Aside from your team, your event planning clients are your best asset and the people that keep you in business.
Whether you subscribe to Zappos team philosophy to take care of your team first, customers second; or you believe that the customer is always right, it’s important to be clear about who your dream event planning client is.
The more you know about your ideal customer – or event planning client, the more focused and effective your marketing efforts are and the more success you’ll experience.
Joey Coleman, world-renowned customer retention expert and best known for “Turn Customers Into Fans In The First 100 Days,” explains how clients (in our case, event planning clients) don’t like uncertainty and how event planning clients are building their opinions of you – whether you realize it or not – within the first 100 days. He shares six steps or touch points to getting your client experience right (I’ve added my own comments to each).
- In Person – have you taken them out for coffee or lunch, shaken their hand?
- Mail – sending a thank you/we’re looking forward to working with you note goes a long way.
- Video – create a quick, personalized video after the event to say thank you and to showcase pictures from the event you planned for your event planning client.
- Phone – in this age of texting and Instant Messages, it’s important to pick up the phone and give your clients updates.
- Email – Sending regular updates via email is important, too.
- Presents – who doesn’t love surprise presents? These can come in the form of books, gift certificates, flowers, or something more personalized.
Your Event Planning Client
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- Define what your ideal event planning client has in common. List their common traits including age, income, gender, industry, values, hobbies and interests.
- Make a list of qualities you want in a client, for example: fun, successful, smart, family focused, etc.
- Make a list of qualities you do not want in a client, for example: rude, lazy, bossy, etc..
- List venues, places and locations where your ideal client spends time?
- In the past, who have you worked with that reflects your ideal client? List their qualities.
- What does your client worry about and what problem can you help them solve?
- What local vendors or other businesses have the same target market? Identify these businesses so you can build a relationship with them as a vendor, an event partner and as a referral source.
Now, I’d love to hear from you…
In the comments below, share how you impress your event planning clients so you retain their business?
Feel free to leave as much detail as you’d like, but remember, links to outside posts and videos are seen as SPAM and are deleted. 🙂
Thanks for joining me each week,
