The Great Ignore: Breaking Through the Noise to Book More Weddings with Ian Ramirez
Today’s couples are more distracted than ever, and if your inquiry responses, social media messages, or sales pitches sound like everyone else’s, you’re probably being ignored.
In this episode of Mind Your Wedding Business, Ian Ramirez of Venue Help Desk and Madera Estates joins Kevin to explore what he calls “The Great Ignore,” a phenomenon driven by digital overwhelm, inbox fatigue, and modern buying behavior. Together, they unpack what today’s couples are really looking for, and why your messaging, follow-up, and sales process need to evolve.
From text-based communication and email subject lines to in-person tour tips and how to avoid sounding like a pushy salesperson, this conversation is packed with real-world strategies to help you break through the noise and actually book the clients who are ghosting everyone else.
Highlights:
- What “The Great Ignore” is and how it’s affecting wedding pros
- Why persistence without differentiation leads to getting tuned out
- How to craft email subject lines that actually get opened
- The case for texting leads and how to set smart boundaries
- Tips for using video in your sales follow-up to stand out instantly
- How to “read the room” during venue tours and client meetings
- Why Gen Z hates sales pressure and how to shift from pitch to guide
- How to build long-term lead nurture that converts months later
- Creative ways to borrow smart sales strategies from other industries
Whether you’re a venue, planner, or any wedding pro, this episode will help you modernize your communication and become the kind of pro today’s couples want to work with.
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Transcript
Alright folks, welcome to another episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. We're here with the wonderful Ian Ramirez and he's going to be talking to us today about the great ignore. This is something that I'm really excited about. It's we're going to be talking about breaking through the noise to book more weddings. But Ian, before we get started, tell us a little about yourself and how we got you here today.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Absolutely, Kevin, thanks so much for having me on the podcast today. ⁓ So I kind of fell into the wedding industry ⁓ by happenstance, which I'm sure many of us do and never came out running wanting to be in the hospitality industry. I actually started my career as a trained opera singer. sang professionally for 10 years and lived abroad in Germany for two years. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:I was gonna say, most people have.
wow!
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Around that same time, my family opened a wedding venue in Texas and ⁓ I would work there in between opera gigs and ⁓ had a very organizational mind and would come in and organize back of house. And ⁓ I decided to jump in. I was presented with an opportunity to become a partner in the business. And ⁓ now here I am in the industry eight years later, which is incredible.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
⁓
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:⁓ so our business is Madera Estates. We're a Spanish style wedding venue. We're north of Houston and a town called Conroe, Texas. And, ⁓ I've been there now, ⁓ as the co-owner eight years and, ⁓ a few years ago, I, got bitten by the bug to, ⁓ jump into educating and helping other venue owners head first. And so two years ago, I founded the venue help desk.
Kevin Dennis (:How beautiful.
Hmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:which is a resource for wedding venue owners, helping them one step at a time with any of the problems that they have, ⁓ predominantly focused on the sales process. So helping venues get more leads to convert into booked tours and then helping venues book more of those tours and turn them into sold weddings. So that's a little bit of my history of how I stumbled, fell face first into the wedding industry.
Kevin Dennis (:No.
I love that you said stumbled because I think everyone either has stumbled into it or started out as a DJ and that's how they got that's how they got into the wedding business. yeah, so anyway, alright, so we're here to talk about the great ignore in this new generation of couples that we're dealing with. So how is how is this generation of engaged couples different than the past?
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yeah, yes, that's right.
Yes.
I think ultimately what a lot of couples today are struggling with when it comes to just day-to-day life, not even planning a wedding, is that they're overwhelmed and inundated with so much information, whether that is from technology, social media, but particularly applicable to us as venues and vendors is the email inbox. And I joke a lot.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Uh, there's a photo of my husband's phone floating around somewhere of his Gmail account that has 52,742 unread emails. Right. And, uh, he, uh, is probably loving me for calling him out today on the podcast. Uh, but those of you listening today, you know who you are. Those of you that have a bunch of unread emails in your inbox. And, um, to me, that's where, you know, a lot of couples are falling victim to, uh, the great ignore.
Kevin Dennis (:my gosh. Holy cow. ⁓
You
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Right? And so couples are inquiring with multiple vendors, multiple venues, they're filling out information to get the best Home Depot discount. Right? So not only are we competing against other vendors, right? To help couples plan their dream weddings, but we're also competing with Home Depot discounts. We're competing with, you know, mortgage information, right? Your insurance, all of this stuff. so how do you combat that great ignore?
