#65: Turning Consultations into Bookings: Practical Tips to Increase Conversions with Steven Burchard

Kevin Dennis (: 00:00

All right, folks, welcome to another episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. And I'm here today with Stephen Burchard. Did I say it right? Was like, oh, I was close. OK, great. And he's with Magical Memories Entertainment. So Stephen, before we jump into a topic and what we're talking about today, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how we got you here today?

Steven Burchard (: 00:07

You did, yes.

My name is Sam Richard. I own a company called Magical Memories Entertainment. We are what I like to call an entertainment concierge service. What that really means in practicality is we connect the right people with the right clients. So we're not really a one fits all kind of experience, but we are not also we do everything kind of experience. What our role is and our job is in the events and entertainment world is finding the right ⁓

Kevin Dennis (: 00:36

Hmm.

Hmm.

Steven Burchard (: 00:48

person and knowing our team well enough to know who is the right fit for the right client and then translating our clients visions into what they actually are in practice. So that's kind what we do in a nutshell.

Kevin Dennis (: 01:05

Perfect. All right. Well, and I'm excited to jump into this topic with you because we're talking about turning consultations into bookings, practical tips to increase client conversation. So wedding pros, ⁓ Stephen, get inquiries, but many struggle to convert consultations into bookings. So why is there a gap between getting the inquiries and converting those into bookings?

Steven Burchard (: 01:12

Mm-hmm.

mean, there's a couple different things that I, so I have a team that works with us as well as our sales team. And what I tell them all the time is it's a couple of factors to it. The first thing is one understanding of client's vision. And that's kind of like our fundamental idea is understanding what their expectations are, what they want, how they see the event going, their feelings. So really listening to start is the number one thing that I always say, start with listening, start with understanding, trying your best to get to that.

Kevin Dennis (: 01:55

Mmm.

Steven Burchard (: 02:00

And then the second part to that is, ⁓ is being able to kind of reflect that back. ⁓ It's not, it's not about, it's not about creating something new and it's not about changing, changing things necessarily more about really trying to sit there and hear what the client is thinking and seeing. And then more so even understanding where their, fears are and where their concerns are.

Because at the end of the day no matter what you're doing in the event in the or in the wedding world or the events world ⁓ it's really trying to to solve a problem or solve a dilemma Problem, I don't want to say problem, but that's kind of what it is. You know, they're they have a concern Yeah, they have a concern they have a thing that they want and and you're and they're coming to you because they've already you've already solved part of the problem by saying hey I do the thing and they believe you enough to give you a call

Kevin Dennis (: 02:46

It is, yeah.

Steven Burchard (: 02:59

So you're talking about consultations to bookings. They gave you a call so they already know, hey, they're mostly there. And now you really just need to reflect back what they're looking for. And really the biggest part that I, like I said, that I teach my team is understanding what that is first. Because when you understand it and you really try, and I think a lot of things happen is you just, have something like DJ, a photographer, ⁓

Kevin Dennis (: 03:18

Mm-hmm.

Steven Burchard (: 03:26

caricaturist, tropical birds, these are all things that we do, and everybody comes to you and you understand these things, and now you're like, okay, well, I do these things, here's what I do, and here's why I do it, right? But that's not really what they're asking you. They really wanna know, here's what I'm thinking, can you understand that, and then tell me how that fits what I'm thinking? And I think that's really the biggest thing.

Kevin Dennis (: 03:36

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, so I love it. All right, so we're going through the consultation process What do the couples really want to feel during that consultation before they're really ready to say yes? You know, like is there some signs that they get or some kind of you know I don't know emotion or whatever where they're like i'm ready to book

Steven Burchard (: 04:07

I mean, I think making connections important, ⁓ but I really think that like I said before here getting heard is the number one thing And it's and they'll guide you through that process and it's it sounds so simple ⁓ but I think somebody told me this a long time ago as you know a wedding venue that I worked with a lot and the the The owner of the venue said to me is like listen we have we have two years and one not just listen twice as much as you speak and I've

Kevin Dennis (: 04:15

Hmm.

