Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Why do Disney never discount?

Transcript

Why do Disney never discount? · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

• 0:01
  Becca: Earlier this year, I got to visit one of my favorite places in the world.
• 0:04
  In fact, many people call it the happiest place on earth.
• 0:08
  That's right along with my husband and children.
• 0:10
  I spent the first week of 2022 in Disney world, Florida.
• 0:13
  And it was epic.
• 0:15
  I'm a huge Disney fan, but you might be wondering what on earth that
• 0:19
  has to do with you and your wedding business, well keep listening,
• 0:22
  because all will become very clear.
• 0:24
  And I guarantee there's something in here for you.
• 0:28
  I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business, marketing, expert, speaker, and blogger.
• 0:31
  And you're listening to the wedding pros who are ready to grow podcast.
• 0:35
  I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
• 0:39
  examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
• 0:42
  If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
• 0:46
  and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business, doing what you
• 0:49
  love, then you're in the right place.
• 0:51
  Let's get going with today's episode.
• 0:55
  In today's episode, we're going to be talking all things Disney, but whether
• 0:59
  you're a massive Disney fan like me, or whether you're not that interested,
• 1:03
  there is always something to be learned from looking at these huge successful.
• 1:07
  Sometimes when we focus on our business and our marketing strategy, we like
• 1:11
  to think small mainly because we don't have the millions of dollars
• 1:15
  that a corporation like Disney has.
• 1:17
  However, there's a lot that we can learn from some of these big brands
• 1:20
  and we can take what they're doing and then implement it into our wedding.
• 1:24
  In my opinion, Disney has the gold standard when it comes to
• 1:26
  advertising, marketing, customer experience and customer satisfaction.
• 1:30
  When I was out in Florida earlier this year, as well as enjoying the magic
• 1:34
  meeting the characters and having the best holiday of my lifetime, I
• 1:37
  was also learning, I saw five things.
• 1:40
  I think that each and every one of us could be implementing into our
• 1:43
  businesses to make them better.
• 1:45
  And I'm going to share all of them with you.
• 1:48
  The first thing is something that many of you will have heard me say before.
• 1:51
  If you're in any of my membership programs, if you take my courses or
• 1:55
  work with me one to one, you may have heard one of my favorite phrases,
• 1:58
  which is Disney, never discounts.
• 2:01
  I think all of us as wedding business owners, especially when we start out,
• 2:05
  can fall into the trap of thinking that cheaper means we're more likely to get.
• 2:11
  But Disney turned that completely on its head.
• 2:14
  You never see Disney discounting.
• 2:17
  Now, if you're here in the UK, just compare that for a moment to somewhere
• 2:20
  like Alton towers or Chessington world of adventures, or even Legoland, we know.
• 2:26
  Every single time you want to go to one of those places, you can just go and buy
• 2:29
  a box of cereal or a bar of hand soap and get two for one voucher, which means
• 2:34
  you never, ever have to pay full price.
• 2:36
  In fact, if you've paid full price, you would feel that
• 2:38
  you're kind of getting robbed.
• 2:40
  You know, that you can get the same value for half the.
• 2:44
  However, when it comes to visiting Disney and trust me, I've looked
• 2:48
  at this Disney never discount.
• 2:51
  You can never get a two for one offer at Disney world.
• 2:53
  You can never get a kids go free offer Disney world, especially in Florida.
• 2:58
  Instead they do something which is add value.
• 3:01
  If it's quite a times of their year or times when they need to get.
• 3:05
  Extra business.
• 3:06
  Instead of discounting this products or services, they might add value,
• 3:10
  include extra nights, include free dining, that kind of thing.
• 3:13
  And we can learn from this in our business.
• 3:16
  We have to believe that the amount we charge is what we're worth,
• 3:20
  because otherwise people will think that we're not worth what we say.
• 3:24
  We know that Disney's worth paying the money for, that's, why people are
• 3:27
  willing to pay full price and they know that they never discount you pay
• 3:31
  the price and you get what it's worth.
