Wedding Planner Education | Client Experience Matters
You can have the fanciest name tags, and best Instagram feed but if your client experience is lacking it can put a wrench in even the most well-oiled business machine. What is it all for if your clients aren’t feeling the love?
Photo by Trizza Gerhart Photography
As wedding planners I strongly believe that we actually have two sets of clients - the couples themselves and the creatives they are booked with. When either one of those clients aren’t happy it can de-rail the direction of the event or takeaway from the overall success of the event despite months of hard work. So what does it take to have stellar customer service and a client experience that gives everyone the warm and fuzzies? Let’s dive in!
I actually am not a big warm & fuzzy type gal but instead I love efficiency and showing up when it counts. Celebrate the milestones with your clients and cheer them on authentically; when you say you will do something do it. When implementing changes to your client experience approach, here are my top tips:
Identify potential touch points in the client’s planning process from on-boarding to post event.
In addition to your standard on-boarding process, are there any mid-way check-in’s that you can add a little extra special attention to? These can be as simple as light hearted emails to handwritten cards or gifts etc.
Utilize client questionnaires or dig deeper in consults or planning sessions to ask client’s about their favorite hobbies, favorite snacks, what does date night look like for them? Keep these notes handy!
Add calendar notes on your CRM (Aisle Planner, Honeybook, Dubasado etc.) that are visible to the client (Such as Catering Tasting-Yum!) Sleep extra tonight (before rehearsal - because let’s be real who sleeps well on rehearsal night)
Take photos or videos with your team and/or your clients on site walks, planning sessions or other milestones to document that your team is invested in their day.
Sending thank you cards or having a process for post-wedding communication with your clients to end on a high note, determine if this will be right after the event and then a final when the client receives their images from photographer
Tagging them on Social Media when posting photos of their event
Anniversary mentions on Social Media or sending cards/emails
What we know client’s don’t like: Feeling like just another date on your calendar or feeling like the communication is automated/generic. While you can create templates to be more efficient, be sure to customize or personalize so that communication feels more authentic.
What steps have been integral for your client experience? Feel free to share here or within our Free Wedding Planner Mastermind Group on Facebook.