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Some Companies Get It, Some Don’t.

September 1, 2011 By 2 Comments

One of the keys to continuing to be successful in business through the ups and downs of culture changes and economic upheaval is to stay focused on what your customer wants. Customers evolve with time, businesses have to as well.

Two very different articles crossed my path this morning and they highlight this better than anything I could do or say to convince you.

(Essdras M Suarez/Globe Staff)

 

First was an article in the Boston Globe talking about David’s Bridal’s decision to close their Priscilla’s of Boston division. Started in 1945, Priscilla’s was the epitome of high end gowns for many, many years. It salons were upscale, gorgeous and exclusive. The purchase of Priscilla’s by David’s in 2007 was their attempt to tap that market at the height of the wedding bubble. Unfortunately, the bubble burst, the economy tanked and the culture changed but the business model didn’t. The market for high end gowns sold in a slow paced pampering environment all but dried up.

This quote in the article from Yolanda Cellucci, once the reigning queen of the high end bridal salon says it all

“I used to carry Bob Mackie wedding dresses that cost up to $25,000,’’ Cellucci said. “We had a baby grand piano in the foyer with a pianist. There were models, and we served champagne. People don’t have time for that anymore. Everyone is rushing.’’

Cellucci saw the writing on the wall and closed her famous Boston salon 2 years ago. This was a woman that was smart enough to have an ATM installed in her parking lot. She never missed a trick.

David’s, also a very savvy player, hooked up with Vera Wang to go the other direction. Wang’s moderately priced line for David’s, White has reportedly been a tremendous hit. Know thy customer!

On the other end of the spectrum is Chicago’s House of Brides. I have listened for years to bridal salon owners call HoB every nasty name in the book because they saw the writing on the wall and opened an online store in addition to their brick and mortar operation. Originally opened in 1929, HoB could have continued to plug along with one little store but they jumped online and stayed ahead of the curve.

Today’s press release announced the opening of their 10th store, The Quinceanera Boutique . Something else that the article highlighted was it’s Diva Bridal Boutique, a shop exclusively for Plus size brides.

The Diva Bridal Boutique is the first salon in the nation dedicated to plus size brides. The Diva Bridal Boutique showcases fashion-forward designer wedding dresses exclusively in sizes 18 – 40. All wedding dresses are available in Women’s sizes only including the samples. Plus size brides can try-on dresses in Women’s sizes instead of the industry’s standard sample sizes of 10s and 12s. Diva Bridal Boutique features dresses available for immediate purchase or special order.

Talk about listening to your customer and giving them what they want.

Now you tell me, is it better to continue to do what has worked in the past or to continue to evolve as your customers do?

Filed Under: Back to Basics, Blog, Building Your Business, Trends Tagged With: , ,

Bride Overwhelmed! Throw her a Rope.

August 8, 2011 By 1 Comment

I was working on refining  next weeks presentation for The Professional Wedding Guild of Minnesota when I ran across this article from the archives of Think. With Bridal Show season upon us, I think it is a great time to republish.

Bride Overwhelmed! Throw Her A Rope.

I have yet to do a survey that didn’t have a high percentage of brides that checked ‘overwhelmed’ when asked their opinion of a bridal show. Try for a minute to see the show thru their eyes. The newly engaged are thinking only of the wonderful personal wedding that they have either dreamed of since childhood or have seen plastered in every magazine and all over TV. They are under the illusion that beautiful weddings just fall magically into place, make a few choices, hit the web and make a phone call or two and its done. Then they go to their first bridal show.

If you have ever worked one of the major wedding shows you have seen the look: that deer in the headlights look on the brides face. You just know that the one thing running thru her head is “ELOPE NOW”. They come to the show full of hope and excitement and by the time they are half way through they are overwhelmed by the task they have in front of them. The options at their feet boggle the mind. “Do I really have to have a custom aisle runner for my wedding to be complete?”  If you think about it that is the kind of message a lot of wedding vendors send. That is the old way of marketing for weddings.

