Wedding Pro CEO | Building Profitable Wedding Businesses

295. (AMA) How Do I Get on Venue Preferred Lists?

• Brandee Gaar • Season 6

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Getting ghosted by venues when you ask to be on their preferred list? It’s not you—it’s your approach. 

In this episode, I’m sharing my real strategy behind becoming a go-to vendor at your favorite venues (without begging, bribing, or blending in).  

If you’re ready to stop chasing referrals and start building relationships that actually lead to bookings, this one’s for you. 

The (FREE!)ASSUME Sales Training: 2x your wedding bookings in 30 days—step by step. Thousands of wedding pros have already used it to land more clients immediately! http://weddingproceo.com/freetrainingorg

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EPISODE SHOW NOTES BLOG & MORE:

https://weddingproceo.com/how-to-get-on-venue-preferred-list/

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Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Wedding Pro CEO Podcast. If you find these strategies helpful, make sure to share this episode with your fellow wedding pros. And remember, in the world of weddings, it's all about building genuine relationships and showcasing your best work. Until next time, keep shining, CEOs!

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All right. CEO. Let's talk about the exclusive club that every single wedding pro wants to be part of. And today we're talking about venue preferred list the venue is typically the first vendor to get booked in the wedding planning journey, and we all want them to hand over that list to their couples and for our name to be on that golden list of people that they love and recommend at their venue. But how do you get on that list when email isn't working? You've emailed. You've emailed, and you've gotten ghosted. This is an Ask Me Anything episode sent in by Kaitlyn Graf from Writing Tandem Weddings, who is a planner in Arizona. if you have a question that you want answered here live on the podcast, you can head over to weddingproceo.com/podcast and scroll down about halfway, you'll see the form to submit a question, we would love to be able to answer those right here on the podcast. Here's the truth. If email isn't working, that's because email was never the strategy. So today I'm breaking down exactly how to get on that coveted, venue preferred list without begging, bribing, or blending in. Step one is to be present before you pitch. Here's the thing, venues refer vendors that they know, like, and trust that they have a relationship with and that they feel confident in referring. So when you're emailing a venue and you're saying, Hey, how can I get on your preferred vendor list? Like, here's everything about me. I'm so great. I would love to be on it. Let me know. Of course they're not gonna respond. One, because venues get pitched like that probably five to 10 times. Per week. number two, because they have no idea who you are and you're just cold pitching them. A venue has a huge responsibility of putting together this list of people that are actually really great to work in their venue. so they're not gonna take that responsibility lightly. They're not just gonna add people because they ask to be added. They're going to want to vet you and to understand if you are a quality vendor before they put you on the list. But how can you do that if you've never worked there. So let's get into some strategies that you can do just to be present before you make this pitch. Number one is to get into their orbit, So the first thing that I'm gonna encourage you to do is to start attending the same networking events that they are attending. Now, how do you know what networking events that they're attending? Right? Number one is you could go on their social media and start paying attention to their stories. A lot of times, venues or any vendors for that matter, are sharing what networking events that they're attending, they're like, Hey, sipping with a friend at the PWG networker, right? Or whatever. Or at the Knot mixer or WIPA, right? And so you wanna understand, okay, well if they went to this month's WIPA, they might be going to next month's WIPA, right? So I wanna think about it that way. I wanna think, what are they attending? They may also be hosting like a vendor happy hour or an open house at their venue. Those are things that you can. Ask if you can attend, right? So this is a great way to just get in there orbit, know what they're attending, so that you can introduce yourself with a warm handshake and a smile. The next one is so underutilized, and this is to start commenting on their social media. Unless this venue that you wanna work in is a mega corporation like Hilton or Marriott or something like that, the venue owner is likely going to. See who is commenting on their posts, because most venues are small businesses, so you can really get into their orbit by simply making really strong comments on their posts. So when I say really strong, what I don't mean is like hearting, like putting a heart emoji or putting a star emoji, or just writing something like beautiful. That's not gonna stand out. Right. But if you could actually comment on what they posted about, they're posting about their venue, saying something like, oh my gosh, I could see our bride getting ready in this room. I love