Making Your Clients Happy

Unlock the secrets to keeping your wedding clients overjoyed and stress-free with our expert insights on the Wedding Planner Pro Files podcast. Join Laurie Hartwell and Krisy Thomas as they reveal strategies that transform the client experience, emphasizing the importance of building genuine relationships over relying solely on automation. Learn which automation tools can enhance your professionalism without losing the personal touch, like automated invoice reminders and out-of-office replies. We're here to guide you in balancing technology with heartfelt interactions, ensuring your clients feel valued and understood.

Discover how to set yourself apart as a wedding planner by mastering personalized client interactions. They'll share why generic automated responses can harm your client connections and how referencing specific details can foster intimacy and trust. We critique certain automated processes, such as long questionnaires and lengthy out-of-office messages, that can overwhelm clients. By honing your communication skills and maintaining concise inquiry forms, you can reduce client anxiety and show them they are truly heard and appreciated.

Empower your career with strategic planning and effective communication techniques that anticipate challenges before they arise. We'll discuss the critical role of foresight in preventing last-minute issues and unexpected costs, allowing you to provide a seamless experience for your clients. Moreover, we'll highlight the importance of well-structured workflows and proactive communication to keep your clients informed and at ease. Listen in as we underscore the value of genuine connections and robust communication, not just for client satisfaction but also for fostering positive word-of-mouth referrals and a successful career in wedding planning.

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Transcript

Tips for Keeping Clients Happy

Speaker 1 0:00

You're listening to the Wedding Planner Profiles podcast brought to you by the CWP Society.

Speaker 2 0:15

Welcome to the Wedding Planner Profiles podcast brought to you by the CWP Society, where wedding planners and pros collaborate to raise the standards in the wedding industry. The CWP Society is the world's largest membership of wedding professionals and the leading wedding planner certification program. My name is Lori Hartwell and I'm the CEO, alongside with my fabulous co-host and vice president of the CWP Society, Chrissy Thomas, who is also the owner of Southern Sparkle Weddings. Hey, Chrissy, how are you today?

Speaker 3 0:46

Hello, lori, I am doing well. Thank you for asking and also hello to all of our amazing listeners. Lori, today we are going to be discussing the topic of how to keep your clients happy.

Speaker 2 0:59

You know, I think a lot of people just want some really good tips, but I think maybe they're looking for like the magic wand of how to keep clients happy. My feelings on this is you have to put a lot of work into it. There's a lot of work that goes into keeping anybody happy. Think about even with our relationships, chrissy, you know you and I are very close friends. Well, I put a lot of work into making sure that you're happy. You put a lot of work into making me happy when I think about my marriage. I put a lot of work into keeping him happy and he does the same. You have to make sure you're putting work in. Yeah, our clients really don't. They fall into the same category.

Speaker 3 1:36

It's essentially the same year, it's a relationship, and what's fun too about wedding planners is we are very deep into the process of their wedding planning journey with them. So you do develop some sort of relationship and even if it just ends up being a work related relationship, it still puts.

Speaker 2 1:52

You still have to put the work in, for the word relationship still came after what you just said. Yep, exactly, this relationship is still a relationship, so you got to put work in.

Speaker 3 2:02

Yeah, exactly. So let's talk about that. Work, get your notebooks out, pull up your sleeves, because we've got a lot, a lot of good advice to share with you about keeping your clients happy.

Speaker 2 2:13

Yeah, I think the first thing that makes a client unhappy and I think that's where maybe where we should start is a lot of clients are saying that they kind of feel like their wedding planners have kind of treated them like an app. So that means that wedding planners are putting way too many automations into their business, and that is a that can be a very detrimental thing as a wedding planner, because wedding planners were high touch, which means we have to be a part of every little tiny thing. We have a role to play, if you will. Now, I'm not saying automations are like the worst thing in the world, because there are good automations and there are very bad automations.