Today’s bride is very savvy to the hard sell. They are at the show to gather information not have it crammed down their throats. Today’s bride is more thoughtful and less emotion driven in her wedding purchases. You will not get her by trying to convince her that today is the last chance she will have to order the only tulle draped crystal encrusted golden scepter guaranteed to make her wedding the envy of all her friends. They just aren’t buying that anymore. They are planning and choosing in a manner that pleases their dreams, not what the magazines or you tell them they must have.

How can you reach them? With patience and calm gentle help. I know that as a general rule I tell you to be up and excited when you work a show and I still stand behind that. This is another opportunity. When you encounter one of these dazed zombies take them under your wing, be their guide so to speak. Take a “Now honey, it’s not as bad as you think; with a little help it can all be accomplished easily” attitude. Be the expert that will thoughtfully listen to their wants and concerns and find them helpful, personal solutions. Offer to set up an appointment to talk with them in more detail as they move forward in the process, personally write your email address on your card with a “You can reach me here anytime.” Let them know that you can see just how overwhelming the show is for them and you will be available for them when they need you. Empathize with their current state.

It goes back to the hospitality theme, turn off the hard sell and turn on the caring and compassion. They will love you. What’s more they will tell all their friends about the lifesaver they found at the show. Hey, you can’t buy that kind of word of mouth.

Filed Under: Back to Basics, bridal shows Tagged With: ,

Time for an Attitude Check

June 13, 2011 By 6 Comments

Rant Alert!

I wasn’t sure whether to call this “What’s With All the Drama” or “How Not to Use Social Media” or maybe “You’re Not the Star, the Bride Is.”

I have rarely in all my years in the wedding industry seen so much bad behavior, bad attitudes and just plain misplaced sense of entitlement in wedding ‘professionals’. What is going on gang?

Saturday night a videographer went on social media to complain that the planner didn’t come find him before the DJ announced the bridal party. Um, lose your time line, Bud? Seems to me it was your responsibility to be on top of the goings on at the event.

Also a videographer, did a blog post telling DJ’s that aside from getting the couple’s name right, their biggest job was to communicate with the videographer. Sorry, I thought the DJ’s job was to keep the party going and the couple happy. Am I missing something here?

How about the photographer complaining about the videographers off to the side of the pavilion because they would be in his shots. Um, didn’t the couple hire them to capture the wedding ceremony? Do they not have some right to do their job too?

Then there was the photographer that wasn’t going to shoot the toast because, “I only focus on the bride and groom.” I guess that was also the reason that he walked up the aisle to get his gear during the recessional instead of shooting any images of the bridal party.

Then there was the bridal shop in a discussion about brides buying gowns online from China that thought that we need

A vigorous effort to force government to put
the clamps on the flood of incoming direct shipments

Um, doesn’t China hold a large part of the United States debt. Wow, what a great idea, lets piss off our biggest creditor over an infinitesimally small part of out economy. I know that it is a large part of this salon owners economy, but the government isn’t going to hang itself over it.

What has happened to the professionalism in this industry. I do realize that 3 years of a struggling economy is starting to take its toll on everyone, but this is not the way to handle it. We need a little bit of an attitude check here. You are not the star, the bride is.

Get this through your heads people, I don’t care what you do or how good you are, you are the hired help. We work live events, not staged shoots. The other vendors are not there to make your product or service look better or serve you. They are there to serve the bride, if that doesn’t fit your plan then you are in the wrong business.

 

Just a heads up.

This isn’t just back room fighting anymore, brides and people outside the industry are starting to notice. I read this quote on Salon.com last week

“A modern wedding is an elaborate photo shoot during which two people who love each other very much attempt to escape the photographers long enough to get married.”

 

Filed Under: Back to Basics, Blog, Rants & Raves Tagged With: ,

Why the iPad Matters to Your Bridal Marketing

November 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Simply put because it is the future.

