Ep. 8 - Your Path to Preferred Vendor Status with Shannon Tarrant, Co-Founder of Wedding Venue Map - Inside The Wedding Planner's Mind

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Inside the Wedding Planner's Mind podcast with
Irene Tyndale, Chief Event Officer of Irene Tyndale Weddings and Events.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
All Right, insiders, here's Irene.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to another episode of Inside the Wedding Planner. Mine.
I'm your host, Irene Tindale, and I am so thrilled
today to have a friend of mine from my hometown.
What are my hometowns, Central Florida and it is Shannon Tarrant,
and I am excited. She is the owner of Wedding
Venue Map. With her extensive experience in wedding and event industry,

(00:32):
she has created a valuable resource to help couples find
their perfect venue, which I love. She's here to share
some insights on a topic that many planners are always
curious about. How to get on a venues preferred list
like that is one of those million dollar questions, and
I'm pretty sure that if you go to Google, it's
probably the number one questions that we're asking. So today

(00:53):
we're going to explore some strategies for planners at various
stages of their business to discuss how to culture, vait
and maintain these critical relationships. So let's dive in. Welcome. Welcome, Welcome, Shannon,
thank you so much for joining. I mean, we just
spend a few days together at the Central Florida Wedding
Associations summit in August, and I was a keynote speaker

(01:17):
and I went to your presentation and learn a bunch,
so I also excited to have you. I was like
taking notes, like, oh, that's a good thing. And her
topic was all about upselling and cross selling. But that's
a whole other time.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
She a whole nother episode.

Speaker 1 (01:30):
We get a whole another episode for that. But today
I always like to ask my guests Shannon to tell
me their origin story, like how did this wedding and
event industry find you? And also what inspire you to
create the wedding venue map.

Speaker 3 (01:44):
Yeah, so the short form version of it was I
had graduated college and been working in restaurants, and restaurants
led into the caring side of weddings and events.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
So there was a local.

Speaker 3 (01:57):
Catering company who you know, on the list to a
bunch of venues, but was about to be on the
list of a few new, really big ones that were
all going to be focused on weddings and their entire
team were corporate caterers and no one wanted to touch
the wedding department. So I was a server and a bartender,
and I was like raising my hand, like I'll do it.
And so I spent the first five years of my

(02:18):
career in off site catering, which I think, whether you're
for Planner's venues, whatever you want to do, off site
catering is crazy because you have to haul everything.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
You got to figure it out on the spot, like
it is. It's a rough trial by fire.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
For sure, it's a good thing, but it's it's it's rough.
You're literally building an entire kitchen everywhere you go, everywhere
you go every week.

Speaker 3 (02:43):
Yeah, it's one of my one of my signature phrases,
which is make it happen. I say it to my
team all the time, Like it started in catering. They'd
be like, we don't have I'd be like, make it happen.
Figure it out. Like So, I spent five years in catering,
and they went from catering to working at a venue.
I was ready to stop bopping from one venue to
another and really just going to spend time at one
space and at that venue.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
My role shifted a little bit. I was really only sales.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
In marketing, so that menu was set up where one
team sold in one team service, which was awesome because
I really worked at that schedule Tuesday through Saturday. I
didn't work the weddings themselves, so it really let me
expand my knowledge base on selling, specifically getting advanced at
selling marketing to bring the leads in and really building

(03:26):
those referral relationships where we were hoping to get the
business from our partner, not just give business to them.
I love it little shift, and so I was there
another five years, so combined about ten doing events itself,
and then long.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
Story short, I just got sick of rides.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
I cracked one saturday, I did five tours like I
did every other Saturday. And you know, when you've been
in the industry a long time, no matter when you start,
it's a weird shift when as technology changes and ideas change,
and you'll realize the longer you're in, at every three
to five years, the same trends come back and back
and back and back like nothing. And it was that

(04:04):
window of time where we were n swashed repeating the
same wedding over and over again. So I just I
was bored. It was same thing, different every day. I
love a good challenge in fixing companies, and so I
stepped out to just do consulting within the wedding and
event industry locally here in central Florida, and that you know,
we found a really massive hole in the.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Market because the couples who were.

Speaker 3 (04:29):
Searching to find a venue specifically as friends, were looking
for venues and I'd say, what about this one, and
this one in this one, They'd say, I've been looking
for weeks and I haven't heard of any of those.
And we realized there really was no one source for
couples searching to find a venue to be able to
find all of the venues, not only.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
The ones that pay to be on the directory, but.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Every venue, but not only the whole list, but also
be able to sort it deep by their criteria. So
that's where a wedding venue map came from. We built
a local venue directory where there's about thirty different criteria
couples can sort by, and we provide the venues quality leads,
not quantity, so the leads that actually respond actually reply
and actually convert, rather than giving them a ton of

(05:11):
leads that they don't have the time and energy to work.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
Oh my goodness, how long you've been doing that? Now?

Speaker 2 (05:17):
Seven years. I don't even know how that happened.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
We can't believe that.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
I know this summer we did our networking event in
June is our birthday party, and.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
I was like seven years, Like how that happen?

Speaker 1 (05:29):
It's like, oh what, that's crazy. And it's funny because
I remember the first time I saw it and I
was I was explaining to my husband, you know when
you're traveling as a tourist and you get the little
map and it opens up like so fivefolds or whatever.
He's like, yeah, I'm like that she has that, But
then she has the website and he was like that's
really cool, and I'm like yeah, because it kind of

(05:50):
you know, like kind of like Atlanta and Georgia, Like
Central Florida is huge right now, Like Central Florida is
you know, we say cuchral Florida to kind of encompass
so many cities, so many counties. So it's kind of
nice that you have like a resource and it's locally
driven and all that good stuff. So that's why I
was like, you know, she was the perfect person to
talk to about getting on the preferred vendor list because

(06:13):
you've worked in the catering side of things, which, yes, listen,
go shadow a caterer, see what happens. See is what happens.
But behind the scenes, I've worked offside catering. I've worked
you know, hotel catering, and it is it is a beast.
So I was like, she's a perfect person to talk
about this with. So for planners looking to get on
at venues prefer vendor lists, what are the what are

(06:35):
the key steps that we should take. Any specific strategies
or approaches that have been proven and that you have
seen are proven effective. You know from when you were
doing it, but now you work specifically directly with venues
every day all day, So what are the most you
know what what's effective? Like, what's effected so we're not
spending on wheels out here.

Speaker 3 (06:55):
Yeah, we have so many tips today, so you better bookmarketer,
grab a pen or whatever.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
You know.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
One of the first things that sounds so basic is
you really need to know what makes your planning company
different and unique. You have to have enough knowledge of
your own business to see what sets you. It's the
hardest question for any wedding business in any category to answer.
Maybe venues a little easier because they've got actual architectural differences,
but service based businesses you have to know why you

(07:24):
why would they work with you.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
You know, we've heard a lot of tips.

Speaker 3 (07:27):
You can copypaste all your reviews into chat GPT and
see what are the overlying factors. But you know, you
really have to figure out what makes your business you
unique and different to be able because if you don't
go into any kind of meeting appointment trying to build
that connection, that's what they really want to know. There's
tons of planners in every market, So like this very

(07:49):
first step is to know what makes you different and unique.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
And a second way you can do that is.

