Would you hire yourself if you were a bride or a groom? In other words, do you have the skills and qualities that your wedding couple is looking for? This has to do with your client avatar. When you know who your clients are, you know what they need from you. When you ask yourself this question you should also ask “why” and go down the list of qualities and skills that you can offer to your clients. That way, you can make sure they align with their needs and style.

I noticed that many of us entrepreneurs have this attitude: “I know how good I am and that’s enough for my clients to hire me.” The problem is, they don’t know how good you are. Maybe your colleagues know, maybe your service providers (or vendors) know because they worked with you, but potential clients who are meeting you for the first time have no idea how good or reliable, or knowledgeable you are. We are proud of being entrepreneurs, of owning our own business and not being employed however, we are constantly in the hiring process with every potential wedding client. And this has nothing to do with our website or portfolio or even our reviews. They could be amazing but the bottom line is, we have to connect personally with our clients, and that’s specifically the case with millennial couples.

Several of my coaching clients turn to me because they need to increase their sales and they want an answer to this question: “How can I get more clients?”
I noticed that many of them find excuses and blame the economy or, even worse, the competition for not being successful. I understand there are fewer opportunities nowadays, there are a lot of young brides who decide to start a wedding planning business because they had fun planning their celebration. However, you and only you will be able to win the client and you should focus on what you can do for them, on what you can provide to solve their problems.

Let’s take a look at some qualities that you should point out in your presentation when you meet with a potential client and let’s pretend you’re the client for a second. Imagine that you’re seated in front of yourself and you listen to your introduction. What would impress you the most? What would you like the most? Or the least? What would be the deciding factor to hire you?

Work ethics or integrity

This will show that you will treat your clients honestly, you will respect them, and you will be prepared for them at any moment. You will deliver what you promised (and maybe over-deliver if you can). You will always go above and beyond to provide stellar service to your clients

Customer service

This is my priority: taking great care of your client should be your top goal. This includes getting back to them within a short amount of time, doing research to find the best deal or the best solutions, and making sure they get the best treatment at any point during the planning process and on the wedding day. When you have happy and satisfied clients you can get more referrals and exposure, and this will place you as an authority in the industry

Flexibility

When you plan a wedding or an event, there are always lots of moving parts and last-minute changes or emergencies that you learn to deal with wedding after wedding. Being flexible gives you a wider perspective and it allows you to be more creative with the situation you’re facing

Communication skills

There’s no doubt that you must have great communication skills when you meet with the client (you should talk in their language – we go back to your client avatar), when you negotiate with the location and service providers, when you coordinate all the details, and when you interact with guests on the wedding day. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to be an extrovert – you just need to be very clear and thorough and express the needs, style, and vision of the couple with everyone involved with the wedding.

Extra tip

Monitor your social media accounts to make sure there’s nothing that could harm or sabotage your reputation or convince brides and grooms that you’re probably not the right planner for them.
Example: Posting hateful or negative comments, posting pictures when you’re drunk at a party, and so on. You get the idea. I’m not saying you should live a boring life but you should be careful of what you post online: your potential clients might not like it (unless this is your ideal client)

How to improve your “selling points”

How can you improve your selling points? A good way is to ask couples who decided to hire someone else. Every time you lose a lead reach out to that couple and ask what their deciding factor was. They know why they didn’t hire you: it could be no chemistry (they just didn’t feel the connection), not sure about the services you provide (you didn’t list them in a simple way), not clear on what you can do for them (you didn’t specify your type of assistance), too expensive or too cheap (if too cheap, maybe they didn’t feel you are experienced enough and you didn’t quite understand their needs), or not comfortable with your professionalism (wrong attire, maybe?). These are all clues that can tell you something is missing in your business and you need to improve them.

The most common answer I get from clients who decide to hire another planner is: “We loved everything about you and your business and you gave us excellent ideas. We would love to work with you but we’re afraid we cannot afford your services.” This means I’m too expensive for them however, my closing rate is 80% – This means I get hired 8 times out of 10 and for this reason I won’t reduce my prices. Maybe I should increase them!

~~~ TAKE ACTION ~~~ Try to “interview” yourself every six months or so just to make sure that your selling points are always aligned with your ideal client. You will see how easy is to get booked once you have clear selling points.

~~~ LEAVE A COMMENT ~~~ What is your best selling point? Share it with us here!

Image courtesy of Freepik

Sabrina Cadini

Holistic Precision Life Coach, Brain Wellness Coach, and Life-Work Balance Strategist helping busy professionals and high achievers live and work better by prioritizing themselves. I use different modalities (epigenetics, neuroscience, chronobiology, and positive psychology) to implement effective lifestyle changes.