Speaker 2 2:52

I'm finding that wedding planners are doing a lot of the bad automations, okay. So I want to start on a good note, though I'm going to start with some good automation. So the first one that I can think of would be, when you are sending out an invoice, having those payment reminders in an automatic way so that you're not having to remember it on your own, and sending out a personal email. You know I love, because I use Rock Paper Coin. We have automatic reminders already set up and my clients would automatically get a reminder when they have a bill due with my company. That is a wonderful thing, so that's good.

Speaker 3 3:33

There's a good automation to implement into your business.

Speaker 2 3:37

Another one would be having and setting up an out of office reply for those wedding weekends or if you're on vacation. There's nothing more irritating than um, when you are sending out an email and you don't get one back. I mean you, you were talking to me about a situation.

Speaker 3 3:56

I remember one of my photographers I had emailed and I got a response back, probably a week and a half later, and they said oh, I'm so sorry, I was on vacation, which is absolutely no problem. Every single person deserved to have some time off and enjoy it. However, a response back an auto response of hey, got your email, I will be out of the office until this day. I will return your message upon my arrival. That way I put in my calendar Okay, this is when they'll be back. I can let my couple know. I emailed your photographer. They're out of the office right now. As soon as they're back in, I'll let you know because it made me look bad as the wedding planner that I'm sitting here waiting on a response back from my fellow wedding pro. So these are good out of office automations is when you're actually going to be out of the office. It's helpful for everyone who's reaches out to you.

Speaker 2 4:42

And if you're going to be out of the office, I would say, for more than 24 hours. See, if you're going to be back in the office 24 hours later, then you should not have that out of office reply on any of your emails. But if you're going to be gone for the weekend, if you are going to be gone for a week, go ahead and put an out of office reply on it. It's a really great automation. One would be uh, one of our favorite things to do is putting text reminders, uh, into our timeline genius software where, on wedding day, our wedding party is automatically getting a text to saying hey, the, the hair is going to be. You know, hair makeup's about to start in room 202 and you know, just, hey, everybody, make sure you're getting dressed now because the photographer is going to be arriving in the next few minutes. Blah, blah, blah that. Those are really great automations to put in that make you look like a rock star okay, make you look like a rock star and also keep the wedding day running smoothly.

Speaker 3 5:40

I love that.

Speaker 2 5:40

That's a good automation yes, there's a lot of work that goes behind putting those automations together, but it is an automation on the wedding day Nonetheless. Other things are like having business forms and business presentations and email templates. Those templates are great, but not if you're not customizing them. So make sure that you're customizing those email templates. Make sure you're customizing your business forms per client, not just for your business, but for your each individual client that's coming to you. You should be customizing this. Every email in every part of that wedding planning process journey you should be customizing.

Speaker 2 6:22

So those are just some examples of some good automations, but let's talk a little bit about some bad automations, and so the first one that comes to my mind is auto replies to all online inquiries.

Speaker 2 6:35

So a lot of wedding planners Chrissy, I'm finding have these all-in-one software systems where, if they get an online inquiry, an automatic reply goes directly to that inbox and says thank you so much for contacting us. A member of our staff will get back to you as soon as possible regarding setting up an initial consultation or whatever it might be. Those are automatic replies that should not take place at all. We need to. If you're doing that right now, if you're a wedding planner and you're listening to this, and you have your all-in-one system set up to send out automatic emails after receiving an online inquiry. I need you to turn that off immediately today. I think it's wonderful to have a template in place where you get an online inquiry and you can take that template and then customize that template to respond to an online inquiry. That's wonderful, but do not have automatic replies set up.

Speaker 3 7:33

Okay, I think it goes back to what she mentioned, laurie, how your clients are feeling. Like this is how your potential clients are feeling. They're automatically feeling like I'm just another number in her inbox, I'm just another person that they have to reach out to. Because what's happening too, especially with these all-in-one softwares, is a lot of the times that that template is the same one, but it's got your wedding business name in it. So if they're reaching out to multiple wedding planners and they're getting back the same generic email, that's going to make them not feel special, whereas if you're sending them a customized email with their name, their wedding date, where they're getting married, all the information that they may have provided you in their contact us form, it's going to set you apart.

