Tag

marketing expert

Oct 25 2017

You Can Teach An Old Dog New Tricks

By Blog, Uncategorized

I’m just getting back from another successful Wedding MBA conference, and I was reflecting on the many, many conversations I had with wedding pros, like you. A common theme was that it would be so much easier if brides and grooms would just get on the phone with you. Many wedding pros were reminiscing of the days when your phones were ringing off the hook with inquiring couples – and that’s when I popped your nostalgia bubble. In the digitally connected world we live in, while there is an occasional phone inquiry, most of your initial contact comes via email, text or a contact form.

Don’t be in a rush to change the format
The mistake that I see so many of you making is to try to change from a digital conversation, to a phone call or appointment, too quickly. Had they wanted to talk on the phone, they would have called you (or asked you to call them in their message). Had they wanted to schedule an appointment (whether in person, on the phone or virtually), they would have asked for one. I’m not saying you shouldn’t try to schedule a phone call or meeting, just don’t do it too quickly. Read More

Nov 23 2016

Success Comes from Action, Not Ideas

By Blog, Uncategorized

If you’re like me, you have more ideas than time. You may have pages and 
pages of notes from conferences, books you want to read, and videos you want to watch; now, if you could only find the time for all of it! Well, I hate to break it to you, but with all the modern technology at our fingertips, the one thing we’ll never invent or create is more time. It’s a finite commodity, and every second that passes is one that will never exist again.

OK, enough of the gloomy words. I want this article – as with most of mine – to be inspirational and to get you motivated to act. That’s the idea that prompted me to write this. Knowing that you can’t do it all is easy. Deciding to take action on some of your ideas is the important first step in achieving greater success. Success is not a product of having ideas or money. Success comes from acting on your ideas, and since you can’t do them all, it means prioritizing them so you can get started. Too many people get paralyzed trying to do too much. You end up spreading your precious time between too many things, only to complete very few (if any) of them. Read More

Dec 16 2015

Making it Right, When You Got it Wrong (or even if you didn’t get it wrong)

By Blog, Uncategorized

I was conducting a group mastermind the other day and the subject of handling
problems and issues came up. While we all agreed that making the customer happy should be paramount in our decision making, that’s easier said than done in the real world. It’s even harder when it’s your business, and your money that’s at stake. The connectivity and access of today’s world adds another dimension. So how should we react when something goes differently than planned?

The worst thing you can do is to look for why it happened. The customer doesn’t care why, they only care that it happened to them. The importance and emotions of a wedding day are just fuel on the fire. Advertising and marketing sells the idea of having a ‘perfect’ wedding, but that’s an unattainable dream. There are just too many variables Read More

Dec 07 2015

You Win Some, You Lose Some – 5 WAYS TO HANDLE LOSING A SALE

By Uncategorized

This article was published in the November/December 2015 edition of Wedding Planner Magazine entitled You Win Some, You Lose Some – 5 WAYS TO HANDLE LOSING A SALE.   If you would like to use this on your site or blog, email Alan to receive the .pdf and Word versions, along with the attribution to include.

You Win Some, You Lose Some – 5 WAYS TO HANDLE LOSING A SALE
By Alan Berg, CSP, WWW.ALANBERG.COM, Kendall Park, NJ

In a perfect world, we’d get every sale we want, for the dollars we want. But we don’t live in a perfect world, do we? There are no trophies for second place when it comes to winning a sale. You either get the sale, or you don’t, so what’s a wedding planner to do? Here are five ways to handle losing a sale:

1) Rejection is in the eyes of the beholder. When you don’t get a sale, you might feel like you’ve been rejected, but that’s not usually the case. They just liked/trusted/believed in someone else more. Is that semantics? I prefer to call it optimism. When it comes to choosing a wedding planner, there can be only one winner—that doesn’t make everyone else losers. Prospective clients may like you enough to hire you, but they have to choose one pro among the many available. How many weddings do you do each year? That’s how many times clients chose you and not another planner. Are you the winner? Yes, but you may not have been their only choice. Had you not been available, they would have chosen someone else, someone very capable, nice, and likely at a similar price point. This isn’t like second grade, where everyone gets a trophy these days, there’s a winner and then there’s everyone else.

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Aug 14 2015

Friday and Sunday Pricing – Should It Be Lower?

By Blog

I often see heated discussions on social media about whether you should charge Calculator How Much Can You Afford or Savethe same for Friday, Sunday, weekday, and off-season weddings and events, as you do for Saturday nights. There are passionate arguments on both sides. Some people contend that you’re doing the same work, therefore you should charge the same. That’s a sound platform. Others say that they’re only going to do a limited number of events per year, therefore they hold to their price, also a sound argument.

