Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / The 6 wedding pro's you definitely DON'T want to be like and how to avoid becoming one....
Transcript
- 0:00I was once at a wedding show where someone just came over to me and all
- 0:04they did was talk to me about their business and why I should buy from them?
- 0:07They never even asked whether I was getting married.
- 0:10I love the wedding industry, but there's some interesting characters, and in
- 0:13today's episode, we're going to be talking about some of the people in the wedding
- 0:16industry you really don't want to be.
- 0:20I'm Becca Pountney wedding, business marketing, expert, speaker, and blogger
- 0:24and you're listening to the wedding pros who are ready to grow podcast.
- 0:28I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
- 0:31examples to help you take your one business to the next level.
- 0:35If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
- 0:38and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business, doing what you
- 0:42love, then you're in the right place.
- 0:44Let's get going with today's episode.
- 0:47I absolutely love working in the wedding industry.
- 0:50Our industry is full of some of the most incredible creative
- 0:53minds and I love working with you.
- 0:56I am all about community over competition every single time, but
- 1:01as in all industries, sometimes there's some people that maybe
- 1:06don't quite do the right things.
- 1:08We've all come across some of these characters.
- 1:10And today I want to share with you the six different people that you really don't
- 1:14want to be like in the wedding industry.
- 1:17Now I'm not going to be naming any names, but these people are
- 1:19the kinds of people that I've seen over the last five or six years.
- 1:23And I just want to warn you not to be like them.
- 1:25Now, if we're all honest, there's probably a little bit of all of these
- 1:29people inside each and every one of us, but as I go through the categories,
- 1:33hopefully you can learn how to not be like these people and maybe have
- 1:37a little chuckle to yourself as maybe some of them are a little bit further.
- 1:41Okay, let's go straight in with person.
- 1:43Number one, I've called person number one, the used car sales person.
- 1:48If you've ever been out wedding exhibition, I guarantee you, you
- 1:52will have met one of these people.
- 1:54It's the people that jump out from the wedding show, stand to the
- 1:58perspective, bride and grooms, and just go into a full on sales pitch.
- 2:03They will say, and do everything to charm the people and try
- 2:07and make the sale right there.
- 2:08And then.
- 2:09But let's be honest.
- 2:11None of us want to be like the used car salesperson because it's
- 2:14kind of awkward for the consumer.
- 2:16And most of us just don't fit into that category.
- 2:19In fact, most of you, when I meet you also frightened of being the used car
- 2:23salesman, that actually you go too far the other way, and you don't even sell at all.
- 2:28We don't want to be doing that.
- 2:30So how can we avoid being the used car salesman?
- 2:33Well, the easiest way to avoid it is to just be human.
- 2:37When we're making a sale, it's just about solving someone's problem.
- 2:41It's just about having a conversation, human to human.
- 2:44We don't have to go into salesperson mode and start reeling
- 2:47off all these facts and figures.
- 2:49We can just be ourselves, ask questions, find out what the couple's
- 2:54problem is and how we can solve it.
- 2:56And whether we can help.
- 2:58If we stop thinking of ourselves like this big salesperson, then we can just
- 3:03act normally and it's going to put our potential couples much more ease.
- 3:07So don't be the used car sales man.
- 3:09Don't be the used car sales woman.
- 3:11But if you starting to feel like you're being a little bit too salesy,
- 3:15you're probably not this person.
- 3:18Like I said, the people who were worried about this often
- 3:20go too far, the other direction.
- 3:23Now our second person will be found in a totally different situation this time.
- 3:28I don't want you to imagine yourself out a wedding exhibition.
- 3:31Instead.
- 3:32I want you to imagine yourself at some kind of networking event, perhaps you've
- 3:36gone to a networking event in order to meet other people in your community.
- 3:40Perhaps you've gone to a wedding pro specific networking events, perhaps
- 3:44you've even been to one of my networking.
- 3:47Now this person can be found normally with a big stack of business cards.
