How Many Times Do You Contact a Bride Before You Stop?

“It’s very frustrating to be hung up on when I call, or to receive a nasty e-mail telling me to stop e-mailing, when they are the ones who contacted me in the first place and all I am trying to do is follow up with them.

Why is it so hard for the bride to let me know she went with someone else, our prices are too high (which I can then negotiate with them), or she is no longer engaged?”

Before we explore how much you should follow up with your leads, let’s talk about the biggest wedding pros FAILS when it comes to follow up.

1. Most wedding pros follow up ONCE.  Some never follow up at all.
2. Their follow up lacks a strong call to action, which means it’s much less likely to get a response.
3. Their follow up lacks personality and looks just like the competition.  Boring!

Studies by McGraw Hill suggests that it takes 5-12 contacts with a business before a customer will buy.

Each “contact” is a touch point with your business.  So the first contact might be a word of mouth referral, the second might be visiting your website, the third might be an email from you, and so on.

If you’re not following up at least 5 times with every lead who contacts you, you’re losing business.

When the bride doesn’t respond, don’t take it personally.  She probably got busy and forgot to respond (how many times have you put off responding to an email for days, even weeks?).  Your email is buried with hundreds others in her inbox.  Today’s Millennial couples don’t check their email as often or respond promptly.

Why is it so hard for her to respond?  Probably for the same reason you don’t return the calls from telemarketers: you’re too busy to bother telling someone you’re not interested.

Unfortunately, we can’t teach brides and grooms good manners.  But you can give them a compelling reason to RESPOND FAST.

Most wedding pros follow up with zero calls to action or a weak call to action, like this: If you’d like to learn more about our services, give me a call…

Weak!  Eat your Wheaties, put on your big girl/guy pants and tell them exactly what to do with a sense of urgency.  Try this on for size:

Call me today for a free sample!  This special expires on Friday.

Don’t tell me that you don’t offer samples.  Offer a free consultation (and don’t call it a “no obligation” consultation, which is code for “sales pitch”) or a special gift or a discount or free information or…

In other words, make them an offer they can’t refuse.

If you offer something and it doesn’t work, then it isn’t compelling enough.

The short answer to your question: follow up at least 5 times and preferably until they tells you to stop, or their wedding date passes.

Learn more follow-up tips in our Book More Brides Faceboo Tribe!

How often do you follow up?

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