Speaker 3 (07:55):
To really ask for your current referral partners, why do
you refer me? Because what I find is that people
who refer you now like, what do you tell a
couple when you refer.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
Them to me? What do you say to them?

Speaker 3 (08:07):
Because a lot of times we'll have I'll say, oh,
you know we both have a mutual friend, Christy.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
I'll say, oh, Christy is the calmest human being.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
She is the lake with no waves, and she is
the dumb cuddling underneath.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
But you will never know. I'm not that girl. I'm
like things are happening like I am, just like it's okay.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Really yeah, Like that's.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
One of the things I think is a huge differentiator.
So go ask some of your referral partners what do
they say about you when they refer.

Speaker 2 (08:39):
Business to you.

Speaker 3 (08:40):
But if you don't have that locked in, every other
tip I'm gonna give you is kind of a waste.

Speaker 1 (08:46):
H Yeah, that's what you have to figure out. You
have to figure out what makes you different. But sin
so talk about that. So someone who's starting out, like
someone who's been in business for a couple of years,
like myself, I've been in business almost twelve years, I
can kind of say, okay, what makes me different? And
I know one of the tips that we learned when
we're at the summit last a couple of weeks ago

(09:08):
with Katie who said what makes you different? And you
know and putting it into JEATTBT or doing your research
from your past reviews and stuff. But if your brand new,
like brand new, how do you say that? Do you
just do your market research and say, Okay, how am
I going to be different than everyone else? Yeah, you

(09:28):
like that.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
I mean I think some of it is about are
you offering any different services?

Speaker 2 (09:33):
Right?

Speaker 3 (09:33):
There's so many planning opportunities outside of wedding day management,
month of partial planning and full planning. So have you
come up with and found a whole and listened to
the couple's planning to offer a unique service or is
there something about your process that maybe other planners don't do.
But I do think you have to gain knowledge about

(09:54):
who's already in the market and maybe not so much
about copying, but really being a bit about trying.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
To set yourself apart. I do think it's a new planner.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
One of the things that can set you apart really
differently is getting really clear on your ideal clients. Right
if you are you know, we've got a planner in
our market who she loves the nerds, the science center couples,
the nrdy, Harry Potter, the Disney crazies, like the gamer
like those are her clients.

Speaker 1 (10:23):
The offbeat couples, and she is, oh my god, she's
doing it. I bet she's doing well with that, because yes,
that is a really like that's a niche.

Speaker 3 (10:32):
Yeah, and sometimes that your ideal client could be what
sets you apart. So I think that's something that as
a newer planner could really make a huge difference in
being able to do that.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
Now. I bet you said that, Shannon, because I think
when the word you know, niche comes out or your
ideal client, like I tell people, in the first couple
of years of in your business, you're kind of working
a little bit with everybody because you just don't know
who you who you're going to, who's gonna speak to you.
Not everybody is equip to or wants to work with
the quote unquote luxury clients or the DIY brides and grooms.

(11:07):
And like I've known planners that they love the DIY clients.
They are doing extremely well working with them. Everybody needs
some everybody needs help, and they love working with them.
But then I know some people that are like, no,
the offbeat kind of couple that you know, like you said,
they like they go Dragon Con, they go to every
Disney thing, like they love Star Wars or whatever the
case may be, and it works for them. Or there

(11:29):
might be Bohemian And to me, it's like it's cool
to speak. You're you're going to attract who you are
attracted to basically right necessarily like the where do they drive?
Where did they drive? Where do they go to school?

Speaker 2 (11:44):
Or did they shot?

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Which I think is like the basic niche questions that
people are always telling us to find and I've noticed
that me, it was more than that. It was like
a for me, it was a feeling. It was a
connectivity with the couples that are you know, traditional with
the touch of modern in there. And it just kind
of for what And it's like I connect with those people.

(12:05):
My whole team connects with those people, people that are
like logistical minded and still want to have a great
experience versus like I think I'm going to do luxury
and I'm like, but girl, you've never even stayed at
the four Seasons.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
Yeah, it's you know, it's finding that that piece that
it's okay to talk to one client and take others, right.
I think it's okay to like lean into a niche.
You can still book whichever clients you want who.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
Come and find you.

Speaker 3 (12:33):
But figuring out a great way to build relationships with
venues is having that a little bit more defined. And
then I've got a specific strategy for us to start with.
Go ahead, so I think when planners start thinking about
which venues do I want to partner with, they forget
to start with the easiest ones first. So there's three
categories of those one venues that you've already worked at before,

(12:57):
they've already seen your work, experienced your team gone through.
Venues that you're already booked at for a future event.
So looking at your venues for the next eighteen months
that the strategies and stuff we'll talk about today, you're
already booked there.

Speaker 2 (13:11):
And then the third is venues that.

Speaker 3 (13:13):
You're getting leads for, so you might not be booked,
but making yourself a list of the venues already worked
at that you're probably not on the list, venues you're
already booked at, and then ones that leads are already
coming in for.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
But they don't know you and you don't know them.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
So that's like the very first strategy to start with.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
I love that. So yeah, I'm always telling people research, research, research,
you know, pen and paper, Grab your pen and paper,
grab a cup of coffee or something, and go through
your leads from this past few months, even if they
didn't book and see where they're coming from. Because that's
also I always I always TEK coaching clients to do that,
to know where to invest their time and money in

(13:54):
the new year. So if like you're getting you know,
fifty percent of your leads are coming from Google, twenty
percent coming from Instagram, or you get this many. But
if you're getting some, you know, twenty leads from one
hotel particularly and say maybe only four or five book
which is good, but you're still getting a good month
leads coming in from this one place. You need to

(14:15):
cultivate that relationships. I know we're going to talk about that,
so I you're.

Speaker 3 (14:18):
Already on your way there, and like it's easier when
you're trying to create that, like the strategy of going
and learning about the venue, like going and really understanding
the rules, the regulations, the packages, the pricing, what's included,
what's in the contract, Like make that list and then

(14:39):
we'll talk about specific like reach out strategies and stuff.
But you have to then once you get that list,
start really learning about them. Make yourself either like an
sop checklist of here's all that, like a document that says,
we like to know the guests count to this, the
menu is what do you offer?

Speaker 2 (14:55):
You know, and then go learn from.

Speaker 3 (14:58):
Them, and the things you want ask specifically are what
does their referral process look like?

Speaker 2 (15:04):
Right?

Speaker 3 (15:05):
Like, how do they referral planners? Because sometimes they're like, oh,
we tell them they should hire a planner and that's it.
They give no list, there's no business cards in the show,
there's no pdf sheet. So learn what does their actual
referral process look like? Ask how they work with planners?
Meaning what's your role? What's my role? It comes to

(15:25):
the planners that you work with, how are you working
with them? And third, get polesy and ask what planners
are currently on the list? Hello, you got to ask
because if you don't know, maybe your two biggest competitors
are on that list and you might have a hard
time because you guys are really simpler, but they might
have only like luxury, super expensive, high end and you

(15:48):
might be the more moderate price point and that's your differentiator,
right right, So like, but you've got to know who's
on the list, Like, oh, who do you already love
working with?