Speaker 3 8:13

And can I say something too about these, these all-in-one softwares? What I found about these softwares is they are traditionally made for the industry as a whole, so the wedding planners, the photo booth company, the photographer. It's made to kind of cover the industry as a whole and, like you said, lori, the part of wedding planning in that part of the industry is very high touch. So some of these things and automations may work very well for the photo booth company, but it's not going to make sense for you as the planner. So really take some time to make sure that these all-in-one companies and softwares that you're working with actually make sense for you as a wedding planner.

Speaker 2 8:52

I love that you added that. Yes, because we're just a little bit different. We're not better than, we're just different than, and so there is a little bit of a nuance that we have to really be thinking about. It's just, we're just a little bit different. We have to handle things different, we approach things differently, our websites show things differently, our pricing is going to be set a little bit different.

Speaker 2 9:17

Wedding planners and coordinators have to do things a little bit different than, let's say, photographers, djs, florists, bakers, caterers and so on. So those automatic replies are not going to work and there's more customization than just changing out someone's name. I mean, that's why these auto replies don't work. I want to say like, if I find out where they're getting married, I want to let them know. Oh, I work at that venue all the time. I absolutely love them. You know, my favorite part of that venue is this, this and this that when you respond like that, they go oh, so this really is a customized email. The owner actually wrote me back themselves. That makes them feel honored.

Speaker 2 9:59

And so many wedding planners are asking me how do I stand out from everybody else that's in my industry? Well, so many wedding planners are asking me. How do I stand out from everybody else that's in my industry? Well, that's one of them. Stop doing. You want to stand out? Stop doing everything everyone else is doing. Start actually customizing these things. Another bad automation, chrissy, would be those out of office replies that are on every single email. You know how irritated I get when I send out an email and it says this is sorry, this is our busy season, it's going to be a delay in getting back to you and I'm like, wow, so you can't even keep up with your own current business.

Speaker 3 10:32

I was going to say what I think planners don't realize. The mistake they make with that is it's making you look overwhelmed and overworked and if a potential client is reaching out to you, I'm automatically going to think well, they don't have time for me to be their couple. I let me find another planner who maybe is more available. I get it, we are all busy. That is just. This is the industry. We are busy. It may be your busy season. Whether it is or whether it's not your business season, you still need to have a time blocked off where you're checking your emails within 12 to 24 business hours.

Speaker 2 11:08

Correct the end the end. This is not rocket science, right we? Who's running your business? Is the business running you or are you running your business? You have got to get a hold of what your processes are. You have got to be the one in control, and so these were too busy. Even if I was your existing client and I got an email like that, I would think, oh my, they're too.

Speaker 3 11:29

it was. Honestly, it would give me stress and anxiety, thinking, okay, if they're this busy and my wedding is not even in a few more months, are they going to? Are they taking care of my wedding? Is it just? Are they just only working on current clients? It would pause those couples. Stress and anxiety Again. This all goes back to keeping those clients happy and let me tell you that type of automated response they are not happy, they are feeling stress and they are feeling anxiety and they should not be feeling that way about the person they hired to help plan their wedding.

Speaker 2 11:55

That is exactly what's inside of my mind right now, chrissy. That is exactly what's going on. I also know that there's bad automations in, like the onboarding process. You know what I'm seeing, chrissy? They're like getting an automatic, you know, an online inquiry. An automatic reply is getting sent out, and then with links like fill out this questionnaire, fill out this questionnaire, fill out this questionnaire, and I'm like what is happening? Why are you telling someone that they're going to be paying you thousands of dollars but making them do so much work? So it is just not okay. These are the types of automations.

Speaker 2 12:30

Number one a wedding planner should never ask a client or a couple to fill out these long questionnaires. The only questionnaire and online form that my clients should ever have to fill out is the first initial online inquiry reaching out to see if I have their date available. That is the last form these lovelies will to fill out is the first initial online inquiry reaching out to see if I have their data available. That is the last form these lovelies will ever fill out when they become my clients. Right, let's?

