The Sweet Spot: Where Online Leads and Word Of Mouth Referrals Leads To Your Mature Wedding Planner Business

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Transcript

 Hi friend. My name is Sarah Chancey and I'm the founder behind Chancey Charm. We're a national wedding planning and design firm with over 30 planners across the country and abroad. We also host a wedding planner Academy where I have been honored to help over 5,000 new and existing planners in the.

I've been in business for over 10 years. I feel like I'm dating myself when I say that. And I have launched 15 different locations under the Chancey Charm brand domestically. Now we only have 13 locations on our site, so. Just full transparency here. I have not been as instant success. This journey has not been instant, instant success, and there have been failures.

In fact, the first time I handed out my card to a venue, they handed it back and told me that it would be better for me to keep it because otherwise they would throw it in the trash can when I left. So not the, uh, is the success story that you might be looking for. However, I feel like what I'm gonna share with you today is viable, valuable information.

It is the steps that I use to launch six figure locations under the Chancey Charm brand and help vendors across the country, and I'm really, really excited about what I'm gonna share even more. So I'm excited about the checklist that I'm gonna share because I feel like personally with. Personality type.

I often hop on these webinars and I'm like, I've gotta do all the things. I've gotta do all the things tomorrow. Today. Yesterday I should have already done them, and I feel overwhelmed. And I'm hoping that when you leave, you feel inspired and you have an actionable checklist that you can work through over the next six months to a.

That's the other little tidbit that I wanna share when I say that we weren't in instant success. I mean that I have launched, like I said, 15 locations, and I have seen over and over and over again that it takes six months to a year to have a successful business to reach this sweet spot we're gonna talk about.

So give yourself grace. Give yourself grace as we dive in. The really fun thing about having a checklist and moving through this content today is because I know there are a lot of people coming at this. From different places in their business, they are in different places on our journey. So my hope is that you feel really good about the items you get to check off, and then you can also see where you can make improvements to move the needle, to move towards the sweet spot where you're getting those word of mouth referrals and online leads for your business.

A sustainable, healthy business that pays you, pays your bills, pays for your family's vacation. And that you can regain sanity in your life if you feel like you're spiraling. And we're gonna talk about that. So let's dive in to the guide that I'm sharing with y'all today to page four, which is the beginning of the content.

So on page four, you're gonna see a target client description. Now there are going to be some questions on that page that help you define your target client. Now for those of you who are like, wait a second, I do not need to define my target. I know my target client, I've been doing this for years. Stop. I wanna challenge you.

I wanna ask you, do you know your target client in your mind, or do you have your target client written down? Have you actually taken the time to write out who your target client is? If you haven't, if you have, congratulations, . If you haven't, I wanna encourage you to do this. The reason why is because if you want to grow your team, you need to have your target client defined.

You need to know. Where, what they're looking at regularly, are they, are they on Facebook? Are they on Instagram? What's their budget? What is, what's important to them? You wanna know all of these things and you wanna write them down so that as your team grows, they also know who your target client is, who you're trying to attract, what your aesthetic gets.

And then you're going to take the answers to those questions. And I provided a vision statement calculator. You're gonna plug those answers to those questions into the vision statement, so as you continue to define your target clients, this might change. Your target client might grow and evolve over the years, so you're gonna wanna keep this guide so that you can look back and you can continue to tweak and plug away at the vision statement.

Our vision statement at Chancey Charm, which I defined probably nine years ago, is still the very first thing. We have a planner portal, so we have a portal on the back end of our site that no one can see at our team. It's at the very top of that page because that's how important it is that we all know.

What we're doing together, who our target client is, and what our vision statement is. So I really, really encourage you to take the time to answer these questions and fill in the blank so that you have a vision, you have a target client that's gonna help us build your brand, and you have a vision statement that's gonna help your entire team serve that target.

With excellence in the way that you want them to be served. So incredibly, incredibly important foundational step. Really encourage you to come back to this and define your target client and define your vision statement, because these two items are going to affect our entire checklist to the sweet spot.

Our entire checklist. It's all built together. That's why we're starting with the found. So let's dive into why I think most of you are here, which is the checklist that really dives into how we go from new location to successful sweet spot. So we've talked about your target client, we've talked about your vision statement.

