I find that a lot of wedding professionals are missing the first, and more important step to booking more weddings and it's no wonder why they're struggling. Without this foundational step, nothing you do in an attempt to book more weddings is going to get much traction. What is this overlooked but incredibly important thing? Knowing who your ideal client is.
I know what you might be thinking "I know who my ideal client is, it's a fun couple between 20-35 who doesn't have time to plan their own wedding and wants to pay my prices." If that sounds familiar, I want you to think about just how diverse that group of people really is.
Someone who is 20 and is getting married may just be getting started in their career, really value handmade, eco-friendly artisanal items and they don't have kids. Someone who is 35 is in a very different place in their career and life so it only makes sense that what they care about and value is going to be different.
Even if you said your ideal client was exactly 30, that's still really vague. Not all 30 year olds are the same. So which 30 year old are you targeting? Is your 30 year old a Walmart shopper or would she never be caught dead there because she disagrees with their business practices?
Does your 30 year old care that the items you sell are handmade and custom to her needs or would she just rather get something that costs less and is more mass market? Does she care about incorporating tradition (perhaps from her culture and family) into her wedding or does she want something completely reminiscent of Offbeat Bride?
We all have values that drive our consumer behavior and these come across in how your ideal client interacts with your business. The important thing to remember is that they are a person and don't just interact with your business. They interact with hundreds of other businesses in their lifetime. They have things they care about and things they hate. They are a whole person and you have to look at them that way to truly understand them, not just their interaction with you.
So how do you figure out who your ideal client really is as a person?
There are a few ways to do this and I've got a handy worksheet to help you with this.
1. Think about your favorite clients, the ones you wish you could clone and work with over and over again. Who are they? How would you describe them to another person? Pay attention to the words you use to describe who they are, their personality and their likes and dislikes.
2. Talk to your favorite clients! Reach out to your previous clients that you loved and tell them you want to work with more people just like them so you'd love to ask them some questions.
Go ahead and ask them some of the questions from this worksheet and note their exact word for word responses. Use their exact words in your marketing and you'll attract more people like them.
Businesses usually describe things in ways that people wouldn't and this is a great way to get to the point and make your business sound human. For instance, I'm sure that the people who work at Spanx know all about the technology of the fabric that smooths your curves but that's not what a normal person wants to know. What would your friend say to you if they were recommending Spanx? They would probably say something like "They make my ass look amazing." and that is what they care about when purchasing this product. Talk about what they care about in your marketing and you'll book more weddings.
3. Download this worksheet and fill it out. If you don't know what the answers are to some of the questions either ask your clients about them or take some educated guesses. Your ideal client is going to shift and change over time so don't worry about getting a perfect view of this person right now. You will learn about them as you work with them but you've got to start somewhere.
Click here to download the ideal client worksheet and get started today! Once you do that come on over to The Evolve Your Wedding Business Community (a totally free community for awesome wedding professionals like you) and let us know what you learned or what you need help with!