And for me, it really was inspiring. I listened to a lot of podcasts and I'm a constant learner. love to read. One of my favorite authors, Jeb Blount talks about this great ignore. And I said, oh my gosh, this is so applicable to the wedding industry. And there's a great quote that he has persistence without differentiation is just adding to the noise. And that's what's causing our couples to ignore us. And we really need to have a reason to be able to stand out.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm
my god
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:⁓ not just where couples are planning their weddings in terms of the email inbox, but also, you know, how do we stand out in terms of making an impact immediately when they fill out that contact form? And so that that for me is where I think a lot of couples are falling victim. And so, you know, you hear this ⁓ word or going around in the industry, right, this kind of like glamorous word of ghosting.
Right? Well, at that point, it's not even really ghosting. They're just not even opening your emails. They're not even opening your messages. and, so how do we combat against that is really something that I'm passionate about talking about and how we can help listeners today to be able to stand out not only in the inbox, but just stand out in general and the, sea of sameness. Right.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
All right, I love it. Now that just gave me so many questions to ask. So I was like, so where can a wedding professional like start, you think, like to just break the noise, you know, like you're saying.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yeah.
Yeah.
I think for me, the very first place that people can look to number one, if you're still collecting information and responding via email, right? Which many vendors and venues are doing, they're relying on responding to their leads via email. It really starts with the email subject line and for multiple reasons, because that's, that's really your first opportunity to make a first impression.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:When you really nail that email subject line, it's going to increase your open rates. You know, I've, I've done some work with venue help desk where we've secret shopped different venues and vendor pros. And if you put, you know, wedding venue inquiry in the subject line, is that really a sexy title to make me want to open my email in the sea of like, like I said, 52,742 emails? No, probably not. Or
Kevin Dennis (:No, no.
Yeah, no.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:if you just list their date in the subject line, like we saw this one inquiry come in where it was literally just the wedding date, a series of numbers. So it was like 4, 12, 26. Well, that looks like spam, right? And so for me as a couple, if I'm seeing that come across a notification on my phone or on my desktop, the chances of me actually clicking it are very low. And so you can have the most beautifully written email.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:but it's useless if the couple never opens it. ⁓ And so for me, I think that's really the first stop ⁓ to be able to stand out in this great ignore, right, that we're talking about today. And I think the next part of that is to kind of mindset shift for our listeners today to step out of their comfort zone and encourage texting ⁓ because I think that is really
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:One of the biggest ways we know couples are inundated with all of these emails, they're signing up for all of these promotions, they're not just planning their weddings. ⁓ And the stats, right, when you look at open rates for texts versus emails is really staggering. And I think it was something like 98 % of all text messages are actually opened. Couples are responding within one to two minutes generally with a text message. And so the mindset shift for me is...
everyone else is in the email inbox. So we need to be where everyone else is not, right? Where it's not gonna be as crowded of a platform ⁓ for the couples to be able to plan their weddings and for us to be able to have that chance to say, hey, look at me, I'm gonna be able to help you plan your wedding. So I think that's really the first two points that I would make is if you're gonna continue to be in the inbox, stand out with that email subject line. But if you wanna get out of the inbox, hop over to texting because...
That really is where couples are gonna be seeing your message first of all, and then more likely to respond.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, I will and I agree because that's kind of where I have a 21 almost 22 year old and if I want something from him I text I don't even call I don't do anything and I'll get a response so much faster texting him than I would by any other any other way and so yeah, I mean he's close to this, you know the age of the folks that were planning weddings for you know, so it just that's that generation they just like they would rather text I even remember when they were younger they
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:his friends would be sitting there. They'd all be in the same room and they're not even talking to each other. They're texting each other and I'm like, you guys have mouths open. You know, like was like communicate. Yeah. I was like, what's, what's going on? So yeah. So what about, I had a guest on a while ago. It was talking about video using, if you're not, if you're not using video to respond clients or, or in any part of your sales pitch, you probably are going to be outdated.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yeah, is this real life? Right? You're in the same room.