• 3:34
  And we should have the same mindset when it comes to our wedding business.
• 3:37
  So the next time you think about discounting, think like Disney and
• 3:41
  remember that Disney never discount.
• 3:43
  Instead, when you are trying to put together an offer or a package or
• 3:46
  something to make someone buy, instead of taking money off the package.
• 3:50
  Why not add something on, give some added value, give a free album.
• 3:55
  If you're a photographer or perhaps you could include an engagement photo.
• 4:00
  Instead of giving money or flowers, perhaps you could, uh, include something
• 4:05
  that wouldn't normally be included higher of a cake stand for a cake maker, for
• 4:08
  example, but don't devalue your products and services by taking money off cheaper.
• 4:14
  Isn't better.
• 4:15
  You are worth the value that you put on your business.
• 4:18
  And if you constantly discount people will never pay you the full amount.
• 4:23
  The second thing that I've learned from Disney is that there's
• 4:26
  always something new and enticing to make you keep coming back.
• 4:31
  Now I think lots of people say that Disney is a once in a lifetime holiday,
• 4:35
  but if you're anything like me, it's more like a once, every couple of years
• 4:39
  kind of holiday because every time you go and you have the best experience
• 4:43
  of your life, Then you want to go back and each and every time you want to go
• 4:46
  back, there is always something new, a new restaurant, a new ride, a new
• 4:51
  attraction, a new way of doing things, a way of streamlining it, a way of
• 4:55
  making things better and more exciting.
• 4:57
  You always want to go back because you always want to see what the new thing is.
• 5:02
  Now.
• 5:03
  I understand that in the wedding industry, we don't often get repeat customers.
• 5:06
  However, we do want to keep enticing people to.
• 5:09
  Back to us.
• 5:10
  That's why we should be looking at our products and services.
• 5:13
  Adding new features, maybe adding new things to our website, new blog
• 5:17
  posts, new content, give people a reason to keep on coming back.
• 5:22
  If someone visits your website once and sees everything, they're never going
• 5:25
  to come back again, unless you give them a reason to make a return visit.
• 5:29
  If you're regularly updating content, updating blog posts, giving valuable
• 5:33
  information, guess what people are much more likely to come back and sometimes in
• 5:38
  our businesses, we do get repeat customers if you're bringing out fresh things.
• 5:42
  So if you're a cake maker, perhaps you also make celebration cakes or biscuits
• 5:46
  for mother's day, make sure you're bringing out new exciting offerings
• 5:51
  and send them to your past clients.
• 5:53
  If someone's bought from you before, they're much more likely
• 5:56
  to want to buy from you again.
• 5:58
  The third thing that we can learn from Disney is the way
• 6:02
  they do customer service.
• 6:03
  It's absolutely impeccable.
• 6:06
  In fact, they are known across the world for being some of the
• 6:08
  best customer service providers.
• 6:11
  I know because I've experienced it.
• 6:13
  When you go into Disney world, the staff are incredible.
• 6:16
  People go above and beyond.
• 6:18
  All of the time from the housekeeping staff, through to the restaurant staff,
• 6:22
  the ride operators, the people in the costumes, everyone is full of energy.
• 6:28
  Everyone is happy to see you and everyone is going above and
• 6:31
  beyond to make your day magical.
• 6:33
  In fact, sometimes they even say to you, have a magical day.
• 6:37
  It's incredible, but when you're paying a premium price, you expect premium service.
• 6:43
  And that is why people are willing to pay that extra price to go to
• 6:47
  Disney world because they know they will get an incredible experience.
• 6:50
  So consider for a moment, what are you doing in your business
• 6:53
  right now to provide excellent customer service for your couples?
• 6:58
  What is it that gets them talking, perhaps you send them a handwritten note
• 7:02
  after they book, perhaps you go above and beyond for them in a consultation.
