TT: According to Seth – It’s Broken

If you haven’t yet read a business book by Seth Godin – you are definitely missing out. Seth is the author of Dip, Tribes, Purple Cow, Big Moo and many others.

Today in his blog – he reposted a video of one of his previous presentations – I loved it – totally loved it! You can watch the presentation below:

What I really loved about it, was that the pointed out there are lots of things out there that are broken for various reasons – so why doesn’t someone fix them??

Then I got thinking about the wedding industry – and thinking about what may be broken, and how I can go about fixing it.

One thing I know is broken and fits in Seth’s ‘Not my job’ category – is wedding dress bustles – every 2nd wedding at least the bustle breaks. The seamstresses seem to forget or not care, that brides are bouncing, dancing hard, spinning around the dancefloor on the arms of their family and friends. Bustles should be made of titanium – don’t you agree? There has to be a better way to make a bustle that won’t break on a bride!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on Seth’s video, and what else you may think is broken in the wedding industry…really think…I know, this video has caused me to take a serious look at what I do in my business and if it really works or is it some kind of broken?

What do you think is broken in the wedding industry…I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Jolyn | Wedding Business Mentor
Secrets of a Wedding Planner

Boundaries :: With Client Communication

Wedding planners, new and experienced, have to frequently evaluate how we set boundaries with our clients.

It’s something I’ve recently had to reconsider – and I know many other planners experiencing the same issues.

If you have to return an item to a retail store – you come to grips that they are closed at 9pm, and if you show up at their door at 10pm, you aren’t surprised that no one is there to assist you – so you simply wait until the next day, and go when the store reopens.

But drawing lines with our clients, for some reason, doesn’t seem as clear cut. But the truth is, if you set clear expectations, your clients will just come to a state of knowing…of knowing they can send an email late at night, but that you will not reply until the next day. They’ll know that you won’t accept appointments on Sundays…and you know what…they’ll survive! But sometimes it feels like we are limiting their world.

So where do you draw the line?

The truth with weddings, is that the only true emergencies, happen in the hours of the wedding day and couple days before. During the planning stage, if the dress doesn’t fit, you can definitely wait until tomorrow to contact another seamstress. If the photographer backs out of the contract, tomorrow you can begin calling other photographers…see, there is only so much you can do within business hours, and your clients should expect the same of you.

So let’s start with the following plan of action:
1. Set office hours – times that you’ll answer your phone, hold meetings and return email.
2. Post those hours on your website or in your client area of your website
3. With each new client, review your hours and encourage them to send emails if they have a concern outside of office hours, that you’ll promptly deal with the next day.

If you set boundaries with your clients – YOU WILL BE A BETTER WEDDING PLANNER – you’ll have time for family committments or time to catch up on paperwork without constant ‘you got mail’ interruptions. Don’t feel guilty for taking some personal time – afterall, the rest of the corporate world does…you deserve too as well.

It may seem like a daunting task – but I promise you that it is easier than you think. So just do it….of course, if the situation warrants it, you can make occasional consessions for your clients, but try to adhere to your hours exept for one time a month…it will get easier with time.

So whose up for a challenge – post your willingness to try setting hours for a month and stick to them, and feel free to post comments if you’d like to work on this challenge, and any triumphs or challenges you faced…

Jolyn | Wedding Planner Mentor
Secrets of a Wedding Planner

TT: Calendars on websites?

I know a lot of wedding planners are using the Blu Domains for their website templates. And with that, I see a lot are activating the calendar feature…this has always been a curiosity of mine.

What benefit do you have, for having a calendar on your website?? I’d love to hear why you have a calendar or why you chose not to have a calendar on your website.

I don’t have a calendar – for a couple reasons.

• I want clients to call, even if I’m already booked – I want to sell them into a different package or service. If I’m not available for full planning, then I’ll sell them into one of my staff for month of coordination. If we don’t have anyone available for month of coordination, then we’ll sell them into monthly coaching calls and so on….if they think I”m booked, they won’t bother calling.
• I only work on 2 weddings a month for planning – it’s how I can ensure I deliver the high quality I do to my couples (and preserve some of my sanity)…so I think I’d look less busy than other wedding planners, simply because I don’t pump out the quantity.
• And yet, on that same note, if I post all my staff bookings too, then we look like a really large firm where our wedding clients are just a number, and that’s definitely not the case.

I’d love to hear why you’ve choosen to have a calendar on your website or not??

Jolyn | Wedding Planner Coach
Secrets of a Wedding Planner