Are you ready for engagement season?
Every year I ask this question to my clients and audiences: “Are you ready for engagement season?” There are so many things that you can do… so are you doing them? From reevaluating your pricing to updating your website and advertising, what should you do? The short answer is to do something. If you don’t do anything, then you’ll see no benefits.
Listen to this new 10-minute episode and get some inspiration.
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– Are you ready for engagement season? Listen to this episode and find out. Every year around this time, I ask this question to my clients and my audiences: “Are you ready for engagement season?” These have been some trying years, ups and downs and craziness. And it’s pretty busy right now still for some people as I’m recording this, which is later than it would typically be and that’s because of the backlog. And what happens is you end up working IN your business and not working ON it. But now as things quiet down a little bit, I want you to think about this. Are you ready for the onslaught that normally happens at this time of the year? Forget about what might be happening on top of that, but are you ready for that?
Now, what does that really mean? What it means is what are you going to do differently to prepare yourself for what’s coming? And what’s coming is people getting engaged and people making inquiries, people going to your websites, people going to your advertising platforms, wherever you’re placing your ads on The Knot, WeddingWire, on Google, on Facebook, on Instagram, and places like that. And what are you doing to put your best foot forward? What are you doing so that you can profit the most and get better inquiries, not just more inquiries? If there’s one thing that I hear from all of you is you don’t want more inquiries, you want better ones: People that have a budget for what you do People who appreciate what you bring to the table that’s different. People who want the style that’s more like yours. And how do you show them that before they even reach out to filter this down to people that want what you specifically bring? Because I’ve said this before, and I’ll keep saying it: If they’re looking for someone who does something that resembles what you do, the cheaper price is going to win. Because there’s somebody else who does something that resembles something like what you do.
What you want is people that want what YOU do. Because if they want the results of what you bring, they’re not available anywhere else at any price. So, one of the things you can do to get ready for an engagement season is go take a look at your website, but look at it as if you were a client. Or maybe better yet, get a buddy and you look at their site for them, and they look at your site for you. And look at it and see, are you showing what’s different about you? Are you talking about the results that you’re going to bring, not that they need a : A venue, a caterer, a DJ, a planner, a photographer, videographer, a dress, et cetera? But do they need what you’re going to bring? Do they want to get it from you? And are you talking about why they should buy from you instead of from somebody else? Because if you’re not, the cheaper price is going to win.
One of the other things you can do is rethink or think maybe, maybe not rethink, maybe think for the first time about whether or not you should have any pricing information on your website. And there are ups and downs to all the different answers, and I’ve spoken about this in another episode. A quick recap, the four ways you can handle this are to put your pricing, complete pricing. Put a price range. Those are my two favorite ways to do it. Although most of you can’t put the complete pricing. It’s just not that easy. A price range, everybody can do. I hate starting prices because they’re the cheapest thing you have. And I don’t want any of you to sell the cheapest thing you have. As a matter of fact, a lot of my clients have gotten rid of the cheapest thing they have, and we don’t even offer it anymore, or at least not on the most popular days. And then, the other way is to not put pricing. And the problem with not putting pricing is the lack of transparency gets some people to just move on without even reaching out because they have no idea what the range is. And then, other people reach out and you end up spinning your wheels with people that just don’t have a budget anywhere near what you do. This is the most popular way to handle it is to not put pricing on your site, but those are the repercussions, which is not getting good inquiries and then getting inquiries that you shouldn’t be speaking to.
And yes, I know some people come to you with less than the budget that it would take to get you and they reach up into it. But I would rather people that already had a budget of what you charge, and then reach up higher for a better results. And if you can fill your calendar that way, you don’t have to worry about convincing people who think they have a lower budget to then reach up into your range. So, that’s another thing you can do. Reading the words on your website to see if they’re talking about the results you do. Looking at the pictures on your website. Do they show the results of what you do? Not do they show you and not do they show your equipment and your venue, and your chairs, and your table, and your linens, and things and your invitations. But do they show the results of choosing you? Do they see themselves represented in the photos? If I look at the photos on your site, do people say, “Yeah, that looks like people like me.’ And then, do the same thing on your advertising.