Steven Burchard (: 04:35

tried my best to live by that theory because if you're in an environment and you're talking to somebody, if you listen to what they're saying and twice as much as you speak and twice as much as you talk, you're gonna get exactly what they want and learn. And if we're talking about sales wise, you're gonna learn how to sell to them. You're gonna learn what they want and how they want it. And the words that you need to use are exactly what they said. Reflect it back to them. And not for nothing, I am a very, very firm believer

Kevin Dennis (: 04:49

Mm-hmm.

Steven Burchard (: 05:04

in two things, not overselling and not miss a misconnecting or, you know, not having the right alignment. Be honest with yourself in that situation as well. You know, don't go out there and sell a client on something that you can't deliver. Don't go out there and oversell a client on something that you're not going to deliver. You don't feel like it's a fair compensation for the work you're going to put in. It's really important that you're meeting the right expectation. But you first, like I said, going back to listening, you have to learn what the expectation is.

and then you have to reflect it back and then you have to deliver on it and then when you deliver on it you'll get hired again by somebody else so it's a cycle

Kevin Dennis (: 05:42

I love it. It's funny. ⁓ I think a lot of us wedding professionals struggle with, we do talk too much and we get, and then I feel like we are not good at the empty void. We got to the empty void, so to speak, during those processes. So yeah, that was some great advice. So during the consultation process, what are some big mistakes that...

Steven Burchard (: 05:56

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 06:10

like you think wedding pros make that are costing them maybe some bookings.

Steven Burchard (: 06:16

I think the talking factor is the number one thing. I've given advice to friends of mine who are in the weddings industry. it's the curse of knowledge, I think is a big part of this, is you know what something is. You know how something goes. You know what the best option is in a certain scenario. And you're just trying to brain dump on these people who have no idea anything about anything. And the second part in that same kind of

Kevin Dennis (: 06:27

Mm-hmm.

Steven Burchard (: 06:44

thought process is based on the fact that you already know you're assuming that they kind of know already too or you just don't realize that they don't know what you're talking about so trying to really walk them through that the process of from inception to to execution how that's gonna feel and experience and the biggest thing that we're you know no matter what you're doing in the wedding industry we do like I said we do a lot of different things

across the spectrum from walk around magicians to aerialists, all that stuff, right? How do you, for us, it's even more so the case because when a client comes to us, they're not coming to us just for a photographer, a DJ, whatever, no one service usually. Why are they coming to us? They're coming to us with a large scope of vision, usually. So for us, we have to really translate what that vision is. when I sit down with a client, I know a lot of a lot.

Kevin Dennis (: 07:16

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Steven Burchard (: 07:39

I've been doing this for 20 years. I don't even know all the things I know because it's just so ingrained in who I am and how I do things. So when I sit down, I can just keep going and be like, don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. I feel like that's kind of what happens a lot is that you assume that they just know what you kind of do innately. And that's the hardest thing is to get over that and learn that you need to not talk down to them like they're

Kevin Dennis (: 08:03

Yeah.

Steven Burchard (: 08:09

They don't know anything, but talk to them as if they are somebody that's brand new to this because they are usually.

Kevin Dennis (: 08:19

Yeah, and I think a lot of wedding professionals will start using acronyms or just different like slang that we use and then it goes right over the couple's head and then they're looking at them like they have like you're just at that point become like Charlie Brown's teacher want want want you're just noise to them because they're they're not able to follow what you're doing. Yeah, so I think that has lots to do with it. So alright, so I think you know

Steven Burchard (: 08:24

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 08:43

So a lot of couples want to have like trust and confidence in the person that they're ⁓ going to hire to do their wedding. So how does educating couples during the consultation process increase that trust and confidence?

Steven Burchard (: 08:59

Absolutely. mean, I think, like I said, it's it's, it's not about. It's not about. say it is about actually kind of giving them the education and teaching them what you do and why you do it and how you do it. But going in depth into what's important to them. That's the reality of it is I feel like a lot of wedding professionals speak to what they think is important.

