Friday Five: 5 Things to Know Before You Meet With a Client
As wedding professionals, haven't we all been burned by wasting time on meeting the wrong clients? Perhaps they weren't serious about potentially buying from us, or they were woefully unprepared, or we weren't going to be able to serve their needs regardless of how well we did in the meeting. Whatever the reason, none of us has time to spare on client meetings that aren't going anywhere.
So, in today's fun Friday Five post, here are 5 things to know prior to agreeing to meet with a client:
1. Are you available for their wedding? This seems like a no-brainer, but after almost 19 years in this industry, I can tell you: engaged couples get their own wedding date wrong all the time. Double-checking their day/date can mean the difference between sitting through an entire sales consultation with a client you can't help, or closing the sale then and there.
2. Can the client afford you? I touched on this in my post earlier this week, but there is no good reason to waste time trying to convince a client to buy from you when it's literally impossible. In some cases, a couple's budget has some wiggle room - but when they absolutely don't have the money to spend, or they value your service category so little that they'll never part with the amount you charge, there's no reason to invest your valuable time in a meeting. (You'd think clients would also want to avoid wasting their own time; however, experience has shown me that some couples like to 'test drive" expensive vendors just for the fun of it. Curiosity, I guess. But you don't need to indulge it.)
3. Is the wedding one that you actually want to work? Now, this may not be something you can determine prior to meeting in person with the couple, but at the very least you should have a basic idea of whether the client's event fits with your brand and whether the venue is one where you enjoy working. We all get to pick and choose the weddings we want to do - this is one of the perks of being a business owner - and there's no sense in spending time trying to close a sale that doesn't actually appeal to you.
4. Do you have the basic information you need to conduct the smoothest meeting possible? Helpful hint: if you don't know how to pronounce a client's name, consider asking them via email before the meeting actually takes place - you can even make a lighthearted joke about it to break the ice, if you want. Being able to greet them properly by name eliminates the potential awkwardness of realizing far down the road that you don't even know how to say it. Also, it's great to know how many people will be attending your meeting (so that you don't, for example, grab a table for two at Starbucks only to have six people show up). Finally, make sure you're familiar with their venue, even if you need to look it up online prior to the meeting, and make a note of who referred the couple to you. This is all handy information to have when you're trying to make a great impression.
5. Is the meeting confirmed? Nothing can completely prevent no-shows; however, taking a moment the day before to confirm your meeting - with the specific time and the location with address (again, if you're someone who conducts meetings in a Starbucks, some shopping centers will have more than one!) - will significantly reduce the chances of being stood up.
We hope all our readers have a great weekend - we'll be back Monday with more fresh content on the topic of wedding sales!