Once you define those things, You're going to want to reflect on what your calling card is, so what makes you unique. This should all be snowballing into each other. In fact, I would love to see your target client, your vision statement, your calling card. List it out in the Facebook group. I would love to cheer you on towards that and just celebrate that milestone that you have that for your business.

because it's so important for me, I feel like I started a planning business. Like I said, I, no one wanted even my business card , even after I spent an hour with them during their venue. And so I'm not there. I'm not there. . Um, and so, I went to a vendor meeting with one of my very dear friends, so Dallas Mendes.

She's a fine art photographer. She blew me away with her presentation and why doing film photography was like her heart and passion. And then she asked me what made me unique and I was like, she really didn't ask me that in those words, but she did. And I left that meeting feeling like, who am. I'm just drowning in a sea of other vendors.

Maybe you feel like that. Maybe you're there right now. That's how I felt a little defeated, but. I pulled myself together and I started thinking about my interior design background, my sketching ability, my design boards, and I decided that that was gonna be my calling card. That was gonna be what made me unique and made me different, and it was such a huge turning point for me and my business and Chancey charmed the brand you see today because I

My husband threatened my life. My first year of business, I had five different logos that I created, and I just kept trying to find what was gonna make me cool, what was gonna make me successful, but it wasn't until I started to define my target client, my vision statement and my calling card. That I was able to finally work with a professional to give me a logo that would propel my business forward in the right direction.

And that's still the logo you see today. It was incredible and it helped me network with the right vendors. So that's the next checklist item is solid brands. Working with a professional to step away from your, someone that steps away from your business, sees your target client, sees your vision statement, sees your calling card, sees you better than you could see yourself, and helps establish that solid brand for you.

This was so key to the success, still is key to the success of Chance Char. So from there, from that, Journey towards my brand and towards a solid brand that really did attract the luxury client that I wanted, that would love my sketches and my design boards. Then I was able to start pursuing the right vendor partners.

And when I talked earlier about I want to help you find freedom in your. To save your marriage. This is what I'm talking about, because before I had a solid brand, I felt like a hamster on a wheel because literally there were endless vendor meetings, endless venue tours, because I was just going everywhere trying to connect with everyone and be everything to everyone.

And then I got a solid grant and I was able for the first time to take a deep.  and to step back and start assessing is this venue in line with my aesthetics? Are they in line with my target client? Are they pursuing the same target client? Is this vendor pursuing the same target client? And I was better able to use my time more wisely to meet with the right venues and the right vendors, and I was able to take a deep breath.

I hope and pray that that happens for. As you walk through this content, the other thing, the next checklist item is focus and boundaries. I was able to say, no, we're not gonna provide florals. I love florals. I love calligraphy, I love stationary. We're not gonna do those things. Our services are gonna be focused.

And we're gonna say no so that we can provide exceptional, exceptional service. And I was able to go into my next client consultation, and I hope you do too, with a list of nos, a list of things that I wasn't gonna do because before I established my target client, the, the vision statement, the services I wanted to provide, the feeling I wanted to provide, I was saying yes to everyth.

I had no reason to say no to anything. So that's an important, important part of the process. And it's hard. It's hard to start saying no, but it's so important. The other thing that I will say is that as you're working on your boundaries and your vendor partners, and you're refining who you're gonna spend time with, what you're gonna pursue in terms of a styled shoot or whatever to move your business forward, it's going to really help you when you start working with clients to know who to refer.

And who to work with. And when you're doing a styled shoot, those vendor partners are automatic. Yes, I need to reach out to them. One of the little tips and tricks if you're new in the industry that I really wanna encourage you with is finding other vendor partners who are also in the same stage as. I actually just amazingly connected with some incredible luxury vendors nine years ago who were also starting their journey, and we had the same target client and we were all willing to put in the hard work together to make that style shoot extra.

To really take it to the next level because we all had the same goal in mind and that was so important. I know I personally, through Rising Tide, have met a lot of new and aspiring vendors and have had a lot of success with that and seen a lot of success with that as an idea. Somewhere you can connect with.

Vendors who are in the same place as you if you're new. And I really, really wanna encourage you to think about that and to get yourself out there. And again, I'm an introverted extrovert. Networking is not my forte , but in the beginning, it is an important part of the process if you're gonna find other vendors who are in the same place and ready.

