It’s no secret that price is one of the most commonly asked questions by brides and grooms. Potential couples are working to figure out how they can fit their big day into their budget, and they’re going to try and see how your services fit into that budget as well.
Which is why couples sometimes have unrealistic budget expectations when it comes to how much your services are going to cost.
Our 2017 Easy Weddings Annual Survey found that the average Australian couple budgets for a $21,236 wedding. But they actually end up spending an average of $31,368.
Which means that most couples end up spending 50% more on their wedding than they originally budgeted for. That’s 50% more wriggle room when it comes to showing them what you’re worth.
So here are some ways you can deal with unrealistic budget expectations before landing potential clients.
It’s all about education
The majority of couples are planning a wedding for the first time and hiring services they’ve never had to use before. So despite how much research they might have done in the lead up to meeting with you, they don’t know first hand how much everything is supposed to cost.
Your job is to educate them on how much your services generally cost and what they are getting out of their investment. There’s no point meeting with a couple and not explaining what their money is going towards. Especially if you’re a supplier who invests a lot of time into your services before or after the wedding, rather than just on the big day, sometimes couples might not realise what exactly you’re doing for them.
Know the average cost of your services in your category and state and go from there. If your prices come in above average because you’re offering a premium service, then it’s your job to educate the couple on why they should invest more money in your particular category. Tell them what they are benefitting from in hiring a premium service and why they should invest some of that extra 50% with you.
However, if you come in under budget and you can’t explain why your services are so affordable, then perhaps it’s time to review your worth.
Know how much your services are worth
There’s always going to be a difference in price from a supplier who has been in the industry for 12 months versus someone who has worked in weddings for the past 15 years. Couples don’t always know the difference, so it’s up to you know how much your services, product or time are worth and value them accordingly.
Judging your category and location average is again another good way to do this, as it gives you a benchmark for the industry. If you’re offering a unique service then look at how unique your services are and what sort of demand you’re getting. The higher you are in demand, the easier it is to secure bookings for what you are actually worth.
Whatever you do, don’t undervalue yourself. You have a specific skill and trade and that’s very useful in the wedding industry. If you start undervaluing yourself from the get-go it can be hard to be paid what you’re really worth when your business does pick up.
Ask more questions
Getting to know a couple is all about asking more questions and finding out what they’re after for their big day. If you get to know the reasons behind their unrealistic budget expectations, then buying gaps will naturally open up.
Knowing exactly what the couple is after can help you figure out whether you’re the right fit as a supplier in the first place. Your service might be a premium service that isn’t quite suited to them, or they could be after someone else who offers a different type of package to you.
It can also help you identify these buying gaps to see where else you can fit in. If you know the couple isn’t hiring a particular service that might cost them $200, then theoretically they can spend that additional money on what you are offering.
Don’t try and oversell to them, rather than helping them with their budget in the first place. If you come across as helping the couple fit into their budget, they’ll be much more likely to want to spend more money on you in the long run.
Set your price filter
We’ve set up a price filter feature on Easy Weddings to help you be found by the couples you really want to target.
Using WedCRM you can access this filter to select whether your services should be listed as modest, classic, premium or luxury.
We’ve made it easy for you to see where your business lies by adding individual estimated values for each category so you can select your minimum pricing. These figures don’t show up in the directory for couples, but it does help field the type of brides or grooms who will be enquiring about your business.
These price filters are set up to help reduce the number of unrealistic budget expectations you receive from enquiries and help you be found more by the couples who will spend on your service.