- 3:51And I called this person the business card three.
- 3:56None of you wants to be the business card thrower.
- 3:58Why?
- 3:59Because the business car thrower has gone to the networking event
- 4:02with totally the wrong intention.
- 4:05We don't build connections and build relationships in the wedding industry by
- 4:09just looking at someone's business card.
- 4:11In fact, As I'm recording this in 2022, our business cards, even still a thing
- 4:17I'm much more likely to connect with someone these days on Instagram, um,
- 4:21or drop them an email or a voice note than I am to pick up a business card.
- 4:25And let's be honest, most business cards.
- 4:27Where do they have.
- 4:28In the recycle bin.
- 4:29So you don't want to turn up to the networking event and
- 4:32be the business card thrower.
- 4:34I've seen this person far too often.
- 4:36They turn up at the event and all they're thinking about is I need to tell as many
- 4:41people in this room about me, I need to tell them who I am, what I do and
- 4:46why they should want to work with me.
- 4:48They've got totally the wrong intention.
- 4:50And then they start handing out their business card to anyone that will take it.
- 4:55And what do those people do?
- 4:57They just put the business card in their pocket and think, why is this person
- 5:00just throwing a business card at me?
- 5:02Are they interested in building a connection or are they just
- 5:04out to talk about themselves?
- 5:07None of us want to be this person.
- 5:08And I know it's awkward when you're afraid faced with this kind of person.
- 5:12Who's trying to do this to you because you just don't know how to respond.
- 5:15And often you just respond by giving your business card back, which has benefited.
- 5:21So, what should we be like then so that we can avoid being this person?
- 5:25Well, when you walk into a networking event, you shouldn't
- 5:27be thinking about yourself at all.
- 5:31Instead, you should be thinking about the other people in the room.
- 5:34If you change your perspective around networking, which is a
- 5:37subject that I could talk to you for hours about, then you will stop
- 5:40thinking about what can I get out of this situation and start thinking
- 5:44about the other people in the room.
- 5:46Don't be a talker.
- 5:47Be a listener.
- 5:49Don't just brag about yourself, but ask people questions.
- 5:53When you ask people questions, they start to open up and talk
- 5:56about themselves, ask some probing questions about their business.
- 6:00Now don't go too in depth and, and be a little bit too full on, but chat to them
- 6:04about who they are, why they started it, what is going on in their business,
- 6:07what they love about their business, and maybe what they find hard about them.
- 6:11When you have this kind of deeper connection, often you will find
- 6:15things you have in common people.
- 6:16You have in common hobbies, you have in common interests, you have in common,
- 6:20and you actually start to build a relationship with those people, which
- 6:23will go on to provide you business relationships, business opportunities,
- 6:28and perhaps referrals in the future.
- 6:30So next time you walk into an event with a big pile of business cards in your head.
- 6:35Put those business cards back in your bag and stop being the business cards for and
- 6:39start being the person that's there to talk and help and be generous and kind to
- 6:44other people I promise that will always come back and benefit you in the long run.
- 6:50Okay.
- 6:51Now person number three.
- 6:52Unfortunately I see quite regularly in our wedding industry, I see them online.
- 6:58I see them circulating in Facebook groups.
- 7:00I see them at wedding industry networking.
- 7:02And I see them at wedding shows.
- 7:04These people are everywhere.
- 7:05In fact, you might have even bumped into them while having to
- 7:08work alongside them at a wedding.
- 7:10This person I've named the everything's.
- 7:14Perfect person.
- 7:16This is the person who has the perfect life and perfect business on Instagram.
- 7:21They think they know all things, and they're always there to
- 7:23tell you why they know best and you don't know anything at all.
- 7:27In fact, these people can make us feel a little bit insignificant.
- 7:31They can make us feel a bit awkward and like, we don't know what we're talking.
- 7:34It's the person that always pipes up with an answer in a Facebook
- 7:38group, because they know better.