Speaker 1 (15:59):
I'm so glad you said that because I had a
conversation the other day and I'm gonna they're gonna they're
gonna remain nameless. Right to protect the inn, like they said.
But I said, yep, right, I said, would it be
crazy because we're on a handful of venues per vendor
list And I was like, okay, I used to get

(16:19):
ten or twelve leads from this place. We're only getting
three or five. I said, one, maybe one of one
of the year books from there. And I was like,
you know, I want to ask, hey, we're on the list.
You say you love us, we love you, we.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
Love we are we still on the list? Is the first?

Speaker 1 (16:35):
Well, but we are. We are on the list because
we're told were on the list and we've seen the list.
But who was working here more than we are? And why?
And I want to ask that question. I was told listen,
I'm a Yankee right through and through my Southern Yankees.
When I say, and I said, I'm not gonna be
blunt like them, but I'm gonna find a nice way
to like, Hey, so who's working here the most? And
I was told that I should not ask that, like

(16:57):
to find another way to to get that, Like, I was, no,
can I be Yeah?

Speaker 3 (17:02):
I mean I think you can do some research. You
can go on Instagram, look the tag photos. You can
do a little bit of digging around to see. But
I think ultimately, if you know, and I know we're
going to talk about this more about like you know,
continuing that relationship and you know all of that, you
have to have enough of a relationship to say, hey,
we love working here, we love partnering with you.

Speaker 2 (17:24):
Our team loves your team. I know you're you know,
can you let me know?

Speaker 3 (17:28):
And of course you've got other vendors you were, I
mean planners you were for re expect that, but I'd
love to know, you know, who are the couples you know,
leaning more towards because I know we're only doing a
few weddings here or we're only doing ten. I think
sometimes you'll learn different things. You know, some of the
venues in this timeframe are struggling more than I think,
struggling for bookings more than I think the vendors understand.

(17:51):
So they're like, well, I did fifty weddings there this
year and they don't even have fifty weddings book this year.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
So like, eh, you know, so it could be that.

Speaker 3 (17:58):
But I do think sometimes do shiny pennies come into
the market, and whether it's a lesser price, whether they're
kicking your but on social media, like whatever that is.
I mean you have to ask the question to be
able to know, yeah.

Speaker 1 (18:14):
Because it's part of my market research. And I mean,
of course finding a way, but it's good to I
like those questions, just like what I tell planners when
I'm coaching planners in this particular area for site visits.
I'm like right now pushing to my coaching class, like yet,
you're not going to make connections behind the computer only,
like you have to get up and let out the
house and then go to networking events. You got to

(18:35):
go to site visits. And then for my I think
God finds it funny to send me introverts because that
coached so many introverts. I'm like, okay, you're an introvert.
A big networking event is a lot harder for you
than you picking up the phone and going to go
see Shannon Chateau like versus, and it's one on one.
Whether she's the sales or the person's a sales manager
or the owner, it's a one on one conversation. You

(18:58):
get out, but don't go don't go emailing people. I
will be on your preferred list or the minuteature there
visiting them. You're asking them now, like you're as to
think about when you're recording your significant other, that person
was like, hey, come give me a kiss. You might
not be married right now.

Speaker 2 (19:12):
Yes, it goes right into the next category we're talking about.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
So, so can you provide So we're gonna talk about
just advice as for different stages. So could you provide
tailored advice for planners you know in the various stages? Right,
And I'm always saying that there is you have the
startup phase, you have the growth phase, and then you
have the cultivate phase. So you know, what should people
be focused on if you're in the startup phase and
start with that one, what should we we be focused

(19:40):
on to build those relationships with our venues?

Speaker 3 (19:43):
Yeah, I mean I'm gonna I'm answering this question now
as the not as the planner coach.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
I'm answering this question as the venue.

Speaker 3 (19:51):
Right. So I talked to five hundred venues all the time,
So understand it's going to be unpopular opinion.

Speaker 2 (19:57):
On the other side, You're going to be like, oh
my gosh, she wants me to do that. Uh huh,
I do.

Speaker 3 (20:02):
So here are some things that I'm going to tell
you have actually successfully had a brand new planner in
the industry. Has opened a door into working at the
venue that I worked for the first because when you're
a newer company, you have one of two things, and
it's time or money.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
No one starts in the wedding industry with capital. We
all know this.

Speaker 3 (20:20):
We're all dumb and we just get up and go
and we don't have fitties. Yeah we're dreamers and we're
dealers and we're passionate, but we don't have cash.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
So you have more time than money.

Speaker 3 (20:30):
So a really easy ooh, don't don't mute me after this,
don't stop. The episode offered to do an upcoming wedding
for free, meaning to them, ask them, give me a
wedding that's within the next four months, at least eight
weeks out, at least two months in between two and
four months out, and look through your calendar, give me
a date that you know that that wedding doesn't have

(20:52):
a planner, and say, like, let me show you how
we do what we do, because no venue is going
to refer a planner they haven't seen work.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
That's why it's great.

Speaker 3 (21:03):
To start at the venues you've already worked at and
booked that future. But if you're a new bie, you
don't have any of that right, so offer to show them.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
Now, I just feel like it's one hundred times.

Speaker 3 (21:12):
Easier to do an actual wedding than to put on
a styled shoot or to plan an open house. It
doesn't allow them to see how you actually work at
an event, and so I feel like doing that helps
your business in multiple ways.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
You build a venue relationship.

Speaker 3 (21:27):
You're getting a review from a client, right Like, You've
got a client that you just showed them and they're
gonna you did it for free, so they are going
to rave Oh my god, the service, the amazing. All
I want is the review on the other side. So
that is a very easy way to start to even
if like each venue, you offer to do one, if

(21:47):
you're that good, show them what you can do.

Speaker 1 (21:51):
Yeah, I've done that where I've say give me your
problem child that's coming here, yes, three to four months,
and they're like, oh my gosh. And because of that,
I get specific calls from the venue be like, hey,
I just send missus such and such to you. You
handle the other mother of the pride. So missus such
and such is you know, and goes through her there

(22:11):
listen like she needs you and what you can do,
and it literally it's like and so the mother of
the bride call like, oh isn't such said it you
or be it's so much great and they already sold
it on their end. But it's because we came in
either at a super low rate, or we came in helped,
or when they needed us in a pinch, we were
there for them.

Speaker 3 (22:31):
Yeah, So that a few other things you can do
with a brand nubie, which I'm gonna imply that the
majority of you noubes coming in are probably significantly younger
than me and Irene are. So with that being said,
you smoke us when it comes to social media content.
So go there, tour, make a video tour, make a
killer video tour on your Instagram, make a real about

(22:53):
create social media content, invite them to collaborate, you know,
things like that. You can write a blog post about
the venue on your website, give them a backlink, and
then look for you know, I know networking is easy
for everybody, but I think the cold reach out is
really difficult, and that's one of the challenges we'll talk
about in the future. So when you go to a

(23:14):
networking event or sometimes a venue will host an open house.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
Just go to see the space.