Check this blip about the new Glamour magazine app

Each digital issue includes the entire contents of the magazine, PLUS exclusive extras like video, photos and app-only fashion picks you can tap to purchase straight from your iPad, iPod touch or iPhone! You can also save your favorite fashion and beauty items–complete with details on where to buy them–for easy shopping reference when you’re on the go.

This may be just the thing that causes the revival of bridal magazines. Oh stop, I know that Glamour isn’t a bridal rag but they are owned by Conde Nast, so is Brides. Which means that Brides has access to the tech, if they are smart enough to use it.

Why carry a bridal magazine that weights a bunch around when you can just read it on your iPad or iPhone? Double score that you can just click to buy or link to a vendors website. Sounding better? What’s better, since it is in the app store it is now an impulse buy. Bored on the train to work? Buy the latest Bridal porn. Done.

The iPhone is great but the screen isn’t really big enough to really give the reader the same feel of a high end print glossy. But the iPad does.

Next you are going to tell me that, yes the app lets you view the entire magazine but you have to pay for it and no one will pay for content. Au contraire my friend!

Check out this article from the New York Times

The News Corporation said on Tuesday that it had gained 105,000 paying customers for the digital versions of The Times and The Sunday Times of London since it started charging for access to their Web sites this summer.

The company said about half of those additions were regular, active subscribers to the newspapers’ Web sites, iPad application or Amazon Kindle edition. The rest were occasional purchasers. Another 100,000 readers have activated free digital accounts that are included in print subscriptions to the papers, the News Corporation said.

“These figures very clearly show that large numbers of people are willing to pay for quality journalism in digital formats,” said Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, the London-based arm of the News Corporation that publishes The Times papers.

The advent of the iPad has given a glimmer of hope to the currently on life support print media.

So there are two things I want you to think about:

First if you are considering putting any money into print, make dang sure that their presence on the iPad is what it should be. Don’t let them get away with telling you that they have a website. Tell them you want something like Glamour has put together.

Second, make sure you back up your purchase with a website that will show up on the iPad when a bride to be clicks on your ad. That means one thing—NO FLASH–. Yes I know it’s pretty, but it is totally useless with the format that today’s brides use to access the web most. You may just want to read this to be sure your site is where it needs to be.

The iPhone and more importantly, the iPad are not fads. This is particularly true with the higher end brides.

Check out what Mary Schmidt has to say about the future and the iPad.

Filed Under: Marketing, Trends, Website marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

The Power of Poo: Outrageous Marketing

November 6, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Yep, I just had to use that headline. It got your attention didn’t it?

I read an article last week about a company in Texas called CowWow that makes an all natural fertilizer made of liquified dairy cow waste. More specifically it was about a marketing campaign that they used. It was risky, it was expensive and it scared them enough to think twice before going forward. It was also a HUGE hit. Please read the original article.

So what does cow manure have to do with marketing your wedding business? Well, nothing really, but the risky campaign they ran has some great lessons.

Much of marketing is about name recognition and buzz. Sometimes you just have to do something totally outrageous to get that.

For example, Preston Bailey and the flower sculpture he did for the Knot’s party in New York this fall. You can’t tell me that the thing wasn’t outrageous or that it wasn’t marketing. The minute I got the Knot branded bulk email pimping Preston’s blog I knew that it had been done on some sort of trade. So bottom line, Preston did it for the marketing potential. The sculpture was seen by anyone and everyone in the wedding industry at one of the industry’s biggest weeks of the year. Then pictures of it flew around the net at break neck speed. Gee, you don’t think that had any effect on brand Preston, do you?

Two other master brand marketer that tend to pull outrageous stunts are Oprah and Richard Branson of Virgin. You don’t think O gave away a car to everyone in her audience because it made her feel all warm and fuzzy do you? Yes I know, they have tons of money and they can afford it. Guess what, they have been doing this kind of thing since the beginning. Branson, espescially so.

