Here’s a good rule of thumb for referrals: For every year you’ve been serving couples, 10% of your booked business should come from past and current clients. Each season builds on top of the next, and eventually, most of your couples will come on recommendation from those they trust most, and who also know your services the best.

If you’re not seeing enough referrals from clients, tune into this episode of Own Your Business, where I’ll share:

- Why client referrals always trump vendor referrals

- The difference between a sales funnel and a referral flywheel

- 5 specific strategies you can put into practice today to get more inquiries from your most qualified buyers

Remember, the key to sales success is to provide the right information at the right time in the right way. Those who do will unlock the opportunity for your business grow.

But if you screen your couples too much you may prevent unidentified but still ideal clients from getting into your inbox, or all the way through to contract.

In this week’s episode of Own Your Business, I talk about:

-      4 reasons couples struggle to book the right vendors

-      3 areas to focus on if you want to book more clients at higher prices

-      14 ways you’re making it hard for couples to make progress in the buyer’s journey

-      8 tactics you can use to make it easier to say “yes” to your services

We all want to like the people we work with. But have you spent much time thinking about it from the couples’ perspective. Remember: They want to like the people they work with too. It’s not just about how well you can meet their needs on the wedding day. They need to know you every day until then will be worth it too.

In this episode of Own Your Business, I’ll introduce you to:

- Mirror neurons and sales mirroring

- Why they help humans to survive

- How they’ll help your business thrive

- 5 specific tactics you can use to mirror couples during the sales process

What’s the best way to present your pricing and packages to potential clients? I see a range of approaches in the wedding industry, from one option to a la carte, and the most popular: base-plus-a-la-carte. But research shows these ways can create push-back and analysis paralysis, among other issues. Tune in this week to learn:

- How many options for your couples is ideal?

- Why “framing” works?

- How to make expensive options look more affordable?

- When to split up the sale – and how to do it?

A massive challenge every wedding pro faces when selling your services is when and how to share what you do for couples. Sales success comes when you offer the right information at the right time in the right way. The problem is, how do you know what’s the right thing to share and when? In this episode, I’m going to walk you through:

-     5 stages of awareness to make purchase choices

-     How to tell where your couples are in the process

-     What you should be sharing on social media

-     What you should be targeting on your website

-     How to use your proposal more effectively

Creating an effective website isn’t as easy as picking a pretty template and then filling in the boxes with photos, videos and copy. In fact, “pretty” isn’t the only factor to consider when you pick the template or layout your site. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and what looks and feels amazing for one person is hard to navigate or overwhelming for another.

In today’s episode, Katy Taylor Jacobson, wedding sales expert and conversion copywriter, shares insights into how to layout a website based on our four buyer types, including quick changes you can make to your site today.

- Four different buyer types in the wedding world

- How each likes to experience your website

- 3-5 must-dos on your site for each buyer type

Couples come to you with what they want. But your job – if you want to book more couples at higher prices – is to know how to trigger what they really need. They may not know it themselves, which is why you’ll be a step ahead of everyone else if you learn how to identify what core motivation is driving the couple’s decision. In this episode you’ll learn

- How to sell from the intersection of sales and psychology

- 9 core desires pushing consumer purchases

- 4 most common triggers for couples

- How to incorporate these into your marketing and sales efforts

Do you think people don’t read any more? Think again. In fact, the higher your net-worth, the more likely you are to read compared to someone who’s living on a middle income. But it’s not as simple as putting more words on your website. You’ve got to hook the reader – and then tell a great story that leaves them wanting more. In this episode you’ll learn:

- The differences between content copywriting and conversion copywriting

- How to hook your reader from the very beginning

- Why your ideal clients need you to go “negative”

- How our copy clients get 70% more site visitors to their Contact pages

- Resources for getting high-converting copy on your site asap

Your website is your online storefront – and entrance to your inbox. If you can’t generate enough inquiries, you’ll have a hard time booking more couples. But it’s not as easy as buying a template and DIYing your way to success. If you’re not going to hire a pro – or if you just want to make a few quick fixes – tune in today to learn:

- How many inquiries you need to make your numbers each year

- What are the hardest parts of your website to DIY

- 5 quick fixes that make a big impact on conversions

We talk about “connecting” with the couple during the inquiry process. But what does that mean? And how does it impact the professional relationship you have with potential clients? In this episode, I’ll share with you lessons I learned over 25 years in hospitality, including:

- The top book I know to make you better at getting people to like you

- 6 principles to live by when you’re trying to connect with others

- 3 areas in the sales process you can implement concrete ideas to get more bookings