- 7:40They disagree with everyone else because everything in their business is perfect.
- 7:44It's the person at the networking event that tells you, oh,
- 7:47everything's going great.
- 7:48In my business.
- 7:49I'm constantly fully booked.
- 7:50I'm constantly getting inquiries.
- 7:52My social media presence is incredible.
- 7:54Everything's amazing.
- 7:57Let's be honest though.
- 7:58No one wants to talk to this.
- 8:00Why because it makes you feel inadequate.
- 8:03You don't want to talk to the person that's telling you.
- 8:05Everything's amazing and deep down.
- 8:06We know that it's not true.
- 8:09No, one's life is perfect.
- 8:10Yes.
- 8:11We might want to portray a kind of perfect business image on Instagram, but
- 8:15ultimately people buy from people and people want to work with people who are.
- 8:20We are all human beings.
- 8:23We all have other things going on behind the surface.
- 8:26We all have struggles in our business.
- 8:28Every single one of us, if we're honest with ourselves has things about our
- 8:32wedding business that we're not having.
- 8:35No one has a perfect business.
- 8:37Even people who are super successful, I'm making lots of money in their wedding
- 8:40business may have other struggles, perhaps their work life balance just, isn't great.
- 8:45Perhaps they're working all the hours and never seeing their family,
- 8:48perhaps they're just bored of what they're doing and they want to change.
- 8:51Nothing is ever perfect.
- 8:54If we stopped being the everything's perfect person and start being the real
- 8:58vulnerable person, we can make much better connections in the industry.
- 9:02And often when we're vulnerable and say that we're struggling with something, it
- 9:06enables other people to come forward and say that they're struggling with it too.
- 9:11The other way it can help is if we post in a Facebook group
- 9:13or talk at a networking event.
- 9:16I'm really struggling.
- 9:16I have no idea how to set up my email system or I don't even know what's
- 9:20supposed post about on social media.
- 9:22Other people will want to help you.
- 9:23They'll give you ideas.
- 9:24They'll give you inspiration.
- 9:26They may even send you contacts or details about people that could help you when
- 9:30you're the vulnerable person, rather than the everything's perfect person.
- 9:34It always leads to better things.
- 9:36Now I'm not saying you need to air all your dirty laundry and you don't
- 9:40want to be the person that's always miserable either, but there's definitely
- 9:43a balance to be had about being real about being honest and just saying it's
- 9:48okay, you don't need to protect the fact that you've got a super successful
- 9:52business with 25 employees when it's just you at home with the kids running
- 9:55around, just be yourself and don't be the everything perfect person.
- 10:01Okay, our next person I've called the follow for a follower person.
- 10:06These people drive me crazy.
- 10:09These people are so wrapped up in their statistics.
- 10:13They haven't realized that how many followers they have on Instagram
- 10:16is just a vanity statistic.
- 10:19These are the people that will try and connect with you and follow you, but only
- 10:23because they want you to follow them back.
- 10:25Once again, all they're doing really is thinking about the.
- 10:28They're the people that will start a massive follow loop on a Facebook
- 10:32group or an Instagram group.
- 10:33They are the people that will just say, follow me and please follow me back.
- 10:37There'll be the people that might even send you a message if they follow you
- 10:40and you don't follow them back asking why you haven't followed them back.
- 10:44These people are spending far too much time on the wrong thing.
- 10:49We shouldn't be following for a follow.
- 10:51We shouldn't be trying to get as many people in the world following
- 10:54our Instagram as possible.
- 10:56We should only be connecting with people that we want to connect with.
- 10:59We should be having the right intention.
- 11:01Maybe we want to follow that person because we like them because we want to
- 11:04engage with them because we want to drop them a message and ask them for help.
- 11:08Maybe we like their work.
- 11:09Maybe their brand aligns with us, but we're not doing it for the selfish reason
- 11:13of building up horror and following.
- 11:16Once again, the heart of it is if you're this follow for a follow
- 11:20person, people see right through it, they know that you're more about
- 11:23yourself than helping other people.