And it may actually be the most important thing in the event. But if a client doesn't think it is important, it isn't important. And it's that I don't know if that resonates with a lot of people because they said, well, it's, you know, the first look is the most important thing for a photographer. Let's just say, right, that's my that's the most important thing. I'm telling you it is. But. Is it the most important thing to that client? Because maybe that maybe that the one shot that they have during the first dance is the most important thing. And if that's the case.

Kevin Dennis (: 09:43

Yeah, yeah, ⁓

Yeah.

Steven Burchard (: 09:56

Forget about talking about the first look. Even if they mentioned it, even if it's something that they talked about, forget about it. Don't focus on it. If you're talking about how to get that client to be interested in booking with you, you have to understand what's important to them. And then, yeah, you want to educate them on process. And when you're going through it, you want to kind of make sure that's there. But don't focus on it. Focus on the thing that means that something to that person. Because at the end of the day, everything we do is based on how we perceive it.

And if you look at life, if you go around, you're going to your, you know, your favorite, you know, department store, mean, if those things exist anymore, favorite store in general, and you, you know, you go into that store, you listen in, if you see, if you feel like this is the place you want to be, it's because they're selling to you, you know, the music that's out there, the way the colors are, the things are, those are all minute little things, but they're speaking to you as the buyer. And we still have to do that same thing, you focusing on bringing a certain level of

Kevin Dennis (: 10:35

Yeah.

Steven Burchard (: 10:54

focusing on what's important to that person is key in order to deliver and to be able to really have them convert. Because at of the day, we're talking about sales here, converting is the end goal. That's the whole point of this, right? So we're going from that to the end point. How do get there? Listen, understand, and focus on what they think is important, not what you think is important.

Kevin Dennis (: 11:08

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, and I think that's some great advice right there. So, all right. So I've been setting up events and you'll hear like some of these venue coordinators, come across like, or the sales reps for some of these venues will come across a little salesy, little used car salesman-ish, you know. So how does one go through the process of the consultation to make it effective without sounding scripted or salesy, you know, when they're going through it?

Steven Burchard (: 11:49

⁓ I think the biggest thing is mirroring. ⁓ That was something I was taught a long time ago is, I actually went to school for marketing is mirroring. You're sitting there, you're talking to a client, and if you mirror back what they're saying to you. I really, let's talk about the venue aspect of it. I really, I'm looking for a venue where my, and I think it's the key part of mirroring here is not mirroring. ⁓

Kevin Dennis (: 11:56

⁓ OK.

Steven Burchard (: 12:17

the things necessarily food or the view or not necessarily like that specifically, but the emotional part of it is the key here is speaking to I really want my photos to, you know, to, I really want photos that all that I'll remember forever. For example, let's say, right, and like, okay, well, that's, that's the that's a connection. That's a piece that that's not, it's tangible to a set, but it's not as it's not as physical of a thing. So if you can mirror back,

Kevin Dennis (: 12:27

Okay.

Steven Burchard (: 12:47

what their what their the emotional aspect of it is. That's something that you can kind of play into more so and then you're not no you're no longer comparing ⁓ what view is better, which sample is better, the thing the thing the thing is not going to be as as direct comparison. So you if you can play into that that the making the person feel this is this really feels right the right place. As I said, as I said a couple of seconds ago, it's

Kevin Dennis (: 13:07

Mm-hmm.

Steven Burchard (: 13:15

perception, your perception is your reality. That's how we all live our lives. It's not about the reality that's out there. It's really what we perceive it to be, which is what we act upon. You know, that's the classic, what's called the observer theory, right? The ability that people see things and you can't, you know, when you're sitting there, you're looking at it, right? You're not, you know, you don't know if it's real or what exactly happened, I guess, the theory of it. You know, you don't realize

Kevin Dennis (: 13:19

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Steven Burchard (: 13:42

what actually happened there in that situation because what you saw was completely different from really happened. You know, the idea that you watched a person that watched a car accident, asking them what happened in that car accident. You're like, well, this, that, and this happened. And then you watch a video of it and totally different. So that's, think, the kind of reality here.

