Good business and Vendor Tips

What do you do when you hear horror stories about the vendor you have hired from other vendors? As a personal and business rule I never bad mouth other vendors. I don’t say bad things about people unless I am willing to say it to them face to face. Unfortunately weddings are a big business, especially in Charleston. That creates a competitive environment-it’s good and bad. A lot of competition creates competitive pricing amongst vendors but it also can create bad attitudes. As with any industry the event business is full of talkers. I have had run-ins with certain vendors myself. Once reason is because of Kick Backs that I would not be apart of and the other is just plain personality conflicts, but vendors are a bunch of talkers, especially in an industry that is full of women. I had a bride who had decided to go with a wedding coordinator that was going through some really tough emotional problems. At a wedding, they showed it and were removed. The bride was understandably upset and in a small town like Charleston rumors started flying. My bride chose to leave her coordinator and go with someone else but only after talking to a friend who was actually at the wedding. She asked me later if she had done the right thing, I said she had to do what she was comfortable with. The bride did this only after having a heart to heart with the vendor and only after they neglected to return multiple calls or emails. She did what she felt was right because she had just started a business and needed someone that she could really depend on. This vendor did all the right things to try to make her feel better about the situation even after they lost the bride as a client. The vendor also learned a lesson and began to fix his personal issues-something that only takes time.
As a small business owner we all have things in our lives that affect our performance, that is something that can not help but not being able to perform on a wedding day is unacceptable. As a small business owner you do what ever it takes. One fall Friday I got a telephone call from the wife of a good photographer friend in D.C., he had been admitted into the hospital with what they thought was a heart attack. He was in the ambulance and she was on her way. Could I come tomorrow for an afternoon wedding? We were on the plane the next morning-from Charleston. Even though they had a personal issue they were not going to let that destroy their clients day, that is just good business.
Don’t feel like you are stuck with a vendor that you are not confident in but be prepared to loose some deposits. I always do favors for my favorite vendors so if they have a client that needs a little extra care I do my best to work in it. One February we had a young couple that believe it or not photographed weddings and they were going to fire their photographer. They had good reason though, the bridal portraits were not up to the bride’s standard, she was really unhappy and then the photographer wanted to charge her a lot of extra money for her portrait. In addition the bride (a photographer) also was referring the photographer on dates that she was unavailable. First of all while I don’t believe in kick backs I do believe in thanking people for business, sometimes that’s lunch or a discount on your profit. Second if there is something that you are unhappy with—that is with in my control, I am going to do my best to make you happy. That is customer service. This Bride felt that it was important enough for her to risk loosing that money. Was it worth it in the end to loose money? Well at the end of the day, she has great pictures to show her grandchildren and ones that she is proud of.
As a client you have a responsibility to your vendors. You have to tell them when you have a problem. If they are not returning your email call and ask why, voice your concerns and ask for explanations. If they are not living up your expectations tell them what your expectations are and put them in writing. Clarity can be a problem in this information age, why I don’t know. Sometimes vendors speak in industry terms that other vendors and clients may not understand. I know sometimes I have no idea what some of my commercial clients are explaining to me about their products. If it is required for me to know so that I can properly present their product, it is my responsibility to ask. The same with my clients, if they want me to take a photograph of something that may be technologically impossible I have to let them know. Sometimes with new clients I really have to explain what I am doing and why in order to get them to trust me. At a wedding, I do not always have the time to explain why I pose them a certain way that they may think feels really stupid and uncomfortable, but I need them to trust me. They have every right to ask why. If you tasted a funny flavor in your chicken dish wouldn’t you ask what that funky flavor is? If you wouldn’t you ought to.
People aren’t mind readers and sometimes they get clients confused. So don’t expect a vendor to remember everything that you tell them. One year we had three brides all named Margo, I got so confused with who I was talking to because they would all call and say hey Tara its Margo then go into discuss their wedding bridal therapy needs because my first question was hey what’s going on. Then half way into the discussion I would finally figure out which Margo I was talking to. So with important things follow up with an email.
You are going to be dealing with a lot of small businesses so their hours may be weird, leave a message and request a call back. I always get frustrated with people who tell me I am hard to get in touch with because they never catch me in the office. They also never leave a message or email. I am not mind reader and sometimes forget to forward my phone to my cell. If you don’t leave messages don’t expect people to call you back.
Tips on finding the right vendors:
1. Make sure your personality clicks with that of your vendors, you need to get along. Chemistry is important.
2. Make sure that you have a contract and specific contract information.
3. Referrals are good, but kick back referrals are not always good. As a rule, I would not recommend someone who I would not have work for me.
4. When choosing a vendor that is art related choose one that has a style that clicks with yours.
5. See some of their actual work-A lot of their actual work.
6. If they return your phone calls in a reasonable amount of time that is a good thing.
7. Put your expectations out on the table from the get go. If your expectations are beyond what your vendor is willing to do then a good one will tell you that ahead of time. If your vendor makes funny faces when you say you want a 500 desert soufflés for guests at exactly the same time you may want to take that as a sign. Either that your request is too large or that you need to find a larger caterer.
8. Certain vendors need to have insurance; all good vendors would have liability insurance. Make sure Vendors like the one dealing with the Bar has insurance. The last thing that a new marriage needs is a lawsuit from one of their guests.
9. Know the right questions to ask (I am going to give you some) and a few answers so you can see that vendors know their trade.
10. I think that asking for references is both good and bad, of course vendors are only going to give you references of people that love them—they all do. So ask for referrals from friends, look on chat room like The Knot, ask other vendors that you really like and trust, last search on the internet and call don’t email.