The creativity of our industry is not limited to what can be done with colorful flowers or delectable pastries – at the core, we are problem solvers daily who think fast on our feet and with clever solutions. What is facing many event professionals during this period is no different than how we would handle an emergency during a live event like spilled red wine on a wedding dress. COVID-19 is our red wine and the wedding dress is our business.
Event planning as we knew it may never return just like airport check-in was never the same after 9-11. So what will be our new sales and cancellation process? It is NOW that we must be creative with our businesses – the contracts, marketing, payment terms; and adapt to post-COVID event planning.
Cancellation clauses will be a big part of the sales process. It seems counterintuitive like stressing the prenup while getting engaged but this is our reality. Clients are reluctant to sign contracts and give deposits until they know they are protected from another COVID-19-like occurrence. Likewise, vendors want to make sure their businesses are equally protected when the unforeseeable occurs. Often those two objectives will oppose each other but it is our duty as event professionals to find creative solutions to the new sales problem.
Here’s the summary of creative sales tactics that I’ll be implementing for my event planning agency, Daughter of Design, to increase client confidence. I hope that this helps you and your business to stay afloat and agile through financial crises and other events that have changed our marketplace forevermore.
1. Offering event cancellation insurance – Although it does not cover pandemics and war, event cancellation insurance does offer some reassurance to clients who are also afraid of vendors and venues going out of business due to bankruptcy or even death. Daughter of Design will be offering a $100,000 policy to its new clients. Event cancellation insurance varies from country to country and often does not cover any destination events. Please check with your local insurance broker about options in your area.
2. Flexible rescheduling terms – Make sure that your contract, as well as the vendors you suggest, will offer flexibility if an event has to be rescheduled due to an event beyond anyone’s control.
3. Find an approved substitute – If the event is rescheduled and a mutually agreeable date cannot be found, offer a replacement of equal or greater competency for the day-of staffing that will be approved by the client. Negotiate with a colleague for a day-rate but complete the event planning myself. If the clients do not accept the replacement for day-of, then standard cancellation terms would apply.
4. Smaller initial deposits – Instead of larger deposits upfront, ask for smaller first deposits and ask for subsequent smaller payments throughout the planning process to compensate us only to the next short period that we’re planning. This will give clients security that they’re only paying for what they’ve used. If you are not a planner and most of your work is done on the day-of. I would suggest taking that first small deposit and then giving one larger invoice closer to the date of the event. It’s like having a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch, and steak and pasta for dinner – it is the same amount of money but the pay off is at the end.
5. Offer contract transfers – In the case, that rescheduling is not possible the ultimate offer would be to let clients transfer their contract to another client. For a planner, this is not an option I can offer myself as our work is actively done from the date the contract is signed to the date of the event. However, for venues, photographers/videographers, florists, etc. who have held the date but have not begun work on the event I will be asking to add to their contract that a client may transfer their contract to a new client but only in a COVID-like emergency. The original client would be wholly responsible for finding a replacement client, brokering an agreeable date for the vendor and new client, and the transfer of funds. There are sites like ContractTransfer.com that offer free listings of private and secure contracts that are available for transfer that offer free listings of private and secure contracts that are available for transfer.
Clients and event professionals in the past were casual about their cancellation clauses but now more than ever it will be the area of focus. Many of us are small businesses luckily which makes it easy for us to take swift action and pivot when needed. Now is the time to take a creative look at your sales approach and contract language. Never will we return to simple more innocent ways of running our businesses and we must renovate and recreate the new normal.
By Annie Lee, Principal Event Planner, Daughter of Design
The daughter of an interior designer, Annie Lee is the principal event planner at Daughter of Design, author of “Learn to Speak Wedding: Flashcards for Beginners”, and founder of the global event planner startup Plannie. Annie is recognized as one of the top event planners by Party Slate and top wedding planners by Harper’s Bazaar, Martha Stewart Weddings, and The Knot. She has also been called “The Wedding Doctor” by Refinery29, “the wedding doyenne” by Brides Magazine, and “celebrity entertaining expert” by People Magazine. Annie is originally from Los Angeles, but currently, Miami is where she keeps all her shoes.
All Images Credit: @daughterofdesign
