{ "version": "1.0.0", "segments": [ { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "6.08", "endTime": "39.66", "body": "Welcome everyone to the Wedding Pro Academy Podcast. I'm Nicole, your host. I'm an expert in the wedding industry and I've personally built two 6 figure businesses from the ground up. I am obsessed with building businesses that make lots of money but do so in a way that also create luxurious amounts of freedom. So if you're looking to build, grow, or scale a wedding business in a way that doesn't burn you out, and you'd love some guidance from someone who has done just that, this podcast is for you." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "40.059998", "endTime": "81.765", "body": "Each week I'll cover strategies, tips and tricks that will give you your dream wedding business too. So much for tuning in today. Let's dive in. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 26! Today's episode is going to cover something really cool and very beneficial something I wish I had when I was first getting started in weddings In fact, I paid money for to learn from somebody else who had been doing this for a while who got really good at booking weddings." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "81.765", "endTime": "114.99", "body": "Paid money for this, but I've actually refined this process a lot. What I'm planning on sharing with you guys today for free is my exact process to booking weddings. Okay, so there are 10 steps to my exact process to booking weddings. First, I'm just going to go over the 10 steps with you and then I'm going to break them down in a little more detail. Step number one: Pre sell." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "115.15", "endTime": "138.365", "body": "You need to pre sell couples before they reach out to you. Step two: Screen them. Who they are, what they're looking for. You want to screen them before you respond to their email. Number three, respond promptly." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "138.765", "endTime": "155.02", "body": "You want to respond really quickly. Number four, Figure out their vision, their budget and if they are a good fit. Five. Send specific suggestions. Six." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "157.265", "endTime": "172.51001", "body": "Send information on a specific package that is catered to them. You want to give them options. Number seven: Address their worries and concerns directly. Number eight: Listen more. You want to help them." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "172.91", "endTime": "197.785", "body": "Number nine: Check-in and follow-up. And number 10: Stay in the mindset of My people always come. If they're good fit, they'll book me. So holding that mindset throughout the process while you're waiting to hear back, while you don't know if they're going to book you or not. You want to stay in a positive, open headspace." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "198.76001", "endTime": "235.56001", "body": "Okay, let's break down the first step, which is to pre sell the couples. What you really need to start practicing is making sure that before the couple contacts you, that you are giving off a professional, a seasoned look online. You need them to see you as an expert, and how you do that is how you present yourself online. So, is through your website, this is through your online presence. You need to have consistency with your brand." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "236.2", "endTime": "272.035", "body": "So, the way that your brand, your company looks online, this needs to be consistent. Also, you need to be able to very clearly communicate what you do, who you help, what your services are. The couple should look at your website or your social media or whatever and very quickly know what it is you do and who you help. Also, you absolutely need to have proof of how good you are. You need reviews and testimonials that will back you up." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "273.075", "endTime": "304.55502", "body": "Lastly, you need to have a solid online presence. So, they need to trust that you are a legit business and not just some, newbie that doesn't know what they're doing. This is how you pre sell them. If you have all of these pieces together, then they will reach out to you and you'll have a much easier time booking them. Each of these parts are very, very important and while you're waiting for couples to reach out to you, these are the things you should be working on." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "306.475", "endTime": "329.52502", "body": "Step number two. I want you to screen the couples. So why would you do this? Because the more you know about them, the better chance you have of booking them. You want to set up a system that will help you figure out very specific information about them, that will help you determine if they're a good fit for you or not." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "329.685", "endTime": "369.655", "body": "So how you do this is through a contact form. The contact form will be on your website and it'll have very specific questions that will help you to figure out all the details you need to know in order to figure out if they're a good fit for you or not. For example, you might want to ask in that form what their budget is, what their guest count is, where their venue is, what their wedding date is, what their vision is. Anything that is going to give you more information about who they are, what they're looking for, and if they're a good fit for you or not. Now this contact form, once they hit submit, will go directly to your email." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "370.37", "endTime": "408.61", "body": "And if you make all of these fields required, they'll have to answer it in order to contact you, then you'll get a really really good idea on who this couple is, what type of people they are, what they're looking for, and if you can actually help them. You want to screen them ahead of time so when you reach out to them, you can reach out in a very specific way. Step number three is to respond promptly. Email them back quickly, and I mean within twenty four hours. Definitely no more than forty eight hours." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "408.61", "endTime": "439.875", "body": "This is really, really important. Quick email responses are not the norm in the wedding industry, unfortunately, and if you are the one vendor that is able to respond quickly and thoughtfully, you will win over the other guys. This has booked me so many weddings, and I've heard so often. You responded so quickly, and we appreciate it. We really appreciate how thoughtful your responses are." