Posted by charlestonlwp on September 15, 2009
September 2009
Volume 1 Issue 5
Join us Tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Tidewater Chapel in Mt. Pleasant. We are hosting a question and answer session with recently married and soon-to-be bride’s. No holds barred…ask these ladies anything you want to know about their wedding planning process!
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Posted by charlestonlwp on August 5, 2009
August 2009 Volume 1, Issue 4
Take your business…from good to great!
Next Meeting:
August 18, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
6:30 p.m.
Tidewater Chapel, Mt. Pleasant, SC
Topic: Business Etiquette.
Kathy Baxley, owner of “A Wonderful Wedding” bridal show and magazine. Will be presenting an interactive presentation on business etiquette. This presentation is sure to be a lot of fun and really informational. Make sure to join us!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!!! Our September meeting will feature a bride’s panel. Recent and soon-to-be brides will be on-hand to answer questions about their decision process, planning, and what they wished they had known when they started planning!
Visiting Non-Members: $20.00 Free!
General Members: Dues for 2009-2010. Free!
As part of our special revamping project, we are offering the first six-months of meetings for Free!
Check LWP out with no obligation…and let us pick up the tab!
Upcoming Meetings:
September 15, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
October 20, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
November 17, 2009(Third Tuesday)
Mission Statement:
-Members of the Lowcountry Wedding Professionals shall at all times avoid the use of unfair competitive practices as determined by any court of competent jurisdiction, the Federal Anti-Trust Laws and related statutes.
-Members strive to enhance and ennoble the status of the wedding profession by maintaining a dignity of manner in behavior in the presentation of trade services, in the appearance of an establishment or place of business and in all other forms of public contact.
-Lowcountry Wedding Professionals observe the highest standard of honesty in all transactions, avoiding the use of false titles, confusing or inaccurate technical terms or descriptions, misleading terms and claims and/or false or deceptive advertising.
-Members show a friendly spirit of cooperation with fellow wedding professionals and assist them whenever possible.
-Lowcountry Wedding Professionals are encouraged to assist and share their knowledge with members of their profession and will encourage them individually and collectively so that the quality of service may constantly be raised to higher standards; not withstanding divulging trade secrets, patent, etc., or other business techniques that would be damaging to respective business enterprises.
-Members are encouraged to continue to pursue their education within their own field and within the market as a whole in order to continue to present clients with the most up-to-date technologies and services available.
Outstanding Service, Outstanding Commitment, Great Businesses…LWP!
Notes from our Speaker:
Last month, we had a roundtable discussion on “Delivering WOW! ” We had a great turn-out, particularly amongst first-time attendees. Great stories were shared and ideas generated…we’ll be sure to do more discussions, so be sure to join us!
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Posted by charlestonlwp on July 19, 2009
July 2009 Volume 1, Issue 3
Take your business…from good to great!
Next Meeting:
July 21, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
6:30 p.m.
Tidewater Chapel, Mt. Pleasant, SC
Topic: Delivering WOW! A Roundtable Discussion.
Building on what our speaker, Jay Maxwell, discussed at June’s meeting, we will be hosting a roundtable discussion on building WOW! Didn’t get a chance to come to the last meeting? Read on for a transcript of Jay’s excellent speech.
Visiting Non-Members: $20.00 Free!
General Members: Dues for 2009-2010. Free!
As part of our special revamping project, we are offering the first six-months of meetings for Free!
Check LWP out with no obligation…and let us pick up the tab!
Upcoming Meetings:
August 18, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
September 15, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
October 20, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
Mission Statement:
-Members of the Lowcountry Wedding Professionals shall at all times avoid the use of unfair competitive practices as determined by any court of competent jurisdiction, the Federal Anti-Trust Laws and related statutes.
-Members strive to enhance and ennoble the status of the wedding profession by maintaining a dignity of manner in behavior in the presentation of trade services, in the appearance of an establishment or place of business and in all other forms of public contact.
-Lowcountry Wedding Professionals observe the highest standard of honesty in all transactions, avoiding the use of false titles, confusing or inaccurate technical terms or descriptions, misleading terms and claims and/or false or deceptive advertising.
-Members show a friendly spirit of cooperation with fellow wedding professionals and assist them whenever possible.
-Lowcountry Wedding Professionals are encouraged to assist and share their knowledge with members of their profession and will encourage them individually and collectively so that the quality of service may constantly be raised to higher standards; not withstanding divulging trade secrets, patent, etc., or other business techniques that would be damaging to respective business enterprises.