Are you doing the same thing there? Take a look at the photos. Play a very hard reality with yourself and say, “Does this photo belong before somebody reaches out to me?” Do they need to see the empty ceremony area before they reach out to me? No, they don’t. Do they need to see an empty banquet room before they reach out to you? No, they don’t. Do they need to see food plated on plates and on buffets before they reach out to you? No, that’s not what they’re buying. I’ve said this before, people choose the restaurant, and then the dish. Make them choose the caterer and then the meal, then the menu. So, you can upgrade your photos. You can get rid of the ones that don’t belong. Get rid of the weak links. Take a look at them on mobile. This is another thing, if you haven’t done this. Take a look at your own website on mobile and try to navigate around. And how easy is it to click the things that need to be clicked? How obvious is it that those things need be clicked? And does every page work? I can’t tell you how many times I’m reviewing someone’s website, and we find pages that don’t even work. So, these are things you can do to get ready for engagement season.
But then, also take a look at your pricing in general. Not just is it on your website and is it in your marketing, but take a look at your pricing and say, “Does this represent the kind of work that I’m doing?” I said this at conferences recently. I was listening to a book “Break the Wheel,” by Jay Acunzo. And he quoted someone else who said, “On a scale of one to 10, where one is terrible and 10 is amazing, how many of you strive to be a five?” And it’s funny. I said this at a conference and somebody’s hand went up, and then they brought their hand down because they realized what I said, like “No, on a one to 10, I want to be a 10. I don’t want to be a five.” I said, “Right. So if you’re bringing better than average results, why are you charging average pricing for your market? Why are you not charging above average pricing if you’re bringing above average results?”
So, look at your pricing. Are you giving away low packages or low offerings on the most popular days? Now, I get it, on a Tuesday in March, no one’s beating down your doors and you could offer them lower packages, lower offerings. But on a Saturday in October or a Saturday in May, you shouldn’t be offering the low stuff that you sell because somebody else will pay more. They’re already paying premiums for everything else on those days, because those are the most popular days. So, stop giving away your stuff. Take a look at the pricing. I’ve done this with many of my clients in private one-on-one consulting, where we get rid of their lowest package altogether, just gone. And then, for some we say, “Okay, it’s just not available on the most popular days.” So, getting ready for engagement season is all of those things. And it’s also mentally preparing yourself for the questions that are going to come up. How are you different? How do you show that you’re different? What do you charge?
If you get asked that on line at the grocery store, “Hey, you’re that wedding planner,” or “You’re that DJ,” or “You’re that band.” “How much is it for a wedding?” Are you prepared to answer that question? Are you doing any wedding expos coming up? Are you prepared to answer the question when somebody asks you it there? Do you know what your elevator pitch is? A lot of this I’ve covered in other episodes. But take a step back and get ready for engagement season by putting your best foot forward, so that hopefully you get better inquiries. You know how to respond to them better. I’ve talked about ghosting in many episodes. In my new book, “Why Are They Ghosting Me?” I’ve talked about it in there as well. And if you don’t have it, use the code ‘podcast’ at www.shopalanberg.com and you’ll get free shipping. So ‘podcast’ is the coupon code at www.shopalanberg.com If you don’t have, “Why Are They Ghosting Me?” or any of the books there, by the way.
Get yourself ready for engagement season. Get yourself energized again. Remember why you do what you do. Read your reviews. Ask for reviews if you haven’t been doing that and you’ve been too busy to ask for reviews. Now’s the time to ask because you want to get your WeddingWire Couples’ Choice, and you’re The Knot Best-Of and any other awards you can get through reviews. But now’s the time to do it because you’re going to start to get busy again. And when you start to get busy, that’s when it’s late. That’s when you don’t follow up the way you should. That’s when you get a list from a wedding expo, you did and you don’t use it. I address that in another episode as well. Get yourself ready so that you can cruise through into the next wedding season with plenty of leads and plenty of business going forward, and you’ll have your systems in place. I look forward to seeing you at a conference or helping you one-on-one. Thanks so much. And this is right around the end of the year. So if I have not connected with you, happy holidays. Happy New Year. And I wish you an amazing 2022.
I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is [email protected]. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.
Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:
- Apple Podcast:
- YouTube: www.WeddingBusinessSolutionsPodcast.tv
- Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3sGsuB8
- Stitcher:
- Google Podcast:
- iHeart Radio: https://ihr.fm/31C9Mic
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