Video Calls with your clients

With out of town couples, now you can speak and plan their wedding with the use of a video call, using a service such as Skype. Be able to speak face to face, share laughter, they can show you their diy projects and you can read their body language to better perceive their thoughts into figuring out their wedding plans.

If you haven’t checked out skype before, visit their website here:
Get Skype for your Business – free conference calls and video calling.

Clients will love this new convenience and not be as stressed that they are unable to make it into town for the lastest discussion about their wedding!

Are you using Skype? Have you used it for the first time? Share your experience in the comments section on how you use this service in coordination with your wedding planning business!

Jolyn | Wedding Planner Coach
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

Wedding Day Wake Up Call

Well, not quite.

On every wedding day, I take a few moments in the morning – before I leave to go to my wedding, to make a call to where the bride is getting ready and another call to where the groom is getting ready.

I take a few minutes, to connect with my couples, see how their night was (did they get any sleep?), see how their morning was (did they manage to eat something and drink some water?) and reassure them that everything is set for a fantastic day!

It’s a great opportunity to connect – to reassure them you are there and reachable by phone before you get to the wedding – and to put them at ease.

So many wedding days, I find them telling me on the phone about their butterflies in their stomach – but by the time I’m on site, they’ve miraculously disappeared…you are their source of comfort and reassurance. The two calls of less than 5 mintues each – help to solidify your role and your bond with your couple for that day.

If you haven’t been doing a wedding morning call to your couples, your next wedding is a good time to start! If you are making morning calls, what is your call routine? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below…I’d love to hear if you do this too…

Jolyn | Wedding Coach

A Simple Thanks

I try really hard to send a thank you card to all my vendors after a wedding…why…because we all like to feel appreciated. I love getting thank you cards from my clients and my vendors and I know they feel the same!

I often will try to get some of my pictures developed and include those with the card – as couples don’t always send photos to the florist, cake designer, decor company, stationery designers and such. I especially love sending photos if I’ve caught the vendors in the act of doing their job – they love receiving those photos!

Thank you cards are helpful for all vendors to further develop their portfolio. And if my vendors know I appreciate the job they’ve done, I’d hope they’d be willing and eager to work with my couples when I call upon them next.

Jolyn | Wedding Planner Coach

Long Distance Phone Matters

When couples are searching for the perfect wedding planner to assist them with a destination wedding (a wedding in a different city than they live), they’ll look for a wedding planner who can make it easy for them.

One of the simplist steps you can take, to ensure your company is attractive to new out-of-town prospects, is to make use of a toll-free numbers. Toll-free numbers are free to set, and can be forwarded to your business phone line or cell phone number. By making use of a toll-free number, you know your couples aren’t watching the clock on their long distance calls, and when counting their dollars and cents for their wedding – will see the value in using your company.

If you have a lot of out-of-town couples – you may want to look into internet phone services, that are free for use within different regions – so that you can bypass long distance charges altogether for the regions you speak to the most. A popular internet phone service is Vonage.

Jolyn | Wedding Planner Coach

Coffee Shop Comfort

Although I love working from a home office…as a wedding planner, many of my early days client meetings were held in coffee shops. But how you can make the most of your coffee shop meeting and make sure you close your sale?

Clients dislike uncertainty – so be thorough when setting up your meeting. Ensure you give a client an exact address, not just ‘the coffee shop next to Safeway’. If you can, let them know what you are wearing, or what you’ll be carrying (maybe a brown portofolio book?) or better yet, email them a professional headshot photo. A client’s biggest worry is to show up at the wrong coffee shop and not be able to find who they are meeting with.

And scope out your coffee shops – don’t just pick from a listing. Some coffee shops host live music, so know when and where that happens so you can avoid setting meetings for then. Look for coffee shops that may have soft seating, or some larger tables in case you have to meet with a bride and her family! Look for coffee shops that have lots of free parking and close to main routes. And if you can, figure out what times of the evening they are quiet, and schedule your meetings for those times.

Get to the coffee shop early, and ensure you can grab a spot where you can see the door. You can usually spot your clients easily, even if you’ve never met, as they are usually walking in and scanning the room to figure out who they may be looking for. Stand up, take the initiative to verify their names, and introduce yourself. Offer to buy them a coffee, tea or other beverage…and sit down and begin learning about their wedding vision and how your services could benefit them!

Jolyn | Wedding Planner & Coach