Using Dubsado’s custom mapped fields is a great way to save you some time doing tedious data entry. But before you dive into this post, make sure you know what they are and how to use them! If you don’t, (or you could use a refresher) you’ll want to learn about where to find custom mapped fields in your account and how to set them up. Once you’re solid on how to use them, keep scrolling to learn about my favorite ways to use custom mapped Dubsado fields.

Tip #1: number of coverage hours the client has booked

I talk about this situation in my Custom Mapped Fields 101 post. I have a custom mapped field for the number of coverage hours my elopement photography couples book. Once they’ve told me what they’d like to book, I go into their project to add that number to the appropriate field in the left panel of their project. I’ve already set up my contract to reference this smartfield, so when I add it (the contract) to their project, it will automatically populate the number of coverage hours into the document! This saves me a couple clicks of navigating into and editing the contract for each couple.

TYPE: Project custom mapped field

Tip #2: pronouns

One of my favorite custom mapped Dubsado fields hacks is to set up a short answer in my lead capture form to ask for an inquiring client’s pronouns. Making sure my business operates as inclusively as possible is really important to me, so having this mapped straight to each project helps keep the information at hand in a visible place just in case I forget which pronouns a client prefers!

TYPE: Client custom mapped field

Tip #3: any relevant client preferences

Back when I was offering Dubsado account migrations (people wanting to switch from another CRM), I was recreating one client’s wedding/elopement prep questionnaire in her new Dubsado library. She collected information in the questionnaire about food and drink preferences the couple had, and used this data to inform any treats she could send them as a small gift during the planning process, or bring with her on the day of as a surprise. She asked about whether they liked tea or coffee, whether they preferred salty or sweet snacks, and the like. So, in her custom mapped fields I created a couple like “favorite beverage,” “favorite snack,” “favorite sweet treat,” etc. When the client answered the coffee/tea question, it would map to “favorite beverage.”

By setting this information up into custom mapped fields, it saves you (the business owner) time from having to dig through your emails and questionnaires to find that info later on. Mapping it to the project allows it to be readily at hand and save you a headache of search.

TYPE: Depending on the preference you want to map (it does not at all have to be food & drink related!), this could either fall under client or project mapped fields

Tip #4: Referral name

Most entrepreneurs have a referral source listed in their lead capture form (and if you don’t, here’s your reminder to add it!). These are places that the person inquiring found you from, such as Google, Instagram, Facebook, an online directory, word of mouth, etc.

Having a referral source for each client and project is so helpful so you can see where most of your inquiries are coming from and plan your marketing efforts accordingly. But you can take this a step further with an additional custom mapped field asking for either a search term (if they remember) or the name of whoever referred them. The latter is especially helpful if you have a referral reward system set up: collecting these names allows you to track who’s sending you the most referrals!

TYPE: Project custom mapped field

Tip #5: Additional Locations

If your client’s project involves more than one location (are you a professional organizer working with a client who has two houses? Are you a wedding photographer traveling around with a couple to three stops?), adding additional location fields could be useful. Currently, Dubsado’s default is to list one location; this includes the location name as well as its address. If you work in multiple settings or locations for each project, it might be helpful to keep track of them for each project. Depending on how useful it is to have the address of each location as well as the name readily available, you could create two custom mapped fields for each new location: one for the name/title, and one for the actual address.

TYPE: Project custom mapped field

Tip #6: Love Languages & Personality Types

Depending on the type of work you do and the clients you serve, it could be helpful to have this information listed in your project’s sidebar. If you’re a couples photographer in any capacity, it’s helpful to know each partner’s love language so you can direct them better. If you’re a die-hard fan of the Enneagram (hi, it’s me) and consciously use your knowledge of other people’s types when you interact with them, it could be useful to keep a note of it. Same goes for extroversion or introversion! You don’t need to collect all of this in questionnaires, either. It could be as simple as asking for that information on a discovery call and making a note to manually add it to the custom mapped field in their project later.

TYPE: Client custom mapped field

Tip #7: special dates

The date field is much less versatile than the short answer, but it’s still effective for a couple areas! The easy dates that come to mind are things like birthdays, anniversaries, or even due dates, if your business serves pregnant people.

These don’t just need to populate into your project sidebar to live in perpetuity, either. Project-related dates (like a launch date) could be worked into your Dubsado content. If you’re a web designer, a canned email might read something like, “Hey {{client.firstName}}, are you excited for {{launch date}} as much as I am? Now that we’re in the homestretch before we hit publish on your project to take it all live, here’s what we have left …”

TYPE: Depending on the preference you want to map, this could either fall under client or project mapped fields

---

I hope these examples of custom mapped Dubsado fields is helpful to you as you build your own library! This is by far not an exhaustive list of options, but I hope it gets the wheels of your imagination turning for how you could use them in your own account. The sky is the limit!