Author: Kate Foster, CWC, CMP I’ve heard that exceptional sales managers sow seeds of business during the off-season and adequate sales managers simply harvest the business that comes to them. November is the time to become exceptional! Put your “off-season” to good use by reflecting on the weddings of 2021 in preparation for a stellar 2022! To help you get started here are 3 Best Practices for Wrapping Up the Wedding Season for 2021. Number 1: Vendor Reviews: Let’s take a stroll down memory lane and analyze the vendors we worked with this year. That means an honest assessment of The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. Which vendors made the event day run smoothly? Which went above and beyond in the services they provide. Which contributed as part of the team and worked well with your staff and other vendors? Conversely, which did not reflect the level of service excellence your clients expect? Which made the wedding day more difficult? Were any unprofessional?  Now is the time to have the tough but necessary conversations to address issues directly. Be sure to communicate the expectations that must be met, if they want to continue working with you in the future. Otherwise, you have to cut them loose! November is also a great month to nurture those positive vendor relationships. Reach out to each vendor directly and thank them for a great season. Better yet, invite them over for happy hour or a morning coffee to check-in and hear the highlight reel from their wedding season! Not only will you get a chance to nurture the relationship, but you might uncover some insight to subtle changes happening in the industry. Micro-weddings may still be around a while longer, but what other shifts are they seeing in their specific sub-set of weddings? We are all craving connection right now more than ever and these one-on-one conversations are priceless. Number 2: Update Services  Now is a great time to look into new service offerings for your 2022 weddings. What is trending that can be incorporated into your packages next year? Anything in particular you saw being requested that you didn’t already offer? What problems needed to be solved routinely at these events? Can you offer that solution in-house vs. outsourced? Number 3: Price Check Once you have finalized any new service offerings for next year’s packages, it’s time for a price check. We are seeing a return trend of emotional pricing, much like we did in 2008 and post 9/11. It’s imperative that you get a solid handle on your pricing now, so you won’t fall victim to emotional pricing when you are in the middle of a negotiation. Obviously, this is a part of a much larger budget conversation that may involve multiple departments, but the time to have that conversation is now before the rush of the holidays followed by Engagement season! Put these Best Practices to good use this November and you will sow the seeds of success in 2022. To speak with Kate, call our office at 1-800-856-5075.