how the sun lights up the room with so much natural light. The goal here is to get noticed. We want them to see your comment to stop their pattern, right? That's why we don't just want like a, basic comment. We want a real thoughtful comment for them to say, oh, I wonder who this is, and to click on your profile to see more about you, your name is going to stick in their head as they start to see more and more about you. That's what we're looking for. We want them to just start hearing your name over and over and over again. Again, we're trying to get in their presence before we pitch. The next thing that you can do is to share their content. This one is so, so simple and again, underutilized. If they're sharing about a promotion that they're doing, if they're sharing about a new space that they have, if they're sharing about anything with their venue and you love it, share it to your audience and tag them. Make sure you tag them so they know that you shared it. This is a hugely underutilized way to build that relationship. Okay, so let's take it even a step further into how to get into their presence before you pitch. this one is also highly underutilized as a planner and also as someone who managed a venue for years, I can tell you that Venues and planners are pitched constantly and you've got to be able to break through the noise. and a really great way to do that is to ask to come on a tour of the venue. Now you may be thinking, wait a second, I. Are they really gonna spend their time taking me on a tour? Well, they will if you pitch it the right way. So what we wanna do is we always wanna be thinking about them instead of us. We don't wanna say, Hey, I'd love to tell you more about my company. So can I come out for a meeting with you? No, the answer's always gonna be no. But if you pitch it in a way that says something like. Hey, I would love to really understand how to refer your venue better. We have a lot of clients that we would love to refer to you. I think that your venue looks absolutely stunning. I'd love to come out for a tour so I can understand what type of clients would be best for us to refer to you. And I would love to capture a couple of things that we can share on our social media. As well about your venue, So this makes it all about them. Now, when you go for the tour, I want you to think about bringing a treat, right? So maybe a Starbucks or something from your local market. Everyone loves a treat. Again, you wanna stand out and it's a really a thank you for them taking time out of their day to tour you around their venue. Additionally, when you're there, I want you to be thinking, how can I make this about them? So do not take your pricing brochure or anything about your company and start saying like, here's more about me. Here's why I should be here. Here's why you should refer me. No, no, no, no, no. Can you take your pricing if you wanna print things out, sure. You absolutely can. But what I want you to do instead is as you're touring around the venue, I want you to ask questions like. What makes a great partner for you? Do you have any rules and regulations that my team should be mindful of, when we're working in your venue, what are the best types of clients that you love? How can we refer the best types of weddings to you as a venue? These are all questions that make it about them, and they're like. Wow. Yeah. This vendor is really here to find out about how they can support us, and that's what we're looking for. We want a mutually beneficial relationship. too often vendors try to make it a one way street where they're like, Hey, planner or venue, refer me. But there's nothing. Being referred back. Now, speaking of being referred back, this last piece of how to be present in their orbit before you pitch is one that I feel super strongly about and it's too often not used. And this is referring clients to them. Here's the thing. If you can work a wedding at their property show them why you are the best, why you're unique, why they want to have you there every single weekend, this is gonna be the number one way for you to get on that list almost immediately. so how do you do that if they're not referring you? You refer them I know it sounds crazy as a vendor, you're like, I don't really book a couple early enough in the process to refer their venue. And I would beg to differ because if you're sharing on your social media about this venue that you really wanna work in, I promise you you're eventually going to book a wedding that you have referred there they're gonna say, oh my gosh, I kept seeing you post about them. We booked there and now we're ready to book you. Or maybe you're the planner, or maybe you're the photographer. So you get booked super early in the process as well. This is a great opportunity to refer a client to the venue that you wanna work in, obviously, as long as it's also what the client is looking for, highly underutilized, refer them so that you can work on their property. And this leads us into step number two, which is to deliver massive results in their house. if you are working in their venue for the first time, you have got to go above and beyond to show them why you stand out above everyone else that they've worked with. You wanna make their staff's life the easiest that it possibly can be on that day. So what does that look like? Number one, show up early, not too early. Okay. As