Kevin Dennis (:So give me your thoughts on video just and using it with this couple.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:I love using video to be able to, again, stand out. It's all about differentiation. As Jeb Blount so eloquently said, persistence without differentiation is just adding to the noise. And so doing something as simple as recording a video, I like using Loom. We actually use ⁓ Loom to send appointment reminders for tours at our venue.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:And so we'll record, we'll record a short little video that says, Hey, Kevin, I'm super excited to welcome you to Madera Estates on behalf of our family. can't wait to meet you. We'll have a glass of our homemade sangria waiting for you when you arrive. Super short and sweet, but the chances that somebody else is actually sending them a video is so slim, right? And immediately you're setting yourself apart from all of these other vendors, all of these other
Kevin Dennis (:⁓
Yeah, yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:emails that are coming to them. ⁓ And I love using Loom because then you can go back and see if they've actually opened it. You can see if they've watched it.
Kevin Dennis (:⁓
That's really good. So when they come in and then yeah, you have a little bit more Intel as they come in. So, ⁓ so what about the, ⁓ the couples that want to go through Instagram? Like there's one of my, the older vendor friends in my market that just like, they want to just DM me and she gets all freaked out about it. You know, like what, you know, what, what about meeting them on Instagram?
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yeah.
I'm here for it. think the ultimate name of the game is Speed is King. Wherever we can get back to them the fastest, I think will be the most reliable source for you. So I mean, if they're starting a conversation in the DMs, let's get in the DMs then. Let's respond to them there quickly. You can use those saved Instagram replies to be able to get back to them as soon as possible. But this generation, really, they're going to be searching where they're going to respond, responding rather, where they're searching you.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:So they're looking on Instagram, right? So the easiest thing is if you have a call to action on there, send us a message. Well, yeah, we want them to do it there versus, okay, we got to hop them over to our website to get some more information from them. ⁓ So the vendors and the venues that I think are really succeeding right now, particularly with this generation that is so hesitant against any sort of sales pressure, right? I think we want to make it as easy as possible for them.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:I also have this analogy for the current generation of couples, these Gen Z as the just looking generation. ⁓ Kevin, have you ever been shopping at a department store? Yes? Okay. So when you're picking out, let's say your new pair of slacks or a sweater and you're trying to decide, you know, which one do you want? And you've got a sales rep that you see out of the corner of your eye and they start walking towards you you're like, my gosh, I don't want to talk to them.
Kevin Dennis (:Yes, of course. Yes. Yeah.
Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:right? And they ask the dreaded question, right? Can I help you find anything today? What oftentimes is your response?
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah. Yeah.
Well, I'm older. usually encourage it because I feel like I don't I'm like, especially if they're younger than me, you know, I'm like, all right, what do you get opinion? But that's me because I'm older. But I think the other ones want to like my son would run away, know, like he would not. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. So yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yeah?
Right. It's that immediate sales pressure, right? And we
find that a lot of these couples are going to respond even, even when I'm shopping, right? I don't want to be bothered. There's nothing particular that I'm looking for. So I say, I'm just looking, right? I'm just browsing. And so I like to dub this current generation of couples that is getting married that that just looking generation, but that comes back to my point of that initial sense of sales friction, right? Or seeing you as a threat, right? Even though
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:I'm not a threat. mean, me coming up to you, how can you not like me, right? I'm a nice guy, right? But he's like, ⁓ he's coming in for the clothes. So for me, it's like, how do we make the, how do we reduce that barrier to entry for our couples? And I think when it comes back to what you mentioned about the DMs, we want to make it easy for them. want to, we want to showcase ourselves as, you know, really a resource and guide to them. We don't want to be that.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:used car salesman that's coming up to them and just saying, Hey, get on the call, get on the call. Hey, let's get information. How can I help you? And ⁓ it really brings me to my other point of how couples I think are how we can help couples ⁓ stand out and that great ignore is we need to consider ourselves more of that resource and guide and how can we ⁓ change the mindset of friction into guidance. And for me, really, that is the
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm. Mm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:opposite of friction is guidance. And so as vendors, as venues, how can we add value to their planning experience? How can we show ourselves almost as like Yoda, right? To their Luke Skywalker. So any Star Wars fans, Kevin, are you a Star Wars fan? Yeah, so I love Star Wars. I see your ⁓ stormtrooper back there on the shelf.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Yeah
love Star Wars, yes. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, I do have one.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:I like to think of ourselves as Yoda and we want to be able to help the couples navigate this galaxy of wedding planning and be that helpful guide. And I think where a lot of venues and vendors go wrong is that they think that their service or what they do is the hero of the story. When in reality, the hero of the story is the couple themselves. we're right, we're that little Yoda person that comes in and we're saying, we're going to help you overcome.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm.