Speaker 3 12:51

not make that form into a baby questionnaire. Thank you, all of the questions that you should be asking during that initial consultation. I've seen that a lot too, lori, where your contact us form. I'm having to scroll to answer all the questions in the contact us form. Y'all are losing clients that way, I can guarantee it.

Speaker 2 13:11

Yeah, I don't know you well enough yet to give you all these answers. I just want to know if you have my date available. I want to see how quickly you get back to me. I want to see if you're going to give me like an automated reply or if you're going to respond to me in a customized way. How important am I going to be to you as your client? Then I'm happy to answer any questions you have, but I'm certainly not going to fill out all of these forms and do all this extra work. Questions you have and I'm certainly not going to fill out all of these forms and do all this extra work. We, as wedding planners, have got to stop this nonsense.

Speaker 2 13:41

So Chrissy made a really great point. Your online inquiry form should be pretty short and sweet. What's your name? What's your email address? Give me your phone number. What's your wedding date? Right, like, give it, make it simple, but don't ask what their budget is, how many guests they're expecting, how many people are in their wedding party. Those are all questions you ask at the initial consultation and a lot of people give me pushback on that. Like, wait a second, shouldn't I be asking what their budget is? What if they have a ridiculously low budget. I have had so many amazing experiences with couples who have had a budget that's low. When I first talked to them and then when I let them know and spend a couple of minutes with them at the initial consultation and I give them some education, I go well, you have more, so we'll just put more to it. Do you know how many clients I would have lost out on and missed out on if I just made all my decisions based on an online inquiry form with that question? That's insane.

Speaker 3 14:38

And we know, as wedding planners, we see the misinformation that's out there for couples. So if we see it, they see it. They are not fully educated yet in exactly how much a wedding is going to cost, based on where they live, based on their guest count, based on what their preferences are, what they want this wedding to look like and be like. They don't know, so they're going to these mega websites Googling how much is a wedding cost in Nashville, tennessee, and getting a number that absolutely makes no sense and putting that number into the contact us form because they don't know any better. So, again, like you said, lori, once you educate, then they're like oh, okay, yeah, then we can certainly raise our budget if need be, but if you didn't even take that opportunity to meet with them, you're missing out on potential clients that way 100%.

Speaker 2 15:23

So I guess the moral of the story here is you need to remember that you're getting paid thousands of dollars and you do not want to give the type of service that would only be like if someone paid you 20 bucks. Don't give someone a $20 service, but take them. Take thousands of dollars. You don't want to become an app. Okay, that's not what clients are not going to see any value in you just potting them off on an all-in-one software. You know there's plenty of them out there Like log into this, use this login. Stop it. You're not an app. They're paying you thousands of dollars because they don't just want an app. If they just wanted an app, y'all, they would have just gone directly to the app. There are plenty of apps. So you, you have to understand that there's no value there.

Speaker 2 16:11

You and your services need to be what's called a value add. You need to add value to their planning process. You have to prove to them that you're worth thousands of dollars and you can't do that through all of these terrible automations. You know, think about it as a piece of art. Your clients are paying for a Picasso, but you're giving them a paint by number. That's not okay. They're going to get that paint by number. They're going to be like this isn't what I thought mean.

Speaker 3 16:37

Literally, lori, a paint by number. When we're making them fill out all these questionnaires, we are literally handing them a paint by number 100 100.

Strategic Planning for Client Satisfaction

Speaker 2 16:46

So, chrissy, I think we need to dive into it. Then. How do you keep clients happy during the the planning process? What are your thoughts here?

Speaker 3 16:53

I think the biggest thing is, as a planner, you have have to know what you're doing, and I'm going to speak on this in two different ways, because I'm seeing this a lot in forums and groups where people are saying I'm a new to this industry, I want to. How do I become a wedding planner? Should I get my certification? What should I do? And I'm seeing a lot of responses that say, oh, experience, experience, experience. You're going to get information off experience. And I'm seeing a lot of responses that say, oh, experience, experience, experience. You're going to get information off experience and, trust me, experience. Yes, you are going to learn how to be a wedding planner with experience. However, in that process, you are going to mess up a lot and you're going to mess up on days. That cannot be done again.