So how does that translate to you, the micro-biz owner?

How about we start out by rethinking your marketing plan for next year. Do a deep analysis and dump a couple of the the things that aren’t really doing a lot for you. Use that savings to build a slush fund named Outrageous. Then start to keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities.

Your opportunity may be something as obvious as the bridal show you do every year. Instead of just doing your booth do something outrageous. Bring coffee and breakfast for all the vendors if you are a caterer. If you are a florist build a damn 15 foot tall tree in the entrance that is dripping with flowers. If you do gowns hire a bunch of model to walk the show floor in gowns. If you are a band or a DJ, buy a quad and rent a dance floor and hire a few people to act as plants and get a party going.

I never said that outrageous equaled cheap.

If you are a venue, host a “Kick-Off” party or an “End of Season” party for the vendors in your area. Make it a killer event, make it free and fantastic.

Once you have found your opportunity, make an entire campaign out of it. Use all of your social media to support and reinforce it. The florist with the 15 foot tree should be posting pictures of the frame in progress on his blog, twitter and Facebook. Just sneak peeks. Then right before the show make sure to flood the network with “don’t miss this” messages. After the fact, post your pictures and full story on your blog. Any advertising going forward should have a picture of this now famous piece on it.

You can’t just pull an outrageous stunt and just let it lie there. You have to tap it gently on the behind and push it out into the world.

The secrets here are to establish the slush fund, be open to oportunities, do something BIG and be fearless.Then promote, promote, promote. Your tribe will take it from there.

One thing that you may have noticed is that not all of the ideas I mentioned are pointed at brides. Word of mouth is still the strongest tool in pulling in wedding business. You should work dilligently to make sure that the other wedding professionals in your sphere of influence are recommending you.

Go back and read the article that started all this. They were scared through the whole process, but thier gut kept telling them YES.

Filed Under: Branding, Marketing, Outrageous Marketing, Social Media Tagged With: , , , ,

I Just Want to Close Them

November 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I got an email last week asking for my advice on a social marketing seminar. The bridal vendor that forwarded me the information included the following statement:

interesting, so much information telling us what to do. what is the real answer, just want to close them’

Frankly, that is backward thinking. All the marketing in the world; be it print, bridal shows or social media won’t help you “close them”. All marketing can do is get them to your door, virtual or brick and morter.Then it is up to you to “close them”.

You need to take a close look, microscopic really, at every.single.thing that a potential client experiences once they have made the decision to contact you.

How do you answer the phone? How do you respond to emails? Does your tone reflect your professionalism and unique style? If it doesn’t you may lose them right there.

If you get past that hurdle, then you need to concentrate on the face to face.

I have talked a lot in the past about how women differ from men. Women have much wider peripheral vision, they see and notice every tiny detail. They notice the smells and the sounds. They notice the colors and the textures. They pay attention to how you and your employees dress and speak. They notice the neighborhood. Do all aspects that your business presents reflect what will make your target market comfortable?

Did you catch that last word? Comfortable. That is what they are really looking for, you know. They want to be comfortable and secure in their choices and decisions.

Long gone are the days when using fear to close the sale worked. This generation doesn’t buy into it. Tell them that you may not be available on their date if they don’t sign today they will just shrug. They know that there are more just like you down the block.

Here is what it takes today. They want to feel like you validate their choices. After all, this is the generation that was told that 2+2 could equal 5 if it made them feel OK.(Alright, that was an exaggeration but not by much) They don’t want you to guide them, they want you to understand and support them. If they ask for your guidance by all means give it, but listen to their wants first. This bunch is most comfortable when they make the discovery on their own.

With every decision, they feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. If you can lift that weight and make them feel comfortable with their decision to use you, you have made the sale. Really, that’s all it takes.

Sounds simple doesn’t it? It is if you have paid attention to all the little details first. Yep, go reread the fifth paragraph. Everything.