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "439.955", "endTime": "455.29", "body": "We really appreciate how you've responded right away. Couples are super excited about their big day. They really want to hear back from you, so try to respond quickly. This little thing that goes a long way. Okay." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "455.29", "endTime": "484.61002", "body": "Step number four. I want you to figure out their vision, their budget, and then determine if they're a good fit. So when a couple reaches out to you by email, by website, by social media, or any other way, by phone, you should get a good feel for them based on what they tell you about their wedding. And before all of this, you need to know who your ideal couple is. And I want you to get really, really clear about this." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "485.81", "endTime": "521.985", "body": "So, for example, for me personally, I help couples who want to get married in Hawaii with a guest count of 50 or less. Couples who want planning to be easy and fun. They have money, they're not super tight with their budget, and they are willing to pay for a beautiful experience. They want simple, they want beautiful, they want luxury feel but they're okay with a more laid back non formal reception. Now this is a very specific type of couple but I know this couple really well." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "522.385", "endTime": "546.22", "body": "I know, like, everything about them. This is my couple. So who is your couple? If you're not sure yet, spend some time figuring it out. The more weddings you do, the more clear you'll get on this, and the more clear you get on your ideal couple, the more you'll be able to cater to them, the better experience you'll be able to give them because you know them better." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "546.71497", "endTime": "577.565", "body": "You've got to get really clear on who your ideal couple is. Then, want you to figure out this couple that's reaching out to you, are they your ideal couple? I can usually figure this out pretty quickly through the questions on my contact form I ask them specific questions within those first couple of emails back and forth to get clearer on this if I'm not sure. I also want to figure out their vision and their budget. So what if they don't know their budget?" }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "577.805", "endTime": "595.42004", "body": "A lot of couples don't. They've never planned a wedding before. They don't know how much they should spend in photography or wedding planning or as a whole. But they usually have an idea of, like, around how much they want to spend. So just ask." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "595.42004", "endTime": "615.725", "body": "And I know it's like a weird thing to ask about money, but it doesn't have to be weird because you're really just here to help them. And let them know that I just want to help you and see what is help you to see what is and isn't possible. If you have an idea of what you want to spend in photography, let me know. Then you'll have a baseline. You'll know where to start." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "617.52997", "endTime": "644.48", "body": "The next step is you want to send specific suggestions and help them. What I usually do is once I have a feel for their vision, for their budget, for what they're looking for, I have an idea of who they are and what their expectations are, then I can give them some honest feedback. Is this possible? Can they pull this off for this amount of money? Or is it not possible?" }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "645.12", "endTime": "683.75", "body": "And if it's not possible, what other options are? Then I will suggest a specific package of mine based around their specific needs, based around their specific plan. And I'm going to offer a solution that works within their budget, plus one additional option that gives them a little more at a higher cost. So, I'll elaborate all of these added benefits, and I'll make a very clear, simple comparison for them. You want to try and keep all of the information super helpful and as simple as possible." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "685.095", "endTime": "721.83496", "body": "Okay, the next step is to address their worries and concerns. So, if you don't have a place in your contact form that says, Do you have any worries or concerns, any questions? You can ask them directly by email once they reach out to you. This question is very, very helpful because it helps you to understand what are the things that are stressing them out right now. What specifically is worrying them or making them feel like this might not be possible." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "722.315", "endTime": "745.125", "body": "So, here's an example. I might get a bride and groom that say, We want an oceanfront wedding. We have 50 guests. We want something intimate, beautiful, simple, a nice dinner afterwards, but we have no idea if this is even possible, or what it would even cost, or where to even start. So, let's back up." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "745.285", "endTime": "767.435", "body": "What is stressing them out? Well, I can tell right away what's stressing them out is not knowing. They're feeling overwhelmed, they're feeling confused because of all of the uncertainty. So, me being an expert in weddings, I can very easily clear this up for them. So, I would say something like, here's what I would suggest." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "767.595", "endTime": "807.575", "body": "Based on your vision for wanting an intimate ceremony at a beautiful oceanfront, totally private location, my favorite venue, my favorite beach venue is blank, and I would give them a suggestion. Then I'd hone in on my package here. We offer customizable wedding packages at this specific wedding venue that I think would be perfect for you. With this package, we would handle everything. All the planning, connecting you with the best vendors, giving you lots of options, negotiating pricing for you so you just get to make all the fun, easy decisions." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "808.055", "endTime": "854.31506", "body": "Additionally, all of our packages include a bouquet, a photographer, the venue fees, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Yours might be specific in a different way. Then I would sort of close it off with, Basically, once you book us, you're getting a really good you give us a really good idea of your vision, and then we lay out a plan for you and execute it, all while you get to make all the big decisions, which allows your wedding day to be super personalized and a beautiful reflection of you. You tell us what we what you want, and we make it happen. You just get one planner who will guide you through everything, and she's available to you 247 to help with all wedding related questions and plans." