Thank you to Tonya for showing me this post from Sasha Souza.... Normally, I try to pull together thoughts from multiple locations, but talk about hitting the nail on the head! I recently found that a planner undercut my bid by a minimal amount in order to get the business, which is fine I suppose in the grand scheme of 'competition'. The bride called me a few months later upset with the lack of professionalism. There are others who simply do not have the knowledge of our industry, or the experience to understand what a planner's services are worth, and therefore come in very very low when compared to the planners who have the experience you would expect from a professional. Always remember, you get what you pay for...
There's one thing that I definitely know in life and that is you can
always buy something cheaper - telephone service, flights, cars, office
supplies, SEO optimization, wedding gowns, pharmaceuticals, wedding
flowers, catering....wedding & event planners. You name it and I'll
betcha there's somebody out there that can give it to you cheaper... I
think that the question that people miss is: But Will It Be What I
Want?
Let me give you a scenario that happened to me last year. I
sent out a floral & decor proposal for an event that wasn't huge
and over the top. It was for a nice party and right in line with the
type of events we do. Prior to sending it out, I had gone through and
made a few things optional for the client so that they could add in some
of the "nice to haves". Exactly what I told them I would do when they
hired me.
Then, the phone rings....it's the Mother of the Bride. We'll call her Carol.
Carol: "Sasha...in this economy how can you, in good conscience, send me a floral proposal THIS high?"
Please
know that I had been through the proposal backwards & forwards and
it met all of the required components that the bride simply HAD to
have.
ME: "Thanks for your call, Carol, I sent it
because I believe it fits the desires of Melanie (name of bride has been
changed) and I did shave a lot off to try to meet your budget"
Carol:
"But Sasha, how in the world do you expect us to pay for this? We have
decided we don't want to spend more than X" {this would have been nice
to know at the beginning, by the way}
ME: "Please let
me know what you would like to cut and we are happy to make any changes
you like. We can switch from long tables to rounds & squares,
change the design of the flowers..."{basically, I gave her 15 options to
make changes}
Carol: "But Sasha, Melanie wants all that
and we expect that in this economy people are hungry for business and
would be willing to make a little less profit for the job"
{quizzical
look which garners the side note that in this economy, business owners
are more likely going to want a higher profit from each job, not lower
to compensate for fewer jobs overall - thereby providing the contracted
& paid for services ONLY and not over and above the contracted
services}
ME: "Carol, I'm not sure that's the case, but let me just say that I've found out something in life and in business...you can always get something cheaper but it will not be the wedding your daughter wants, it will only be the price you like." {if you use this in your business, feel free to say "well, Sasha Souza says..."}
Why have I told you this story?
Because it's true and the statement that I made at the end is an
important one when educating couples and ourselves on weddings and what
we get for our money. It's easy to say you want a centerpiece to be
smaller or "not over the top" or "simple". Let me give you a visual
example. We have seen this image from the legendary Preston Bailey in
our office many, many times. It's gorgeous with hundreds of flowers in
it and I'm sure the image does not do it justice to how grand it is in
person:
Can every bride afford it? No. But those that value it will seek it
& Preston out to design for them and will be thrilled with the
results. Here is how we used his inspiration for a bride who loved the
look but couldn't pay the price tag for the flowers:
Could the bride have gotten even this arrangement cheaper? Yes!
Absolutely but the structure of the piece, the height, the design would
have been vastly different. More like this:
While still pretty, it doesn't emanate the same feeling - BUT it IS
CHEAPER! So, if it's cheaper that they are looking for then this would
work out perfectly but the expectation can't be for the gorgeous images
above.
Another example...Is the peony any cheaper because of the
economy? No. So, we offer alternatives and often we substitute with
garden roses. Is it the same? No. It's just cheaper and different.
Some brides are OK with that and others REALLY want the peony and are
not going to compromise for anything less. The decision is only theirs
to make.
Carol did go on to pay the bill for the flowers when
she understood that what she would get by going elsewhere wasn't what
Melanie would have wanted. We were very willing to make changes to the
event to get them closer to their described estimated expenditure but
they were unwilling to make any changes whatsoever and simply wanted it
to be cheaper. period. just. cheaper.
That isn't how this works,
people. If you go to the gas station to fill up your car, you make a
decision on the name brand station that you go to, how much you want to
pay per gallon & the octane level of the gas you want.
OR!
You
can go down the street to the gas station without all the special
additives. Will your car run the same? Maybe. Maybe not. My car
happens to like Chevron Techron 89 Octane or better. I put anything
less in it and I'm bummed by the lack of power and performance that I
get in my car. I can't go into the clerk and ask them if instead of
$2.99 per gallon I can pay $1.49 per gallon and expect the exact same
quality & product. If you want me to shave $100 off an arrangement,
you're going to lose $100 worth of flowers & design time.
So,
when you're visiting with your vendors and you ask them to reduce their
price please be sure that you are getting the same exact thing -
because if you're trying to compare apples to apples and one person says
they can do that Preston arrangement for hundreds less than the other
person - chances are you'll be left with arrangement #3 on your 72"
round seating 12.
Orignal Post location: http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00e551dce6248833013480f9780a970c