- 11:26And again, no one really wants to hang around with you if you're that person.
- 11:30So try and avoid being part of these big follow loops or
- 11:33I'll comment on your picture.
- 11:34If you comment on mine, it doesn't really work quite honestly.
- 11:40Damaging in the wedding industry, because if you're constantly following
- 11:43and being followed by other people in the wedding industry, Instagram
- 11:46thinks that's who you want to reach.
- 11:48And then it gets harder and harder for you to reach brides and grooms and potential
- 11:52customers because Instagram thinks you just want to be in a supplier bubble.
- 11:57Now it's great to connect with people on Instagram.
- 11:59It's great to connect with people on Facebook, but do it for the right reasons.
- 12:03Do it because you actually want to build a business relationship with them.
- 12:06Not because you're trying to increase your own follower account
- 12:09and get those vanity statistics.
- 12:11Now the fifth person on my list is the person that causes me personally,
- 12:16the most amount of heartache and pain.
- 12:20I want nothing more than to see you succeed in your wedding business, whatever
- 12:24that means for you, where the success is having more work-life balance, being
- 12:28able to leave your job or being able to grow a business, doing exactly what.
- 12:32But this person causes me so much heartache and often I can spend far
- 12:37too much time trying to help them.
- 12:39And then just become increasingly frustrated when nothing happens.
- 12:44This person is the all talk.
- 12:47No action.
- 12:49They're the person that will moan that things aren't going well for them.
- 12:53No one wants them to be involved in anything.
- 12:55No one wants to be the industry friend.
- 12:57They just don't get anything from anything that I've taught them.
- 13:01And they're constantly miserable and they're spreading them
- 13:05misery to other people as well, which is incredibly different.
- 13:08For me because they say, oh, I've heard this all before nothing ever works.
- 13:13This doesn't work.
- 13:15That doesn't work.
- 13:16No one is interested.
- 13:17No, one's replying.
- 13:19I just feel like giving up.
- 13:23Now the problem with these people isn't that they're being
- 13:26honest about their struggles because I totally encourage that.
- 13:30But when I dive a little bit deeper and ask them, well, what action have
- 13:35you taken to try and make this better?
- 13:38It turns out.
- 13:39They haven't, they might have watched all the business training I've ever given.
- 13:43They might have been in my group or in my membership or in my world
- 13:48for months and months and months.
- 13:50But all they do is talk, but they never take action.
- 13:54If I question.
- 13:55Well, from that training, did you set up the email automation
- 13:58sequence and they say, no, I didn't think it would work for me.
- 14:01So I didn't bother.
- 14:02I say to them, did you go to that wedding industry networking
- 14:05night that I recommended to you so you could meet people?
- 14:08No, it was a bit far out of my way or actually I just
- 14:11couldn't be bothered to go.
- 14:13Did you think about setting up your own style shoots so that you could
- 14:16have the people involved in it?
- 14:17Well, it kind of feels like too much work is often there.
- 14:21These people are incredibly frustrating because they can see that there's a
- 14:25problem and they know they want to make a difference and they may even spend time
- 14:29or money to learn about how to solve it.
- 14:32But what they can't do is.
- 14:35Action.
- 14:35And then they just spend the whole time defending why they haven't
- 14:39taken the action in the first place.
- 14:41So please don't be this person because it's what I really
- 14:44don't want for any one of you.
- 14:47If you're going to listen to a training or read a book or have an idea about
- 14:52doing something, the only person that can cause you to take action.
- 14:56Is you, you could pay hundreds of pounds to meet up with me once a one.
- 15:01I could create a whole strategy for you that I know will help
- 15:04you move your business forward.
- 15:06But if you walk away from that meeting, put that strategy in your bag and
- 15:10leave it there for the next year.
- 15:12I guarantee nothing will change.
- 15:15And I can't do anything about that.
- 15:16I can't make you implement the strategy.