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "855.03503", "endTime": "892.025", "body": "And then a few weeks prior, we put together a timeline, set all the details up for you so that when you arrive, everything's handled and taken care of. You just get to show up, be in the moment, fully enjoy it, and soak it all in because that's what you deserve. So I sort of gave her a very clear idea of what's included, how the planning process would work, and then I would probably close it off with, here are the details of this package. And then it'd be, like, an outline of the package with pricing. So now she knows what it costs, what's included, what she can and can't do." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "892.025", "endTime": "911.195", "body": "It makes her feel in control, like she has a plan. Like, this is an actual possibility that this could work. And it will also make her very clear about, Is this a good fit for me? Is this exactly what I want? Or do I want something bigger?" }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "911.195", "endTime": "933.32", "body": "Does this fit within my budget or does it not? So, I cleared up right there all of the stress and worry because I took away all of the confusion, all of the uncertainty, all of the not knowing. I gave her a very clear option of possibility. Here's exactly how it could work. Here's exactly what it would cost." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "934.265", "endTime": "976.355", "body": "So, that's how I would address the worries and concerns and relate it back to my package. And you could do this similarly for a photography package or her makeup package or whatever, but you want to make sure you understand what their worries are and then address them directly. Okay, the next step is to listen more and help them. So, I just wanted to elaborate a little bit on this because I feel like so many of you knew wedding businesses. This is something that you skip over or don't prioritize because you don't know how important it is." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "976.435", "endTime": "1016.06", "body": "So listening more this is what I mean by that. When you're speaking to a new possible bride or groom, ask them to tell you about what their vision is, what they're looking for, what their stresses and worries are, and then just listen. So this is specifically if you're doing a phone consult or an in person consult, and this is gonna be really valuable to you. Let them do most of the talking. Get a feel for what their main worries are, and instead of trying to sell them right away on one of your packages, I want you to just repeat back to them what their worries are." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1016.3", "endTime": "1046.2899", "body": "Repeat back to them what their vision is, exactly like word for word, because they need to know that you're actually hearing them, that you actually get it, that you're listening. Then what I want you to do is address their plan directly and let them know if it's possible. Tie in your services or offer to their worries. How does what you do make this something that they don't need to worry about again, ever? Then you wanna tie in your services to their vision." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1046.61", "endTime": "1059.095", "body": "How does what you do align with their vision? Or does it not? And be honest here. You want to offer real help. Tie in your services to their plan." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1059.335", "endTime": "1094.9401", "body": "Are there some parts of the plan that are missing because they've never planned a wedding in your state before? What do you know that they don't know? What information can you share with them that is going to make their plan so much easier, so much simpler, so much efficient, more efficient, so much better? What can you tell them about their plan, their vision, their budget that would be really, really helpful for them right now? And then you wanna check-in and ask, Okay, here's the package that I suggest for you." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1094.9401", "endTime": "1115.9749", "body": "Would you like any more details on this specific service? Do you have any questions on anything? You want to do this in a very helpful way. This is how you sell without being salesy or pushy. You got to make it more about helping, more about listening, and less about selling." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1115.975", "endTime": "1150.375", "body": "So only focus in on the listening. Listening first and then helping second. The sales part, so like the telling them about your packages and the prices and options, ways you can help them, that comes later and you want to just do it in a very like helpful way, not a pushy, sales y way. So after I do that and they have all of the information that they need, I've answered all of their questions, I'm going to kind of leave it up to them. I'll say, you know, here's all this information, here's how booking would work." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1151.1799", "endTime": "1188.48", "body": "We usually take a deposit, a non refundable deposit of $2,500 that goes directly towards the package. And if you want to move forward, the deposit is due upon sending the contract and I'll need this specific information, and then we will lock in your date with the venue. And just so you know, May is really busy this year, and our dates are filling up pretty quickly. So if you like to place a hold on the date, would suggest you do that so you don't miss out on this specific date. And then I just leave it in their court." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1188.48", "endTime": "1205.385", "body": "They get to decide. I'm not being pushy. I'm just, you know, helping them out and then giving them an option and telling them what would happen if they decide to book me. I then let it go. I let them have time and space to talk it over, to think about it." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1205.74", "endTime": "1229.115", "body": "Sometimes they'll book me right on the spot, sometimes they won't, but I'm not worried about it. Then, in about a week or so, if I haven't heard from them, I will check-in, and I'll just do a quick email follow-up. And it doesn't have to be pushy. It doesn't have to be salesy. It can just be really simple." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1230.63", "endTime": "1245.1901", "body": "I'll usually say, hey. Just checking in. Haven't heard from you in a while. I just wanted to see if you had any questions or if you wanted to look into locking in this wedding date. May is starting to fill up, so please reach out." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1246.425", "endTime": "1262.98", "body": "Looking forward to hearing back. Hope we get a chance to be a part of your special day. Excited for you, Nicole, or something like that. Something very simple and, you know, real. And then I, again, I'll just let it go." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1262.98", "endTime": "1284.835", "body": "Maybe I won't hear back from them never. And that is often the case. You don't book every single wedding that you've spent a lot of time trying to book. But, there are some that you do book. Usually, if I've had six or more emails with them or I've done a call with them and then I've had at least five emails with them, they'll generally book me." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1286.115", "endTime": "1314.105", "body": "But, I don't hold them to it. I don't make myself worthy if they book me or not. I'm not like, I suck if they don't book me. And instead, and this is probably the most important step, step 10, you want to stay in the space, in the mindset of, My people always come. If they're a good fit, they'll book me." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1316.53", "endTime": "1337.405", "body": "And you just need to believe that. And then let it go. Don't get stuck in the details of scarcity of like this brain craziness of should I email them again? Should I have offered them a discount? Should I have changed my services to incorporate what they want even though it goes against everything that I do?" }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1337.7251", "endTime": "1353.47", "body": "Like, those are the crazy thoughts that might be running through your mind, but let them go. They're totally normal. Of course, you really wanted them to to book, like but remember that your people will come. Maybe they're not your people. I don't know." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1353.47", "endTime": "1373.6101", "body": "Like, maybe the right person is about to contact you. So what I want you to do right now instead is, like, zoom out. The universe is in control right now. Trust that it's all working. It's all working in your favor, and the universe is, like, pulling invisible strings right now, calling your people to you." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1373.6101", "endTime": "1399.71", "body": "Trust that your people always find you. And instead of saying it's not working, say, I wonder what the universe is bringing me, or I wonder what God is bringing me. This part is so important you guys. You need to stay in this open space of belief. If you don't hear back from them after putting in all the effort that you've put in, your brain is going to naturally go to the negative." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1400.5901", "endTime": "1412.9149", "body": "But just let those thoughts be in there and say, Hey, of course you feel scared, but go away. It's okay. I got this. My people are coming. It's working." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1412.9149", "endTime": "1423.9501", "body": "They're coming. It's all being set up for me right now. Even though I can't see it, I know the universe is orchestrating everything for me. I did everything perfectly. It's working." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1423.9501", "endTime": "1436.67", "body": "They're coming. There's a bigger unfolding happening now. I wonder what the universe is setting up for me. And then just let it go. Trust in this process." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1436.91", "endTime": "1465.69", "body": "So if you can do that, you will book weddings. The more you can lean into that last step, the better it will be for you. Because you'll stay in this energy of trusting that your people will come, and so when you go to do marketing during this time, when you're waiting for people to book you, you won't be in that desperate energy, that salesy pushy energy, which is what repels brides and grooms. So quick recap. Here is my exact process to booking weddings." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1465.69", "endTime": "1486.92", "body": "Number one, you want to pre sell them. And this is how you appear to them as a business, as a company, as a person, as a photographer, wedding planner, whatever, before they reach out to you. They need to trust you. You need to appear professional like an expert. You need to have proof of reviews and testimonials." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1487.4", "endTime": "1511.22", "body": "Number two, you need to screen them ahead of time. Get all the necessary information that you can so that it's easier to book them. Specifically, you'll do this through your contact form. Step number three, I want you to respond promptly within twenty four hours. These first emails are the most important and they matter a lot." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1511.7001", "endTime": "1539.54", "body": "So, check your email every day, make it a specific time where you check emails and like just respond quickly. Okay, number four figure out their vision and budget and then decide if they're a good fit for you. Number five send specific suggestions on your packages or services based around their vision and budget. Make this very specific. Give them options." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1539.7001", "endTime": "1570.52", "body": "Number seven, address their worries and concerns. Number eight, listen more and help them. This is very important especially if you're doing a phone consult or an in person consult. Number nine: a simple follow-up is all you need to do about a week after you haven't heard from them. And then number 10, stay in the mindset of trusting that the universe has your back and your people always come." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1571.0801", "endTime": "1622.5599", "body": "And if they're a good fit, they'll book you. And if they're not, it's okay to let them go. Your people are coming! If you found this helpful but you'd like a little bit more, I do a very awesome detailed breakdown on my website which you can grab for free and it's my exact process to booking weddings, a PDF file of this whole thing, step by step with specific scripts, specific response examples, and so much more. So check it out at WeddingProAcademy.com and then click on the freebies tab and there you'll click on my exact process to book more wedding scripts and examples and again that's weddingproacademy.com/freebieswithans at the end." }, { "speaker": "Nicole", "startTime": "1622.7999", "endTime": "1629.0399", "body": "Alright guys, hope you have a great weekend. I will see you next week. Bye for now!" } ] }