Yeah, you're so right. Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:you know, whatever stress you're having, we're going to help you overcome by sharing, you know, a blog post about how to find your favorite photographer in Houston. So if I share that versus saying, you need to come see our venue. Well, no, I've totally added value to your experience. Here's a vendor list of photogs that I love and my market. And I'm not trying to hard sell you anything. And so that's another way that I think we can stand out in this noise.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:is we're not trying to sell you something, but we are going to try to help you. And because when the couples are ready to buy, they're going to come back to you and they're going to say, hey, you know what? I really liked Kevin. He had a lot of great useful tools for me he really wasn't coming at me, you know, with a sharp angle close or trying to get me to buy something right away. So that for me is a really great mindset shift for listeners today is be Yoda.
Kevin Dennis (:No, and does that do you think that comes through like trying to educate the the couples instead of you know, like trying to sell them just trying to help them, you know, like there's so there was a shift about maybe seven eight years ago where you know when the blogging was really going crazy where everyone was like, but then people got afraid of giving away too much information, you know, but do you think education is is key? Okay.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Absolutely. I mean, you've even
seen a shift in the past few years. Just look at people's social media, right? When social media became a thing, it was all about, look at these beautiful images at our venue, at ⁓ photographers. Look at all these beautiful photos I take. Well, now you've seen a shift even online with the resources that people are giving. I mean, look at any vendor this week in your market.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah. Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:and see how many of them are posting tip reels, how many of them are posting ways that you can save money in their stories, how many of them, ⁓ even in my market with venues, how many of them are giving you the top five things you should ask when you're touring your venue. It has shifted, right? And it's really about helping this generation that is so overwhelmed, right, by all the information that's coming at them. How can we make ourselves useful to them?
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Hmm. Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:⁓ and not just a hard sell, right, for your venue or your services. So I think education absolutely is big part of it.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah. And it's, kind of shifted and been doing that with our, you know, social media and you can see it because we have clients that are like, Hey, we, we saw that, or, know, or, or we even have a, a B2C podcast that we help couples, you know, we call it now that engaged, how do I get married? And we're helping them, you know, giving them advice, but we'll have couples come into our office and they're like, I listened to the podcast and we're like,
Yay! So I guess that's the way to go. And I think that builds a lot of trust with that couple. I think there may be, maybe at that point, do think they're a little bit more open to a sell, like the selling process? Because you've built a rapport with them? Okay.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yes, I love it.
Absolutely. You have. it really,
I think the secret ingredients, if you're really wanting to break it down to become that guide, it's about having empathy, but also showing authority at the same time. And I find that a lot of, a lot of pros, right, in our industry are great at one or the other, right? They're really empathetic. They do a great job of establishing, look, hey, I totally understand how you feel. You're stressed out with your wedding planning.
Kevin Dennis (:I love it.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:But sometimes when you're too empathetic, you don't actually get them to take the next step and move them forward, right? In the sales process. Or you're overly authoritative, you're aggressive and you're just like, look at me and you're braggadocious. ⁓ But when you use authority the right way, you're showing the couples, I've done this before and I can help you get the results that you want. And so it really is that formula of balancing empathy and authority. And I think that comes into play in a lot of your messaging.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:⁓ right. Whether that is in your social media posts, if it's in your follow-up emails, right. If it's in your text messages, that is how you establish yourself as that resource and guide versus that salesperson that I mentioned earlier. so I think it's really important for the listeners today to have, ⁓ to take stock and inventory of their messaging. Am I showing empathetic language that says, Hey, I totally understand how you feel.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:And am I also finding that balance of helping couples take the next step? And, you know, I have a lot of venues ask me, well, how do you show authority? Right? How do I communicate authority without being overbearing or braggadocious? And for me, it's simply sometimes just, if you're in the emails, add those badges to your email signature. Sometimes authority isn't about what you say, but it's what you show. And so I think that's a really big point.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:to showcase like where have you worked? Who have you partnered with? Right? What are your awards? Right? If you have those type of badges, put them in the email signature because that indicates to the couple that yeah, there's longevity with this business and they know what they're doing.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, and even like I I'm I'm CPC and I have my certification, you know through NACE and people ask me and I put that after there. They have no idea what it means, but they ask because they want to know. Yeah, you know is that like a doctor and weddings? I'm like no no, but but in the but in the wedding in or in the event industry it does mean something you know. So yeah, no yeah yeah yeah yeah. Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Right.
Yeah.
Exactly.
No, absolutely does. And it becomes a talking point for you too.