Work hard and dive in. So that's been a really important part, um, of my journey. And speaking of the next checklist item is vendor networking. So I love that this process is helping us assess which networking is the right fit. So you see an open house at that new barn venue down the road for you and your target client is a client that's getting married at a barn.

Gotta get yourself dressed and down there. You know, I just, I can't tell you how much freedom this brought for me as an introverted extrovert who loves being behind a computer or behind a phone. It really helped me get so much clarity on who was worth getting dressed up for and getting out there for.

And I don't mean that sounds horrible, like everyone has value, of course. I have a limited amount of time outside of my family to push my business forward, which partners were going to were worth, and going to help me push my business forward in the right direction. I hope that makes sense. I hope that makes sense.

So that is such a key and something, I hope that you're like mind blown. I don't have to do all the things. I don't have to be a hamster on a. I can spend my time wisely with the right people, with the people who are pursuing the same target client. I love it. So next up, we're gonna dive into a couple of my very favorite just building blocks for increasing your online presence and.

Those word of mouth referrals. That's how we're gonna end, and I'm really excited about it. This is all a snowball. I hope you can see that it's all a snowball. So the first thing is gonna be a brand shoot. Now, I love it when a vendor is willing to invest in this from the get go, because I think it provides such, such valuable social media and website content.

I know it's not always possible because a brand shoot is where you're gonna actually pay the photographer to come and take action shots. It's a little bit like a style shoot. You're gonna set up a table or be at a desk if you're a choregrapher. Or rent a space. If you're a caterer, you need to set some things up, so you're going to invest to set up a little snippet of a wedding day or the behind the scenes so that you can get some action shots.

Because honestly, when you're at a style shoot, first of all, I look like a hot mess at a style sheet. That is not the time for me to be taking action. Or head shots and maybe your photographers a rockstar and she can take that. She can take action shots during the style shoot and get all the detail shots and make you look amazing.

That's great. And I'm so grateful for people who can do that. . I am not one of those people that are gonna be super photogenic at a style. Mainly because like I have honestly, really bad style. Shoot luck. I like it always rains or the venue cancels. I've had the venue canceled like twice on me, like I don't know.

I don't know if you have a crazy style shoot. Story dme. I would love to laugh with you or cry with you, whatever you're ready to do, but I'm not in a place to have really great, gorgeous photos taken of me at a styled shoot. So at Chancey Charm, we actually, when we do our retreat, we do a brand shoot.

We're setting it up kind of like a styled shoot, but generally without a couple. A bouquet or anything like that, just a table. And we're getting some glamor shots, basically of us on a wedding day, and we use these for our website. And social media and Katie Catel has done an amazing job. Carrie Joy just did, um, some shots for us at our 10 year anniversary party, and those are just so gorgeous for Instagram, social media, website, but they're not happening on a wedding day.

They're not happening at a style shoot. Honestly, wedding day, I'm so focused on the clients. I can't imagine being like, and can you take a picture of me? So a brand shoot, in my opinion, is a really important part of building your online presence so that potential clients can see you in action doing your work, but you look put together.

And I think it just provides a lot of great content because the next checklist item is a viable website. So making sure that you have a solid online presence, and I know this is something that a lot of people put off. I just worked with Kristen and Davey last year. I'm actually working on a blog with them right now because they've made it so seamless, so beautiful.

And I really encourage you to consider, if you don't already, to ha to get a, a website and it does not have to be in depth, can literally be a one page website with your about information and a contact form. It does not have to be complicated, but in 2021, I'm like, what year is it? That is so I. It's so important to have a viable website for your business, for people to treat, to treat you with respect and view you as a viable business to move towards that sweet spot.

Speaking of social media presence is our next checklist item, and a lot of people are like, I don't like social media. I don't wanna do social media. Let me encourage you with. Number one, just have 20 images. You don't have to have more than 20 images, but either purchase or create 20 images in your aesthetic for your social media, just so your potential client can see that you have that presence.

Again, an on a, a beautiful one page. Instagram or Facebook that has 20 images. This is what it's basically doing is showing your aesthetic, showing you as a person, and hopefully in action. You've gotten some action shots and it's just giving people. The affirmation that you're a real business, that you're legit.

