One of the most important pieces of advice given to most couples who are about to embark on a marriage is that a good relationship is about communication. But there’s one other very important relationship that relies on communication, and that’s their relationship with you as their wedding supplier.
Communication and a good relationship is always going to be a two way street. But when you’re a vendor trying to sell your services amidst competition, it’s important to focus on that customer communication to make sure that you stand above the rest.
So whether you’re trying to convert a lead into an enquiry, working with a couple who have already booked you, or seeking those much valued reviews, here are a few tips on how to nail your customer experience through communication.
Use multiple channels
Millennials are often much more comfortable typing or texting a stranger to someone than picking up the phone and chatting with them in person. Particularly with new leads, making sure that your brand is accessible through multiple channels is important.
Rather than just having a phone number that couples can call look at an email address or contact form they can approach you through. Some millennials will also use your social channels such as Facebook or Instagram to get in touch, as they’re simply more comfortable on those platforms. So make sure that you’re monitoring all of those channels as well as your official enquiry channels through Easy Weddings or your own website.
Once you’ve built that rapport with a millennial client they’re more likely to pick up the phone to give you a call, or even text you if they have any questions.
Respond in the same channel
We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again, make sure you’re responding to couples in the same medium that they’ve contacted you in, unless they specify otherwise. This is the medium that they’re most comfortable with, so they’ll be more likely to respond quickly to you again.
There’s nothing worse than asking for an online quote for an insurance company and having them call you back five minutes later (they’ve done it to all of us I’m sure).
Always be accessible
While we don’t want you to be spending all hours of the night and day responding to couples and being at their beck and call, making sure that you are accessible outside of regular hours can be a useful tool to encourage more people to enquire with you in the first place.
Work hours are becoming more flexible but there are still a lot of couples who will be working 9 to 5 jobs, meaning that they’re more likely to get in touch or try to book meetings outside of those hours. Pick the after hours times that work best for you and work to them on a weekly basis when it comes to contacts and meetings.
When you have online enquiries coming through at night, consider implementing an email template that you can send off quickly with minimal effort. Getting back to a couple to say that ‘you’ve contacted me outside of working hours but I’ll contact you ASAP’ gives you the opportunity of whether or not you want to get back to them straight away or wait until the next day, while still making sure you’ve sent a response. This can be done online through our WedCRM.
Get back to enquiries – and fast!
We won’t go on and on about how it’s important to be the first person to get back to an enquiry, as we’re sure you know this by now! But getting back to enquiries whether or not you’re available is still important.
A lot of couples still find their vendors based on personal recommendations before they go and look at your storefront or website, so to keep those recommendations coming make sure that you are getting back to every single enquiry.
Setting up a template through WedCRM that you can send off saying ‘Thanks for your enquiry but we’re booked out on that date’ is a great way to get back to unqualified leads or leads that you are actually booked out for. It gives the couple the respect of a reply that they deserve without taking up too much of your time. It also means their recommendation is more likely to sound like this: “oh my friend told me to go with these guys but they were booked out for our date” than this: “oh don’t go with them they never even got back to me.”
Be proactive
Any couple planning a wedding is going to be busy, so you don’t want to be bothering them all the time. But making sure you’re proactive to help them with their special day is still important.
One of the best ways you can do this is to take notes of when their date is and when couples are usually finalising details or asking more questions, and just reaching out to touch base to see if they need anything. If you’re a music supplier ask if they need any recommendations, or if you’re a venue touch base to see how their decoration planning is going.
It’s a great way to show that you care about their wedding rather than getting in touch with them when it’s time to pay the bill in full.
Another way of being proactive is also to make sure that you’re responding to your reviews, even the bad ones. Not only does this show that you care during the entire wedding planning process, but it also shows that you’re proactive at improving experiences for couples if someone has left a negative review.
Respond like a human being
Lastly, make sure that you’re responding like a human! Nobody wants to be communicating with a robot on their wedding day. Weddings are about emotion so use that to tap into the feelings of the couple and react in a way that can make their customer experience more enjoyable.
If a couple seems stressed see whether you’re able to help them with anything by giving them recommendations about particular suppliers, or try to put them at ease by offering them to sit down and have a cup of tea. Showing authenticity and empathy goes a long way in any customer service role, and will help you improve your customer communication for good.