I have my CSEP from Ailea and so it's the same conversation. It's a conversation starter that this guy knows what he's doing. He's certified, right? And so I think that's really important. And I think the last point that I would share in terms of being able to stand out in the noise, the great ignore, right? And this galaxy of a lot of information where we're trying to be.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, 100%.
Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yoda and guide them to the happy ending to combat Darth Vader, the evil wedding stress, right? I think it's really, you have to be in it for the long game. The buying cycle of couples today is so much longer. They're taking so much longer to decide. And, and so I would encourage anybody that uses email, particularly as their followup strategy to really lean into some longer, more extended lead nurture campaigns.
⁓ that continue to add value, right? We're talking about being that resourceful resource and guide. You can't just send two or three follow-up messages now. I actually, I have a couple that's getting married on Friday. They originally toured my venue four years ago. Now that is not the norm. I will preface that, but the, the point that I'm trying to get across is that couples are just looking right. Coming back full circle.
Kevin Dennis (:my god. No, but yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:They're looking now, they're casually looking on your Instagram, they're looking on your website, maybe they're curious to know your pricing, so they fill out your contact form to get your pricing guide. You can't just follow up once or twice. You really need to continue that nurture over at least six months, in my opinion, sometimes up to a year. So just to stay top of mind, to stay top of that inbox, right? Again, you're competing for 52,742 emails.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Yeah.
I feel
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:So those extended
Kevin Dennis (:it.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:lead nurture campaigns I think are really important in today's market.
Kevin Dennis (:And with the sexy little subject line, you gotta be sexy with your subject line. Yes, have fun with it. All right, so you mentioned TikTok, ⁓ know, not TikTok, I'm sorry, we're gonna get to TikTok, because I'm gonna ask you question about that, but text messaging. So you were talking about that, and some people are afraid to give out their personal cell phones or what that, and I there are services out there. Is there a service or something that you recommend? Okay.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yes, yes, absolutely.
Yes.
Yes.
Absolutely. So
I think the first comment that I will make to anybody that is scared of texting their leads, Kevin and I are here to change your mindset because you don't have to give out your personal cell phone number. Number one, there's tools for that. And then number two is that really, think the opportunity cost of lost business is a lot higher than you losing out on what you think, right? Is that personal boundary? ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Yes.
Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:And I think there's an easy way to set that rule and boundary with your leads because speed is king when it comes to those inquiries with those follow-ups. I think texting is going to be the fastest way that you can stand out and get a conversation started. ⁓ For us, we use a texting service that is attached to our CRM. We use Keep. ⁓ The app that we use that integrates with our CRM is called Fix Your Funnel. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:There are so many platforms out there now, whether it's ⁓ internal within your CRM that offers you texting capabilities. If there is maybe a CRM that doesn't offer a texting option, I know there's a lot out there that include integrations that you can add on. Even something as simple as like a Google voice number. If you don't want it to be your personal number, I think there's so many opportunities for you. know Connect is one ⁓ platform that I have some venue friends that use. Is there anything that you use, Kevin?
Kevin Dennis (:I was
gonna say even zoom like you can zoom now you can get your voice over get move your whole phone service over to zoom and you can text and do I mean so there again there's so many different options out there and the other thing I think people that bring up when they bring up the text is like I don't have you know like the email chain you know to go back and but you do you have you know all these platforms keep the whole conversation
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yeah.
Yes.
Kevin Dennis (:together so you can go back and say, on Saturday, June 1st, you did text me this that you wanted blue cheese on your salad. So that's why we put blue cheese on the salad. So there's a ways to go back and do all that. And I feel like for vendors out there, if you keep putting up these roadblocks, you're going to lose and lose and lose.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yes!
Kevin Dennis (:You clients as you go along so it's you know like the whole I think the whole part of this is just breaking down the walls and making it easy for these folks so. Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Absolutely, change your mindset.