-Members are encouraged to continue to pursue their education within their own field and within the market as a whole in order to continue to present clients with the most up-to-date technologies and services available.
Outstanding Service, Outstanding Commitment, Great Businesses…LWP!
Notes from our Speaker:
Delivering WOW!
Jay Maxwell
What is your purpose at a wedding? If you are a photographer, you might answer that your purpose is to take pictures during the event. If you are a caterer, your purpose might be stated to prepare and to serve the food that the bridal couple selected. Naturally, you might expect me to say that my purpose as a disc jockey is to play the music that the bride and groom requested for both their dining pleasure and to play something that they can dance to. You may in fact believe your purpose is simply to “do your job.” However, your real purpose as a wedding professional is to create an exceptional experience for the bride and groom. Your sole desire should be to strive to find ways that will enhance their day and give them the ultimate experience beyond what the couple is expecting. This is delivering WOW – creating the most positive service experience possible.
When a potential customer looks at your mission statement, what do they see? Do they simply see another wedding company or do they see something in your company’s mission statement that sets you apart from your competitors? We boldly state our mission statement on the cover of our literature and highlight that our goal is to go “above and beyond what our clients expect” at every event. Creating a “Wow Experience” does not mean going over the top, but it does mean going that extra mile. The success and growth of any company is not solely a product of the music played, photography taken or food served. It is ultimately all about the customer’s experience. Our company has been striving to deliver wow for years at every event. Often customers will call us stating that they have narrowed their choices down to our company and one or two others and want to know what sets us apart from our competitors. First, I let them know that there are many great companies in the area and that they will be satisfied regardless of which company they decide to book with. Then I tell them in three simple, yet powerful words, what we do – “We deliver wow!”
On the front cover of our information package that we send to our clients, two words in red stand out before they turn to page one, “Delivering WOW!” If I had the choice of receiving a one hundred dollar tip or hearing the client say “wow” at the end of the event, I will take the client’s “wow” every time. No one hires a DJ so they can have music playing while they dust the living room or change the oil in their car. We are hired because the client expects us to enhance the event, not just play music. After all, if they just wanted music played they would bring their computer or i-pod and crank that up. Every customer is expecting us to deliver entertainment for his or her event that will be remembered for a lifetime. They are expecting an ultimate experience.
I was recently enlightened by reading a wonderful book, The New Gold Standard, by Joseph A. Michelli. In his book he describes five principles that the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company uses to create a “legendary customer experience.” One of the five principles is in fact called “Deliver Wow!” with two chapters describing the “ultimate guest experience” and “how to turn wow into action.” The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, just like our company, was never satisfied to give its clients an ordinary experience but was always striving to exceed expectations.
One of the most inspiring stories described in Michelli’s book concerns a guest who had a late-coming request for a dinner reservation at the hotel’s restaurant and also ordered a birthday cake for her son’s fourth birthday celebration. The restaurant was already full – booked to the maximum for the night of the request. It would have been easy to simply tell the mother that the restaurant was filled to capacity and suggest she call another restaurant. Instead, the staff member found a way to confirm the reservation. Unfortunately, there was no time for the Ritz-Carlton’s bakery to bake a cake, so a call was made by the Ritz-Carlton to a local bakery to have the cake made in time. If you’re thinking, that’s not quite delivering wow, then hold on until you hear the rest of the story. The four year old boy loved Spiderman so the staff member not only had the bakery make the cake with a Spiderman design but called another company to have the cake delivered to the boy’s table by someone wearing a Spiderman costume. Imagine the boy’s surprise when Spiderman – calling the boy by name – helped him celebrate his fourth birthday. That’s a lifetime memory being made – that’s delivering WOW!
When a company is successful in giving customers such a positive experience that they are wowed, they become your best form of advertising. They will communicate to others about their memorable impression of your company and the exhilarating experience your service provided. This will expand your business more than any other method of advertising!