Speaker 3 (23:20):
Like you don't don't don't go try to meet vendors
and try to get on this, but just go be
like email them. I see you're doing an open house.
Can I just come because I'm sure the ven you'll
be set up, decorated, shoot some content.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Do theyse things like push outside the box. When you're new,
you got to get scrappy and get creative, right, And
I like it.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
You have to get scrappy and creative. Yeah, And it's
funny because I have people like, I don't know, do something.
You have to be on the internet. It's like you
just have to be on Instagram, TikTok whatever. It is,
like what do we learn this past week? And I
mean you you you were giving me some pointers on
the side, You're like, you know, Instagram is more for
inspiration and what things look like and then and then

(23:59):
you know, TikTok is more behind the scenes how we
did it. So I mean I love it because you
could be doing you know, you could do a TikTok
video behind the scenes of a venue that it's not
fully set up. And then come back when you have
when you have a wedding there or for their open house,
and be like this is to look.

Speaker 2 (24:15):
Like after, it's before and after.

Speaker 1 (24:17):
Like they people other suckers for that, they're stuck for that. Good.
I love that. Okay. So for those that are in
the growth phase, how how should they approach their their
strategies looking for venues? Right? So, typically a growth phase
is you've been in business three to five years. You
know you're starting, you see you have a good influx

(24:39):
of leads coming in and bookings. You see influx. You're
you're building your name. You might you might be in
the rebranding phase of things that kind of like kind
of things. But what would be our approach then if
you've been in business for a few years.

Speaker 3 (24:52):
Yeah, I think step one is don't forget the list
you're on. Most of the time people lose their spot
on the list because they get lazy. All the behaviors
you started, you were doing when you were young and scrappy,
or when you were early getting started, making sure every
wedding you got the review, you posted them all on social.
The longer we're in business, the more we grow, the
more responsibility we carry. Sometimes those behaviors get lost, and

(25:15):
if those behaviors are why the people who were referring
you were referring.

Speaker 2 (25:19):
You if they can't refer you, if you're.

Speaker 3 (25:21):
Only getting one review a month instead of ten a month,
even if though you're doing fifty weddings, you're not doing
the behaviors.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
So I think.

Speaker 3 (25:27):
It's don't forget the list that you're already on, because
I think people sometimes so much chase new, new, new,
new new, or they'll ask us at wedding venue map,
can you introduce us to ten venues this month? I'm
like no, because you don't have time to tour ten venues.
You don't have time to curate and keep ten.

Speaker 2 (25:42):
Relationships going every month Like no. So I think a.

Speaker 3 (25:45):
Very realistic goal when you're in the growth phase is
one new view conditioned per month, one like go after one,
curate it, make sure it's matching, ideal clients, things like that.
But if you do that well and can keep them
up and pet them and love them, that's twelve per
year you've got to add on top of who you've
already got in terms of nurturing.

Speaker 2 (26:05):
So setting realistic goals of.

Speaker 3 (26:07):
How many new ones are coming in and having like
an actual marketing plan that your company stays top of
mind with the ones that exist.

Speaker 1 (26:18):
Yeah, and that's something that I learned when I did
sales in hotels, like we nurtured Like so, I worked
at hotel in Roswell and Roswell, Georgia, which is up
the street from the city of Atlanta. And you know,
we once a month, we visited all the venues in
that area. There was about ten of them area. They
would feed us sleeping rooms, they would feed us leads

(26:40):
if they didn't have the space, they would feed us
rehearsal centers and brunches, and you know, kept me busy
on the weekends when I didn't have weddings because all
the people would stay with us. And once a month,
you know, I worked for Double Tree, so we took
them Double Tree cookies or if it was you know,
the holidays, ship would set them a pie or like hey,
hif just made a new sandwich. And my our director

(27:01):
taught us that you constantly have to be like, you know,
just don't take it for granted that were on the list.
And because of that, we're always packed. You know, we
always got all these leads. You know, the leads for
that because it was they knew and sometimes it was
literally a five minute drop off.

Speaker 3 (27:14):
It wasn't even like, yeah, no, you don't need to
stay spend hours of your life, you know the top
of my behavior. It was just like I think one
of the other fails in growth phase because as we're
going most of the time your team has grown.

Speaker 2 (27:25):
Whether you've got you're not the only lead, you've got
multiple leads. I also think a huge.

Speaker 3 (27:29):
Challenge I understand why when it comes to turnover, but
I think a huge challenge is that let the venue
build the relationship with your team, because when they only
know the owner. I'll give you an example from a
DJ perspective, like when I worked at the venue, we
had a DJ that I loved him. He was super

(27:50):
much more budget friendly than many others. You got what
you paid for a little cheesy, but we loved him.
But I really loved working with him. We didn't know
one person this five DJ team. Not only that those
five DJs had never been to property, didn't know we
had three ceremony sites and three reception sites. So they
would show up on event day and go to the
wrong space and a lot because they didn't know what,

(28:11):
and so I think that then it got to the
point where the referral looked like, Hey, we love dj X,
but you're only going to talk to Joe. If Joe's
not available, do not book any of the rest of
the guys.

Speaker 2 (28:23):
And you can't grow up that.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
So I think having a plan to make sure not
just on social media, that your team has connected with
those people you know who work at that venue, so
that they're referring not just the company, not just Irene,
they're referring specifically all of the people.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
Right the whole company, the team. Yes, yep. So would
you suggest then that the you know, whether it's a
planner or the business owner who has a team, go
on the tour with the team, or the team on
tour for themselves.

Speaker 3 (28:54):
No, I think I would bring them like, shut your
mouth and let them take the lead. It's very hard
because I have a big mouth too. But there's I
go on appointments with Bree, my account manager, and we
go visit venues and I'm you're in charge, I'm just
here and she looked at me and I'm like mm hmm,
And I literally, you guys, if you're watching some video,
you'll see me, I actually have to stand with my

(29:15):
finger over my lip and like the rest of my
my fist on my chin to keep my mouth shut.

Speaker 2 (29:20):
Because I need them.

Speaker 3 (29:22):
She's so smart, she has so much expertise, and I
need her to be confident enough to position it so
that when we leave, they're like, oh, is Shannon coming?
And she looks at me like you're gonna have to come,
And I'm like, I'll come, but you talk.

Speaker 2 (29:32):
I'm there if you need something.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
But like letting them take the lead and showcase themselves
and what they love or forcing them into Oh my God,
tell them about blah blah blah, so your team can
be a part of it.

Speaker 1 (29:45):
Well, I love that. Okay. So then planners who are
stealing up right, yeah, and are used to you know,
have them. They're maintaining their status. H they're really going
their status, whether they're going to another market, whether they're
adding team members, any of that stuff. You know, how
should they maintain their connections or even expand their connections?

Speaker 3 (30:06):
And the stand I think that the and some of
this is about like cultivating those relationships, but like I
think some secret actionable task, because That's what I'm all about,
is asking the venues having a standard email you copy
and paste the same as you ask couples for your reviews.
You should be sending an email to the venue every

(30:29):
Monday afterwards asking how did we do?

Speaker 2 (30:32):
Is there anything we always drive We always.

Speaker 3 (30:34):
Strive for the for our team to be the best
support system for the venue, to make sure we're following your.

Speaker 2 (30:39):
Rules, et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 3 (30:41):
Is there how did my team do? Is there anything
we could have done better?

