Award-Winning Agency Saved 1,000 Hours a Year with This Form and Lead Gen Tool

"I tried them all. And then I found Paperform. We started using it for all our onboarding. Every single client we have, we use Paperform anytime we need a form."

Dee Shukla, CEO and Founder, Pearl Lemon

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Deepak (Dee) Shukla, the dynamic founder of Pearl Lemon, built the leading SEO agency in London by leveraging tools to streamline operations, save time, and cut costs. With his rich and diverse life experience, we deep-dive with Dee and see how tools like Paperform have helped transform his businesses.

Pearl Lemon: Award-Winning London SEO Agency

Growing a business is like running an ultramarathon—tough, rewarding, and made easier with the right tools. Just ask Dee, CEO of Pearl Lemon. His entrepreneurial journey is anything but ordinary.

Dee's ultimate vision for Pearl Lemon is ambitious but clear. He aims to build a company that generates a billion pounds in revenue by the time he turns 50. And he knows he needs to get comfortable with uncertainty. Embracing the unknown is part and parcel of growth.

That's where we're headed, and I'm going to, by hook or crook, and figure out how to get there.

His philosophy is straightforward: don't shy away from decisions due to fear; prepare well and move forward confidently. Dee's journey shows that reaching ambitious goals is within anyone's grasp with the right tools and mindset.

"I spent most of my 20’s backpacking," Dee says, grinning as he recalls swapping his corporate career at Deloitte for personal exploration. His adventures included Ironman and Ultramarathons, Muay Thai in Brazil, and even applying to the British Special Forces.

"I've always had a high-risk tolerance. From failing at things to embracing every opportunity, it's always been about learning and pushing boundaries."

Pearl Lemon started as a hustle, launched from his mom's house with a desire to innovate. "It was kind of an adventure—an idea to figure out as I went."

Dee working during the early days of Pearl Lemon

But, of course, what started as a hustle grew into a self-sufficient agency.

"Two or three years later, I was still at it, but I had moved beyond the phase where many agency owners struggle. I had figured out enough to make the agency run without needing my constant involvement in the day-to-day operations. That was probably the most challenging part of my journey."

Today, Pearl Lemon thrives not just as a multi-award-winning SEO agency but also in marketing, lead generation, accountancy, legal services, and beyond—all thanks to Dee's drive, adaptability, and willingness to take risks.

Leveraging Tech to Empower Your People

Dee says when they came across Paperform, Pearl Lemon knew they had their solution. "I tried them all. And then I found Paperform."

As Dee’s businesses grew, so did his need for new hires. But Dee invariably knew that finding great people meant a busy hiring process. "The biggest challenge I've had in growing businesses is people. [But] I didn't have time to look at a thousand resumes."

Dee and his team went on a deep dive, aiming to find a tech solution that would both reduce their busy work finding the right people and support the great people on the team.

"If it takes more than two minutes to figure it out, I'm not interested in using the software. Complicated tools often need to be improved. So that was where I was looking for a platform that could do it all."

How Pearl Lemon Uses the Raw Power of Paperform

We started using it for all our onboarding. Every single client we have, we use Paperform anytime we need a form.

After implementing Paperform for their hiring process, the team realized its potential across numerous sections of Pearl Lemon's operations. It was more than just a form builder. "We started using it for all our onboarding. Every single client we have, we use Paperform anytime we need a form."

Here is a breakdown of the key ways Pearl Lemon leveraged Paperform’s powerful workflows:

Marketing

Pearl Lemon's agencies now swiftly onboard clients and have a deeper understand their needs through tailored Paperform forms. "We have clients on the marketing side that we're onboarding and they want to tell us their ICP, budget, and their sales cycles and what they're trying to do." With advanced features like conditional logic and automated follow-ups, creating interactive experiences that nurture prospects seamlessly is easy.

Pearl Lemon is also able to quickly leverage Paperform for its clients, providing branded landing pages, forms, lead gen portals, and quizzes that look good and convert.

"What's great is the ability to create forms on the fly," explains Dee. "People often say, 'I'll make a quick Paperform!' When we need a one-off form, Paperform is our go-to.