Speaker 2 17:31

That's right.

Speaker 3 17:32

You don't know what you're doing, you do not even take on a client. I cannot agree more. You can't rely on someone's wedding day a day that they cannot do over to gain your experience as a wedding planner. To me, that is not fair to a couple, it's just not. Therefore, you need to make sure you know what you're doing. And how do you know what you're doing? You have a foundation of knowledge.

Speaker 3 17:55

For me personally, gaining my certification provides me my foundation of knowledge. I got lucky where I found a certification from the very beginning of my career and it gave me that foundation I needed to become a success and obviously, every single wedding I learned something different. So I gained my experience, but I had the foundation of knowledge I needed to make sure that I had happy couples and that I wasn't screwing up their wedding. That's the biggest thing Know what you're doing. And part of that, knowing what you're doing.

Speaker 3 18:23

Education to me comes first, but then also, once you've got that education, you've got your foundation, figuring out your processes, and one of those processes is, to me, thinking you have to be a multi-step thinker, and I'm not talking about being a multitasker. No, being a multitasker, you are an octopi on roller skates. That is not the foundation for success, but being able to think steps ahead. I'll kind of give you an example here One step thinking in the wedding planning world. Let's say that I have a client who wants to do a ceiling installation with drapes and beautiful chandeliers. A one-step thinker planner would be like okay, got it, reach out to the rental company, booked it, got it. That's, that's a mistake with the wedding planning process.

Speaker 2 19:07

So that's the one-step thinking, that's the one step.

Speaker 3 19:09

That is one step. Thinking my clients want drapes, I booked it for drapes.

Speaker 2 19:15

Boom, boom, Boom and boom. We're done the multi-step thinking. What does that look like?

Speaker 3 19:23

So, for me, if my client says I want a ceiling installation and drapes, I'm going to say okay, I love that idea. My next step is going to be let me look at your contract and make sure that the venue actually even allows us to do drapes. Review the contract? Okay, great, we can do drapes, but I have to get their permission. So let me reach out to your venue manager to see if the style of drapes we want we have permission to do. They gave me permission, great. Before I even meet with the rental company, though, can we come by the venue and I can show you the style of draping and you can let me find the perfect provider to take care of this who has the things that we need. If it's a high ceiling, do they have a lift? Are they available on the day? Do they have all these things to take care of? This draping Got it? Great. Before we even book them.

Speaker 3 20:14

Timing based off of how big the ceiling is. How much time is it going to be required for you to set this up? Are we going to be able to fit that in with the allotted contracted hours? Okay, great. Now what about tearing this down, because everything has to come out at the end of the night. How much time is this going to take you to tear down? Is that going to be allotted in the amount of time that we have? If so great. Is that going to be allotted in the amount of time that we have? If so great. If not, then I go to my client. We may have to add additional hours to your package with your venue. Is that something that we?

Speaker 2 20:43

can afford. That's going to be in your budget. It is a process, so I think that's my point. You've got to make sure that you are thinking about everything, and being a one-step thinker is going to equal failure, as being a wedding planner, it's going to equal unhappy clients because, let's say, I did the one-step thinking Lori, where I just booked it, and then I'm talking to the venue manager and we're working on the timeline.

Speaker 3 21:07

I'm like, oh well, the draping company needs four hours to set this up. Well, you don't have four hours based on their package, so you're going to have to add more hours to your couple's package now. And let's say, we're a week out from the wedding, I'm going to ask them to add thousands of dollars more for something that I should have known, something I should have covered as their planner.

Speaker 2 21:27

And now they can't get refunded from the draping company because it's a week before the wedding and now we can't drop that. So now they're going to be out something out more money for the venue or out more money for the draping and if we had thought these steps through earlier in the process, we would have been able to save them money. If the client then decided, you know what, nevermind on the draping, because you would have given them options at that point. If you wait too long because you're a one-step thinker rather than a multi-step thinker, if you wait too long, you give your clients zero options, you give them zero choice in the matter, and that is going to equal failure. That's also going to equal terrible reviews yes, terrible reviews, not just from the client, but maybe the venue would get on there and go. This is bad. This was not a good experience.