• 7:06
  Perhaps you send them something for their first wedding anniversary or
• 7:09
  for their first Christmas as a married couple, perhaps you're always going back
• 7:13
  to them politely on emails, perhaps.
• 7:15
  You're always going the extra mile on the wedding day.
• 7:18
  Perhaps you've thrown in something extra for free to say, congratulations.
• 7:22
  I don't know what you're doing in your business, but you should be looking to
• 7:25
  provide exemplary customer service all the way along that customer journey.
• 7:30
  When you do something that goes above and beyond for someone not only are they
• 7:33
  willing to pay more for that experience.
• 7:36
  Also recognize the value and start talking about it to other people.
• 7:41
  I always remember when my first child started school.
• 7:43
  I couldn't believe it when I dropped him off at the school gate.
• 7:46
  And the first thing that happened was a member of the PTA, gave me a
• 7:49
  goodie bag in that goodie bag was a teabag, a packet of tissues and a
• 7:53
  cookie to say, we know how hard it's going to be, for your son's first day.
• 7:58
  I was completely overwhelmed.
• 8:00
  They went above and beyond in that moment and I remembered it.
• 8:03
  I still remember it.
• 8:04
  And I'm talking about it to you today.
• 8:06
  When we go above and beyond for people, we create a memorable experience
• 8:10
  that they're willing to pay for and they're willing to talk to their
• 8:12
  friends about, so what are you doing to ensure you go above and beyond
• 8:16
  when you have a client consultation?
• 8:18
  Are you making sure you have it somewhere special that matches the
• 8:21
  price tag that you are charging?
• 8:23
  Think about what you could do that doesn't cost you a lot of money, but can help you.
• 8:27
  Excellent customer service.
• 8:30
  The fourth thing that I learned from Disney is that they're amazing at pivoting
• 8:35
  and really considering their ideal customers, Disney are great at strategy.
• 8:41
  They're great at looking at what their customers need, what their customers
• 8:45
  want and how ultimately they can make more money from the things that
• 8:48
  they have, they are always reviewing, always changing and always pivoting.
• 8:53
  When I went out to Disneyworld, Florida this year, I noticed
• 8:56
  something, there was a subtle change, but actually quite a big change.
• 9:01
  When you go to Disneyland Paris, if you've ever been there, you'll know
• 9:04
  that when you go on the rides or to the shows, some of the voiceover work is in
• 9:08
  French and then some of it's in English.
• 9:10
  However, when you go to Florida, typically it's always in.
• 9:14
  Well, until now, what I noticed on my most recent trip was all of a
• 9:18
  sudden some of the rides and some of the shows had Spanish translations.
• 9:24
  Just think for a moment of some of the films that Disney have
• 9:27
  recently released things like Coco or Encanto or based in countries
• 9:32
  which speak predominantly Spanish.
• 9:35
  Now I'm all for inclusion and diversity.
• 9:38
  And I think it's really important that Disney do their bit with this.
• 9:41
  I personally don't think it's a complete coincidence that all of a sudden there's
• 9:46
  a real emphasis on the Spanish speaking market in Disney world, Florida.
• 9:50
  Why?
• 9:51
  Because we've just been through a global pandemic.
• 9:54
  And during that global pandemic, there was a lack of tourists
• 9:57
  visiting from England, from Europe.
• 10:00
  They couldn't get there because of all the restrictions.
• 10:02
  So instead they realised they needed to pivot and they needed to shift.
• 10:06
  So all of a sudden they had this market that was kind of untapped in south.
• 10:11
  The south American countries predominantly speak Spanish.
• 10:16
  And so in order to open up the market to them, guess what they're
• 10:19
  doing, making it more accessible.
• 10:22
  I guarantee they've done a big marketing campaign in that region during the COVID
• 10:26
  months in order to bring a new audience to their parks and in order to do so,
• 10:30
  they've started introducing some Spanish speaking in their shows and their rides.
• 10:35
  So, what can we learn from this?