somebody who ran a historic venue and we had historic tours constantly, all day long. We obviously don't want you showing up an hour early, right? Because we've got tours going on. But if you say that you're gonna be there at three o'clock, be there at 10 till, be ready and say, Hey, I'm here. I'm excited for the day. Is there anything you need before I start setting up, or is there anything I can do to make your life easier today? How simple is that to just ask that one question as you're walking in? Sometimes they may have been dealing with all kinds of chaos before you ever got there, so asking that simple question can really go a long way in the relationship building. I. Number two is to stay organized. There is nothing worse than a planner or a photographer or a dj, a florist walking in and just like throwing stuff everywhere. Your venue is a mess. People are tripping over cables or buckets. Do not do that. Ask where you can put your items that you have for the couple or that you have for setup, where you can put those, how you can stay out of the way. If there's any supplies that you need from them that they provide. Ask as soon as you get there so that you're not constantly bugging them. All day long. Number three would be to be a team player. I feel like I've seen this on both sides of the spectrum where, you know, there might be inclement weather or there might be like a truck broke down, and so one of the other team members needs help showing that you're a team player and that you are there to help out the other vendors or the venue as needed, goes such a long way in relationship building. I can vividly remember one wedding that I did. Over a decade ago, and every vendor pitched in, like we had a 0% chance of rain. All of a sudden, out of nowhere it started storming. Right before we opened doors to reception, everything was soaked. It rained for like five minutes, but it was just enough to soak everything and it was amazing to me. Every single vendor pitched in, like the lady that was setting up the dessert table that didn't have to, you know, be done until after dinner. She was like, let me run down. Like everybody's grabbing towels. The lighting company could have just sat in their truck. No, they were grabbing towels That came out. Everybody was helping that went such a long way and who I referred going forward, because every vendor really wants team players. And a venue especially is like, I want people who are here to make the overall event a success, not just their piece of the puzzle. Number four, in this step of delivering results while you're in their house, is to clean up after yourself. I'm telling you, you would be shookith if you realized how many vendors do not do this or take it too lightly. Again, as someone who managed a venue for years, a historic venue. Right. Historic venue like floors are a hundred years old. Doors are a hundred years old. I cannot tell you how often vendors would not clean up after themselves, and I'm talking about not just in the vendor room, which is just simple respect, if they have fed you and you had a vendor meal in the vendor room. Pick up after yourself. If they say, leave the plates here at a minimum, pile up all of your stuff on top of the plate and put your lid on top of it, make it as easy for them as possible. If they tell you where you can take your dishes, take your dishes, at the end of the night, do not leave a stitch behind. Leave the space better than you found it. This means if you're a DJ and you're using gaff tape to hold down cables, do not leave. Balls of gaff tapes sitting around. If you're a photographer, do not leave any equipment behind. I cannot tell you how often photographers leave lenses behind and then they have to figure out how to get it back to you. If you are a florist, do not leave all of the mess behind. Make sure you bring a broom, a dust pan to sweep up behind you. Do not make it their responsibility to provide you with supplies like broom and dustpan or scissors or a cart. That should be on you. If they have it, that's great, and you can be appreciative of that, but you should not expect it and do not make them clean up after you. I'm telling you, this is the first way to get blacklisted and never be invited back to a venue. and the last and most simple step in making an impression when you're in their house is just to say thank you before you leave. At the end of the night, Go to the venue coordinator and say, is there anything else I can do for you tonight before I leave? Thank you so much for having us. We really enjoyed our time here. then follow up with a personalized email or a personalized note afterwards. If you have photos of their venue or a video, send it along. if you captured any behind the scenes footage while you were there, make a thank you post or make a collab post on Instagram at the end of the night. so little effort goes such a long way by just saying, thank you for having us, we enjoyed our time here. our last step in this puzzle is to go direct, but do it differently. What this means is email isn't dead, but it is getting lost in their inbox. Or honestly, just getting a straight delete. If your email says, Hey, I'd love to be on your list, right? That's why we've done step one and step two, and once you've done those things, now you have a much warmer door to walk through and being able to pitch yourself. So