I’ve been really focused on growing my business and getting more and more high end brides. And it’s working! Great news…. BUT…..
There’s always a BUT….
There are brides that love my style, love how we plan events but because my prices have gone up they can’t afford to hire me as their wedding planner. These are brides that are ready to buy and it makes me really sad to turn them away. So after listening to photographer Laura Novak at a recent conference I thought she was on to something. Laura was in the same position as me as a photographer. As she grew so did her prices but it didn’t mean she wasn’t still attracting clients that would be great to work with but who just couldn’t reach her fee. She was busy enough so she created a second division to her company where she could refer these couples. They’d receive the Laura Novak photography style and treatment because she’d trained these associates and she wouldn’t lose out on the business. Brilliant!
So I applied this to my business and quickly came up with Simon and I running the Haute Couture division and an associate planner running the Pret a Porter division. They still become a client of Firefly and get access to our private collection of décor, our cool templates and spreadsheets, design ideas and our associates are trained in the Firefly Occasions style but at a fraction of the cost. It’s a total win win!
Could you do this in your business?
This is a great tactic to try while everyone is moaning over the economy. Could you create a second tier in your business so that you personally don’t have to lower your prices but brides and grooms could still gain access to your company’s style by working with an associate planner?
Another thought is- if people aren’t buying right now it means you’ve got to do a bit of renovations to your programs or packages. Maybe you promote coaching brides through their wedding planning rather than full service. It’s less of a cost for them but it also takes up less of your time and after talking to you on the phone for a year don’t you think you could upsell them to day of coordination?
What about tossing out some budget bride packages? Get some local vendors together and figure out how you could combine your services and give the bride a sweeter deal. That helps everyone out!
You need to think… How can I renovate my wedding planning?
And this idea is good to use all the time. I think it’s important that you give your business a little reno from time to time. Think about that boutique in your town that’s been there for 25 years without a paint job and the same mannequins in the window. It’s not very exciting and it probably wouldn’t attract today’s fashionista… It needs a little facelift to bring it up with the times and get people interested again.
Ciara’s Rockstar Wedding Planner Advice
How can you renovate your business? Are there some new programs or packages that you could create to spark some new interest? Are you loosing money by not having services for different levels of brides? Is there an area of your market that you’ve thought about tapping into but hesitated? Now is the time. Why not spiffy up your business right now and jump up to the next level?
This month on Become a Rockstar Wedding Planner we will be joined by expert designer/interior decorator Simon Daykin. As we all know, the right decor can really bring an event to life. Simon will talk about how he uses decor to make Firefly Occasions events stand out above all the rest, and how he achieved the Canadian Wedding Industry Award for Best Décor in 2008.
