far far away booking
 

Hi guys,

We have our own rule where we dont take bookings for weddings that are still more than one year away.

However, we don't know what to say to the couples who come in and want to book us straight away.

What would you tell them? Here's an example of a scenario:

It is a sunny beautiful day of 15 May 2010

bride "Hi, we want to book you and our wedding is 11 june 2011

me "sorry we don't take bookings over a year away"

bride "oh so what happen then if we leave and come back again at 12 june 2010 and there's another couple who book in first since they came in 11 june 2010?

me "uh oh.. you're.... late?"

bride "but I came in a month before that couple!"

me "uh oh... yes..."

advice??

Well, you came up with the year cutoff time for what reason? 12 months, 13 months. What's the difference? If someone wants you that badly, it seems strange to turn them away for what is essentially a random cutoff time.

Are you worried about missing out on a projected price increase?

Hey vito,

reasons are:

1. I might want to go on holiday :P
2. I might up my prices
3. I might want to go to my very own family's wedding day!!!
4. I might decide to make a movie or whatever it is..

basically I like some freedom to decide what I want to do...

I mean, a year is enough for us to generate bookings anyway.. I don't see why I should book people wayyyyy in advance.. except for income security.. which I'm not that worried about.. I believe we can always book other people in a year time.

I just don't know how to respond to the couple when they ask the golden question

bride "oh so what happen then if we leave and come back again at 12 june 2010 and there's another couple who book in first since they came in 11 june 2010?

Santo

Well, if you want to stick to your one year cutoff, then you might tell them "we open at 9am. You might want to show up at 9am one year ahead of your date to make sure you are able to book us."

That's what contracts are for. I've booked over a year and half, no problem. Again, contract contract contract.

ermmm.. no i don't think I would be that rude :)

Hi Steven,
I don't think you understand completely, we don't want to book weddings that are more than one year ahead. Its not about contracts :)

Since you're confident in filling your schedule anyways, I would just let the couple know that you don't reserve dates more than 12 months out. You can then offer to take her information and start a waiting list for that date. When the 12-month mark comes around you can then contact anyone on the waiting list to see if they are ready to book or not. Either that or just say what you already said and have her try and remember to contact you at 12 months. Personally, it seems like too much work to start a waiting list but maybe that would work well for your purposes.

Well, I didn't mean it to sound rude. But if you want to stick to your cutoff, there's not much else you can tell them except to show up one year ahead.

Is this a common problem? If not, why not just make an exception this time? You're the boss, after all...

Still to the cut off then. I have enquires as far as Dec 2011! I worry about the same reasons as Santo so I told them I'll follow up with them about 1year away from their date.

yea waiting list would be "a little bit" annoying...

doesn't happen everyday, but enough to give me mild headache sometimes.

same boat are we?

I just had a discussion with my wife and we are considering to let go and change the rule to "no bookings for 2012 before we get to 2011" if that makes sense. but we will however have to face the fact that we may book someone 20 months in advance.hmmm... waiting list sounds like birds chirping now....

It's nice to know customers want to book your services sooo far in advanced. But maybe they want to lock the price as well?

I see following solution - schedule your vacations and other private events for 2011 already - write them down in calendar and do not take any customers for those days - this way you'll be safe with your private time (IMO private time is equally important as business time). Then create pricing for 2011 and 2012 year and book accordingly.

This way you will be safe with both quality vacation and money.

Hi Susanto,

I simply say that I'll put their name on my calendar and will contact them if anyone else inquires about their wedding date. That way if they don't hear from us they know the day is still available. That assumes that you do want a booking on that day though. It'd be a tough thing to do to call and say you're not shooting but don't want to shoot their wedding either. One thing that isn't a issue for us is that the pricing is based on the year of the event rather than when they book.

Hey Santo,

and June time is one of the few times we get to actually have a rest....
Not sure about the waiting list idea cause you'd have to find a system to manage it.

Perhaps you could add a levy for a 2012 wedding - ie + $500.
I wouldn't take a booking for anything over 14mths - people do plan that far in advance, and if they want to book you + $500 b/c you'd probably be looking at a 10% - 20% increase at that stage anyway.

I think your customer service skills need work. If I encountered that conversation with someone I would nix any thoughts of hiring them. Myb you wrote it differently than you actually said it, but still you're mindset is certainly not customer first and the snark attitude needs to go.