Kevin Dennis (: 13:55

Yeah.

Yeah, I love it. And it's funny you say that someone can watch the video and still have different viewpoints of how that whole thing went down. So, all right. So we're in the consultation phase. Are there like certain questions pros should like ask to uncover what truly matters for the couple? Or is there any like advice you can give when it comes to questions? Cause I feel like sometimes that's where the pros, we just get into that diatribe and we just start talking, talking, talking, but we're not.

asking the right questions to get to everything that you've just been trying to teach us here.

Steven Burchard (: 14:37

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the number one thing that I go by is how do you envision this day going? How do you see your wedding day going? How do you see whatever experience you're getting going or doing, you know? ⁓ If you can really just ask them to translate their vision, and some people don't know, and then you have to kind of walk them through that process to start them, ⁓ you know, giving them examples. Do you see, you know, walking out and this being a thing, or do you see it like this? Do you see it like that?

Kevin Dennis (: 14:49

Mmm.

Steven Burchard (: 15:07

You know, how do you, cause that's kind of as a, professional, I mean, I'm also, I I may be a little bit biased, so I'm, I'm a very visual person. can conceptualize things and visualize things and have that kind of thing. So for me, it helps me to understand what they're doing in that way. ⁓ So for them, I think really trying to get to understanding and visualizing that is, the most important piece of this is then it, cause that allows them to really be able to articulate the, the, the end result.

Kevin Dennis (: 15:15

You

Steven Burchard (: 15:36

which is what we're selling to is the end result. You know, at end of the day, we're selling that end result. We're not selling the process. The process in all reality doesn't necessarily matter. You know, as a DJ, it doesn't matter what speakers you have. It doesn't matter which controller you have. It doesn't matter which lights you have. No, no, none of that matters. All that matters is how that client feels at the end of the... Like I said, feels at the end of the day. It has nothing to do with how we got to that end result.

Kevin Dennis (: 15:43

Mm.

No. Nope. Yeah.

Mm-mm.

Steven Burchard (: 16:04

All that matters is we got there and they got that feeling that they wanted. And to me, what's most important is what we promised, because they might be happy as a clam. But if we under delivered, we didn't give them like the extra thing that we said we would. That's not fair. And that's not right. But if you're as long as you're delivering on what you promised, the method in which you got there doesn't matter.

Kevin Dennis (: 16:27

Yeah, and it's funny back in the day. I mean, I'm old so I've been around a long time but back in the day, you know, we would get clients who going to bridal fairs, you know, and so at the bridal fairs you would see like DJs have all their equipment and lighting all set up there and it's like are they selling the equipment or are they selling themselves and the same could be said even like I would see videographers set up all their cameras and have all their equipment out for everyone to see and I feel like the client has no idea, you know, if

This is even quality equipment or what is, you know, they're buying the person more than they're buying the equipment, you know, kind of thing. So it was some good advice. got one of the wedding MBAs a long time ago is exactly what you were saying is, you know, getting to the emotion side of it as well. So, all right. So, vendors, you know, we help to guide the decision making. How can we, sorry, let's start over, Emily. So without.

Steven Burchard (: 17:04

100%.

Kevin Dennis (: 17:25

making the sales consultation process feel overwhelming or like pressuring clients, like how can we guide them through the consultation without making them feel overwhelmed or making them feel like we're pressuring them into a sale.

Steven Burchard (: 17:41

⁓ I think if you if you treat it as a conversation, I think that's that's the thing I've I've learned about this is that it's not it's not a sales pitch, especially in the wedding market ⁓ You're not selling as much as you are creating a relationship and I think the majority of ⁓ Vendors out there are

Kevin Dennis (: 17:47

Okay.