Effective Communication in Wedding Planning

Speaker 3 22:16

Oh it's, it just becomes a domino effect. It really does. But that's knowing what you're doing is key, because, as a wedding planner, you have to know what you're doing and you have to be able to know your workflow and your process what comes next? Because if you don't know, how is the couple who hired you going to know? That's that's why they hired you, because they're clueless about what the next steps are. So you've got to make sure that you have your workflows and your steps in process.

Speaker 3 22:42

Now, lori, that's something that you are extremely passionate about and something you're working really hard on right now on creating this for planners so that way they know how this works, and it's going to be based off your packages, what services you provide. But you have to have systems in place and with those systems in place, that's when you're going to be able to truly explain it to your couples, and you're not, and they're going to feel happy that thank God I have you as my planner, because I wouldn't have known to do any of this stuff in the order that you're doing it. So thank you.

Speaker 2 23:11

Exactly, and a lot of times, I think what happens is wedding planners get overwhelmed by this thought. But if this thought overwhelms you, just think about how your clients must be feeling, because they're going to feel that tenfold. So you have your packages in front of you. You need to create a process for each individual package that you have, so go through it and go OK, so this is what's included in this package and I'm going to be doing this first, this second, this third, this fourth, this fifth. And when you're creating a workflow, you can say, okay, if they choose this, I go in this direction on the workflow. If I choose this, if they say no, I want this, then I'm going to go in this other direction on the workflow. But a workflow is basically a roadmap for the wedding planning journey for that particular package.

Speaker 2 23:59

It's very important that wedding planners create these things because otherwise and you mentioned it earlier you're going to be an octopus on roller skates and we don't want to be that. We want to know where we're going. We need to have focus, we need to have a general direction, because we are the ones guiding this process. If you're not guiding this process, then please tell me who is, because I'm scared. I'm scared, you know. So I really want to make sure that I'm empowering our wedding planners to take a little bit more of a lead, a lead role. That's why you're being hired, is for your expertise and knowing what steps come next, and so be the guide, keep your clients informed throughout the entire planning process.

Speaker 2 24:47

You know, one of the mistakes I'm finding, chrissy, is that the so many wedding planners are just making an assumption that their clients know what the next steps are. Well, they must know, right? No, they know nothing. That's why they hired you. By the way, that's kind of the reason why you have a job is because people don't always know what those next steps are, and I want all of us to put ourselves in a position where, when we hired someone, whether it was a contractor for the house or a wedding planner, to plan our wedding, if we are not being kept in the loop, if you will, if we're in the dark, we don't know what the next steps are.

Speaker 2 25:25

We are going to be feeling very uneasy, we are going to be feeling very unsure, we're going to probably have some fear, some doubts, and I might even start resenting my, my guide, you know, is because my, if my guide forgot the flashlight and we're in a dark tunnel and I hired you to be my guide and you knew we were going through this tunnel, I'm going to be like, why didn't you do this to me? There are snakes on the ground. I am uncomfortable, right. And if they said, well, my flashlight broke, I'd be like and you didn't have a backup flashlight and you didn't think to say, hey, all of my flashlights are broken. I'm going to go get a new flashlight, like I'm going to have to postpone this until I have light. There's just. I'm just saying it's trust.

Speaker 3 26:18

It's trust and communication and trust go hand in hand. So if you're not communicating with your couples, what the next steps are, what you're doing, what they need to be doing hey, I reached out to your forest but I haven't got back to them. I'm sending them a follow-up. When you're not communicating with them and they're in the dark, that sense of ease can eventually turn to a sense of not trusting you. And, as a planner, our clients have to trust what we're doing Because, like Lori said, we are guiding them in the dark and if they don't trust that our flashlight's going to work, they're not going to be happy people.