I think either you should offer to take down their information, and get back to them, or give them your business card and explain the complexities you having with booking too far into advance with running into your own personal conflicts (vacations, family weddings etc but certainly not raising your prices) and ask they get back to you about a year from the wedding date.

hmmm have to plan my vacation in advance eh? good idea... the thing is we're more the type of people who don't plan too much lol. Me and my wife would just decide on vacation at two months time or something... which is not really beneficial in this situation..

Yea... thats number one on my list of solution now... i think we just need to make that waiting list thingy..

I doubt people would be happy to pay +10%... they would rather wait till the time they can actually book. But its not a bad idea though. never though of it that way before

Hi David,

I certainly did not say to my clients the way I wrote it here.. it was just an exaggeration.. :)

I would have said "Normally we don't book more than one year in advance, but since it's only 13 months out, let's go ahead and book it."

So if you do decide to go down the path of having a waiting list, what difference would it be than actually taking the booking?

When it comes to one year in advance, you would book them at the same price they enquired at. If they for eg wanted to book you 15mths in advance, put them on a waiting list and you decide to put your prices up - what price would you book them at?

I have heard of others quoting a price that would be relative to the year esp if it is very far in advance. Keep in mind that your reputation is ever increasing in oz so your demand will continue to grow. Unless you publicize your prices, you have the control. Be the leader of your business and not the clients...I'm sure like us, you have kicked yourself for booking at a certain price, giving so much for less $$$ b/c that's what they booked you at. A price increase of 10% is a realistic thing = if they want you, they will pay. Try it out...

Actually, if I were concerned about family and personal commitments, I would have said "I'm sorry, I have not yet reconciled my personal and family activities that far out, so I can't say for sure if the date is available. Please give me your name and number and I will let you know in about a month."

Then call her back in a month.

Susanto, you seem to have a situation most people would die for - early bookings. Like most UK companies we often accept bookings more than two years in advance - and confirm them ie take a deposit and an signed contract, at today's price. That's called money in the bank. Businesses trade and raise loans against that sort of thing and it doesn't hurt the bank balance at all! Our prices rise each January 1st so early bookings are a win-win,

Of course you must plan your life - in our case my son is in the banking business and lives with his family overseas - in Korea at present. My wife works in school as well as with me. Those two considerations mean we must take our holidays at Easter. In consequence we don't take Easter bookings. We don't tell people that's what we're doing merely, that sorry we're not available for that date.

As I wrote I think you're fortunate in being able to choose your work but I also feel you need to reconsider your customer approach which, if I may say without offence, sounds a tad cavalier.

I agree with Philip, just taken a booking today for a wedding mid June 2012.
very happy to accept the booking, better that than them going elsewhere and yes my prices will go up in Jan but I am happy to have work lined up for the next 2 years.
cheers john

Santo,

I think you've found your compromise & something that will work for you. In Australia, I don't believe we have the same norm as the UK - ie most people book wedding video no earlier than 18mths or less.

Hi Philip, Thanks for your comment, you definitely know your UK market very well. However I don't think I'm comfortable with booking clients 2 years ahead. There are just too many factors that can come in to place during that time. Maybe its just simply not the perfect solution for me but it is for a lot of other people who prefers safety in their business, which is totally understandable. I think it is more for those studios that works in numbers as well, like doing 100-200 weddings a year, they would need to really push their bookings early. For us, we only do 40-50 weddings maximum now and starting to train our second team for next year. So we don't really need to book weddings 2 years in advance because we don't have a big number to fill in. Hope that makes sense.

oh and just to clarify that what I wrote earlier about my conversation with the client was purely fictional. I would never talk like that with a client as you correctly put it, a tad too "cavalier" :)

As about the matter of booking people more than 12 months. I think we would be going towards the waiting list for now. If people really want your service, they would wait and it is only fair that we give them the privilege of contacting them first before anyone else and give them the chance they deserve. It is all about capturing moments of those who appreciate and respect your work the most. We have started to choose our clients now when we can and its not always easy but it is definitely worth it. So I guess having the minimum booking time does help in having a pool of clients to choose from.

Santo

I wouldn't mind you being a touch cavalier in your approach if I knew that I'd get a wedding film that looked like yours ;)

PS, by the time discussion on this thread is finished, it will be only 12 months till their wedding then your limit would be reached.

Utter madness not taking a booking.

I have two bookings already for the summer of 2012. A long way off but who cares? If they split up I have made the booking fee for no work. They get the security of knowing they have the wedding videographer they want. I would take a booking for 2018 if the couple were going to leave a booking fee. This is a business and it's financial madness not to take a booking if the couple wanted me.

Thanks for the compliment Aaron :)

Great to hear that works for you. Obviously we have different priorities, which is totally fine. I hope none of your couples will split up though :)