Blurred Lines

Blurred lines means that boundaries are not clearly defined or understood.  We are not completely sure of what is expected, therefore leaving room for interpretation.  Since we all interpret things differently, therein lies the problem…

Doing business with integrity matters.   Lines become blurred when we forget the real objective and focus on money.  Money should not be the main objective in our wedding planning business.  It should be to provide our best services.

For example… taking a wedding you don’t want because you need or want the money.  What ends up happening?  I think we all know the answer.  It’s like Dave Ramsey once said: “Don’t let crazy in the building.”  Crazy at a consultation + stress = crazier at the wedding.

When we’re faced with situations like this, we need to trust our intuition, that little voice in our head saying: “This may not be a good fit”.  Nine times out of ten we’re right.  We won’t enjoy the situation and neither will she.  When we learn to trust our intuition, we will improve job satisfaction and increase revenue.

What can help us to set clear boundaries in our business?  Professional training and continued education.  Even McDonalds trains their people, setting clear instruction as to employee job duties.  Employees know what is expected, Customers know what to expect.  Training + meeting expectations =customer satisfaction (no blurred lines).

We need industry education.  This is particularly important because it is no longer enough to have just a “satisfied customer”.  We need to create “raving fans”.

Doing Business With Integrity – When Money is not the only objective

In our next four articles we will cover:

• Why some brides should be denied.  Every bride is not your client.
•  Giving credit and honoring agreements
•  Perception is not always reality.
• Managing Expectations  –  Set guidelines early and make them clear

Why some brides (clients) should be denied

Every bride is not your bride. It is ok to just say, No!

Is it worth taking every bride to go through a long, unhappy planning process?  Remember there are onlookers.  When battling with a bridezilla, guests will be watching.  There exists the potential to lose weddings.

Solution:  Define your niche, market to it and work in it.  If you are not working the market you want, then change it.  Note:  Once you start in a market it may be hard to change.  Referrals from the bride will most likely be at her same level.

Things to think about:

• You probably thought ‘I am not getting business because my prices are too high’.

Consider – Are you losing business because your prices are too low?  You may need to increase your prices to hit your target market.

• Every vendor is not your vendor.   Select a team that best fits the specific wedding.  Your standard team may not always work.

• Be confident.  No one knows your business better than you.  Brides are reassured when they feel secure in knowing they have made the best choice.

Next week we will discuss “Giving credit and honoring agreement – The power in ‘Pinning’ and what it means once the contract is signed.