Filed Under: Back to Basics Tagged With: , ,

Surviving in a Changing Wedding Market

November 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

There has been much chatter over the last month concerning changes taking place in the wedding industry. Chatter about the new guard grabbing the baton from the old and the old steadfastly refusing to let go. Chatter about some at the top, the bigger than big, finally getting the message that the old ways won’t work no matter how tightly they close their eyes and try to wish it away.

You, my faithful readers, have seen this coming for some time now. Things are getting ugly. Many are suffering from growing pains. I tell you what, this isn’t anything that hasn’t happened before.

I don’t know how many of you have been in the industry long enough to remember the days before Vera Wang. She was the harbinger of the last revolution. She ushered in the trends we have seen for the last 8 or so years, the halcyon days of weddings. Before that change, weddings were the pearl and lace encrusted children of Princess Diana’s wedding. Things were formal and heavy, just look at the gowns and head pieces from that era. Brides were ready for a change and Wang delivered with a breath of fresh air.

The rest of the industry followed suit. Cakes became sleek fondant creations with nary a column in sight. Flora went contemporary with glass containers replacing silver and baby’s breath died a slow death. Invitations became envelopments and grew belly bands. The seated chicken dinner became exotic stations. Those that refused to change died  along with the baby’s breath, but still the industry survived the upheaval and went on to grow and survive.

This kind of change is necessary to keep our industry healthy. I grew up on a lake and from time to time the lake would smell horrible and the waters would get muddy. My father would tell me that the lake was just turning over and that it had to in order to stay healthy. It always returned to it old beautiful, reliable self after a few days. That is what is going on in our industry.

The last time it was a fashion designer that sparked the revolution, this time it is the brides and the information age. Today’s bride has visual imagery of every possibility at the tips of her fingers. She will not be swayed by what you are trying to sell her. She has found what she wants and she WILL find someone who will provide it for her. Barring that she will find the instructions online to do it herself. Contrary to popular belief in the industry, not all DIY is budget driven. Quite a lot of it is driven by the simple fact that she can’t find anyone to do/create/provide exactly what it is she wants.

So how do you survive to reap the benefits on the other side of this turn over? Start off by realizing that you are no longer the expert there to guide the brides decisions, you are the professional there to provide what she desires. Frankly, I don’t care (and neither does she) if you like her choices or not. They are her choices and if you won’t provide them someone else will! Harsh, I know, but it is what it is.

Next you need to really listen. Not just to the individual bride but also to the collective conscience as spoken through social media. I am not talking about what Grace Ormand  has between her pages, but what brides are talking about on Wedding Wire and Facebook and Twitter. They are telling you what they want if you will just take the time to listen and not just dismiss them.

Yes, there are still times that you are going to have to put your foot down. You know, things like a five tier cake with whipped cream icing outdoors in August, but you had better listen to why she wants that. Then you can possibly find an alternative that will satisfy her desire without causing a catastrophe.

In short, listen hard and realize that for the first time ever, the industry is being bride-driven.

Filed Under: Trends, wedding marketing, What Brides Say Tagged With: , ,

The Affordable Bridal Market

October 5, 2010 By 3 Comments

What do J Crew, White House Black Market, Ann Taylor, Vera Wang know that you don’t?

They know how to capitalize on the current trends. They have seen the handwriting on the wall and are making adjustments. Business is all about giving the customer what they want, not what you want and these companies are doing just that. They are offering bridal gowns that are more affordable to the majority of brides.

What does that tell you? For one thing, these companies aren’t going to sit on the sidelines and hope that the bridal market rebounds. They are re-inventing and targeting todays more fiscally conservative brides.

I dare say that the companies above have spent the time and money to deeply analyze the market and current trends. Seriously, if Vera Wang thought that in a few more months  the couture bridal gown market would come roaring back to life would she have sold her soul to David’s?  That’s pretty doubtful.

