should do right away that will make your life easier and your journey smoother:

  1. Import contacts and leads. Setting up your contacts and leads in your CRM software will make it easy for you to begin connecting and engaging with your clients and prospects. Since a large part of the vcita platform is client management, you should make this a top priority so that the rest of the platform supports your client management needs.
  2. Set up payment processors. The second most urgent task on hand is to set up payment processors so that you can begin to collect payments from your clients. Since money is what keeps your business afloat, this is one of the most important things to set up. It’s important to note that if you don’t have your contacts set up first, collecting payments from them will be difficult.
  3. Set up your calendar. In order to start working with your clients and allowing them to schedule with you, you’ll need to set up your calendar and sync it with your personal calendar. This will help your clients be able to set up appointments with you right away.
  4. Connect your account to Zoom. This tip only relates to whoever Zoom is relevant for. Setting up your zoom account with vcita is a surefire way to get to work right away and connect all your needs under the vcita platform. This will help you better gain control over your business and meet your business’ needs.
  5. Connect vcita to your website or online presence. In order to begin using the wonderful widgets that vcita offers, which allow your clients to book, pay, and contact you, you’ll need to connect vcita to your website, social media pages, or anywhere else you have an online presence.

Next, get your hands dirty

Once you have all the above set up, you’re ready to begin familiarizing yourself with the platform and seeing its effectiveness when it comes to your business operations. The first thing you’ll want to do at this stage is test things out by adding a partner, a friend, or a family member as a contact and begin interacting with them the way you would a client. 

Send them an email, an invoice, a payment link and see how they receive it. You’ll also begin to learn how easy it is to maneuver through the platform and ask your “client” for whatever you need. 

Many of our clients are often scared to “break something” in the platform and I am here to assure you that it’s unbreakable. Just get in there and start playing around, click every button and see what it does. The more you poke around the more you’ll find features and tools that might suit your business needs. It truly is the best way to learn the platform and get the most out of it.

The last tip here is to use two separate emails on the platform. One to set up your account, and a personal email to set up as a client so that you as the business owner can see what your clients see. Since small businesses are usually very concerned with what their clients experience, this is the best way for you to understand the client side of the platform.

Now you’re ready to dive in!

There’s no secret here, the more you use the platform the more you’ll know about it. My top tip to dive in is to choose a start date and commit to it. Begin using the platform exclusively from that date and make it the new business norm. The clients at vcita who did this showed far more success than those that decided to take a slower approach and begin to use it in increments. 

Finally, leverage the vcita community

The last tip that will help you set up and make the most of your vcita account is to use our plethora of tools and resources available to you. Not only does vcita have a strong support team, but for those who have the option, there’s also a knowledgeable customer success team waiting to help, specializing in account setup and product utilization. They are a great resource for any questions an account owner might have.

In addition to that direct support you can get from vcita, we also have a Facebook community group where users can share ideas and ask questions. In my experience, it’s nice to see how others are using the platform and get some ideas to help you with your own business.

You can also follow us on LinkedIn to see any webinars we are hosting, as they present lucrative information about how to use the platform, and run your business, in different ways.

If that’s not enough, we have a variety of knowledge resources available to you in our blog that help teach you all you need to know about running your business more efficiently.

Wishing you the best of luck on your new journey to a better business with vcita. Follow the tips above and you’ll be sure to see success from your vcita account!