As I started searching for a car in the options available to me, a few site asked me to input my information. As I was interested in what they had to offer, I figured what the heck. What happened afterwards made me feel like what perhaps a current bride might feel like.
I almost immediately started getting both phone calls and e-mails. The phone calls were interestingly enough, coming from restricted numbers. The e-mails were bad at best. Of the phone calls and e-mails, neither addressed the answers to the questions I had filled out on the form given. It was as though I spent all this time filling out the form and they simply ignored it. Candidly – it pissed me off.
Now put yourself in this frame of mind of a bride. She goes to a bridal show or she goes to a website and inputs her information. Can you imagine how she feels when she gets hit up with 50 kajillion vendors trying to get her to buy their stuff? She is simply overwhelmed. Remember – she has not bought your stuff before. The approach for the bride is mind-boggling. And there is a better way. Let me give you some suggestions on how to approach her.
First – approach her and tell her with complete honesty what your objective is. One approach might be, “Hi – I got your name from (the source of the list) and (the source of the list) suggested that you might need( fill in your product or service). Not sure that if that is true or not, and I certainly don’t want to bother you if you don’t need it. Should I send you some information?” This technique is a much better approach than what is normally out there.
Recently, I wrote about the “new normal” in the wedding industry. This “new normal” suggests that we need to do things differently and approach brides differently. My suggestion to you is that you take the time to personalize all your responses. I also suggest you throw away all of your old phone scripts and rewrite them to be totally honest and forward. It is as though we feel that we cannot show our cards. We can’t tell them where we found their information. If the source of information is coming from resources reliable than they’re doing things right, and the bride is given them her information into her permission to have vendors such as us connect with her.
Second- Stop assuming that you are a match for everyone; You’re not. There’s no way that anybody is a perfect match for everybody that’s out there. Go forward with the idea that you are probably not a match, but you’re trying to weed out those who are not matches. I’m not suggesting that you say this to the brides, but that you go forward with this objective in mind.
Third – Be 100% empathetic. It’s not about you, it’s about the bride. These brides are getting hit with so much information. Add to that, they haven’t done it before it is completely overwhelming and they are getting wigged out about buying the right stuff for their wedding. The vendors who can treat these brides with empathy well end up with more brides on their books the following year. As opposed to those who do not treat them with empathy.
It’s hard planning a wedding. Help these girls get what they want and be assisting to them as opposed to just trying to get the business. And I promise you will get more business and will pay off.
Rick Brewer is the Nation’s Foremost expert at Marketing and Selling to Brides. You can sign up for Rick’s Free Weekly “Marketing To Brides Tip of the Week” on his website, www.getmorebrides.com
