One of the best, and worst things about the wedding industry, is that there’s a very low barrier to entry. In most cases there is no license or formal training required. That low barrier has allowed many of you to start your own business. It also allows new competitors to enter the industry every year. So, which is the good part and which is the bad part? A new competition isn’t always a bad thing. Without it, many planners, designers and other creative types wouldn’t feel as much pressure to innovate. Some of us find that motivation within, and some need external pressures.
A Tale As Old As Time
Many in our industry didn’t set out to have a business, it just happened. Maybe you planned or designed your own wedding. Maybe you were asked to help a friend or relative with theirs. And then, after you and others saw the results of your efforts, someone offered to pay you to help them with their wedding… and viola, you were in business! Does that sound familiar? It certainly does to me, as I’ve heard that story over, and over again in my over 25 years working with wedding pros around the world. Starting that way is easy. Building and sustaining a successful business is more difficult. You see, most people who ‘fell’ into the industry didn’t bring business skills with them. They brought creative skills. Creative skills are wonderful as a passion or hobby. When you need to monetize those creative skills, that’s where the need for business skills comes in.
What’s The Value?
The challenge for creative people is putting a price on your work. Notice I said price and not value. Price is the number you ask the customer to pay. Value is the number the customer is willing to pay. If you always have to discount your prices to get the customer to say Yes, then they’re not perceiving that the value is equal to the asking price. They perceive it to be lower. Yes, I understand that there are many cultures where discounting is the norm, so you just need to figure that into your pricing strategy. The short answer for that is to know when to say ‘No,’ so that lowest price you’re willing to accept gives you, and the customer, good value.
What Are You Charging For?
With so many competitors, and the ease of comparing them online, how do you stand out? What are you selling? If it’s a list of services, you’ll often lose to a lower-priced competitor whose list looks very much like your list. As a matter of fact, many of those new and lower-priced competitors are copying your list! Don’t be too hard on them, hopefully, you’ve shopped your competition to ensure that your list isn’t missing anything significant that they’re offering. The key here is that you’re not actually selling the list of services. Those are a means to an end. What you’re selling are the results of having specifically you, and your team who deliver those results.
They can get that same list of services elsewhere, but they’ll get different results. That’s right, different results, which could be better or worse. However, with a wedding, no one will ever be able to compare the results side-by-side, as they only choose one supplier per category. There’s one planning company, one designer, one photographer, one caterer, etc. So, you’re really selling the promise of results that they hope to receive (and you hope to achieve for them).
How To Stand Out?
If you really want to differentiate yourself and your business, stop selling what everyone else is selling. Start by asking better questions that get your couples and clients to tell you about the results they want. When you’re telling them what you can do for them, don’t do it in terms of the services, paint a picture in their minds of the results they’ll get with you. They don’t want planning services, design or décor, they want a stress-free experience by someone who takes their vision and brings it to a level they couldn’t imagine without you. If all you do is find out what they want and help them get it, you’re taking an order, not really selling. However, if you find out what they want and then present them with ideas they hadn’t thought of, they have to choose you to get those results. You’re not selling, you’re helping them buy those results. Your results aren’t available anywhere else, at any price. They have to choose you, and they have to pay your price. The higher they perceive the value of those results, the higher the price you can charge, and get, to deliver them.
By Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow
Alan Berg has been called “The Leading International Speaker and Expert on the Business of Weddings & Events.” He’s the wedding industry’s only Certified Speaking Professional® and one of only 36 Global Speaking Fellows in the world (he’s presented in 14 countries, 5 of them in Spanish). Alan is the author of 5 books and does speaking, sales training and consulting with wedding and event businesses around the world. Find out more at www.AlanBerg.com
All Images Credit: @shutterstock