Speaker 2 (30:45):
Different?

Speaker 3 (30:45):
Like, was anybody outstanding and support? Is there anything we
could have done better and different? I say send this
email every time because as your team grows and you're
not the one who's there when mom's away, kids will play,
and so I think that, like it's hard because if
you if you don't ask for feedback, you won't get it.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
So I shared this with.

Speaker 3 (31:08):
The planner in North Carolina, nor somewhere in North Carolina,
and she's like, oh my god. I sent the email
on Monday and I was like, Okay, how'd it go?
And she said then you were back and said great things.
But then they there were things that I had no idea,
like one of you know, but she was so great
and she handled this well and this well, but she
spent three quarters of the night on her phone. Now

(31:32):
that person was making social media content and posting story
like it wasn't just that there.

Speaker 2 (31:37):
But perception is reality.

Speaker 1 (31:39):
Right, and we set the kids all that we tell
it that's like that that is my husband's going saying,
that's exactly forerception's reality.

Speaker 2 (31:46):
Right.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
So but if she hadn't ever asked that venue, perception
was that girl was just scrolling social media all night.
And so now she's like, now we're going to teach
our venue is part of at the at the thirty
day walkthrough or whatever. We're going to teach them what
do we do when it comes to social on event day.
So we're going to shoot all the things. But at
the point where is that danceller is flowing and we've
got everything packed the way we can, We're going to

(32:08):
go nuts telling the whole industry and all our clients
about how much we love working here. And so when
they see them on their phones, it's not she's not
doing her job.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
It's about she's doing extra to help you.

Speaker 1 (32:21):
Oh, I love that. And also like letting them know
that your team is either a using iPads to look
at the timeline and the diagram or their phones because
a lot of the girls that work for us, a
lot of the ladies that were for us are a
younger generation, so they're like, we don't print it out.
They have it on their iPad, was you know, they
do it like a crossbody thing, or it's on their
phone because they have this giant phone.

Speaker 2 (32:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:41):
Everything, And so I'm like, and in me, I have
my my remarkable So it's kind of like, you know,
and so we've been approached like that one time, Like
I remember Bride selling me laughing. It's like, my dad
thought you were on your phone looking at stuff with
the DJ, and I'm like, we were looking at your
song list. She goes, I know daddy doesn't know.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
Yeah, Like I.

Speaker 3 (33:02):
Think you don't ask like I think if you don't
take the time to ask and ask consistently and say
I know, I know, I know. Another email from US
asking for feedback if you work there every Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
to take a breath, maybe ask it once a month,
but I think it's really important saying like it's important
to our relationship that we're the best we can be
for you, because sometimes I've seen vendors do that, and they.

Speaker 2 (33:23):
Got really bad feedback that they had no idea.

Speaker 3 (33:26):
Your person was super late, they weren't set up on time,
they held up the whole timeline, and they would have
been removed from the list had they not been able
to get in front of it and defend it. So
I think that's one of my best magical tips of
if you're like a planner who's been in business a
long time and this isn't something you're doing and you
have a bigger team, this is if even if it's

(33:47):
you who went out ask ask.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
Yeah, how can I do it improve? And I like
that you said that because I've had time to let
people go because a vendor, a vendor not necessarily with
the venue, but a vendor said something, and then I
asked another vendor and I kind of followed up. The
other thing is I sometimes have had a feeling them
it doesn't seem right. So I've checked in with people. Yep,
when I saw them again, they're like, no, no, no,

(34:11):
that person does not represent your your brand will and
this is why. And I'm like, well, thank you. That
was just a confirmation I needed.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
But just the venues don't give a crap enough. Hope
crap's not too bad. Venues don't give a crap enough
to say.

Speaker 3 (34:24):
To tell you, they don't care no matter how good
and how long your relationship is. We did a venue
panels and necking of that these venues. I was like,
do you tell people and they're off the list? All
six of them were like, nope, they just take you
off and so you will have never known that that happened.
I think when it's vendor relationships, so you're kind of
in it all day and you guys refer each other

(34:46):
and it's a little more collaborative, I think it's a
little different because you've got each other's backs. Differently, the
venues don't care, don't care.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
Don't they go onto the next one?

Speaker 3 (34:56):
Yeah, because there's there's five hundred emails coming in every
week with ano planner who wants to be on that list.

Speaker 1 (35:03):
Well, let's talk about the cultivating relationships in so once
a planner, you know, once a planner has got you know,
has placed on it for for vendor lists, what are
some of the best practices for us to cultivate, Like
we've been talking about this, cultivate, nourish those relationships and
how can we ensure that we remain a valuable partner
to venues.

Speaker 3 (35:22):
Yeah, I mean there's so many, like really basic easy things.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
One of them is staying top of mind. Social media
is such an easy, lazy way of you. I'll give
you some a few secret tips.

Speaker 3 (35:31):
So on Instagram, there's actually something that within your account,
you can favorite up to fifty different accounts. Maybe it's
twenty five. You'd have to double check the number, but
you can favorite them. So, meaning if I'm a planner
and I work at these twenty venues the most often
and I'm trying to keep that relationship, I can go
in and favorite all of those accounts. Now, you got

(35:53):
to follow me on this. When you open your Instagram,
if you go to the very top of Instagram and
click on the Instagram logo. When you click the logo
at the top that looks like it doesn't do anything,
a new dropdown pops up that you didn't know was there,
and you can click favorites. What that will do it
will give you a curated feed of only the twenty five.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
Or fifty favorites you follow.

Speaker 3 (36:15):
So if you only have time for ten minutes a
day to comment and like and comment on someone else's posts.
Damn sure, do it on the venue partners you have.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
I just learned something new. I had no idea that
you could even I mean now, mind you. It says
Instagram and script with a down arrow, and I have
never see.

Speaker 2 (36:33):
If the down arrow is new. It wasn't there before.

Speaker 1 (36:36):
Okay, you would never think to click that.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
But if you click it, it gives you a curated feed,
so it's either only the people you're following or your favorite.
So social media is such an easy way to stay
top of mind. Everybody wants more engagement, so commenting on
their post. If you see a beautiful picture post and
maybe it's not a planning competitor, it's just a great
space shot, share it to your stories and talk about

(36:59):
it and them on it, you know, comment on their
stuff on your own social post the weddings that you
do from that venue, and invite them to collaborate. That's
free content for them if they accept it. And then
also on social do stories on wedding day, like do
stories and tag them. The venue could care. I mean
many of them care, they just don't take the time

(37:20):
to do it.

Speaker 2 (37:20):
So if you're good at that.

Speaker 3 (37:22):
They're like Oh they'll share it all day long. So
now they just shared your name all over their account,
so it's an added bonus.

Speaker 2 (37:29):
So I think utilizing social media.

Speaker 3 (37:31):
Is probably one of my easiest tips to cultivate that relationship.

Speaker 1 (37:36):
Yeah, definitely, I love that. And don't don't discount and
you could see, you know, you could agree. I know
you probably agree on this, but don't discount even like
following the you know the hotel's, the big hotel chains.
Oh yeah, follow them because if we say it, like
we post, we tag, we do a stuff. We work
a lot with the Four Seasons in Atlanta and they're
every single time Shannon, I get a message, Irene, can

(37:58):
we reshare this? Irene can absolutely.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
Marketing attention.