• 10:37
  Well, we learn that a successful business doesn't stay still they are always
• 10:41
  looking at what's going on around them.
• 10:43
  They're always looking at what the current trends are.
• 10:45
  Instead of seeing a problem such as a global pandemic, they're always looking
• 10:49
  for a solution and we should be doing.
• 10:52
  If we see that all of a sudden, one of the areas of our
• 10:54
  business is kind of drying up.
• 10:56
  We need to ask why that is.
• 10:58
  Do we need to focus on a different customer base?
• 11:00
  Is that trend not really in trend anymore?
• 11:02
  Do we need to start working with some different venues, which
• 11:05
  could be more successful for us?
• 11:06
  We cannot stand still.
• 11:08
  We cannot just always do what we've always done.
• 11:10
  We need to be looking at what's coming up.
• 11:12
  We need to look at new ideas and we need to be looking at new emerging markets.
• 11:16
  Disney are definitely doing that.
• 11:18
  We can see it a mile off, but we should be doing it too.
• 11:22
  Now the final thing that I want to share with you today is one of
• 11:26
  my favorite things about the Walt Disney company and what they do.
• 11:30
  And it's something each and everyone of us can be learning.
• 11:35
  In Disney world when they make a mistake.
• 11:37
  And of course, like all companies they are always going to make a mistake,
• 11:42
  instead of calling it a mistake, they turn that mistake into a magical moment.
• 11:48
  See what they did there.
• 11:49
  All of a sudden something bad has become something.
• 11:53
  If there's a mistake in Disney world, they make it into a magical moment.
• 11:56
  They will go above and beyond to rectify whatever mistake that was.
• 12:00
  And to make it memorable for you.
• 12:02
  Some examples, if you've got a child and their balloon blows off and a cast member
• 12:07
  sees it, they'll go and replace it with.
• 12:10
  Perhaps they drop their ice cream or once again, they'll go and
• 12:13
  replace it with a different one.
• 12:14
  Perhaps the technology in the parks isn't working very well.
• 12:17
  We had that when we were out there with our app and we couldn't book the
• 12:21
  ride, now we weren't annoyed about it, but we went to see customer services.
• 12:24
  What, instead of saying, sorry, and giving us any kind of refund, they turned
• 12:29
  it into a magical moment and they gave us a free Q skip for any ride in the.
• 12:35
  Thinking of these mistakes and turning them into magical moments is
• 12:38
  absolutely the best way to go about it.
• 12:42
  We're all going to make mistakes in our business from time to time.
• 12:45
  We're not perfect.
• 12:46
  Like I said, even Disney make mistakes and they make some pretty big.
• 12:51
  And we're going to make mistakes too, and we need to expect that to happen.
• 12:54
  Perhaps you're stationary and you've made a typo on some wedding invitations,
• 12:59
  perhaps you've made a cake and the heat has just made some of it slide.
• 13:02
  All of these things are things we should be trying not to do, but
• 13:05
  very occasionally a mistake happens.
• 13:09
  If a mistake happens to you, don't go on the defensive with your couple, think
• 13:14
  like Disney and work out how you can turn that mistake into a magical moment
• 13:19
  instead of going straight for the I'm.
• 13:21
  So sorry, I'll give you a discount or I'll give you your money back.
• 13:24
  Think about if there's something you can do to rectify the mistake
• 13:28
  and go above and beyond for the couple to make it even better.
• 13:33
  I love the way they call their mistakes, turning it into a magical moment.
• 13:36
  And I think we should all be learning from that.
• 13:39
  So the next time you make a mistake, stop, stressing, stop
• 13:43
  panicking, and think, right?
• 13:44
  What can I do to turn this around and make it into a magical moment for my customer?
• 13:49
  So then they'll be glad that they made the mistake.
• 13:51
  I was glad that my app broke when I was at Disney world.
• 13:54
  Why?
• 13:55
  Because I ended up with a great queue skip.
