Expectations vs Reality

Over the past decade, after dealing with many events clients, I have experienced all kinds of unrealistic expectations. Those clients were coded. PBJ clients were named after Pinterest expectations on a PP&J budget. Wealthier clients always wanted simple that were clean and never asked the price tag. The middle class just wanted to lose the stress even though they didn't realize honey we can't make your stepmom not exist. And low budget expected the moon and left bad reviews if it was anything less. 

I would do anything to make my clients happy. I would change everything 15 times if an engagement was long and new trends arrived. I would do things in-house if they could not afford my vendors. I would play therapist more than stylist on most days. We spent lots of time placating stepparents and making peace with stubborn bridesmaids.

If I just gave my clients more for less or was kinder, they would be appreciative, right? Then I realized I would be exhausted, spent, and not any richer plus they still wouldn't take the time to leave me a review. So how as small business owners do we manage our expectations and the ones of our clients without infuriating either. Here are the common problems I encountered:

1. Being clear on the reality of perception.

I once had a client who spoke over his fiance often. He knew better than everyone and we were all idiots in compression to his brilliant insight. So here I am telling him 4 million times that moving the stage to the center of the room will not only be ugly because of the glide door track but also illogical for the ceremony to reception transition. He demanded I do it. So in my wise thought processing, I drew out the floor plan and made him sign it. I made a paragraph on how I highly disagreed because the light track would mute the uplighting, the track doors, the transition confusion, and so forth. He signed it. On the day of set up, his fiancee arrived and cried. She asked us if we could fix it and the answer was no. I made it clear once it was set that was it. I do this for a living but who am I. They did not want to pay for cleanup and when it was over they were screaming at me about who was going to clean up the trash. I also had him sign off on the approval to remove the cost of clean up so there's that. You can not win with irrational people.

2. Budget vs better choices. 

I quickly learned that low-budget brides think that all flowers cost the same. Unaware a Peonies and a Carnation are nowhere near the same cost point. I would make recommendations as to substitutions and they said no. I made it clear the bouquet would be smaller if they went that route and they still said no. So there were these clients with baby bouquets because HELLO who was going to magically pay for the rest of it?

3. DIY Events

The common misperception is that if you do your one decorations they will be cheaper. Not a fact. In fact, a DIY wedding costs more in the long run. You buy at the retail price, we buy at wholesale. You also pay to rent chairs, tables, table cloths, tents, sound systems, decorations, alter, serving trays, plates, utensils, napkins, and on and on and on. When it is all said and done everyone wants to know what they are going to do when they realize the venue was $2500 and when they realize it is going to rain on their backyard wedding they have already spent $2500 on they now have to add a $3500-$5000 tent with walls. But again who am I.

4. Pictures Lie.

Lighting and camera DOF make it insanely difficult to truly tell a color. Have you ever tried to pick wall paint based on an image? So when clients come and say I want Evergreen and are set on that, I pull 30 samples of evergreen. Then they are like ooooh I don't like that. Then I show them Hunter green and all of a sudden they are like That Is The One! They don't trust that we know all 15 shades of white memorized. 

5. Venues are not Day of Planners.

A common disillusion is "my venue comes with an event coordinator." Yes, it does. It will have your tables and chairs alllllll in place. Good job. That is NOT a day of planner. They are not the ones chasing you around making sure your train is bustled, making sure your vendors know what your cake is supposed to look like, they are not cueing the DJ and keeping a timeline. They actually bank on you going over time so they can charge you more. They are not keeping your uncle Joe from embarrassing you and they are not designers. So it is important to have both.

Ok, so now that I have had my little vent session you can see why I prefer corporate now. The corporate world says we need this event on this day. Here is your budget. I don't care what it looks like just get it done. With that being said how did I fix my little issue with my other dreamer clients?

1. I don't oversell. If they want more they pay more. The best decision I ever made was to tell clients who were wavering "please call my competitors and compare prices." Every single one came back. I did not beg and bargain to keep them. Don't be afraid to lose a client who needs convincing. Those clients don't stay until the end anyways and always become the neediest. That is a lot of work for a little money.

2. Allow your clients to vent and be honest when you see avenues of possible derailing. Always offer a solution. I once had a client call me 2 weeks before her wedding. The venue she chose and vendors she chose were not contract compatible. I brought this to their attention immediately and thankfully I did or their day would have been ruined. They were so upset that their day would be ruined. I asked them to tell me everything they wanted and their total budget for the wedding. I had a new venue and everything they asked for within 24 hrs. It is better, to be honest, and have a solution than to assume you can make it work. I made that mistake early on and in the end, they were mad at me about decisions they made.

3. Be persistent. I have to send about 15 follow-up emails to get a client to leave a review on my Google or FB page. It says Hi we care about yall and are still here but also says hint hint we still really want that review.

4. Always get changes in writing. Be gracious to changes that are out of the clients' control.

5. Don't walk in the weeds unless you have to. Corporate clients do not care what color the napkins are they care how many auction items they have to sell. Wedding clients care about what color the napkins are however they don't think to discuss which car is taking all the gifts home in and who gets the cake topper to the house. When you relieve your clients of having to think about all the minor things or helping your clients think of all the tiny details they have not taken into account that is what makes you worth the money. Know when to wear boots or stay out of the field. 

-Izzy Gentry

clvplanners.com