Friday, May 29, 2009

UPDATED!!! Negotiating Service Fees and Pricing


Why should we be expected to treat our pricing differently than any other profession?  The next time you consider negotiating your pricing, keep this video in mind.

Read the full article here.

(Thanks to Bruce for sharing this!)

Don’t Let Brides Haggle With You
By Ciara Daykin

With all the talk about wedding cut backs and getting the best deal brides have got it into their heads that it’s a great time to haggle with wedding professionals over their prices. In fact, I’ve had couples (who are not my clients by the way) corner me at parties to tell me what great deals they’ve secured with their wedding vendors and how they’ve “beat them down” in price.

Congratulations- your wedding is going to suck.

Well, it’s the truth isn’t it?

When bridal couples beat down wedding professionals in price no one wins. There is no way that the same level of service is provided when our prices are haggled down. It’s just human nature to be bitter about it and not bring your A-Game even if you don’t mean to do it- it happens.

So How Do You Stop A Haggler In Her Tracks?

I had a bride who came to me the other day and when I quoted her our price this is how our conversation went:

Bride: “Is there room to negotiate on that price?”

Ciara: “I could lower the price but I would have to start taking away services and you won’t get me on your wedding day, you’ll get one of my other planners.”

Bride: “Well, what do I tell my fiancé when he asks if I negotiated a good deal?”

Ciara: “Tell him I told you $500 more at first and then I gave you a deal.”

She signed with us that night.

The lesson to be learned from this interaction? If you’re worth the price that you’re quoting then you need to stick to your guns and you’ll get the client.

And for me, when brides come into my office I’ve already established a relationship with them through my ezine, blog, social networking presence, my portfolio and the testimonials on my website. They know that I’m an expert and I really connect with them. We talk in depth about the benefits of working with us and I also address all their objections in our initial sales meeting even if they don’t voice them.

You know the objections brides have to working with a planner and you need to come up with answers that nullify the objections. By operating in this manner you grow your business into an empire, you don’t just squeak by working with one haggler and then the next.

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