There are numerous opportunities to create wow experiences and it is a constant, yet pleasant, challenge to search for new ways to go above and beyond. One recent event where we went well beyond the client’s expectations was at a church picnic. For the past several years, we had loaned our music to a parishioner of the church who was also a friend of mine that had been a mobile disc jockey many years ago. He used his sound system along with our music to give guests several hours of free entertainment. This year he was not able to attend, so suggested the church actually hire us. It was the first time that we had been directly involved with this particular church and although we gave them an extremely great price, it was not the free price that they had been “paying” and they were quite surprised at the initial rate we quoted them. Once the fee was finally negotiated more in line with their budget, it would have been easy to take the attitude that we would give the customer exactly what they paid for (i.e. a very basic service for the low rate of money we would receive). Instead, I was determined – as always – to seek ways to far exceed their expectations. One thing that we did was to double the number of speakers in order to have a complete array of sound for the event. One set of speakers was for the picnic area and the other was for the large field where the games would be held. The speakers near the picnic shelter were kept at a lower volume than the speakers pointed toward the playing field. We also served as the facilitator of all the events and were very involved with the host and the crowd as we drew door prizes every fifteen minutes. As the event ended, guest after guest came up to give their thanks and rave about our service. Many of them stated that we went above and beyond anything that had ever happened in the past at one of their annual picnics. I left the event knowing that that we had delivered a wow experience.
Another recent example is when two days before the wedding a bride asked one of my DJs to create a CD with ten songs premixed (between 10 and 40 seconds per song would be used) for them to do a dance routine. He at first told them that with such short notice along with all the other events that we had to get ready for that weekend we might not be able to do this. He called me and explained to me their request along with the fact that they were “fine” if we could not do the disc for them. For me this presented an opportunity to wow someone. Not only did we create the CD for her, but it also was personally delivered to her front door the next morning just minutes after eight o’clock. I called her as I was leaving her house to tell her the CD was outside her front door. Fifteen minutes later she was calling me so ecstatic that one could tell by her tone alone that she was overwhelmed not only on the song creation, but on the personal touch of the owner of the company delivering the CD to her front door. She was wowed!
We have all had brides that were quite demanding and presented to us a challenge of having the bar raised quite high in their level of expectations. Instead of dreading working with these particular clients, we consider it an opportunity to raise our own bar on our capabilities for exceeding expectations. Last year we had such a client in a beautiful, yet demanding bride of Russian descent, named Olga. We actually held three consultations with her and her fiancé before they decided to book with us. In their letter to us after the event they even stated that, “some of our potential vendors expressed that perhaps we were a bit picky about our selections.” There were many details that she requested that were unique to her event that she wanted to be perfect – not just because it was her wedding, but because every member of her family that would be attending the event would also be coming to the United States for the first time. Their wedding day arrived, and so did Hurricane Hannah. Mike Bender, their chosen disc jockey, and I were on the phone several times that day discussing the weather and the pending event. The only phone call that we made (the groom later made a comment that our company was the only company that did not call him that day to see if the wedding was still taking place) was to the venue to ensure that they still had electrical power and if they had any backup plans in case the storm were to strengthen. When Mike arrived at the location he called me to state that the venue had several leaks and that a major puddle was currently occupying the dance floor. My advice to him was to find a mop and keep it close by all night. The guests and more rain arrived. However, Mike’s attitude was never once dampened – he conducted the event as if it were perfect weather outside. At the end of the night, Mike’s attitude was still positive even as he ruined his dress shoes as he packed up the car while bogging through eight inches of mud and water. We turned the focus away from the storm and its ill effects and focused on how best we could serve the client and meet her high expectations. In the end, even in the midst of a hurricane, the bride and groom and all their guests (including everyone from Russia) had a perfect day.
From the moment that the first guest arrives at the reception until the bridal couple arrives can often seem like a long time. At one particular event last year, I was expecting the limousine to arrive any minute so we could get started with the bridal party announcements and get the event underway. Much to my surprise though, a bridesmaid received a call from the bride and groom telling her the cause for their delay – the limo had run out of gas and the driver was walking to the gas station to get more fuel. When the bridesmaid told the photographer and me the dilemma (and made us promise that we wouldn’t inform the parents who would have a “fit”) we had different reactions. My reaction was wishing that I had an assistant with me so that I could go and meet the couple and drive them the rest of the way to the reception. The photographer’s reply was a statement that I’ll never forget – “I’m glad I don’t have a dog in that fight.” This is the exact opposite of a delivering wow culture. Our philosophy is to always have “a dog” standing by to join in a situation where we can assist in some way. If there is any way to enhance the event – inside or outside your normal job description – a company that truly desires to implement wow will focus on ultimate satisfaction in every possible situation and the joy of being able to serve when a need arises.