Steven Burchard (: 18:08

smaller operations, they don't necessarily have a huge team of salespeople. And that's probably more in the event, the entertainment worlds, know, DJs and photographers and things like that. They're not huge, huge studios, companies, there are some out there, get me wrong, but the majority aren't. So as a individual sitting there with a client, how do you close that deal is really to treat them as a friend, you know, you're giving them advice as if they're your friend, you're giving them

Kevin Dennis (: 18:23

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Steven Burchard (: 18:35

insight as if they're your friend. And if you think of it that way is not a, I'm trying to sell you on this idea and you need to, you need to do this, you need to buy this, you need to do this, right? And this is why, and this is what you're right, this is what it is, right? Instead of doing it that way, if you approach it as, hey, you know what, tell me what you're thinking and let me figure out based on my experience, what I think might be the best fit, what I think would might give you the best results based on what you've told me. And you know what, get it, know, get it this way, do it this way.

You know, most people that are that have that have done this event have done it better or this is the way they've done better, better, you know, they've they've done what you're looking for your vision. Yeah. And they've given a better experience this way and you've had a better opportunity this way. So guiding them with, I mean, coming from from from compassion or coming from the perspective of giving and trying to help them versus sell them, I think will

Kevin Dennis (: 19:13

for success.

Steven Burchard (: 19:31

drive to that end result for a booking easier. Because at the end of the day, that's what people are looking for. They don't know. And I keep saying it. just, you got to remember these people have never gotten married before. You know, even if they have gotten married once before, let's say they got five times before. That's only five times. You've done this hundreds of times.

Kevin Dennis (: 19:52

They still don't know they still don't know what they're doing at five times No, you're right. You're right Yeah, no No, it's so true. So true. It's just and it's almost like like you were educating them through through and just helping them learn You know what what they need and all that so good ideas. All right, so we're in the con, you know, we're in in the

Steven Burchard (: 19:55

They don't! You know, mean, what is it? You couldn't have done it every year.

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 20:19

mist of the consultation here and how to what's the best way to handle like hesitation or objections as we're going through the consultation.

Steven Burchard (: 20:22

huh.

Well, hesitations aren't necessarily a bad thing. You know, this is we talked about filling the dead space. I think that's a I think that's a thing. I mean, if you mean like where somebody pauses and stops, I think people get scared of that. It's that tends to be an area where you say something you offer a price you offer a service you offer something you present an idea with the hope of immediate reaction. The most scariest thing as a salesperson you you're like, it's going to be

Kevin Dennis (: 20:34

Okay.

Steven Burchard (: 20:58

x dollars or here's the package and this is what you know you deliver the number you deliver the hardest part and they stop and they don't answer or they don't give you an immediate response you're like ah i mean it's gonna be 20 off you know yes wait it's it's it's so painful but wait give them a chance to digest that information because the reality of it is they they you're giving them such a big thing and i mean it's it's like

Kevin Dennis (: 21:10

Dead air, yeah.

Steven Burchard (: 21:25

They're buying, know, sometimes they're putting a down payment on a car. That amount of money. It is a large sum of money. No matter which industry you're in, no matter what it is. I mean, I got married last year and I've been in this business for 20 years. I've been married last year and I realized I've never booked a venue. So when I had to book my venue, that was a painful process. And it's interesting because that's like crap. That's like putting a down payment on a house. You know, it's a lot of money. So you sit there and give it a chance to digest it and understand it.

Kevin Dennis (: 21:29

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Steven Burchard (: 21:55

And then come from that perspective of compassion and say, you know, does this fulfill your needs? this fit what you're looking for, what you envision it to be? And they can say, you know what, I'm gonna have to come back to this or let me think about it. But when they say, let me think about it, there's something that they have to think about. So that's the next kind of step to that. How do you deal with objections? This is a silent objection, really.

You know, and they say, oh, let me think about it. Like, no, I got to talk to my fiance about it. Oh, I have to talk to my mom about it. What what do you have to talk to them about? Can I understand what you're what you're what you're going through? You know, what's what's what are you thinking about this? How does it work? Why? What? Not necessarily why why might be the is the wrong word, but more like let me understand because they might turn to you like, you know what? It's really kind of too expensive. But I guarantee every vendor out there has alternative options. You have other things that you can say.