Speaker 1 (38:03):
They pay attention, especially like those big ones. But then
if you're working with like your local mom and I
say mom and pop, not just because yeah, privately owned
by privately owned venues, they're appreciative of that. If you
work with a if you get in touch with the
brand new venue, absolutely like they need it they need
so badly. Yeah, learn something new.

Speaker 2 (38:25):
Yeah, So social media is one of my That one's.

Speaker 3 (38:27):
The secret list in the Barn Chef's Kiss you Got
it like that. That was a whomper. Most people don't
think to do it. One of my other ones is
to really, you know, check in, think about when your
down season is, and like check in with them personally,
meaning take them out to lunch, you know, invite them
to dinner, happy hours, say let's take my team and
your team and let's go bowling like whatever.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
That looks like.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
I think what happens is that needs change and opportunities arise,
and many of those things can get missed because you
haven't done that like once or twice a year, one
on one with them to be able to have that conversation.

Speaker 2 (39:04):
I mean, I've seen planners.

Speaker 3 (39:05):
Land literally exclusivity contracts with venues because they happen to
have that lunch and the venues like complaining about all
these couples are hiring all these terrible planners and whatever,
and they've been like, have you ever thought about having a.

Speaker 2 (39:19):
Required list instead of a preferred list? Let's pro and.

Speaker 3 (39:22):
Connat together, like they've lived. Have you ever thought about
going down to just one? Like but it's it's safe, right,
But it's yeah, and it's like let's pro and con
and don't forget on, right, here talking to you about it.
But I think that those are the things that if
you're not making sure that these And I mean I
live and die by checklists in the calendar. So I

(39:42):
put on the calendar. You know it's you know, summer's coming.
There's a huge task.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
One day.

Speaker 3 (39:47):
I will blow summers our slow seas. And I live
in Florida, so I will literally block on June fifteenth.
And then too, I block a day from eight to
five every year on June fifteenth every year.

Speaker 2 (39:56):
And it says, it would.

Speaker 3 (39:57):
Say, then then you reach out and so you've got
your little list. You can keep your running list in
there to make sure you're getting something scheduled for that summer.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
Absolutely absolutely, I love that she said just go out
there and talk to them. I mean, I'm one of
my love languages is gift giving. So yes, cupcakes from Mark.
You know, day I've gone, We've gone to drinks afterwards
after work or you know, dinner or lunch or I
just just because that I'm a Chick fil a e card.

Speaker 3 (40:25):
But think about it, like you as a planner, you
have so many relationships with people you've been referring business to,
so can you partner with them, Like in January, we
did January.

Speaker 2 (40:35):
We went past the holidays.

Speaker 3 (40:36):
I did family photos for everybody on my team, and
then I invited a few of our venue partners to
bring out their families and.

Speaker 2 (40:42):
So we partner with the photographer.

Speaker 3 (40:44):
They want to continue those relationships too. Can you help
plan and curate a headshot day? Like what can you
do with the partnerships? When you say cupcakes, who's the
cake company that's gonna make them? Because then they get
in front of them too, So do the like think
about the relations that you.

Speaker 2 (41:00):
Have that helps curate that.

Speaker 3 (41:03):
It helps them also, but it also helps you, say
a bit of money, so you don't have to spend
all your own money.

Speaker 1 (41:09):
Yeah, I'd have to know with the Flores before where
like they've done like a small little arrange before the
their deskcore plant and it came from me, but it's like, oh,
it's coming from us, but this is me and this
is a partner, So absolutely cultivate. I love the idea
of the of the family photos, which is which is
great and this.

Speaker 3 (41:27):
Because we're all I don't know about you, but everywhere
in the country is busy in November December, so who
the heck has time to Like every email I'm getting
from photographers right now, that's like oh fall family photos.

Speaker 2 (41:37):
It's all on weekends, and I don't have time to
do it.

Speaker 3 (41:39):
So you do it every year in January instead, and
it's like New Year, New us, come see you know
who we are.

Speaker 1 (41:46):
This love that we did that. One year we did that.
We did we said out happy New Year, like have
a problem New Year, and our family was like, well
that's genius. I'm like, well, I was too busy to
We took our photos in October, but we got I
got busy, like early October. I got busy and never
printed them out and sent them out. And so I
was like, you know what, I'm gonna do a New
Year's card and it was perfect. So yeah, and I

(42:06):
have a few venues to do that. I've had a
few vendors that I've received something after the fact, a
happy New Year. Before to working with you, I've always done,
like you know, if I don't do something before Thanksgiving,
I've done something like happy New Year. Here's a small
bottle of either sparkling cider if they don't drink like
a little spark a little champagne with some glass, like

(42:27):
you know, like something with a little glass, something to say, hey,
toasting to the new engagement season. But yeah, I have
done that. I've done stationary and I always take a
gift every time I do a site visit every time.

Speaker 3 (42:37):
Of course, bring something with you every time. A few
other little teeny tiny things you can do to cultivate relationships.
This seems so simple, but write a Google review for
the venue.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
You can only Google review each business one time. But
when you go on the didn't write the review.

Speaker 3 (42:51):
Then after you do the then after you do a
wedding there, open the review, edit the review and add
more to it.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
You can then add photos.

Speaker 1 (42:58):
To it, so you could add it.

Speaker 2 (42:59):
You could.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
Oh, you can only do each account and only Now
with that means said, if you've got six girls on
your team, every single one of those can write a
separate review for the venue. But I think that, like,
it's shocking how many times that on we don't take
advantage of the B to B and your business name
is now on their Google reviews, the photos you've added
are now in their Google business photos, Like that's where

(43:21):
those photos come from. So it's such an easy way.
So that's one and the other one I had that
seems so simple is that planners are really good at
getting the photos. The venues are so bad about asking
for them. So when you get them, when you get them,
have a doc already ready. Here's the list of vendors.

(43:42):
Here's all their Instagram handles. If that's not around your timeline,
which it should be, but then reshare that one page
and send them the link to download. So give them
you get the photos in, immediately pass them through to
the venue. And then the really extra step you can
take when it comes to photos is as a wedding's
coming up, sending that email two weeks out and say, hey,

(44:03):
if you want to check with your marketing team or
what photos do you need to round out your galleries?
Like do you need because sometimes they're like, ooh, this
one had the unique ceremony set up, I gotta have
a ceremony shop. Or oh my god, they're doing a
new beef dish we've never done. Can you get a
picture of the plate? So like those kinds of things,
when you already have.

Speaker 2 (44:21):
The relationship, it goes.

Speaker 3 (44:23):
I mean, as a five years at a venue, I
coached venues across the country.

Speaker 2 (44:28):
It is such a hot topic of what have you
done for me lately? You acting?

Speaker 3 (44:34):
How can we help you? What can I do for you?
What you need from us?

Speaker 2 (44:38):
What support do you want?

Speaker 3 (44:40):
Like asking and knowing is really important to finding that
success and continuing that relationship long term.