One such need arose a few years ago when the officiant, who also was a close friend of the bride and groom, was setting up a small wedding table on the deck of the Cotton Dock. She was in the process of securing the wedding rings to a satin pillow with strings when the groom’s ring rolled off the pillow, bounced on the table, then plopped into the water below. We were setting up our equipment when she came into the main part of the building with her plea of Help! My assistant and I immediately saw an opportunity to serve and got into the water with a flashlight and attempted to locate the missing symbol of eternal love that was scheduled to be lovingly placed on his hand by his chosen bride in less than one hour. We had been searching for his ring for nearly half an hour when the groom just happened to stop by to check on things when he saw a strange and unexpected sight – his DJs wading in the water under the deck. Realizing that no one had informed him of the situation, I relayed the story to him about the mishap and that we were trying to locate the ring. Our search did not yield a physical bounty – we never found the ring. But our willingness to literally “jump in” when a need arose yielded an emotional bounty for the day to both the bride and groom.
Our philosophy is to never bring attention to ourselves by being the center of the event. We strive to make sure that everything is seamless and runs as smoothly as possible while at the same time going the extra mile. Going the “extra mile” is most often not done as an act which stands out as an example of bravado like braving a hurricane. The “above and beyond” is usually accomplished by performing the simplest details. For example, on many occasions while the guests are arriving at a wedding reception, lively jazz will be tracking for the first half hour while I go outside to open the door for the guests. Greeting the guests with a smile and a handshake is not what they expected – but it is greatly appreciated. Likewise, during the event when a guest comes up for a song request, they are always greeted with a warm smile and a friendly handshake. Another simple way to create an emotional connection is to call people by their names. Especially referring to the bride and groom by their names on the microphone instead of a generic “the bride and groom will now be doing ….” Likewise, calling the parents by their names both on the microphone during special events (bride/father dance for example) as well as when you are in direct conversation with them.
At all times, I stay keenly aware of the subtle events that are taking place in the room during the reception. I am always listening to the tables close to me to pick up on their conversations if they are talking about music. If I hear them talking about a particular song, I’ll play it before they ask for it. Often they will then come up to make a comment that they were just talking about that song and could not believe that I was playing it even before they asked for it. At the end of the event, I will sometimes ask the bride’s parents if they would like any help loading the gifts into their car. You would be surprised at how grateful a bride’s mom or dad is to be offered help after a long day of entertaining their guests. We also get a load of written compliments on the fact that we dropped the backup copy of the CD that we created with all the special songs (first dance, bride-father dance, etc.) into the card or gift box for the bride and groom. All this is unexpected – but it all helps in fulfilling our company’s mission statement of going above and beyond our client’s expectations.
Every bride wants to be thrilled on her wedding day. She wants to be treated like a queen, like a celebrity, and she has every reason to seek out companies with a reputation for going above and beyond. The list is endless on ways to create a wow experience for the client. Doing your job better than expected and giving the customer something completely unexpected is a sure way to create fans that literally rave about their experience and your company. Delivering WOW is a service oriented philosophy that directs the focus completely on the customer from the initial inquiry until the final service is delivered that genuinely says, “I’m here for you.” It requires changing our purpose from just “doing our job” to creating an ultimate experience for our brides and grooms that will give them an extraordinary event – where they feel they received much more value and satisfaction than they expected. The concept should become the center of your company’s culture. Imagine for a moment the possibilities for your own company to deliver WOW! They are endless. Now, envision the collective WOW factor if every company in the Lowcountry Wedding Professionals focused on ways to deliver WOW. Think about it…and you have to say, “Wow!”
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Posted by charlestonlwp on July 19, 2009
May/June 2009 Volume 1, Issue 2
Take your business…from good to great!
Next Meeting:
June 16, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
6:30 p.m.
Tidewater Chapel, Mt. Pleasant, SC
Topic: Delivering WOW!
Wondering how to make your business trhive in this tough economy? You simply must deliver a product that no one else is offering. How to do it in the congested market? Our very own Education Coordinator, Jay Maxwell, will be sharing his company’s secret to success…delivering WOW!!!
Visiting Non-Members: $20.00 Free!
General Members: Dues for 2009-2010. Free!
As part of our special revamping project, we are offering the first six-months of meetings for Free!
Check LWP out with no obligation…and let us pick up the tab!
Upcoming Meetings:
July 21, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
August 18, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
September 15, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
Mission Statement:
-Members of the Lowcountry Wedding Professionals shall at all times avoid the use of unfair competitive practices as determined by any court of competent jurisdiction, the Federal Anti-Trust Laws and related statutes.