Kevin Dennis (: 22:23

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Steven Burchard (: 22:50

Why

are you looking for that? Well, why don't we, know, the what's called a caterer? Like, you know what, let's cut out one of the one of the, you know, one of the cocktail hour things. Let's do this. Let's minimize that. Let's remove this. Let's let's change it a little bit. Or, you know, your photographer, you know, you wanted us in there five hours early so we can do a first look at this and that. And the other thing, why don't we cut that back? Why don't we trim this down? Why don't we create something that better aligns with not only your vision, but what your financial vision is?

Kevin Dennis (: 23:14

Yeah.

Steven Burchard (: 23:19

Because there's kind of two different elements that, you know, people have this perspective, I want this grandiose thing, and they might not be able to afford it. That's a real thing. That's a reality of life. But does not mean that they can't find a middle ground. I mean, what are what my business really focuses on is connecting the right person to the right experience. So for us, it really is about understanding their vision, trying to find the best fit. But fit, when we talk about fit, for our clients, it's not just

Kevin Dennis (: 23:21

Yeah.

Yeah.

Steven Burchard (: 23:47

the experience, it's also the financial end of it. And those two marry together to really find the right fit. And like I said, you have to also be honest with yourself when you hear this person give you their scenario, their situation, their whatever. Okay, if you're not the right fit, be honest with them about it. Don't try to sell them on something that might not be the right fit for them. And even better than that is if you grow your network in the wedding industry and say, you know what, I'm not necessarily the right fit for this, but my friend has a photography company.

and she's able to do that or you know this DJ over here he's he's a soul prop he's you know he does it on his own and he has more of a a modest opportunity you know setup that might fit better for what you're looking for that's not really what we do and if you really are willing to to to give off those things that will come back in spades because those people that you've given out to will remember that will remember that you that you

Kevin Dennis (: 24:53

Yep, I'm here.

Steven Burchard (: 24:54

Okay, I pause for a sec. All right.

Kevin Dennis (: 24:57

Yeah. Yep, Emily, that's what we say.

And you're uploading. Yeah, you're uploading right now. we're all good on our end. So, okay.

Steven Burchard (: 25:15

Okay, good. I'm back.

yeah, so it comes back in spades. This is what I saying. It's up. Emily. So what the biggest thing with this is, is when you when you're giving when you're giving to others, and especially in our industry, and what we do, you're giving to others, you're giving your when you're willing to spread and connect people with the right fit, those people will turn around and do the same to you.

because everybody has their specialty, everybody has their niche, everybody knows the right thing for them. And if you can really find that person and connect that person to the right opportunity, not even just that vendor will remember it. Here's the big thing that I think is that client will remember it too. So when their cousin's getting married and they're like, hey, know, I'm really looking for this higher level experience, you know, well, my DJ was great, but he was more modest. But I did meet with this other guy and he told me to go there. You should talk to him because you were

honest with them. You gave them what you actually what you can deliver what you should deliver and then helped them to find the right fit. And I know this is not closing your own deals, but it gives you more deals in the future. And I think coming from a place of education and giving and willingness to realize that not everybody's competition, not everybody around you is going to be taking from you. you like I mean, I'm a full believer in, you know, the ⁓

Kevin Dennis (: 26:14

Yeah.

Steven Burchard (: 26:41

Rising tides raises all boats. This classic cliche line. It's true though, if we all grow together, if we all put in the effort together, we'll all raise together. And they're better vendors than others. So if you're guiding people to the right vendors, then the good vendors will rise up.

Kevin Dennis (: 26:46

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Yeah, I agree. it's too, it's, there's all also not every wedding is for every event, you know, like you can't do every wedding out there and not every client is right for you. So I think that's where some, you know, wedding professionals get stuck is that they're trying to book every client that comes to them, but not every client that comes to them is, it might not be the right fit for them as well. So, all right. So we've been talking about, you know, hesitation, objections. Let's go the total opposite direction here.

Steven Burchard (: 27:21

Mm-hmm.

Kevin Dennis (: 27:28

What are some signals that tell you, this consultation is going pretty well?