- 15:19I can't make you take action on things.
- 15:21All I can do is encourage you to have the confidence, to just try, give it a go.
- 15:27I always see the action takers, other people that have the most
- 15:31success and the best results.
- 15:33Why?
- 15:34Because they're putting themselves out there and trying something different.
- 15:38So don't be the all talk.
- 15:40No action.
- 15:40Moaner and if you're anything like that, If you see this person popping up again
- 15:44and again, after a while, there's not a lot more you can do for them other
- 15:48than encourage them to take action.
- 15:51I'd love to know what you're thinking as I'm going through these people.
- 15:54Perhaps some of you identifying traits in yourself, which kind of
- 15:58resonate with some of those people.
- 16:00I think that there's a little bit of these people in each and every one of us.
- 16:04And we need to fight against being these people so that we can
- 16:07do better in our business, which brings me to person number six.
- 16:11And if you haven't resonated with any of them so far, perhaps person
- 16:14number six will resonate with you.
- 16:16My final person is the frustrated freebie hunter.
- 16:21The frustrated freebie hunter is frustrated because they
- 16:25know they've got a good idea.
- 16:27They know they're good at what they do, but they just don't know how to
- 16:30take their business to the next level.
- 16:32Perhaps they don't know how to build a website or they don't know
- 16:35how to automate an email system.
- 16:37Perhaps they don't know how to build connections or what
- 16:40benefit that would be to them.
- 16:41Or they don't even know where to meet people, perhaps they want to rebrand, but
- 16:45they have no idea what makes a good brand.
- 16:48They are frustrated because they can see they've got a problem.
- 16:51Their problem is often that no one knows they exist.
- 16:54No one's inquiring with them or no one actually books with them.
- 16:57Once they've inquired, they're so frustrated because they know they're
- 17:00good at what they do, but they just don't know what to do about.
- 17:04And unfortunately, instead of taking that frustration and turning it into
- 17:09action, this person can often become the frustrated, freebie hunter.
- 17:15They searched around and look for answers to their questions, which
- 17:18aren't going to cost them any money.
- 17:20Now I get it because when we start out in business, money is tight.
- 17:23Things can be difficult.
- 17:25We don't always have a lot of money to invest and we can try and do
- 17:28everything ourselves, which is fine.
- 17:30But then we can't be frustrated with the results.
- 17:34Just imagine for a moment that I want one of my children to learn to swim.
- 17:38I put them in the water and they're frustrated.
- 17:41They have to wear armbands.
- 17:42They have to wear some kind of tummy belt because they can't swim.
- 17:46Now I could play them YouTube videos over and over again at
- 17:50home, teaching them how to swim.
- 17:52I could just keep putting them in the water and hoping that they get
- 17:54a go with it, but ultimately the fastest, the safest and the best way
- 17:59for me to get them to learn, to swim.
- 18:01It's to send them to swimming lessons.
- 18:03Now, anyone who's a parent out there will know that this costs
- 18:06money, swimming lessons are not.
- 18:09But why do I do it?
- 18:10Because I value that time and that investment, because I know it will
- 18:14result in an expert teaching my children how to swim and they will walk out at
- 18:18the end of those set of lessons, being able to swim and be safe in water.
- 18:23They'll no longer be frustrated when we go on holiday.
- 18:25They'll no longer be frustrated or scared of being in the water.
- 18:28Why?
- 18:29Because we've invested in solving their problem with an expert.
- 18:34But with great, it's doing that in those kinds of situations, but when it's our
- 18:37business, for some reason, we shut down and we don't want to spend any money,
- 18:41we think we can do it all ourselves.
- 18:42And we think we can just get on and learn it for free just by
- 18:46trying it and giving it a go.
- 18:48But then we've become frustrated because the free things that we're
- 18:52trying to find, the free videos we're trying to watch, or just the advice
- 18:56we're getting for free from friends doesn't seem to be doing the job and
- 19:00we become the frustrated free behind.