Speaker 2 26:49

No, especially when there's snakes on the ground and bugs and spiders, and that's kind of how the wedding planning all that stress those are snakes, spiders and bugs and spiders. And that's kind of how the wedding planning all that stress those are snakes, spiders and bats that are giving rabies. Okay, I don't want.

Speaker 3 27:06

I'm going to call the CDC. It's just so much.

Speaker 2 27:09

It's too much, too much happening over here. You want to make sure that you're protecting your clients, right? You want to make sure that you're protecting your clients right. You want to make sure that you're taking care of them every step of the way, and when you do that, you're making them incredibly happy. And again, that's the whole point of this podcast today is how to make our clients happy. Well, we're going to talk about a few more things here, but let's take a quick break from a word from our sponsor.

Speaker 1 27:35

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Speaker 2 28:50

Okay, we are back. So the next thing I know will make a client really happy is having excellent communication skills. There's a lot that goes into this, right, Chrissy. What are your thoughts here?

Speaker 3 28:56

I think one of the first steps of having excellent communication skills actually starts from the very beginning process, from the time that you sit with them at that initial consultation and setting clear expectations of what it is that you do, what it is that you provide, who you are, how you plan and really allowing them to get to know you a bit better. But then also you know, once they're hired as your clients, setting expectations up for them as well, what you need from them to be a phenomenal client, what your office hours are, why you don't respond back to emails at 9 PM at night. You have to let them know this so that way they feel more prepared and having those expectations come with you. Communicating this with them that's really what it ultimately is all about is overly communicating, and I would tell my team that you have to over communicate with your couples. This assumption that they know what's happening, that they wouldn't know what the next steps are, that they even know that you're working on them that's a big thing. So I never I want my couples to know what I'm doing.

Speaker 3 29:58

If I have on my calendar that I'm going to be reaching out to the florist room this week, I'm going to actually let my couples know and say hey, I just wanted to check in, I'm going to let you know I'm reaching out to your florist this week. As soon as I hear back from, I will let you know. That took me a good five seconds to direct that email, but it reassures my clients. It sets that expectation. It's overly communication, communicating with them and again, it's not leaving them in the dark. Yes, I think I think that's where a lot of planners make the mistake is just not communicating with their clients what they're doing, when they're doing it, while they're doing it, or even you know what they're expecting out of them as a client. It's too much assumption going on in the wedding planning process.

Effective Wedding Planner Communication Skills

Speaker 2 30:37

I completely agree with you and I think letting your clients know, maybe at the beginning of every month if you don't want to let them know each and every week, I understand, especially because sometimes schedules can can change things up. But how about every month? You say, I just want to let you know. These are the list of the things that I'm going to be working on in regards to your wedding this month. So just keep people in the know, because here's the thing like, even when I hire someone to work and do some work here at the house, if they're not telling me that they're doing something, I and I'm just going to assume that they're not. If I hire, like an attorney, to do something and I don't hear back from them, I'm not assuming that they're working on my stuff, I'm assuming that they're not working on my stuff. And so how do you want your clients to think? How do you want to give them the warm fuzzy of man? My wedding planner works hard. Every month I'm getting a list of all the things that they're working on and on my behalf, and you know what that sends them? It sends them a message that says I've got your back, I'm working so that you don't have to. I'm doing all the hard ugly parts of the planning so that you can enjoy the pretty, fluffy, pretty parts. You know all the nice parts of planning a wedding.

Speaker 2 31:50

It's just important to have those communication skills and you know what you've got to start it from pretty early on. From that an online inquiry, when you're not sending out the automated email uh you're sending out a customized email curated specifically for them. That's when you start the communication. Then you're at your initial consultation. I even tell people what to expect. You mentioned, Chris, you need to set clear expectations At the initial consultation. Before we even get started. I set up what the expectations are during that initial consultation. Then, at the end of that consultation, I set clear expectations and be very over communicative about what the next steps are going to be, so that they can know how to hire me and what that's going to look like. Then, once they hire me, we schedule an onboarding meeting and welcome them into my family. And boy, do we cover a lot of meat and potatoes during that meeting. And that's setting my entire planning process up for success, because I'm getting out all the expectations. We're having clear communication.