• 13:58
  There's another thing that I love at Disney world, which is when people
• 14:01
  wear inappropriate clothes, instead of telling them they have to get out, they
• 14:05
  go buy them a new t-shirt from the shop.
• 14:08
  Even that becomes a magical moment.
• 14:12
  Okay.
• 14:12
  Let's recap.
• 14:13
  All the things that we can be learning from Disney in our business.
• 14:16
  First up and my favorite one Disney never discount stop.
• 14:21
  Always discounting, stop trying to undercut your competitors.
• 14:24
  That's not the way to stand out.
• 14:26
  Sometimes you can stand out for other reasons.
• 14:28
  We always pay full price to go to Disney world.
• 14:30
  And guess what?
• 14:31
  They are always, always.
• 14:34
  Secondly, remember there's always something new, something
• 14:37
  new to add to your business.
• 14:39
  Perhaps you can update your website, update your imagery, make people have a
• 14:43
  new reason to come and visit your site.
• 14:44
  Perhaps there's new offerings.
• 14:46
  You can add new services, new ways of doing things always keep fresh and new.
• 14:51
  Thirdly, what are you doing to go above and beyond when it comes to
• 14:54
  customer service, just replying to emails quickly, doesn't really cut it.
• 14:58
  I'm talking about things that are going to make people remember you
• 15:01
  and talk about you to their friends.
• 15:04
  Fourthly remember that you can always pivot and you can always look at the
• 15:08
  strategy and the ideal customer that you're talking to keep on top of it.
• 15:13
  Don't just rely on the strategies you've always used in the past,
• 15:16
  because things change and things shift.
• 15:18
  You need to keep ahead of the trends.
• 15:20
  Otherwise someone else is going to come in and overtake.
• 15:23
  And finally remember if you make a mistake it's okay.
• 15:27
  We all make mistakes from time to time, but next time you make a mistake, think
• 15:32
  how can I turn this into a magical moment for my couple to make it all better?
• 15:38
  Whether you're a massive Disney fan like me, or whether you
• 15:40
  couldn't really care less.
• 15:41
  There's definitely things that we can all be learning from the Disney company.
• 15:45
  And I urge you to start looking at some of these big corporations that
• 15:49
  you engage with on a regular basis, the shops that you shop in the brands,
• 15:53
  you engage with, the things you watch, perhaps you use Netflix or Amazon.
• 15:56
  We can learn from these companies.
• 15:58
  We can learn from the way they advertise.
• 16:00
  We can learn from the way they streamline.
• 16:02
  We can learn from the way they do business.
• 16:04
  Always things from these huge companies we can be implementing
• 16:08
  even into our small businesses.
• 16:10
  I'm sure there'll be future episodes on some of these things.
• 16:14
  I'd love to know what your key takeaways been from today's episode.
• 16:17
  If you're not already in there, why not jump into my free Facebook group,
• 16:20
  wedding pros who are ready to grow and share what your key learnings
• 16:23
  have been from today's episode.
• 16:25
  I'd love to know what you're going to implement, and I'd
• 16:27
  love to get your feedback.
• 16:28
  So go in there, let me know, and let's have a chat about.
• 16:32
  Also, if you've enjoyed today's show, why not go back and
• 16:35
  listen to some past episodes?
• 16:36
  Leave me a rating.
• 16:37
  I love reading everything you have to say, or why not even tell your friends
• 16:41
  about the show I'm passionate about helping more wedding industry, business
• 16:45
  owners do better in their business.
• 16:47
  I'll see you next time.
• 16:48
  And don't forget Disney never discounts.
• 16:56
  One thing I love about the wedding industry is the other amazing
• 16:59
  people you get to work with.
• 17:00
  If you want some like-minded wedding pros, just like you, then why not join
• 17:04
  my free Facebook community wedding pros who are ready to come meet some
• 17:09
  new connections, hang out with me and hopefully learn some new things
• 17:12
  to just search for us on Facebook.