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Have a great weekend!
Aspire to Plan!!

If you receive an email from a bride looking for packages and pricing information, how will you respond? Remember, this is part of the initial sales process so be intentional with how you respond.

The photo below illustrates the beginning of a flowchart for a client inquiry process. I use post it notes to create the boxes of the flowchart. Squares represent an occurrence of something or an action step that needs to be taken. Diamonds represent a decision that has to be made.

Here, I put them on the wall in my office. Sometimes I’ve had to move them to a big wall because there are so many steps. Using different color notes makes it fun too. Creating one similar to this for all your processes helps to operate your business in a consistent manner.

In any process you need to know three things:

1. What are you doing? (Taking a client inquiry with the intention of booking them as a client)
2. What are you trying to accomplish? Where are you going? (Schedule a get acquainted meeting)
3. How are you going to get it done? (Describe each step of the process in detail)

Each rectangle in the flowchart represents an area to create a standard response. By standard I mean one that is consistent with your brand and what you are trying to accomplish as part of your sale process. (More on the sales process in a future post.) Documenting your standard responses also allows you to create a process manual so that you can automate your systems for others in your company…like interns and assistants.

One of the processes I encourage all new planners to create right away is one for all new brides that book your services. This is MAJOR! Think of all the steps you will take them through during each of the planning phases, all the way through to the wedding day and after. Don’t be ad hoc about it…you’ll become known for how you do things in your business so make sure you have a solid process in place.

Begin with how you would want to be treated as a customer. Then look back at the last two or three customer service experiences you’ve had. What worked and what didn’t?

Creating processes and documenting them is one area that I go into “really” deep with my private coaching clients. I was used to creating systems and processes while in my corporate jobs over the years so I naturally prepared these when I was building my planning business. It’s one of the reasons I was so successful in the beginning, when it came to booking brides. Many of them told me that they felt at ease because my preparedness assured them they were working with a professional. First impressions are VERY important…what you do here can make or break you.

Do this exercise with every process in your business. Write it down and add it to your procedures manual. And when something doesn’t work, be sure to make adjustments and update your process accordingly.

These exercises and more are in my new report “Seven Critical Mistakes Aspiring Planners Make BEFORE They Book Their First Bride.” Get it by visiting the sidebar on my website today!

Until next time…

Aspire to Plan!!

I wasn’t a fan of “lists” for organizing and getting things done in my personal life…I did it all day for my clients.  I didn’t want to see another list when I got home.  Now?  I swear by them!  I even schedule time in my day to create them.  Making these lists is just one way I’ve been about to “curb” (not yet “cure”) my procrastination habit.

But what’s been most successful for me is that I just made up my mind that I needed to stop the madness and start to get things done…no more excuses.  Easier said than done, right?  Here’s how I tricked myself…

I typed up these words; printed them onto cardstock and they are now on the walls of my office:

-Vacation?  Shopping?  Naps in the hammock?  Tackle the to-do list to make more time for what you WANT to do!

-Stop keeping all your awesomeness to yourself!  Get things done so you can share your gifts!

-Want more raving fan testimonials?  Then, GET MOVING and GET THEIR WORK DONE! 

Try it!  And let me know if it works!

Until next time…

Aspire to Plan!!

Sit down and take a complete inventory of the talents you already bring to the table.  Be a VERY hard grader.  Why?  You need to know what situations you can handle and what you can’t.

Weddings are emotionally charged events.  Some say planners should also have some training in psychology and sociology.  Having exposure and being familiar with the human psyche is a plus in any career; having it when you’re a wedding planner is gravy! 

Another reason to be aware of your talents is because finding solutions to last minute problems is easier when you have a sense of your capabilities versus ones you don’t.  Know your limitations so that you can be prepared for any kind of situation.  Even if that means calling on someone else to help.

Think about the personality, inherent talent and skills of a planner that YOU would hire and work with.  What questions would you ask of her or him?  And finally, what would they have to be passionate about to win your business? 

An ideal list of talents might look like this: 

• Works well with a team
• Great at time management
• An artistic eye
• Calm and cool under pressure; compassionate
• Able to think and make decisions quickly
• Being a “forward” thinker; being able to see the big picture
• Have a knack for details AND…
• Knowing when getting caught up in the details, ruins the big picture
• Being organized
• Learning how to work well with others…clients, their families and vendors 

If you’re honest, you’ll agree that you either have these talents or you don’t.  Some of these things can be taught but most of them are traits people are born with. 

How do you measure up?

Aspire to Plan!!

Have a great week and…

Aspire to Plan!!

After writing down my initial thoughts on paper…some cupcakes, a few ballons and a few small gifts, I couldn’t help but take it up a notch or two.  Before long, my notes had a few blush pink draped tents, a cake that looked like a castle, maybe a a lady dressed up like a fairy princess to hand out prizes…suddenly it turned into what looks like a HUGE production.   

But then I realized that my precious little one would probably not even notice.  The cupcakes and ballons alone would knock her socks off.  Because to her, it really is a big deal…fairy princesses are important people too, ya know! 

“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”
-Helen Keller

Have a wonderful weekend and go accomplish something great and noble!

Here’s what I’ve come up with:

1. Aspiring planners don’t really take the time to find out if wedding planning is really something they’re cut out for.
2. They don’t take the time to learn the proper way to structure their business in a legal sense.
3. They don’t create a marketable and compelling brand or identity for their business…nor do they identify who their ideal client is.
4. They don’t spend enough time on the organizational and operational aspects of their business.
5. They don’t take the time to decide what services they will provide…design, consulting, planning and or coordination; how those services will be priced and packaged (hate that word!); and finally whether those services will be profitable based on those prices.
6. They don’t learn the importance of consistent marketing or the “art of the sale”.
7. Finally, but certainly one of the most critical mistakes they make; they don’t set up a system to record and monitor the financial transactions in their business.

Many times, these elements are created on the fly…AFTER they’ve chosen a pretty logo, published a nice website, printed business cards and placed an ad in a wedding magazine.  They do all this and wonder why they aren’t getting the phone calls from all the brides that “need” their services.

Now…I didn’t come up with these to throw stones…I made some of these same mistakes.  I merely wanted to share with you what I’ve seen in the 12 months since I’ve started mentoring aspiring planners.  Maybe this is one of the reasons so many planning businesses start and fail.  I’ve personally seen many of them come and go.

And it’s not for lack of trying.  Not at all.  Many planners I’ve talked to are passionate and eager to make their businesses successful.  Truthfully?  The “bright, shiny objects”…the diamonds, pretty linens and gorgeous flowers blinded them.  They didn’t take the time to look at the hard stuff and learn what they needed to learn in order to be successful.

Or maybe they found out that they just weren’t cut out for wedding planning.  Too bad they invested so much money to find that out…when they could have just done the necessary work BEFORE the brides booked their services.

What do you think?  I’d really like your feedback on this.  Thanks.

Until next time…

Aspire to Plan!

They say in kindergarten, you learn everything you need to know in life.  I don’t remember learning much in my half day class except how to paint big, red hearts during painting time.  As a matter of fact, I used to draw them with crayons too.  They were my object of choice!  Guess that’s why I love so deeply!

Have a great day, everyone!

(The real story?  I’m working on something BIG for Aspire to Plan and haven’t written any new posts this week…yet.  Forgive me! )

Enjoy!

There’s That Word Again…Niche!

Finding Your Niche, Part Two

What Is a Wedding Planner, Really?

What Goes Into a Marketing Plan?

The Phone Consult