When you are a wedding planner there will be times when a bride won’t follow through with her commitment to meet or hire you. Here’s tips for what to do when this happens.
Question
I was contacted by a bride for a meeting to talk about possibly planning her wedding. She asked if I had an office where we could meet. I explained to her that I don’t, I meet at a bride’s house or somewhere else. I haven’t heard from her again. Did I do something wrong? I don’t have a space yet to meet with brides.
Answer
It isn’t unusual for a wedding planner to not have an office so don’t assume that’s why you haven’t heard back from her. There are many reasons such as; she may have gotten busy and distracted, she may have just wanted some wedding planning information that you already provided free, so there is no need to meet, or she doesn’t have a sense of urgency about needing a wedding planner, and will contact you at another time.
Here’s what to do when a bride hasn’t reconnected with you:
1) Reach out to her
Don’t be shy and just sit by the phone or computer waiting for her to call or email you, contact her. If she originally called, call her back and leave a voice mail if she doesn’t answer. If you also have her email address, send her a message too.
2) Remind her about your last conversation or email exchange
Don’t appear upset or annoyed, just say you had spoken about meeting and mention some of the benefits of your services that interested her. Suggest a time and place where you can meet.
3) Let her know it’s perfectly fine if she has changed her mind about getting together
Be courteous and understanding. If she has changed her mind, you just want to know so you won’t continue to try to follow up. Don’t demand an explanation.
You can be persistent and reach out more than once, but don’t leave multiple voice mails or text messages and don’t fill her inbox with emails. You don’t want to appear desperate. If you don’t hear from her, move on.
I know when you are new it’s easy to get discouraged and let your imagination run wild with thoughts of what you might have said or done wrong when a bride doesn’t reconnect. But don’t obsess about it or let it make you lose confidence in yourself and your ability to get clients. Spend your time and energy marketing your business to brides who are interested in your services and eager to have you help them plan their weddings.
And you can learn more about starting and running your wedding planning business in my Free Special Report “7 Steps to Becoming a Top Wedding Planner.” You can get it here.
