Repost of an Andy Ebon article that I found particularly interesting.
Andy hit it on the head with this piece.
Buying "the" Dress, sets the emotional pace for booking all of the brides wedding needs.
I have never watched "Say Yes to the dress" but I am going to now.
Read below and also find a link to more of Andy's postings.
Start of Andys Article:
No buying decision in the wedding planning process is more emotional than buying a dress. For most brides, it can become a microcosm of the entire wedding planning process.
Regardless of what type of wedding business you work in, watching this program will provide some valuable lessons, from various perspectives.
The past weekend, I plunked myself down on the couch and watched a couple of episodes of Say Yes To The Dress, back to back. Like all “reality shows” there is a staged quality to it, but after a while, the participants forget the presence of cameras and give real world reactions.
It is interesting to watch the frustration of sales personnel as brides are often unclear about what they want. Seeing a dress in a magazine is different than putting one on. The facial reaction of family and friends often gums up the selling process. Sometimes the bride likes what she’s trying on, but the crinkled nose of her mother tells a different story. Other times, mom is in tears with joy, and the bride is emotionless at the her reflection in the mirror.
Selling dynamics change dramatically when you are selling to more than one person. A wedding a couple have their own dynamics. A committee of family and friends is a certified nightmare.
And, as always, it often underscores the lack of understanding of budget. Quite often what the bride expresses as her ‘budget’ is not consistent with what she envisions. Closing that gap is tough.
That aside, I noticed some selling issues after only a short time viewing the episodes. When one is selling the same product or service to the same category of client (bride), it is easy to slide into cliches, a canned series of questions, perceived insincerity or any combination thereof.
For instance:
• Tell me about your fiancee…
• Do you LOVE this dress?
• You look FABULOUS
• The dress looks AMAZING on you
• The dress looks PERFECT on you
• Can you picture yourself in this dress, walking down the aisle?
It’s easy to see when a sales person is completely thrown out of her game. When asked about her wedding, one bride said she would really prefer to elope. Spending huge amounts of money seemed like a big waste to her.
To me, that was refreshing. However, to a sales person, it set off all kinds of red flags. The bride was there under the duress of her mother.
The selling process should be a noble one. Helping a customer move through choices to make a decision that she is happy with, can afford, and ultimately is solid. A certain amount of buyer’s remorse can always rear its ugly head. However, if the salesperson has really helped the client, buy, rather than sold the dress to her, then a happy result is more likely.
I recommend viewing a few full episodes of the show, for the full effect. On the TLC website, you can find many video clips from show episodes.
Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority
Regardless of what type of wedding business you work in, watching this program will provide some valuable lessons, from various perspectives.
The past weekend, I plunked myself down on the couch and watched a couple of episodes of Say Yes To The Dress, back to back. Like all “reality shows” there is a staged quality to it, but after a while, the participants forget the presence of cameras and give real world reactions.
It is interesting to watch the frustration of sales personnel as brides are often unclear about what they want. Seeing a dress in a magazine is different than putting one on. The facial reaction of family and friends often gums up the selling process. Sometimes the bride likes what she’s trying on, but the crinkled nose of her mother tells a different story. Other times, mom is in tears with joy, and the bride is emotionless at the her reflection in the mirror.
Selling dynamics change dramatically when you are selling to more than one person. A wedding a couple have their own dynamics. A committee of family and friends is a certified nightmare.
And, as always, it often underscores the lack of understanding of budget. Quite often what the bride expresses as her ‘budget’ is not consistent with what she envisions. Closing that gap is tough.
That aside, I noticed some selling issues after only a short time viewing the episodes. When one is selling the same product or service to the same category of client (bride), it is easy to slide into cliches, a canned series of questions, perceived insincerity or any combination thereof.
For instance:
• Tell me about your fiancee…
• Do you LOVE this dress?
• You look FABULOUS
• The dress looks AMAZING on you
• The dress looks PERFECT on you
• Can you picture yourself in this dress, walking down the aisle?
It’s easy to see when a sales person is completely thrown out of her game. When asked about her wedding, one bride said she would really prefer to elope. Spending huge amounts of money seemed like a big waste to her.
To me, that was refreshing. However, to a sales person, it set off all kinds of red flags. The bride was there under the duress of her mother.
The selling process should be a noble one. Helping a customer move through choices to make a decision that she is happy with, can afford, and ultimately is solid. A certain amount of buyer’s remorse can always rear its ugly head. However, if the salesperson has really helped the client, buy, rather than sold the dress to her, then a happy result is more likely.
I recommend viewing a few full episodes of the show, for the full effect. On the TLC website, you can find many video clips from show episodes.
Andy Ebon
The Wedding Marketing Authority
Find more of Andy at http://www.weddingmarketing.com
I am going to try and post more often. Blogging takes more than I thought. I am a work in progress and so is my blog. :)
Check out our new video at www.antrdj.com and onour youtube channel www.youtube.com/antrdj
Labels: Sacramento Wedding DJ, Sacramento Wedding Officiant, Say yes to the Dress
posted by Mike McCune at
10:11 PM
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