Sales Mistakes Wedding Pros Are Making… and How to Avoid Them!
A couple of weeks ago on the podcast, I talked to my friend and sales expert Sam Jacobson from Ideaction Consulting about sales mistakes to avoid as a wedding pro, and I’m excited to share them.
Learning about these mistakes and how to avoid them will ensure you stand out from the sea of sameness and book more ideal couples.
Mistake #1: Presenting too much info, especially pricing, too early in the sales process
The typical response wedding pros send to new inquiries includes a big templated document with lots of words and a link to a 16-page pricing guide with a bio, core belief statements, package information, a la carte add ons, and more. This is what Sam calls the “PDF and pray” approach… and it’s not the best way to go about it.
Couples reach out to a planner because they’re overwhelmed, and getting a document like this in itself is overwhelming! They don’t know what they need, so seeing it all like that is an avalanche of information. Instead, focus on easy-to-digest information and getting them the right info at the right time.
Mistake #2: Not doing enough discovery before offering solutions to problems
It’s important to get the couple on a Zoom meeting or phone call to qualify them. By qualifying, we mean in terms of price, personality, and portfolio. You want to be sure it’s a good fit for the both of you!
Plus, on the discovery call, you be able to learn what they want and need in order to tailor your services to them. You aren’t able to present solutions to problems if you aren’t aware of them, after all!
Just a note: If you find that you’re getting a lot of unqualified leads (in any of the 3 P’s categories above), just know that pre-qualifying is a good idea too! You can pre-qualify leads by making sure you have pertinent information on your website. And, you can add a starting price or typical budget range to your contact page to weed through some of the inquiries so you aren’t spending time on non-ideal clients.
Mistake #3: Focusing on features rather than benefits
Features are things you do for the couples and benefits are things they receive from you. It’s common for vendors (especially us planners!) to list out the bullet points of everything you’ll do. But, in reality, the couple is hiring you to handle the process, not to get stressed thinking about it themselves. So, be sure to focus on the benefits - why the things that you do matter and how it helps your clients.
Pro tip: Buyers want to hear benefits early in the process because that’s what hooks them. Later in the process, you need to list out your package features so they can see the granular services since they are comparing when it gets to that phase in the sales process.
Mistake #4: Be good at separating yourself from the competition
At the very end of the sales process, the couple starts comparing apples to apples. If you don’t do a good job of distinguishing what you do, the couple will find the one thing that is different between you and your competition. If all of your bullet points look the same as everyone else’s, the one thing that sticks out is… pricing.
So how do you avoid getting compared with like that? Set yourself apart very clearly in your proposal and in your communication with the couple. Tailor your proposals to each unique couple that you get to know.
Pro tip: Winning proposals lay out 4-6 items that are competitive advantages of your services over someone elses. It’s crucial for showing how you are different and better than the competitive set.
So there you have it, four sales mistakes you might be making and how to make some changes to avoid them again in the future. If you’re not booking as many clients as you’d like or you aren’t booking the right clients at the right price point, I really encourage you to take a look at your sales process.
Don’t forget to tune in to Weddings For Real episode 212 to hear more on these mistakes and how to avoid them!