Speaker 1 (44:48):
It's such a good thing. Like I never even thought
about forwarding them the gallery. And it's funny because I have.
I talked to planners everywhere, like I have such a
hard time getting my photos in my photographer, Like I
don't now treat they're artists, they're extra creative. So we
treat them with you know, with them out must respect.
We love on them. We make sure they're good, they

(45:09):
have what they need. We give them enough time to
take the photos and the timeline and so we will
woo them right like women, men or women, I don't
even care, both sides and good. We have good relationships.
We have conversations with them regarding the timeline, like, hey,
this is the timeline we put together. What are you thinking?
We compare timelines and then all that stuff. But I've

(45:31):
had it where venues are like you know, we've done
the final walk through and then they see the vision
board and they see the design that is being created.
They're like, Irene, no one has ever you know, had
a ceremony this way or whatever. I'm like, yeah, we'll
make sure you get photos.

Speaker 3 (45:45):
Yes, So I think that those are like it's thinking
constantly and I think, you know, as much as we
create marketing plans for our social media and SEO and
blog email marketing, I think referral marketing, how you're going
to keep getting referrals?

Speaker 2 (45:59):
Yes, part of your planning for next year.

Speaker 3 (46:02):
So sit down and say I need to you need
to sop out how we're going to get new referrals.
What are we going to do to curate our referrals.
Get it into the calendar, get it into the plan
for the year. It has to be part of a plan.
Otherwise you're just hoping and praying that it'll continue. And
tell you something, now, twenty plus years in the industry,

(46:22):
there has never been a moment that there are more
people coming in faster, furiouser. Because entering the wedding industry,
unless you're a venue itself, there's like no barrier to entry.
You need an Instagram and a website, an Internet and
you can start a business like you need nothing else
other than that.

Speaker 2 (46:41):
So it's if you.

Speaker 3 (46:43):
Don't continue the relationships, somebody's coming behind you to take
it out out from under you.

Speaker 1 (46:49):
Yeah, and think about it. You can't be mad if
the person's out here everywhere, if the person is actually
doing work and popping up. It's sometimes the person, like
the squeaky will, gets the oil. The person that's actually
popping up the most. It doesn't even matter sometimes, Shannon,
if the person is good or not, but they're showing up.
I think a lot of us, especially if you're in
that scaling you know, in that between that growth and

(47:10):
scaling face, you do kind of get comfortable. And I
think those of us that are scaling or have scaled
to a certain point have gotten comfortable. And and I
just I and I love this podcast right like I
started because I was like, I have a bunch of
questions inside my mind and a lot of my planners
planning friends have it too. But I learned so much today.
And my poor team are admin and our operations director. Listen,

(47:34):
we have a we have a strategy meeting coming up
on Monday. Maria and I do. And I'm I'm going
to go through my note through this podcast before I
said it over to get edited to be like, hey,
Shannon said, here's what we're gonna do. We gotta do
this because it's true. It's like I'm a I'm a
relationship builder. Yeah, I build relationships. But then just some

(47:54):
of those nuggets that you've given me given us today,
like cultivated, but then also bringing your team and then
all the culture. You know, it's it's it's a dating,
you know, it's like dating. And even listen for those
that have been married for a long time, you get,
you get comfortable and then sometimes you get to rub
up a little bit and act you're dating again. Right,
So yeah, the same way. But any you know, and

(48:17):
I almost like I feel like this is the question
that I should have asked earlier. But have you seen
any common challenges that planners are facing or face when
trying to get on list? Yeah, and how do you know?
How do we overcome it? Because I think a lot
of it has to do also with mindset, Like I
see it, everyone's shy because syndrome and all that kind
of stuff, But I love everything. It's that you just

(48:37):
have to be a go getter. But any you know,
challenges and then how.

Speaker 3 (48:42):
I mean, I think one of the most common that
I thought about was there's you get no response from
a cold reach out. You've sent a cold reach out
email and they just you hear nothing, and they're like,
oh they ignored me. They didn't ignore you. There fit
somebody worked at a venue. We'd get twenty five of those,
a like of vendors and whatever. And so a few suggestions.

(49:04):
Think about going to a networking event that the venues
go to. There aren't many. There aren't many that the
venues don't always leave their property. But figure out which
networking group in our town NASE. The hotels all go
to NASE. I don't know why, but that's where they go.
They don't go to anything wedding related.

Speaker 2 (49:18):
So figure out where.

Speaker 3 (49:19):
Because if when they build a connection with you, they're like,
oh I like you now I'll give you a tour.

Speaker 2 (49:24):
Right.

Speaker 3 (49:24):
And then the other thing, this one hurts, be freaking better.
You're sending crappy emails when you reach out, So put
a video in it, give me content. Tell me in
the email, which what makes you different? Be like, here
are the link to my reviews. Here's a link to
our instagram. Here's the four ways we work with venues.
But like stand out with that email, not just like hey,

(49:46):
Nikes so great to me and I'd love to come
for a tour. That's what they all look like, So
be better with the email and then you might get
a response on the cold reach out.

Speaker 1 (49:56):
I love that.

Speaker 3 (49:56):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (49:56):
I think most of my tours of any new venues
I've come from, I'm at a whip of it and
I'm at a nasive somewhere and one of my you know,
like either one of the magazine people or one of
the cats, they're like, hey, meet Shannon Chateau and they're
having you know, you know, yeah opening up in six

(50:16):
months and go take go look at the our head
to it. And it's kind of been like that where
it's been someone has connected me and then or you know,
I've liked them on Instagram and I'm I'm in communicating
with them on Instagram.

Speaker 3 (50:28):
Comment get them familiar with your brand, and then then
when you reach out there like oh that girl has
been commenting on everything we did, Yeah, put them in
those favorites.

Speaker 2 (50:37):
They are like really over.

Speaker 3 (50:38):
The common challenge I see is that you know, playners like, well,
the venues already be happy with their list, and I'm
like I understand that.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
That's why you want to know who's on that list.

Speaker 3 (50:47):
Really make sure that you know what are your competitive
differentiators from who's on that list.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
Stay top of mind anyways.

Speaker 3 (50:54):
Because I promise you somebody on this is going to
do something, or they're going to open up more spots,
or they're not going to grow and they're too busy
or whatever. So stay focus on staying top of mind.
But one of the things that I think you mentioned
it is it's okay to offer to be the backup.
So saying like you've got your list awesome. I know
you have your go to list and you love them.
If you ever get stuck with a cancelation, like for

(51:17):
some reason a planner had to cancel some kind of
you know, or there's a planning emergency somebody who didn't
hire a planner in a month out there, like, oh god,
I need them call me first, like be there in
case of emergency.

Speaker 2 (51:29):
You might not get but that might be how you
get onto the list.

Speaker 3 (51:33):
But don't like, don't give up and then never call
them back because they're like, oh, we have a list,
we like them. Keep staying top of mind and petting
and loving. It's like dating, like, hey girl, I'm here.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
How you're doing.

Speaker 2 (51:44):
How you're doing?

Speaker 1 (51:45):
Yeah, and it is it's it's all of it is work.
But that takes it because I will say the majority
of our leads come from the venue I mean from Google.
It's between Google and Instagram. But then the next highest
is our venues.