Speaker 2 32:55

I'm asking them a ton of questions. I'm not sending them forms or questionnaires to fill out. I'm asking, sending them forms or questionnaires to fill out. I'm asking all of the questions and, by the way, when you, as the planner, are the one asking the questions, you're getting answers in real time. That means you have the ability and the opportunity to ask follow-up questions and dive a little bit deeper that's a blessing. You can't do that from a questionnaire. Dive a little bit deeper that's a blessing. You can't do that from a questionnaire. So I would rather bond with my clients by me asking them all of these questions in a either virtual or in-person meeting. So make sure that you're curating these experiences for your clients and have great communication skills throughout the entire planning process, because I don't know one couple that would complain and not be happy because the wedding planner was too communicative. I don't. They just explained too much and too well and I was really furious with it, Like that's never happened, by the way.

Speaker 3 33:54

And I love to worry that. You mentioned that. It gives you the ability to bond with your couples when you're actually the one asking them these questions. This is a relationship. It's like we mentioned earlier. This is a business relationship. It's still a relationship If you are lucky enough to where these relationships can turn into friendships after the wedding.

Speaker 3 34:12

Those are my favorite when you have strong communication skills and you set these expectations and they are happy with your services. Guess what they're going to do at that point? They're going to shout at the rooftops. They're going to tell all their friends who get recently engaged that, oh, you have to hire this person as your planner.

Speaker 3 34:32

I specifically remember one inquiry that came in and said such and such mentioned I had to.

Speaker 3 34:35

I had to have you as my planner because she enjoyed the wedding planning journey with you and I love that she used that word, because I feel like that's such an insider word. But the fact that the bride who recommended me said this was a journey and I was glad that Chrissy was on the journey with me, I love that. That's how she looked at it and because of that journey, because it was a positive experience for her, she was able to recommend me to her friends, that to me that is worth its weight in gold right there. That's bigger than any tip I could possibly get from financial tip from at the end of the wedding is when they love the experience with me so much that they're telling their all of their friends because I, because of it, and that experience comes from my communication, knowing my processes, not automating the living day outside of every single thing. That's part of my business. That is what that experience, that journey that she mentioned, that is how it's made.

Speaker 2 35:23

Yes, and that goes to the core of when wedding planners say how do I stand out? That's the core. That's how you stand out is you don't blend in with apps and all-in-one software. Those are not going to help you stand out. You and your actions, the way, the intentionality that you have, the effort and love and care that you put into every single one of your clients, that, my friends, is going to be what helps you stand out from the crowd. So develop meaningful relationships with both your clients as well as your wedding professionals. And the key word here was meaningful. Surface sad little relationships, but the meaningful relationships. Develop these relationships with everyone involved and nothing but greatness is going to come back at you.

Speaker 2 36:15

But you can be nice, though, all day long, but if you don't know your processes, you don't know what you're doing. You're an octopus on roller skates. You're automating everything. You're going to have a ton of unhappy clients. You're going to have a ton of unhappy wedding pros. You yourself will be very unhappy. After all, of those people are unhappy. So you want to be happy, you want your clients happy. You want all of your wedding pros happy.

Speaker 2 36:41

Follow these steps that Chrissy and I talked about today and you are going to have an excellent, beautiful, amazing career. And if you're not certified, get your certification, because we talk about these types of things in depth. I mean, we go into detail with all these things, even down to the best way to price yourself and how to sell your packages and how to conduct initial consultations. We go into this in some deep, deep ways and then we give you free continuing education every single week, live, where you can actually ask questions, live.

Speaker 2 37:22

It's insane what we offer here at the CWP Society. So we just want to thank you for listening to the Wedding Planner Profiles podcast and if you're not yet a member of the CWP Society, you're not yet certified, or you just want to be a member. We have different levels of membership. We have the free pro membership, we have the premium membership and then we have the big kahuna, which is the certified membership, and then we would love to just welcome you into our amazing and loving family. Go to our website, cwpsocietycom, and you can learn how you can join today. Have a great day everybody.