The other side speaks of not getting as many inquiries for Fridays, Sundays, or weekday events—so they offer a discount to encourage those to book. That too is a sound platform. There are successful businesses on both sides of this discussion.

So what’s the right answer? Read More

Jul 16 2015

The High-End Wedding – Debunked

By Blog

For as long as I’ve been in and around the wedding industry, businesses have been chasing the “high-end” client. When I ask them what they mean by high-end, they usually say that it’s someone who’s spending a lot on their wedding. In theory that sounds right, but is it in practice?

What makes it high-end?
A high-end client sounds like an aspiration, but just because someone spends a lot, doesn’t automatically make it classier, or creative or (in plain words) better. Lots of couples spend lots of money on things that make others scratch their heads and go “Huh?” We wonder why the money went to those elements of the wedding, while there may have been elements that seem a little lacking—at least in contrast. Read More

Jun 23 2015

What do you want when you’re the customer?

By Blog
What do you want when you’re the customer? What a simple benchmark, and one that we should all strive for when we’re serving customers. So why is it so hard for others to use such a simple benchmark?  I think it’s just a matter of paying attention. Too many people are just skating through their day with no thought other than getting to the end of their shift. There seems to be no sense of ownership. Years ago businesses were family-run and people understood the value of good customer service. The store, and the people who worked there, were a package deal. They greeted you when you came in, they thanked you when you left, and encouraged you to “come on back and see us”.

So what’s changed?
I think it’s a short term outlook. The feeling that this is only temporary, so why care. Whether temporary or not we should all care. My list of job stops is long and circuitous. I didn’t know it at the time, but each of those jobs provided valuable lessons in customer service.

May 14 2015

Is Showing Up Enough?

By Blog
Open vs Closed Mind - Toggle Switch I attend a lot of networking events and conferences each year and I’m amazed at how unprepared some people are for the experience.  You never know who you’re going to meet, what you’re going to hear and what opportunities might present themselves.  Life is full of wonderful surprises; yet, there are people with no business cards, no elevator pitch and (in some cases) no interest in being there.  I started thinking about the difference between showing up and actually being present.
Showing up is the easy part
Of course not showing up is even easier, and there are always other things to take up your time; however, if you never show up you’re an outsider in your own industry. No matter how long you’ve been in business, there are always new people to meet, new things to learn and new ideas waiting to be discovered. Being present and being a participant are harder than just showing up but that’s where the magic happens. I’ve made some terrific connections that have led to
business and friendships by showing up at events, often unexpected events.

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Apr 09 2015

DI Why? Why do they do it themselves?

By Blog
Do You Have the SkillsI’ve spoken over the years about the DIY (Do it Yourself) wedding couple. While many weddings have some element that was done by someone involved in the wedding (family and/or friends) there’s rarely a wedding that’s truly all DIY. Did her mom make the wedding dress? Did his/her aunt cook the food? Did his friend take the pictures or play the music? More likely they made the programs, possibly decorative items for the tables or church.

Why are they doing it themselves?
It might be their budget, or it just might be that they enjoy the creative process. I’m a DIY when it comes to home improvements and repairs. Rarely is it to save money, because many of my DIY projects wouldn’t get done if we had to hire a professional carpenter or handyman. They’re not emergency repairs, rather improvements or artistic expression.

So, when couples try to do things for their weddings…

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Mar 02 2015

It only works if you use it

By Blog
Use your ideasI received a very nice email the other day from a wedding pro who’s heard many of my webinars and live presentations. She was thanking me for a tip which she had heard me say, many times, but hadn’t acted on, until recently. The tip was to end each email with a question so the recipient is more likely to answer. Now that she’s ending her emails with one question, her response rate and conversion have increased (which was the whole idea). Here’s her email to me:

Hi Alan,
I just wanted to let you know, although I have heard you mention the “end with a question” several times, sometimes there is so much in the webinars and seminars that you just can’t implement it all at once, or you forget.
WELL, since the last WW (WeddingWire) webinar, I have been consciously ending all my emails to couples with a question, and I have been getting PHENOMENAL results. I just wanted to say THANK YOU, YOU ROCK!!!
Rev. Judith L. Guasch, M.Div., Ceremonies by Judith

The credit for that concept actually goes to Alan Katz, of Great Officiants in Southern California, who originally gave me that tip a while back. The kudos go to Rev. Judith for taking it off the back burner and using it. I’ve often said, and written, that the people who achieve the most success don’t necessarily have more ideas or more money. They just act on those ideas, or put that money to use.

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