Here is something else, Ann Taylor’s wedding line is exclusively online. Hmmm, do you think they have done any research on that? You can bet your bottom dollar on it. The marketing team behind Ann Taylor after all are the ones that have done such a remarkable job of getting Ann Taylor Loft so much traction in social media. In terms of fashion, they have mastered Facebook. This gang knows where the market is and knows how to target it. Good quality, fairly priced and easily accessible. Wow, what a concept.

What about JCrew? Yes they have some up market gowns hitting close to $3k but also a lot of gowns under $800. Again, this line is online and in the catalog. JCrew is a trusted brand to our target market, so they would have no problem ordering online. What’s more, they are sized like the rest of their clothes. Not the freakishly odd sizing that most bridal gown manufacturer use. You wear a size 8 in JCrew street clothes, you will most likely wear a size 8 JCrew wedding gown. Gee, that just makes too much sense.

So what do you have to learn from all this?

Well for one thing, if this wasn’t a smart play, I can bet they wouldn’t all be doing it. Companies of this size make the occassional mis-step but I can’t imagine that this many would be doing it if the reasearch wasn’t there to back it up. Afterall, I don’t care who you are, launching a bridal line is no cheap thing. Heck, the research we have is saying the same thing. (Hat tip to Shane and the Wedding Report.)

How do you translate this to your business.

First what you don’t do:

You don’t start dropping your prices. Look, you don’t see Vera Wang doing a slash and burn on the price tags on her Flagship line, do ya? Heck no.

What you do is create an entire new line that hits the price point and delivery system that your new brides want. No on wants you to lose money.

Just like Wang, your flagship line carries the cache of your brand but the new line puts it in reach of the fat, juicy middle of the market. The flip side of this is that as the market does start to uptick again, you’ll be among the first to know because your flagship will start pulling the weight again. Is it just me that thinks this is a no-brainer?

It’s October, the wedding season for 2010 is just about over. You are going to have some down time coming up to get your house in order.

Here is my challenge to you. By the time the January push rolls around, I want you to have a new budget friendly line in place. The January Bridal shows will be the perfect place to roll it out. (You have bought the book, right)

I really don’t care what category you are in, from stationery to floral to catering, there is a way to do this. You just have to put on your thinking cap.

If you have put in the time and really tried to think this through and aren’t getting anywhere. Give me a shout. From now to the end of December I will be offering my one on one consulting in one hour only blocks just to help get your juices flowing. Just put the word Re-invent in the subject line of your email.

Filed Under: Building Your Business, Trends, wedding marketing, What's Hot Tagged With: , , , , ,

Fairy Dust in The Wedding Industry

October 4, 2010 By 1 Comment

There has been a lot of buzz lately about the drop in the number of weddings and the move away from the over the top wedding to a new style of causualness. Certain people have been crawling out of the woodwork to shake their finger at the so called predictions of gloom and doom.

I am sorry to say that these are no longer just predictions; they are facts backed up with empirical data. Read the Wedding Report. Shane McMurray has been doing an outstanding job of getting the data and getting it out there.

I don’t bring you these facts and warnings to get you down. I do it to open your eyes. I have been predicting for the last 2 years that the climate was changing; that what the wedding industry had become was unsustainable. My goal is as it always has been, to keep you ahead of the curve.

Unfortunately there has also been a real uptick in seminars and conferences that are beating the same old drum from a few years ago. They are trying their best to sprinkle fairy dust over reality in hopes of getting you pumped up to keep doing things the same old way. They want you to leave their workshops with a cheery smile and a “the world is GREAT” attitude. That is how they get you to talk it up for next year.

Well in reality, I want the same thing for you, but I won’t do it by blowing smoke up you skirt and sprinkling the truth with magical fairy dust. I do it by arming you with the unvarnished truth and the tools to meet this new reality.

Pop your head out of the wedding bubble for a minute and read some of the hard news that is out there. The mood and the thinking of this great country of ours, and a great part of the rest of the world, is changing.  People are reordering their thinking. Life isn’t about the show anymore.