This is where the couples today are. We want to make it fast and convenient for them. Even for me, when I'm looking to buy something, I'm generally more frequently looking at my text messages than opening my email inbox. ⁓ And so, you know, we referenced the stats earlier, it really is staggering how many people will actually start a conversation via text. And for us at our business at Madera States, about
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:90 % of our inquiry process is handled via text messaging. ⁓ Just because it's fast for us, it's convenient for the couple, and it gets them through that buying cycle a little bit faster. ⁓ So texting is the way to go. think for anybody that's still on the fence when you're looking at different softwares, I think the biggest piece of advice that I would say is making sure that allows you to pick a local number or at least a number that's not a 1-800 number.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:⁓ I know there's some platforms out there that that's the only option they give you. I would dissuade anybody from choosing a platform that only has that because couples are going to think it's spam. ⁓ So if you are able to get a number that's local in your market, that would be one of the biggest determining factors for me on what service provider I choose.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Or like it comes up at like six six dash. You know, like I just got a random text today, you know, and it's like these weird, weird numbers and you immediately think spam. You don't think it's real. So yeah, no, no, no, no, by far. All right. So we were talking a lot about Instagram, you know, DMS and that kind of stuff and tick tock, you know, is there other platforms that a wedding, you know, vendor needs to be looking at or trying to connect with this?
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yes.
Yeah, you're not going to open it.
Kevin Dennis (:New generation.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Absolutely. So I would say anybody that has a social media presence, you should at minimum, at minimum be messaging every single new follower that messages you, thanks for the follow. At least one little open the door to conversation, right? Whether it is thanks for the follow, are you planning a wedding, right? Thanks for the follow. I'm so excited you're following along. If you have any questions about our services, please reach out to us.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:because you want to be able to start that communication right there in the DMs. And I can't tell you how many times I follow a new follower back, I stock their feed, and I can see that they're an engaged couple. So they just opened Pandora's box for me because now I'm gonna stock them. And vendors listening today might be like, it's just like another thing that I have to do. But the truth is, right, there's so much competition right now.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
David's open hand or a clock.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Couples buying habits have changed. We're in a market where a lot of people are hesitant to buy. You have to be the person that is taking the initiative to differentiate yourself because if you're not, your competitors are. There is somebody there that is willing to take that extra step to stand out in the great ignore. And sometimes it's right there in the DMs. Follow them back if they follow you. That's easy to do. And number two, even if you don't manually send thanks for the follow,
go in and set up an autoresponder just like your emails. Those of you that are in the email inbox, set up an autoresponder that gets them into your funnel, right? Even if you wanna do some low-hanging fruit, something that's not salesy, thanks so much for the follow. I did that yesterday with a bride and she said, my God, I'm so excited to be following Madera. It's my dream venue. I can't wait to get married there. So I mean, then that tells me, okay, well, I'm gonna start the conversation because she opened that door. ⁓
Kevin Dennis (:Hehehehehe
Yeah.
So well.
Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:not every follower is going to be your client, right? It could be a vendor professional. ⁓ It could be just an eager Nancy that wants to know more information about your business. ⁓ But if you can at least start opening the door for a conversation, I think you'll be surprised at how many couples actually respond and walk through it to start a conversation.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, well, and that's because that's how they communicate now with their friends. You know, I ⁓ I feel like the girls in my office are all in the 20 somethings and a lot of them DM their friends, you know, through Instagram to communicate over even sometimes even text messaging. So yeah, all right.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:yeah.
Yeah, sending
goofy memes is the new way to go. So I mean, if they're doing that right via the DMs, like, why can't we do it to them too? I mean, they're used to it.
Kevin Dennis (:Duh.
Yeah.
Yeah, and then it probably makes them even more comfortable. So yeah, alright, so we were talking about like education, you know, being more with our social media. Do we have to change the like our style of communication you think with this shit?
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Very much so.
In terms of style of communication, I think you still want to keep it professional when you're thinking about the actual words and copy that you're using. You still want to showcase yourself somewhat to be the person that is starting a conversation that isn't right away in their vernacular. So I wouldn't say immediately, let's start ⁓ sending a bunch of emojis or immediately going into any of the Gen Z lingo of sus, cap.
no cap, whatever all those words are. I think you can start modifying or adjusting maybe the tactics and mirror their language if they start with that, right? So if they start giving you a thousand exclamation points, well, then you can give them a thousand exclamation points. If they start throwing in those emojis, you can start throwing in those emojis. And so I think it's more so of ⁓ the idea of
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Like an actor, like being an improver. It's kind of like that yes and conversation. So how do we mirror the language that they're using? How do we mirror the energy and excitement that they're using? don't necessarily know that I would tell any vendor or venue to change or sacrifice their brand just to try to appear like the Gen Z gets me or I'm just like them. ⁓ Because you still want a level of professionalism. ⁓ And the truth is you don't know.
the age of the person communicating with you. Now, if they're on social media and they have a picture, you can see them. ⁓ But I would say not jumping the gun and changing the communication right away would be the smart move there.