Speaker 3 (51:59):
Yeah, and I think that that's like ultimately, you know,
we had talked about this that like I am currently
and close to completing, you know, building up like a
really detailed exact behaviors of what you can do to
get on the venue list course for every vendor category.
That's kind of what you can do before an event,
during an event, after every step of the way on

(52:20):
how to do that to be able to teach because
I think that the more digital marketing has expanded, the
more things that we're expected to know how to do
or be able to invest in as business owners. Multiple
social media platforms, blogging, SEO, email, marketing, ranking, this that
all think reels and Instagram and TikTok and whatever.

Speaker 1 (52:39):
I'm gonna take this clip and I'm going to make
one of those crazy videos.

Speaker 3 (52:42):
Like, yeah, all these things you're able to do, Like
I have great hand you can literally carry like eighty
percent of your business. If you're not growing a huge team,
you just want to do it yourself with a small
team and you're not trying like you can carry them
at already.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
Your business on referrals alone.

Speaker 3 (53:02):
You still have to do some of those things, make
sure your website's on point, make sure your Instagram is
brand awareness. But you don't have to do all the
things if you slay at building relationships and keeping the
referral funnels coming.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
Yeah, cause there are a lot of businesses out here
in Atlanta and Central Florida. I'm sure they have been
around for thirty forty years and are still doing really well.
And it's all relationship based. I mean there's so many events.
I mean we have venue between venues and hotels and
catering companies. Design companies has been around, and they transition

(53:35):
with the time they're design and their style, but they're
still grassroots, old school hands shake kissing babies and like connecting.
You see their people at all the networking events because
it's like they're really relationship builders and really one person
refers you, and if that client loves you, they're going
to refer you. And then and then I mean, it's
beautiful when when a couple refers you, but when then

(53:58):
that couple books at a whole event, need that you
work out all the time, they love it or they
love when I'm on a discovery call Shannon and they're like, oh, yeah,
I've worked at the hotel. Oh yeah, I've worked with
that photographer, I work with that Yeah. They're like, oh
my gosh, and it's a no brainer, like yeah along,
and I'm like absolutely, we love them. And then then
in turn and say, oh, we're looking at Irene's in

(54:18):
a wedding and events and like, oh, we love them
and it's just a mutual thing. But it's because we
built a relationship and let it be genuine right, Like listen,
I think it's hilarious when we get told at least
one time at a wedding from a vendor, you guys
are so kind and like easy to work with, And
I'm just like, we're in the hospitality industry, Yeah, duh,
how are you the hospital in kind? I just don't

(54:40):
understand that. But be genuine, like be a genuinely want
to care and help each other out, like what how
can I help you? And then in turn is going
to help you too. Yeah. Absolutely, well, Shannon, this has
been so incredibly like healthful, Like I know it's helpful
for me. So, like she said earlier, if you we're driving,

(55:01):
replay this girl with the No Better depend I'm going
to listen. I'm going to create my own little checklist.
I'm gonna have my whole team listen to it and
then and create our own little SOPs. You know, I
love me good o sop and soop and checklist to
make this a part of my marketing plan because we're
working on our current marketing plan for you know, for

(55:23):
engagement season. But it's like, oh, well, when are we
going to be reaching out the venues? And I already
had it on my list to set them a little
gift electronically, but now I'm like, oh, I think I
need to physically take them the gift and take the
team to them and kind of introduce them to who's
going to be leading weddings in twenty twenty five, not
only me, so stop only referring me. Yeah, but if
you're solo, you know, like if you're solo preneur, it's

(55:45):
okay to go out there. You know, you don't have
to have a course manner, just introduce yourself and all
that good stuff. But thank you so much for sharing
all that expertise. We probably could talk on and on
and on forever. So what's exciting, what's on the pipe
or down the line for the venue wedding map and
for you any updates coming up, anything that we need

(56:06):
to look out for.

Speaker 3 (56:07):
Yeah, I mean as always, like wedding venue map is
only local here to Central Florida. Every time I speak
on a podcast or else, they're.

Speaker 2 (56:13):
Like, what is it coming here? I'm like, We're just
here in our happy little bubble.

Speaker 1 (56:16):
I just asked you that I know you did all
the time, like it.

Speaker 2 (56:19):
Is coming here. It's here in Central Florida.

Speaker 3 (56:21):
But outside of working with our local venues and vendors,
you know, I work with venues across the country. I
have a second company called Venue helped USK and that
we create like vetted resources specifically to solve venue problems.
So that's got so many exciting things coming up in
the next twelve months.

Speaker 2 (56:39):
So head over Instagram venue helped us dot com. If
you have a venue.

Speaker 3 (56:44):
Partner or a new venue and you're a planner, share
the resource with that the minute they find the site.
Like if you're like, oh my god, I just heard
about this new website. There's all these free downloads for
them to go get off the website, Like you look.

Speaker 2 (56:57):
Like a hero.

Speaker 3 (56:58):
Oh because you you shared me with them, so love that.

Speaker 2 (57:04):
Yeah, so like things like that.

Speaker 3 (57:06):
That's also amazing ways to stay top of mind. So
that's really exciting. As always, I'll be at wedding nba. Uh.
There's another conference coming next spring called Weddings Insider that'll.

Speaker 2 (57:16):
Be here in Orlando.

Speaker 3 (57:17):
So yeah, so just speaking, educating all over the place
and really love helping people really build those referral relationships and.

Speaker 2 (57:28):
Course coming soon. Come back and check the show notes because.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
It's you know, let my people know.

Speaker 3 (57:33):
As soon as I get it done, we'll drop it
right back into the notes from the.

Speaker 1 (57:36):
Pod up and we'll be signing our team up to
listen to that because that's so good. So much of Poe.
But again, you can always catch on our Instagram and
if you have a question, and you can always mention.
And she also has a podcast as well, so I'll
make sure we'll tag all that stuff in the show notes.
But thank you so much Channing for being our guest today.
Thank you for having me Yes to our listeners, thank
you so much for joining us today on Inside the

(57:57):
Wedding Planner's Mind. We hope that you found this episode
helpful and inspiring, and remember as you build and grow
your business, persistence and relationship building our key, and so
make sure that you remember this. Philippians for thirteen reminds
us I can do all things to Chryst who strengthens me.
So keep planning with confidence and purpose. Don't forget to

(58:19):
subscribe for more great content, and stay tuned for our
next episode. Have a good one, hey, their insiders. Big
news for all you wedding planners out there, whether you're
kickstarting your business and pushing for growth or aiming to
scale up, you've got to check out Becoming the Business
Retreat for wedding planners. It's happening January thirty first through

(58:42):
February third, twenty twenty five in Atlanta, Georgia. We've got
three peck days of workshops, networking, and yes, some pretty
fun nights too. Learn from top industry pros, meet planners
at all stages, and take your business to the next level.
Spaces are a minute, so hop on over to irenetindel

(59:02):
dot com. Ord slash retreat to grab your spot. Don't
miss out on making twenty twenty five the year you
really shine.

Speaker 2 (59:14):
M

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Ep. 8 - Your Path to Preferred Vendor Status with Shannon Tarrant, Co-Founder of Wedding Venue Map

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Ep. 8 - Your Path to Preferred Vendor Status with Shannon Tarrant, Co-Founder of Wedding Venue Map