Here you are. Wow. You know, they can trust you. It's building that trust factor. Again, it's that snowball. It's reaffirming your target client and your vision statement and what makes you unique. You can talk about all those things on there, so it's just a snowball towards the sweet spot. And next up is the next to last point, the next to last checklist item.

And people hate this one. In fact, when we watch a new location, this is one of the things I ask for and people are like, I can't do this. Reviews. Reviews are so important, y'all, I gotta tell you. Reviews, they're everything. Your potential client wants to see that you. Raving reviews online, they wanna know that their client experience is going to be stellar.

So making sure that you have reviews is so key. So the number one pushback I get from new vendors is that they don't have any past clients yet. I want you to stop. I want you to think about that past coworker you did a huge brunch event lunch with, or your aunt, you did a baby shower. I want you to think outside the box because Google my business will allow you to collect those reviews, even if they're not a past bride or groom.

Even more exciting if you did a brand shoot or if you did a style shoot, you can contact those vendor partners for a review on Google. My. You can leave them a review on Google My Business. So again, we're just building that momentum. You're gonna have that photographer say, I love working with them.

They're so incredible. That's going to build affirmation for your potential target client, that you are the right caterer, floral designer, planner, photographer for them when they see that. So think outside the box when it comes to reviews. Styled shoots, again, like I said, brand shoots. That's a great way to work with those vendor partners that share your target client and to build rapport and get reviews and leave reviews.

The other thing I'll talk about is that on social media, back up a little bit. It's a great. To shout out about those other vendor partners, and that's something that I've always done on gmcc Charm. Love doing. I'm. Constant cheerleader for other vendors, love doing that. And when I shout out about them, they often return the favor.

So again, we're building that snowball, connecting with more people online. We share our target client. It's all a snowball. So finally, I'm gonna leave with this. This is my favorite advice of the entire entire presentation. Venue partner. Y'all. This has helped us launched so many six figure locations under Chancey charm.

Essentially, we make a list just like we can with the venue partners of venues who fit our aesthetic and target clients, and we pursue them for a partnership. Now, if you're a venue and you're listening to this, don't worry. This is gonna work for you as well. I'd love for you to hear how this is really gonna snowball for you.

We reach out to those venues. And we say, Hey, can we come and have a tour? By the way, we're reaching out with our website, attached, with our social media attached so they can see that we're viable. They can see that we share a target client. This is all building together. We go for a tour, and then after the tour we follow up with an ask.

We follow up with a proposal. Hey, Would you like to form a partnership? We'll bring clients to you. We'll help at your next open house. We will promote you in exchange for being on your preferred vendor list because being on that list is so incredibly valuable. Clients often use a venue as a gateway vendor, and they find the rest of their vendors on the list from the venue.

So being on that list is so. And I have seen so many incredible client referrals from venue partnerships. It's really, really helped us get a lot of momentum. And if you're an established vendor, this is obviously something you can do with established venues in your area. However, if you're a new vendor, I wanna encourage you to look for new venue.

They might not be in the very heart of the city, but new venues who are trying to launch and we'll see value in your partnership that you're gonna move forward together. That's been a secret with Chancy Charm that we've used in new locations, is really looking at new venues that we can partner with and really.

Champion. So that is honestly one of my very favorite tips, and I really hope you'll take it and run with it. If you're a venue, imagine all the referrals you can get from that vendor list. If you leverage it the right way and you use it for partnerships that are gonna help grow your business, not just rely on you for referrals.

I love, love, love, love, love the venue partnership, and honestly, I have so much more that I would love to cover, but my time is coming to an end here. Like I said, I hope and pray that all this information was a blessing to you, that you're actually feeling. Both a sigh of relief and empowered to make the next right step to move your business forward.

If you would like to continue the conversation, I'll be available in the Facebook group from questions, and I would love for you to consider joining my Mastermind where monthly I'm getting on a call. Just answering questions and honestly learning a lot from the Mastermind members who are getting after it.

They are moving their business forward with excellence, and it's a group that I'm incredibly, incredibly proud to be a part of. Thanks again for your time. I hope and pray this is a blessing to you, rooting for you always friend.