Kevin Dennis (:No. ⁓
I love it. love it. All right. So, you know, like how can a wedding professional stay up to date with all these changes that, know, when it comes to marketing or sales, like what, where, where should they go other than there's a million conferences out there and different things, but where do you think they should be going?
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Hahaha
You know, honestly, I would challenge anybody that's listening today. Number one is you need to stay curious. I think that's a lifelong lesson that I learned from my stepfather early on. And you need to be constant learners. We need to be constant learners because not only is our industry rapidly changing, but the world around us is rapidly changing how we receive information, how we communicate as we were just discussing. ⁓ And so I would say find your favorite podcast. Maybe it's
mind your wedding business with Kevin Dennis. ⁓ Find your favorite book and challenge your team to, if you have a team to do book clubs. That's something that I do with my team on a regular basis. We have a book club. I try to do twice a year. Sometimes once a quarter can be a little much. So twice a year we try to do a book club, ⁓ which I think is really important. And it's particularly important now when you hear from different.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:wedding pros across the nation where, you know, we're hearing bookings are down or couples are buying differently, you really have to stay up on on bettering your business. ⁓ So for me, personally, if someone were asking me, Ian, what do you do to stay up to speed on all of these things? ⁓ Podcasts, number one. ⁓ Number two, I subscribe to a lot of sales letters. Jeb Blount is one of my favorite ones ⁓ that I like to listen to. Of course, there's conferences out there, but
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:I'm going to challenge everybody today because this might be something that people aren't expecting to hear. You can better your business and get inspiration from businesses outside of our industry. It doesn't have to be within the wedding space. And I will say two of my favorite pieces of nuggets that I have ever stolen from another industry. I'll share those really quickly. The first of us, first of which was from my Botox doctor. ⁓ I'm selling myself short right now.
Kevin Dennis (:That's okay.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yes, I love to go ⁓ make sure my frown lines are going away. ⁓
But one of the things I stole from them was a question on my contact form. And so was going to schedule an appointment with my doctor. And ⁓ I noticed of one of their like six or seven forms, the field forms on their contact form, there was a decision stage question that said, you know, where are you at in your, you know, doctor journey? I can't remember the exact question.
But the first one was like, ⁓ you know, just doing research, ⁓ actively looking for doctors. know what procedure that I want, or I'm right ready to schedule an appointment. And that kind of was a light bulb moment for me, particularly in the industry where we know there's a lot of not engaged couples inquiring. Wouldn't you like to know if they're not engaged? ⁓ and so something that I stole from him was basically this question that we added to every single pricing God download page for me, our contact form.
where are you at in your venue selection process? Not engaged, right? I'm actively touring venues and doing research. I still haven't found what I'm looking for or Madera States is at the top of our list. We were ready to tour. And so that helps you qualify them in a sense to be able to identify how ready are they to come out and meet with me? ⁓ Are they a hot lead? Are they a cold lead? Just by asking one simple question. ⁓ So that for me, again, I stole from not in the wedding industry.
Kevin Dennis (:I love that.
Mmm.
And that's a game changer because you know exactly coming in that what that inquiry, you know, because with inquiries, it's a big mystery sometimes where they're at in the buying process. But that that one change changes everything that how you're going to sell to them and approach them. Well, that's amazing.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Right.
Right.
And particularly if you are taking advantage of doing any sort of extended lead nurture campaigns, you can tailor them to those responses too. So if a couple's not engaged yet, okay, great. Well, I'm to give you totally different resources than a couple that I know where the top of their list. So that has changed my business. That is something that I did two years ago. I was like, oh my God, I'm going to steal that. And the other one I've been doing for years, I probably pre-
Kevin Dennis (:Wow, yeah.
Mm-hmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:pre-pandemic 2018 or 2019, we were having our AC unit checked out at my house in Texas. It's really hot over the summer and our AC was out and we scheduled an appointment. were shopping around for different companies and this one company that came out blew my mind. The day of our appointment, I got a text message an hour before the technician was supposed to show up to our house. And it was a photo of the technician and a little bio of him so we could get to know him before he came, right?
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:And particularly for maybe anybody that's a stay at home spouse, they don't feel comfortable having a stranger come into their house and looking at their AC unit. What a great way to eliminate a little bit of that hesitation and friction before they even step into your home. ⁓ And so we've stolen that for our venue, a part of our tour process when we confirm appointments. ⁓ We send them a text message of their tour guide with a photo of the tour guide and a brief bio of them.