You have got to see today’s brides for who they are. You can not base your business or your marketing on who the brides of even 2 years ago were.

There isn’t a silver bullet. Social media and blogging won’t do it if you aren’t offering today’s bride what she wants in the way she wants to receive it. The key is facing reality and making the changes needed to fit the new model.

Face it, if all you are pushing are silver candleabrum and the brides in your market are all suddenly in love with daisies in mason jars, you aren’t going to book her. No matter how good your social media skills are.

Filed Under: Facts & Stat Tagged With: , ,

Prices on Your Website?

September 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It seems to be a question as old as the internet. Should wedding vendors put prices on their website?

My answer has always been yes for the simple reason that brides to be just wanted to know if you were in their price range. Today, that isn’t the only reason.

Take a look at this quote from Media Post:

According to the June 2010 UNICast What Women Want from the Web Report, 64% of women plan to use the Internet to find sales and compare prices whenever they plan to make a purchase, for small- and big-ticket items alike. In fact, women 18 to 24 are much more inclined to do this kind of comparison shopping research solely online.

“Plainly put, women are utilizing the Internet as a resource for simple and complex purchasing inquiries. They enjoy, arguably more so than men, educating themselves through the use of the Net,” says Emily Carroll, manager, Strategic Insights, Leapfrog Interactive. “They’re looking for more shortcuts to save time and money. In doing so, they’re searching more, browsing more, consuming more content, and seeking input from their trusted friends and confidants online.”

So, if that is the way women are shopping and using the net in thier day to day lives, they will expect to be able to do the same in thier wedding planning.

Look at it this way. When a woman first jumps into wedding planning, it is truely a different world. Take gowns, even bridesmaids dresses. For their entire lives they have gone into a store, tried things on in a variety of sizes and walked out with the one that fit best. Now, she most likely won’t be able to try on anything close to her size; she has to take the bridal salons word that alterations will make it fit, then she has to wait sometimes 3 months to see if they are right. Everything about shopping as they have known it is turned on its head.

If you can give them some familiar connection to the ways they are used to doing things, so much the better.

Before you start, I understand why things are this way, but she doesn’t. Which brings me to my second point. Education.

I read so many threads and talk to so many vendors that are bent because brides just don’t understand what a realistic budget for what they want is. $150 cake budgets, $500 for photography, $600 for the entire floral budget, $8.50 per person for the reception, the list goes on and on. Do you think it could be because no one tells them?

Flowers, all they know is how much they spend at Costco or Whole Foods to pick up a bouquet for their dinner party. They don’t understand containers or construction or the labor involved in prepping the flowers. Their only frame of reference is that dinner party bouquet. You have to tell them.

So many vendors keep their prices a deep dark secret, “It’s so important to be able to explain what all is included.” Oh hogwash! If you think the only way to do that is face to face you are either not comfortable with your prices or you really don’t understand the way today’s brides shop.

I used to advocate that you just put a ball park price on your site, but I have started to rethink that. Brides really do want to make realistic choices so why not give them the tools. Suppose, you added prices to some of the photos on your website. Something like, “This centerpiece was priced at $xxx. Your price may vary depending on the flowers chosen and the season.” “This cake was priced at $xx per serving. Prices may vary depending upon fillings.”

Yes, I understand that as creative talents that design something unique for each bride, no two wedding will ever be priced exactly the same. Just give them some jumping off point and add a disclaimer that prices listed are only an example of how your prices run.

I know, you don’t want your competetors to see your prices and then undercut you, right? Well guess what, brides are taking your bid across the street already, whether you know it or not. That is where selling them on your persoanl charm and service comes in. If they feel that they trust you more, a few pennies won’t make a difference.

Let me repeat what I said before: Anything you can do to make their wedding planning experience closer to the way they are used to doing things, the better. The more comfortable they are, the more likely they are to spend with you.


Filed Under: Back to Basics, What Brides Say Tagged With: , , , ,
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