All in Wedding Industry
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.
The wedding industry is an interesting one in that many business owners came from vastly different fields. I personally know many wedding vendors who previously worked in law, finance, real estate, education, and more. That career diversity, combined with the fact that there aren't a ton of business-focused resources specifically created for the wedding industry (hence my starting WeddingIQ), means that many wedding pros rely on more general business advice - advice which may not be particularly applicable to what we do.
One of the biggest differences between wedding services/products and the services/products in other industries is how we go about effectively selling them. By nature, everything wedding-related is a luxury expense (some more so than others), and the event that's being celebrated is uniquely emotional and incredibly important to our clients, their families and their friends. As such, a lot of traditional "sales" advice just doesn't work.
WeddingIQ's month-long marketing focus is about to end, and next week brings a transition to a new content theme. Before we wrap up Marketing Month, however, we thought we'd share a few last little things to check before you shift your attention to another area of your business.
Obviously, your marketing strategies are something that are constantly evolving - staying stuck in a campaign that's underperforming is pointless - but we can't be in "marketing mode" every moment. So, here are five things to double-check (and tweak, if necessary) before January ends.
Here at WeddingIQ we've talked at length about determining which wedding shows to attend, weighing the options when it comes to advertising, and building your brand. We’ve also stressed the importance of high quality collaterals and hiring creatives and coaches for support, as well as joining professional groups within your industry. All these suggestions require an investment of not only your time but also a decent percentage of your business income. Purchasing expensive letterpress business cards or joining exclusive (and pricey) networking groups may help establish your brand, but don’t ignore all the free ways you can market yourself and your business. You can implement the items on this list today with nothing more than a little time and effort.
As wedding business owners, most of us don't (yet) have the luxury of outsourcing all our marketing to a pro, or retaining a marketing person on our team. We have to keep up with the seemingly endless task of marketing our services ourselves, and it can quickly become overwhelming. (Funny how good marketing can bring in more clients, and then serving those clients leaves you so little time for more good marketing!)
Fortunately, there are some tips and hacks you can use to make the job of marketing your wedding business easier. Most of them involve keeping yourself organized (in terms of time and materials) and ensuring your marketing efforts are tailored toward your specific clientele and your business goals.