⁓ And the bio isn't anything professional. It's like, it's like, Ian loves, Ian loves net Netflix. He is a yogi and was a professionally trained opera singer, you know, super short. But when they come in the door, you have a little bit of talking points, right? They're like, my God, you're the opera singer ⁓ or I love Netflix too. And so Kevin, tell me this. Would you be more willing to buy from someone who seems like an acquaintance or a complete stranger?
Kevin Dennis (:No, couple lines.
Yeah.
Yeah.
No, acquaintance of course. Yeah, yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:acquaintance, right? ⁓
And so again, I challenge anybody listening today, you can steal hospitality hacks outside of our industry, you can steal any of these ideas and get inspiration outside of the wedding industry. So I would just tell you to keep your head up everywhere you go.
Kevin Dennis (:Well, and it's amazing that you said that because I feel like even by belonging to your local chamber of commerce, you can learn from, you know, outside the industry. But one of the greatest things that I, and you, you will probably maybe have this happen at your venue is our company does, we'll do AV support for corporate events. And so one of my favorite things to do is to tech the event because I'm sitting there and I'm listening to all of these speakers that are outside of my industry.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yes!
Kevin Dennis (:And one of the greatest ones we used to get was this gentleman and they don't do it anymore, which I was really sad, but they were basically the distributor of like Oreo cookies, Triscuits and all this. And they would bring in like the grocery store folks, the Costco folks, and they would talk about like selling buying habits and you can pick up little like, like how you did with the doctor. It's like, that's it. I can twist that and make it.
make it for me totally different or that's a great idea. should look into this or you know, like technology, all kinds of different things. just, you know, and ⁓ they're, and they're paying you, you know, I get paid to sit there and listen to it, but I'm learning along the way. there's, know, from listening to, you know, just business podcasts to, you know, books to, you know, opening your mind when you're talking to folks at a networking event and
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yeah.
Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:You know, don't be afraid to ask how, you know, I see that you do that. How do you do that? Especially if you're not in, you know, it's you're not talking to your competitor. I mean, I think is yeah. And I think like I was the whip of president for a long time and I got to travel the country. And so I got to meet people all over. And when I would go to like a whip event in New York and I would meet someone that did what I did and I saw something that I was like, how did you do that? Or where did you where did you buy that? Or, you know, because I'm not a threat.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:100%.
Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:You know, and so developing a little bit of a circle of friends outside of the area, I think is good as well, you know. Yeah.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Right.
It's so, it's so important, especially
within the same vendor category, right? For me, I think some of my favorite things that I have learned are from other venue owners, even in my market. And it behooves us to have those good relationships, not only to learn from each other, but also to help each other when you're in a pinch, right? To be able to call on someone that you know and trust that knows exactly what you do and the pain points of what you do.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah
Yeah.
Well, I'm sure is your venue big enough or do you only do one event a day or a night? Yeah, yeah. So so once you're booked, if you have friends that you can refer and they refer you, I mean that that goes a long way. So yeah, yeah, I agree. All right. Well, Ian, I mean, did we miss anything? I think we got pretty thorough into this, but.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Only one event a day,
Yeah, it's very important.
We got
a lot, yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, we
got a lot done. So I it's amazing. I learned so much that I'm going to take away from this as well, especially what you just said about the doctor. I'm going to steal that because I think that's so amazing when you're talking to them. Are you ready to book or you know, where are you? I'm not even and if you're not even engaged yet, all right, you're not even I feel like they're not even serious. So anyway, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I've learned a lot. So thank you so much. So Ian, how can folks get in contact with you?
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Yes.
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's so true.
Yes, absolutely. You can follow along on Instagram if you're on the socials at venue help desk is our business handle. And then if you want to learn more about how we can help your venue, you can visit us at venue help desk.com. Or if you have direct questions, you want to contact me directly, you're welcome to send me an email at hello at venue help desk.com. And then if you're eager to check out my venue, Madera estates, it's at Madera estates on Instagram or madera estates.com.
is our website.
Kevin Dennis (:Alright, and we'll have all that information for Ian in the show notes so it'll make it easier ⁓ for them to contact you. So Ian, can't thank you enough for being here today. You were absolutely amazing.
an Ramirez - Venue Help Desk (:Kevin, thank you so much for having me on today.
Kevin Dennis (:My pleasure.
All right. Well, folks, thanks for listening to another episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. We'll see you next time. Bye.
