5 Tips to Rock Your Client Consultations

You've gotten the inquiry, responded, and set a date on the calendar to consult. Now it's time to meet your potential client face-to-face and sell your beautiful floral designs!

Consultations are certainly a make-or-break moment for a potential client. The people you’re meeting with need to feel like you are an expert who will take care of them during their planning process.

Today, I'm sharing five tips that help you navigate every consultation with confidence and turn those inquiries into booked clients!

Tip #1: Screen Your Clients in Advance

The best way to set your consultations on the right foot is by taking steps before the meeting is even on the calendar. The more information you can gather upon the first contact you have with them, the better. Ask strategic questions before scheduling your consultation so you know how you can best serve (and sell to) this potential client.

Questions could include their color palette, their bridal party numbers, their overall wedding budget, their floral and décor budget, the vendors they have already booked, and even their Pinterest board.

I definitely wouldn't recommend bombarding them with too many questions, but a few strategic ones can help you prepare for a tailored interaction that will make your client feel cared for—and maybe even like you're reading their mind!

Tip #2: Request to Meet with Only Your Potential Client (or at Most with One Additional Person)

I know we've all been in a consultation where the couple brought their mom, dad, maid of honor, and who knows who else. You can get into a "too many chefs in the kitchen" situation very quickly. When lots of people attend consultations, it can soon feel like they are running the meeting instead of you.

Kindly requesting that your client come solo or brings only one additional person will help you maintain control of the interaction and will also let the client feel free to express what they like and don't like. It creates a judgment-free zone where you can inspire creativity and design choices that the client will fall in love with.

Tip #3: Create a Format for Your Consultations (Don't Just Wing It!)

During my years in the wedding and event industry, I have definitively learned that reparation equals confidence! When I feel prepared and like I really know my stuff, I can sell my business like there's no tomorrow! But if I feel rushed, unprepared, and unfocused, I really struggle to sell my vision confidently.

How to Prep for Consultations

Create a format for your consultations and share that with your potential client when they arrive. For example:

"Today, we're going to get to know each other, talk through your design ideas and inspiration, discuss your specific needs, and then talk budget. All of this will allow me to put together a customized proposal tailored specifically for you and your beautiful wedding!"

When you and the client know what to expect, you feel in control to guide the meeting, and they feel like they're in the hands of an expert.
Write down the specific talking points you want to cover and review these notes before every consultation. It doesn't necessarily need to be a full script, but even just a few bullet points that include reminders and selling points that you know work will put you in the mind-set to serve and sell.

Tip #4: Create a Sense of FOMO

If there is one thing we know about human nature, it's that people always want what is limited. It might seem natural to be overly accommodating, but honestly, people are far more likely to not drag their feet before booking when they know you won't wait around forever.

Set the clear expectation in your consultations that once they receive their proposal, they have a week to make their decision before their date is released on your calendar.

You can also make this known on your website and social media that you only take a select number of events each year, and once you're booked, you're booked. Even if you might make accommodations for yourself and your business needs outside of that number, it will help encourage people to sign that contract and pay that deposit in a timely manner!

Tip #5: Follow Up

Don't just send out that beautiful proposal into the abyss. Follow up with your potential client to seal the deal!

Follow up can include something as simple as bringing up any notable moments from your consultation (did you share a laugh about an Office reference or realize you both have the same favorite restaurant?). Reiterating the highlight of your meeting will trigger that connection again.

Another way to book that client? In any post-consultation dialog, speak to them as if they have already booked you! Call it a “Jedi mind trick” if you want, but this simple mind-set shift will make clients feel like you are already working together. They will feel excited to begin the process! And the first step to that process? Signing and paying!

One more note on follow-ups. In our digital age, it can always be a fear that our proposals don't reach our clients' inbox. If you use a contract software, be sure to keep an eye out for a notification that lets you know whether the proposal was opened. It's also a great idea to gather a phone number during your consultation to send a quick text message that you just sent their proposal and are so excited for them to see it.