Steven Burchard (: 27:35

⁓ I mean, classic lines. I think of a consultation is kind of like a first date. You're looking at it, it's uncomfortable at certain times. You're going through this process. ⁓ getting to know, think about it this way. It's like a first date in the sense of you're getting to know them. You have some uncomfortable, weird moments. You say things that are kind of awkward at certain points, and then who picks up the check? No, mean, that part doesn't necessarily matter. They're always picking up the check. But I mean, it's in the sense of...

Kevin Dennis (: 27:42

⁓ OK.

Mm-hmm.

Steven Burchard (: 28:02

It is a little bit like a first date. So you got to kind of go through that. But read those social cues. Read those signals where somebody says, ⁓ you know, they're they're happy. They're what you're saying resonates with them. And this goes back to the listening thing is if you're not if you're talking too much, you're not getting you're giving them the opportunity to give you the response to what you're saying. You know, you're not able to feel what they're you. Well, you're not able to understand or to recognize that they're interested.

⁓ I think that's a big thing is really just sitting there and giving them the space to respond and then pick up those social cues pick up on those I'm really really you know happy with that I like that because I'll give you the barometer of it and if you're saying something and you're just keep talking and talking and talking You'll never ever ever realize they're ready to buy

Kevin Dennis (: 28:53

Mm. Love it. All right. So we've done the consultation. They're going to think about it. And you know, didn't book the deal. And so what are some like follow ups habits that, you know, we need to do to like turn into a signed contract? You know, like, are there any tips with the follow ups?

Steven Burchard (: 29:12

Mm-hmm.

I mean, I don't know if this is a popular opinion. I've always had the opinion since I started my company. You follow up until they say no. ⁓ I chase every lead down. I follow up, you know, relentlessly, especially nowadays, because there is so much going on that people may or may not be in the mental headspace to make a decision at the moment, or they may have to make a decision about the florist and not the DJ.

Kevin Dennis (: 29:23

Yeah, I'm

Steven Burchard (: 29:43

and they may not be ready for it or they may think, hey, you know, I just got engaged, I'm ready to go, I'm gonna do all this and all of a sudden it hits them and they're like, oh, I just can't figure those out and they're just, they just check out. So I think a lot of people don't do the followup and that's the biggest part of it. And followup in the sense of multi-stream followup, that's the key here is it's not just call, it's not just email, it's not just text, it's a mix of all of them because everybody,

communicates differently. Some people like to pick up the phone. Some people will never pick up the phone. Some people like text messaging. Some people feel invasive, you know, being like your space is being invaded when you get text messages. So, you know, it's it's understanding it's understanding what the their their ⁓ best medium in which they want to communicate is. And that can be a conversation you have during the consultation. Hey, you know, can I follow up with you next week? What's the best way do you get your phone call, text message, email? What's the best way for you?

Kevin Dennis (: 30:15

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Steven Burchard (: 30:41

But understanding that and being proactive and asking that about the follow up, if they're gonna leave, if they're gonna walk out of there and you're not, haven't gotten that, you know, that yes yet, understanding the next steps, what is, you know, what are the next steps? Oftentimes we don't close our deals on the first phone call. We don't close our deals on that consultation just because it's, you know, there are a lot of options, a lot of things. So it's, you know, they'd have to think about it. But I always ended with a kind of a summary of what we've discussed.

Kevin Dennis (: 30:42

Mm-hmm.

Steven Burchard (: 31:09

So if I want to understand this correctly, this is what you know, we've talked about a lot of what we do is a full spectrum. So we start off, we kind of have three pillars. You have your music, your photo and video, and then what we call wow, wow factor. So three pillars of what we offer as a company. So I always kind of go through, okay, here are all our sound options, here are all our photography, videography, and here's all the add ons, whether it's a photo booth, whatever, you know, all the extra stuff. ⁓

Kevin Dennis (: 31:11

okay.

Steven Burchard (: 31:36

So when we go through it at the end of that conversation, before we send them, you know, a formal proposal and everything or whatever, even if we send it, we discuss pricing and figure it all out, I always say, I just want to understand that we're on the same page right now. This is what we discussed and here's why, and here's how it fulfills, back to what we talked about a minute ago, here's what fulfills what your emotional piece that you've told me is, and then here's the next thing, and here's why it fulfills what's important to you, what you've said is important to you.

