If you are asking yourself if your pricing is too high, there are most likely 2 reasons for this, but they both are still because of the same reason. Let me explain. If you are new to the business, you may want to price your services low.  It is a great way to get business and gain experience at the same time. I stand behind this principle all the way. 

So, what if you have been in business for a while you raised your prices, but you just can't book as many clients as you would like?

This has happened to me often throughout my career.  When it happened, I did a few things, offered specials and discounts just to get the business.  It did indeed work. Then after a few months, I ended up regretting giving the discounts. I and my staff ended up working really hard, I still had to pay my staff and myself and did a high-quality job, but was disappointed that I got paid less than I should have.

Analyzing this, it is obvious that I placed the negative feelings on the...

I know many planners/coordinators who put on a particular persona when they start their business.  I believe I may have even have fallen into this trap in the beginning.  I think I and many others may have thought a wedding planner needs to be a certain type of person. So, I acted that way and then got trapped in that character. So what is the Persona Principle? Personas are fictional characters, that we create based on our idea of an image that will represent what we feel will reflect an image we want to project. Then we will use that for our service, product, site, or brand in a similar way.

Creating a persona will help you to identify and understand your client's needs, experiences, behaviors, and goals.

However, if this isn't done carefully, this can cause problems in the future because it is hard to continually put on a fake image. Then this can send a mixed message.  I think it is important to do some self-reflection into who you are and...

Are you looking for ways to increase your income?  Considering expanding your services could be a great way to get more money without increasing the number of clients you take.  

When I first started out, I added a few simple items that I could rent to every client.  I started with renting votive candles.  I rented them for $1.00 each. Each wedding needed about 150 -200 candles, then I added chargers for $1.00 each. Then I added napkins. Before I knew it, I added an extra $1,000.00. 

Think of things that you can add that you may have talent in.  Can you make invitations, programs, favors, flowers, desserts, or even alterations?   It is really easy to add services because you already know the client and their taste or temperament, it will be easy to communicate with them about additions or changes. 

Today, our company includes floral, rentals, decor items, stationery, dessert stations, and some catering services. You can choose to...

Have you ever tried to return something to the store for a refund and didn't have a receipt and they denied you?  If you are like most people, you most likely got irritated about it. If you stop to think about it, why did you get mad? Isn't it your fault that you didn't save the receipt in a place you could find it? Is their policy clearly posted?  Sometimes we get mad about things because of our perspective of what should be not what actually is. 

With this in mind, it is important that you understand that your clients may not have read the fine or even bold print. They may be assuming many things about what they should expect. Good customer service begins with clarity of expectation.

After years of trying to ensure we had everything in writing and people still not reading or remembering what they read, we have developed what I will call over communication. 

We do this with several steps throughout the process:

1st we explain our services and our processes not 1...

Setting Healthy Customer Service Boundaries

by Victoria Lewis

Have you ever felt like the more you give the more people take or no matter how much you give, it is never enough?  Being in the customer service industry can often leave us feeling underappreciated and wondering if it is really worth all the stress. If that resonates with you, I want to share with you some of my top tips to restore your faith in humanity. 

What is reasonable for the customer to expect?

When you are looking for the answer to that question the answer will not only depend on who you ask, I believe it will change depending on the circumstance. What I really mean by that is, are you the one who is providing customer service or wanting to get good customer service from someone else. Far too often we ourselves can seem hypocritical when it comes to this topic. This may be difficult, but can you take an honest look at yourself and say if you have ever expected a company to go against their...

How do you help a client that thinks they know more than you? This has been a major frustration in my career.  They may literally tell me how to plan, that they don't think they aren't going to pay certain fees vendors are charging, they don't think vendor or venue policies are fair, and they were under the impression...

I wish I was the person who could say, I told you so.  I guess I am the type that would rather steep quietly inside instead of making them feel the embarrassment. 

Even I have created policies and processes to reduce or limit these problems and some of my clients don't even want to follow them.  They feel their way of planning is better, then sure enough a few months later, they are frustrated and it feels like they blame me for it. 

Recently this happened and I guess, I had just had enough. I had a 1-hour Zoom meeting where the client and I went back and forth with their frustration about the budget being more than they wanted to...