"For example, we recently sold a Twitter outreach campaign after seeing success. We offered it to a client, shared our results, and then used ChatGPT to generate onboarding questions. I sent the GPT link to my design team, they confirmed the details, and 10 minutes later, we had a Paperform ready to go."

Plus, Paperform integrates with favorite marketing tools like Mailchimp, HubSpot, Slack, and Zapier, keeping client workflows smooth.

Legal Practice

For Pearl Lemon's legal practice, Paperform is a centralized hub for collecting client documents and data, ensuring secure and efficient processing. "Our clients needed to send us documents as proof when making a legal claim or case. We needed a centralized way to gather all of that."

Pearl Lemon was able to streamline paperwork through secure intake forms, client agreements, and document submission portals—all in one platform.

The team built a space in their Paperform account specifically for legal forms, making it their hub to handle secure intake, client agreements, and document submissions. Apart from being user friendly, the forms also take the stress out of the legal experience for clients, saving them time and money.

Accounting and Tax

Their experiences with legal translated to their financial business. "Same thing with our Accounting. We use Paperform. Clients send us their end-of-year reports and the downloadable PDFs from their banks." Pearl Lemon has custom forms for tax document submissions, expense reports, or client consultations.

With tools like Papersign, you can easily capture eSignatures securely and automatically. And, upon submission, Paperform can automate reminders and follow-ups, also integrating with tools like Xero, QuickBooks, and Google Sheets to keep data flowing.

Proof in the Pudding: The Impact of Paperform

Speed and ease of use are the biggest concerns of the Pearl Lemon team. "I never hear any complaints. It's versatile, intuitive, and has a range of utilities that make it a go-to tool for our team."

Dee may be a vocal advocate for Paperform, but we know the proof is in the pudding. Here is how integrating Paperform into their workflows has impacted Pearl Lemon's operations:

1. Time Savings and Streamlined Workflows
   Paperform saves the team about 20 hours a week—translating to over 1,000 hours and $15,000 annually—and that's a low estimate. “We use it on every side of the business,” Dee says. “So I probably have underplayed that number. In terms of time, money saved, plus value, it's more than that.”
   
   The intuitive workflow of Paperform ensures nothing slows down the pace of their operations. For Pearl Lemon, this efficiency means focusing more on growth rather than manual processes.
2. A Form for Every Need
   Pearl Lemon uses Paperform extensively across various business sectors. It acts as the backbone of their operational procedures, increasing efficiency. Also, Paperform's ability to integrate seamlessly with other tools and platforms means many of Pearl Lemon's processes are automated, and communication is seamless.
3. Cost-Effective Solutions
   Dee highlights that the cost-effectiveness of Paperform is unmatched, making it an obvious choice for businesses conscious of their spending while requiring robust solutions. "We love Paperform because it costs less, and it either does the same thing, or it does it better. So why would we even bother changing?"
   And because Pearl Lemon uses one solution across their businesses, they save thousands on their tech stack. "Paperform has huge utility. It's very useful for a lot of different things that we make use of. And that's big for us."

Paperform is a Growth Catalyst

For Dee, the best tools are the ones that quietly do their job, letting the business take center stage. That's what Paperform does for the team at Pearl Lemon—delivering ease, speed, and efficiency, the building blocks of a thriving enterprise. Its intuitive simplicity frees up time for Pearl Lemon to focus on what matters: innovation and engaging with clients. And for Dee, he’s got more time to focus on crushing those Ultramarathons.

The right tools can transform a business's operations. For Pearl Lemon, Paperform isn't just software; it's a growth catalyst. It's practical, powerful, and ready to unlock potential for businesses of all sizes. Dee's story is a reminder that with the right support and tools, success isn't just achievable—it's inevitable.

Connect with Dee and Pearl Lemon
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deepakseoexpert/
Pearl Lemon: https://pearllemon.com/

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Start your free trial and see how Paperform can make your business run smoother today. Or, to get started on transforming your operations, visit Paperform.co or start a conversation with our Customer Success team.

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