How to nail the follow-up process for your wedding venue

Planning a wedding can be stressful – even the most chilled-out couples will find themselves staring at their wedding day spreadsheet feeling more than a little overwhelmed from time to time. As a venue owner or manager, you can help take some of the load off by being helpful, available and proactive from the initial enquiry email. Nail the follow-up process for your wedding venue and it will help turn those queries into bookings. And here’s how you do it.

The first response

When a couple gets in touch to enquire about your wedding venue you need to build on that momentum straight away. It’s no use marking the email as something to follow-up when there’s a quiet moment (is there ever in event management?!) – an initial enquiry requires an immediate response if you want to make the best first impression on your potential customers. By replying straight away you are letting that couple know that they are important to you, plus it never hurts to be the first venue to respond if a couple are contacting a few in one go…

Of course, this all sounds good in theory, but when your to-do list is growing by the minute it’s understandable that some things will get put to the bottom of the pile. That’s why?outsourcing your wedding venue sales?is such a beneficial thing to do for your business.?The Venue Experts?have many years of experience working with award-winning venues across the Midlands and further afield, taking on the full sales process from the initial enquiry to final bookings. We can make sure every single lead is responded to straight away, nurturing a fantastic relationship with the couples to show your venue off to its fullest potential. All while you get to focus on hosting incredible events.?

Get that show-round booked in

A perfect follow-up process involves a venue being proactive in getting that show-round booked in. You need to be sending targeted emails, selling the venue in the best possible way, after the initial contact. Set the scene for a couple and let them imagine what their wedding day could be like if they booked your venue. Essentially, make them desperate to visit and look at what you have to offer. Be flexible with days and times, and make sure you give your potential customers plenty of options to choose from – or ask them to let you know what day or time works best for them, then try and accommodate. This kind of follow-up is what The Venue Experts do best, working with professional wedding copywriters to create compelling emails that will get that show-round booked in. If you’d like to know more,?get in touch here.

Make it easy

We’ve said it before, but if you want to nail the follow-up process for your venue you need to make it easy for the couples who get in touch. Have a website that’s easy to navigate and features all the essential information – if you don’t have clear prices and capacity info chances are a couple won’t bother to take their interest any further. Consider having a professionally designed venue guide or information sheet to email over to potential customers after that initial enquiry. You want to be answering their questions before they even have to ask. Communication is key.

Wow with the show-round

This is such a crucial part of the?follow-up process, giving you the chance to show off your beautiful venue. As well as covering all the practicalities around holding a wedding at your venue, the show-round is about selling the ‘dream’ too – set the scene, allow brides and grooms-to-be to imagine getting ready, walking down the aisle, saying their vows, enjoying the wedding breakfast and dancing the night away. If the show-round is something you struggle with – or you’d like some help with training new staff on how to nail it – do?get in touch?with The Venue Experts.

After the show-round

The final part of the process is following up with couples after the show-round. You don’t want to come across as too forceful or make the couple feel they need to make a decision quickly, but a friendly email afterwards, thanking them for their time, answering any questions they asked which you couldn’t answer on the spot and offering to answer any other questions they may have, is a great way to keep communication going. It’s helpful to have an email strategy in place to deal with follow-ups once the show-round is complete – that’s another thing The Venue Experts can help with.

Hopefully that’s given you plenty to think about when it comes to planning out how best to deal with the follow-up process, from the very beginning right through to a successful booking. If The Venue Experts can help boost those conversions, we’d love to hear from you . Give us a call on 07880 312393, email?[email protected]?or visit our?contact page.