what does it look like to pitch yourself? After you've now been at their venue, you've worked in their venue and you're so excited, you wanna ask, Hey, I really loved working with you. How can I get on your list? But you don't wanna say it just like that, right? A couple of things that you can do is one, to DM into their instagram inbox, and this kind of is a hit and miss, right? If the owner is personally running their inbox, then this is gonna be super helpful because they're gonna see you and they're gonna have known you. Often they're working with a social media agency or someone on their team that's running their social media, so they may not see that direct dm, right? But it's worth a shot. You can certainly DM them. Another way to do this is to invite them for coffee or lunch. Now this one's a little bit more difficult for a venue owner or manager because time is so precious for all of us, right? So you really only wanna go this route if you've already done work with them. this means that you've done steps one and two, you've kind of started to create that relationship and now you wanna go in for the ask. I would invite them for coffee or lunch. Just say, Hey, I'd love to take you out, get to know you a little bit more on a personal level. Can I buy you lunch? Right? it goes a long way. And if they're able to do it, this is a really great time to say, I loved working with you. I'd love to be able to work with your team more. We are gonna put you on our preferred list, and I would love to know more about how we could possibly get on your list, right? Because now you've created that relationship. The last way that you're gonna go direct to the venue, to really start to encourage you getting on that illustrious exclusive, venue preferred list is to ask about doing a styled shoot at their venue, but directed at their target audience. And so what do I mean by that? What makes that different? A lot of times when we would get pitched to do style shoots at our venue, photographers, planners, florists would come to us and say, Hey, we have this idea for a style shoot. Here's what it looks like. We'd love to do it at your venue. While that's great that you're coming with an idea already. So often we would get pitched the same shoots over and over and over again, and I was like, yeah, that might be helpful to you because you're getting to showcase your work in our venue, but it's really not helpful to us as the venue because we've literally done 12 of these shoots. And if you would've paid any attention to our Instagram, you would've already seen that by now. Maybe we're getting a little spicy here, but I'm passionate about this one because if you want to do a style shoot with a venue, you need to go in by asking are there any areas of your venue that haven't been showcased yet, or is there any type of an angle that you'd love to see your venue showcased in that we could collaborate with you on to do that so that you can have some additional marketing photos? One of the things that was interesting about our venue was it was a historic venue Everyone wanted to showcase it almost in this like, scary, dark, moody jewel tones. Um, you know, reds, they always wanted to showcase it like that, and they always wanted to showcase our ballroom as the reception space. And so often I would say, gosh, I wish that somebody would come here and showcase the ballroom as the ceremony space. I wish that they would show that it can be light and bright and airy. We had three walls of windows in our ballroom, so I didn't. Necessarily need any more style shoots of this dark, moody, halloweeny jewel Tony theme. I was like, I have that coming out my ears. I want to be able to showcase. I want couples to be able to see our venue in a different light, and so going to that venue and saying, Hey, is there anything that you haven't seen done at your venue? Is there anything that you would like to showcase? Are there any marketing photos that you're missing that we could collaborate with you on and create a really great styled shoot for you so that we can showcase your work? And ours, and this is a great way to have Ongoing, consistent collateral that you can continue to share on social media, on Pinterest, on TikTok, on Instagram, on Facebook, and emails. There's so much content that you can get from a styled shoot, and you can now say, I've worked at this venue. You can showcase how you work with them by having this styled shoot. Okay, so we've talked about a lot of ways to get in with a venue, but here's the thing I want you to know. Getting on a venue's preferred list takes time. It is not an overnight thing, but here's what most pros get wrong. They give up too soon. If you show up consistently, serve generously and focus on relationships over referrals, you'll not only get on the list, you'll own it. Build trust, serve first, and play the long game. If you have more questions just like this one, here's your reminder to head over to wedding pro ceo.com/podcast. Scroll down about halfway and submit your questions so we can answer it live for you right here on the podcast as we pour into as many wedding pros as possible to help you build your profitable wedding business. CEO. Thank you so much for being here, and I'll see you next time.

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Brandee Gaar

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