We want the “wow” factor. The moment your client's eyes light up seeing all of your hard work come to fruition. Heaven forbid they see what it takes to make it all happen. As wedding pros, we strive for glam and perfection and fear that showing clients unfinished work will diminish our ability to impress and please. When in fact, we're missing out on an opportunity to highlight all of the details and steps we take to get to the finished product (the big day). We’re underselling ourselves instead of showing clients why we’re worth the price that we’re worth. Read on for why you should start being transparent with your process and how you can collaborate with your clients by doing so.
Behind the Scenes
How can we expect clients to ever understand the type of process that occurs and the amount of work needed to plan a wedding if we never let them peek behind the curtain? Or even truly allow them to be a part of the process? Seeing the progression of their wedding is a gratifying experience for clients while also allowing them to reflect on how much you’re doing to make their vision come to life just the way they want it. This is a great method to fully depict the price of your services. If clients aren’t able to see all of the steps you take, they may question how your services are worth the price. But if they’re with you through the entire process, they’ll have a higher appreciation for your work. As you’re having your first conversations with clients, talk about the process. Use your transparency and openness for collaboration as a selling point.
Keep them in the know by updating them on where you’re at in the process and even by creating a written version of everything you typically do behind the scenes as a pro. Wedding planner Courtney N. Shale writes about all of her work behind the scenes, detailing vendors, timelines, venues, décor, and design. This is a concrete way to allow your clients into your process and elevate your market.
Pro Tip: Aisle Planner is all about making your life and your client's lives easier and more efficient. To make this happen, though, strategically onboarding your clients is such an important part of the process. Check out this Help Center article for tips to make client onboarding easy.
Permission Settings
Aisle Planner makes it easy for you to make this shift and be transparent with your clients by using the AP permission settings. Instead of leaving the budget, notes, design studio boards, etc. on “Planner Prep” mode you can give clients access to view your progress. The permission settings allow you to give access in different ways. For example, when working with the budget, you may want to have your permission settings as “read-only” so clients can view the budget but can’t necessarily make changes, while for the design studio you may want them to be able to edit and contribute. Learn more about what your couples see in Aisle Planner so you can start this open dialogue.
Collaboration Tools
In regard to collaboration, AP has tools to help you excel at collaborating. Couples these days want to be active participants in the process and have the desire to hold all information at their fingertips at any given time. The AP collaboration tools use efficiency and technology to give clients exactly that. You can use comments to collaborate to keep clients in the loop about relevant updates. This feature can be used in the checklist items, images in the design studio, and in each vendor/contact record. It’s the easiest way to track conversations and get ideas across without being in the same room. Showing clients exactly what you do adds to your value as an event professional!
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