Jenna Talks About Sweating The Details

Event Planner Skills: Wow Your Clients With The Details

Hey party people. It’s me, Jenna, with ThymeBase event planning software, and I’m here to talk to you a little bit about sweating the small stuff and why it’s so important for us to be able to handle the hundreds of millions of little details that come with executing an event. We all know that the devil is in the details and it’s imperative that we’re able to collect all those details, big and small.

And I’ll explain a little bit more about why those tiny little small details matter.

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We’re Event Planners Because We Care About The Details

We’re in this business of event planning because we’re so great at handling tons and tons of details all at once. That’s why people hire event planners.

They know that there’s a ton of information that needs to be collected and they don’t necessarily want to be the ones to do it. This is the time to prove yourself. We’re there to take care of all of the nitty gritty little details. So it’s important for us to understand what our clients need and how we’re going to get it for them.

The event planner tracks, records and understands all of the little things that need to come together and all the plates that need to be spinning at once. And that’s why we’re so good at what we do.

To a potential client having to organize and synthesize a bunch of information, like the tiniest details to the biggest, it can be really daunting and it can sound really scary. That’s why they’ve hired you. You’re the expert. And you’re able to organize this in a way. That’s going to make sense for yourself, for your client, for your vendors and for everyone involved.

This builds trust with your clients. This builds a great working relationship with your venues and your vendors, and it’s only going to help you to grow your business in the long run.

Pro Tip 1: Use The Little Details

So here’s a pro tip.

Next time you have a walkthrough or a tasting with a client, take the time to remember some specific details that they tell you that have nothing to do with the event.

Once I had a tasting with a wedding client that could not stop talking about how excited they were for their honeymoon to New Zealand. All it really took  to establish a great relationship with them and really get them to trust me and understand that I have all the details, was sending them a simple little travel blog that I love to follow that had details on traveling in New Zealand.

That’s it. After that they knew that I cared and they knew that I was listening and I heard them .

It’s important to go the extra mile to retain and later, maybe even recall information that a client has given to you that might not necessarily relate to the event itself.

Let’s say you have a wedding tasting with a bride and groom, or you’re going on your first venue site visit with a client. Perhaps they told you a story about what they did that day or where they’re going to be honeymooning or what their favorite color is.  And who knows, you can even infuse it somehow into their event, or help their caterer understand a little bit better what their food tastes are. Remembering these little details are really important with establishing trust with your client.

Pro Tip 2: Prioritize The Details

What do you have control over during the event and what do you need to just let go?

During any event, as the event planner, I know that I’m the nucleus of the event. I have all the details and all the information printed out right in front of me. And I am the go-to for anybody that needs anything that day.

So here’s a pro tip: Since there will be tons of people coming to you with questions and concerns and needs on the day of an event, it’s very important, for myself that I have created a short list of the highest priority items that I know that I need to have handled that day.

Examples of this would be making sure that the kitchen knows that there is a severe food allergy or double checking that the right amount of tables have been laid out and checking it against the floor plan, so that nobody’s seatless. These are the types of things that I’m looking for.

Those tiny little tea lights that need to be lit and the napkins that need to be folded. Those can always come later.

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Track The Details After The Event

So here’s how all those little details can come into play post-event. There are two things that I always do no matter what.

So the first thing is a log after each and every event that lists what went well about the event, what didn’t go so well, what could be better for next time, and how did we work with the vendors and the venue that we hired for this event? Would we work with them again?

All those little things are going to help me in the long run when I need to go back and ultimately do another event at this venue or work with these vendors again, and this can also pertain to your team.

If you have a team working for you or with you recording any incidents that happen on site is really important when you need to go back and handle it.

Also sometimes it’s just nice to go back and read through your log of events. It only helps me do better for the next one. And it also serves as a great resource for when I need to recommend vendors to new or potential clients.

Pro Tip 3: Take Notes

So here are a couple of pro tips on what I’d like to do with all this information I’ve collected during the event, once the event is over.

Number one, I know it’s not cute to have your phone out during an event, especially if you’re working the event, but I always keep my notes app open with a fresh note to jot down anything that happens during the event or anything I notice that I might want to change for next time.

And examples of this can be as small as, the candles burned out too soon, or as big as the catering company forgot the wedding cake. All of these things I know I’m going to want to look back on if I’m to work with these people again.

The second thing I always do is take that list of all of the vendors I worked with and all of the specific representatives with each company, I keep record of their contacts, so that it’s really easy to pull from past events and reach out to people that I might want to work with again.

You never know when a client is going to come to you and say, “I saw this thing at this venue, or I was at this wedding one time and it was beautiful. How did they do that?” If I have the resources and I’ve already worked with a vendor, why not have that information handy for me to show my client. Even better is having a lot of Instagram accounts that you’re able to send links to. Or links to photographers websites that can show your client really what the look and feel could be for their event.

Pro Tip 4: Keep Lists On Hand

Another pro tip is to keep one list specifically of professional photographers that you worked with per event. You never know when a new or potential client is going to come to you and say, “I really, really want to get married at this specific venue. What can you show me that you’ve done there in the past?” This is the best way to do it. And professional photos… Everyone loves those.

Another pro tip for you here is to keep a spreadsheet or a list of all of the professional photographers that you work with, especially for weddings. There’s no better way to give your client a great visual and a really good feel for what their event could look like than showing them either a photo portfolio or an Instagram page  that is really close to what they want as well.

It’ll only excite them more.

So thanks for watching. I hope those tips were helpful. They’re just a few ways that I like to try and wow my clients with the details.

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