This is why it does it. I'm going to take this. I'm going to put it all together in a bundle for you. And I'm to send you that. And what I also like to do is I personally like to send social proof as well. So whether it's videos, photos, know, testimonials, we do video testimonials. But even if you have like stuff on the not or wedding wire, you Google, Yelp, whatever it might be, you know, if you can get that those those social proof to add in there, so I'll send you something, something, something from a bride that had a similar kind of experience that helps.

Kevin Dennis (: 32:21

Yeah.

Yeah, it makes a difference. right. All right, Stephen, as we're wrapping up, know, if listeners could remember one thing about turning, you know, consultations into bookings, what should that be? The one thing.

Steven Burchard (: 32:53

back to what I believe is the truest statement. You have to listen more than you speak. That's the number one thing. If you're in a consultation, if you're working with a client, the number one thing is sit there, listen, truly listen, not just just sit there and let them speak, but truly try and understand what they're saying and what and understand the vision, understand their pain points, understand

Kevin Dennis (: 33:17

Mmm.

Steven Burchard (: 33:22

their goals ⁓ and truly sit there and listen and understand. Cause they'll tell you everything that you need to know in order to mirror it back and give them exactly what they want. I the other day, it's all we care about. We're not in this business because it's the easiest business. We're not in this business because it necessarily makes the most amount of money. We're in this business cause most of us really care about making these

Kevin Dennis (: 33:43

No.

Steven Burchard (: 33:51

once in a lifetime experiences for our brides and our couples. ⁓ You know, our number one goal is really because we want to make bring that joy and be a part of that moment. So remember that as you go through this process and work through that with them to get to that end goal. If you if you make the because you also have to put the effort at the end of the day, you have to make the effort. And a lot of people don't a lot of people sit there and either

Kevin Dennis (: 33:55

Yeah.

Yeah, you do.

Steven Burchard (: 34:18

send them information and call it a day. And a lot of people just, you know, go into a consultation and just tell them what they should have, they need to have, but you have to make the effort from day one. When they come into you understand whether it's the channel in which they're communicating with you, that's understanding and listening to how they do it. Understand and listen to how they're communicating and telling you what their pain points are, what their needs are, both financial, both, you know, all of those aspects of it. Just because you're on a budget doesn't mean you can't afford it.

It just means everybody's, I learned this from somebody a long time ago. Everybody's on a budget. Everybody has a budget. just, which level of budget are you? So budget's not the scary word, but understanding that helps you to understand where they fall on the spectrum to help you to understand what you can offer them. So I think that's the biggest thing is listening. Is the number one thing I always say is listen, understand, and then repeat back.

Kevin Dennis (: 34:53

Yeah, every, yep.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, and I'm going to add a 1B in there is follow up until you finally hear from them. Follow that lead. I think, Steven, you gave that advice earlier, and it was such great advice. It's just like, got to follow up, follow up, follow up. So I think listening is 1A, and maybe follow up is 1B in there as well. All right, Steven, where can listeners connect with you, learn a little bit more about your work?

Steven Burchard (: 35:17

They say no. Yeah.

Yes.

So we are Magical Memories Entertainment. are the Magical Memories Weddings is our wedding specific site, but we also have mme123.com is our general entertainment, general events site. So we are on all the social medias, all the platforms with Magical Memories Entertainment.

Kevin Dennis (: 35:59

All right, perfect. And folks, we'll connect as many of his links and everything in the show notes as well as the email blast that goes out. If you've not signed up for that email blast, make sure that you do, because that's where you get all the extra little nuggets and stuff as well. So Stephen, we can't thank you enough for being here today. I really appreciate your time and your expertise. And hopefully, everyone will listen more when they get out there and they're doing their next consultation. So I appreciate your time.

Folks, that'll be it for this episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. We'll see you again next time. Thank you.

Steven Burchard (: 36:30

space.