- 19:02Constantly searching around for an answer, but not willing to pay any money or
- 19:06invest any time to get it fixed sooner.
- 19:09Now I'm sure there's someone out there probably that I could find who might
- 19:12try and teach my kids to swim for free, but I guarantee you, they probably
- 19:17not going to do as good a job as the expert that I am paying every single.
- 19:22So don't become the frustrated, freebie hunter.
- 19:25If you want your business to succeed and you want something
- 19:27to be better, sometimes it's much better to pay an expert to do that.
- 19:33Perhaps you are not happy with the imagery on your site.
- 19:36Perhaps you've got images which you've taken on your phone, and they're just not
- 19:39doing your products or services, justice, and no one's ever coming to you because
- 19:44they don't like the look of your products.
- 19:46Well, you can try and improve your photography skills.
- 19:49You could go out and buy a better car.
- 19:51Or you could just invest in someone to come and do a
- 19:53branding photo shoot with you.
- 19:55And guess what?
- 19:55You're going to end up with incredible images, way better than anything
- 20:00you could have done on your own.
- 20:03Perhaps you're stuck and you need a strategy to move forward.
- 20:06You need help with how to build an email system.
- 20:09You need help with how to do better at a wedding show.
- 20:11You need to understand how to use Pinterest.
- 20:14Well, go to an expert, come to me for a one-to-one session.
- 20:18Join my membership and watch.
- 20:20Go to someone that can give you the answer immediately and tell you how to
- 20:25do it well and support you along the way.
- 20:27You don't want to become the frustrated, freebie hunter.
- 20:30If something's frustrating, you find a way to solve it, find the expert and fix it.
- 20:36And if it's not a priority right now, then put a date in the diary for when
- 20:39you do have a bit more money that you can go ahead and invest in that.
- 20:44It's always a bit of a chicken and egg situation, isn't it?
- 20:46Because often we're not getting the inquiries in because we haven't got the
- 20:50images or the website to back it up.
- 20:53And so if we don't improve the images, we don't get the money.
- 20:56And if we don't get the money, we don't feel like we can
- 20:58afford to improve the images.
- 21:00Ultimately starting a business does cost something.
- 21:04And while I don't think it needs to cost you hundreds of pounds, have a think
- 21:07about where you should be investing your money to improve your result.
- 21:12So all of the people I've talked about today, other people we
- 21:16don't want to be, you don't want to be the used car salesman.
- 21:19You don't want to be the person who's throwing their business
- 21:21cards around a networking event.
- 21:23You don't want to be the everything's perfect person or
- 21:26the follow for a follower person.
- 21:28You definitely don't want to be the all talk.
- 21:30No action.
- 21:31And you definitely don't want to be the frustrated freebie hunter, either
- 21:35as you listen, you may be chuckling to yourself, as you can recognize some of
- 21:39these character traits in some of the people that I've mentioned today, but
- 21:44you might also be looking at yourself and realizing actually, maybe I fall into
- 21:48some of these categories and that's okay.
- 21:50Recognizing it in yourself means that you can help and try and make a difference to.
- 21:56Although, we don't want to be like these people.
- 21:58We can laugh about it and we can learn from it to make sure that we're doing
- 22:03better business, being better people.
- 22:05And ultimately the best person you can be.
- 22:09Is yourself.
- 22:10So take that away from today.
- 22:12Don't try and be any of these people.
- 22:14Just be yourself.
- 22:15Be humble, be willing to learn and be willing to help other people.
- 22:19I'm I guarantee you, it will help you grow your wedding business.
- 22:24One thing I love about the wedding industry is the other amazing
- 22:27people you get to work with.
- 22:29If you want to meet some like-minded wedding pros, just like you, then
- 22:32why not join my free Facebook.
- 22:34Wedding pros and we're ready to grow.
- 22:36Come meet some new connections, hang out with me and hopefully learn
- 22:40too just search for us on Facebook.