-Members strive to enhance and ennoble the status of the wedding profession by maintaining a dignity of manner in behavior in the presentation of trade services, in the appearance of an establishment or place of business and in all other forms of public contact.
-Lowcountry Wedding Professionals observe the highest standard of honesty in all transactions, avoiding the use of false titles, confusing or inaccurate technical terms or descriptions, misleading terms and claims and/or false or deceptive advertising.
-Members show a friendly spirit of cooperation with fellow wedding professionals and assist them whenever possible.
-Lowcountry Wedding Professionals are encouraged to assist and share their knowledge with members of their profession and will encourage them individually and collectively so that the quality of service may constantly be raised to higher standards; not withstanding divulging trade secrets, patent, etc., or other business techniques that would be damaging to respective business enterprises.
-Members are encouraged to continue to pursue their education within their own field and within the market as a whole in order to continue to present clients with the most up-to-date technologies and services available.
Outstanding Service, Outstanding Commitment, Great Businesses…LWP!
Notes from our Speaker:
Dr. David Houghton, Chair of the Business Department at Charleston Southern University.
Dr. Houghton gave an incredible speech on Guerilla Marketing. He covered a lot of ground quickly (we like to keep the speakers to 30 minutes or so). Here are some of the insights from the speech:
*The average American sees 4,700 advertisements daily. In order to cut through the clutter, your advertising efforts must be unique.
*”Junk mail” is junk because you don’t want to receive it.
*Consider bartering your services for advertising space in a magazine, a store, or wherever you think you can reach your target market.
*Avoid “vampire” marketing. These are the really unique, creative ads you see…and then don’t remember who they are for!
*Don’t think of it as “just” marketing. Think of all of your marketing efforts, guerilla marketing included, as a long-term, conservative, investment for your business.
*Be Passionate about your business, promote it everywhere and to everyone.
*Always remember, time is more important than money. Money can be scrounged up or borrowed. Time, once lost, is lost forever.
Dr. Houghton also made the very generous offer to have his Marketing students develop marketing plans for businesses interested in this. If you’d like more information on this opportunity, please contact Dr. Houghton at dhoughton@csuniv.edu and let him know you heard him speak at the LWP meeting (only those attending in May and those who are currently LWP members, please).
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Posted by charlestonlwp on April 1, 2009
April 2009 Volume 1, Issue 1
Take your business…from good to great!
Next Meeting:
May 19, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
6:30 p.m.
Tidewater Chapel, Mt. Pleasant, SC
Topic: “Revamping your Business in the Midst of an Economic Crisis”
Come join the Lowcountry Wedding Professionals as we re-launch the organization in celebration of 15 years of excellence! Food, fun, networking, and a short presentation on making the best of the current economic situation await you as we welcome new businesses to check out all that Lowcountry Wedding Professionals has to offer. Months in the planning, this meeting is set to kick off our 2009-2010 calendar with style!
Visiting Non-Members: $20.00 Free!
General Members: Dues for 2009-2010. Free!
As part of our special kick-off event, we are offering the first six-months of meetings for Free!
Check LWP out with no obligation…and let us pick up the tab!
Upcoming Meetings:
June 16, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
July 21, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
August 18, 2009 (Third Tuesday)
Mission Statement:
-Members of the Lowcountry Wedding Professionals shall at all times avoid the use of unfair competitive practices as determined by any court of competent jurisdiction, the Federal Anti-Trust Laws and related statutes.
-Members strive to enhance and ennoble the status of the wedding profession by maintaining a dignity of manner in behavior in the presentation of trade services, in the appearance of an establishment or place of business and in all other forms of public contact.
-Lowcountry Wedding Professionals observe the highest standard of honesty in all transactions, avoiding the use of false titles, confusing or inaccurate technical terms or descriptions, misleading terms and claims and/or false or deceptive advertising.
-Members show a friendly spirit of cooperation with fellow wedding professionals and assist them whenever possible.
-Lowcountry Wedding Professionals are encouraged to assist and share their knowledge with members of their profession and will encourage them individually and collectively so that the quality of service may constantly be raised to higher standards; not withstanding divulging trade secrets, patent, etc., or other business techniques that would be damaging to respective business enterprises.
-Members are encouraged to continue to pursue their education within their own field and within the market as a whole in order to continue to present clients with the most up-to-date technologies and services available.
Outstanding Service, Outstanding Commitment, Great Businesses…LWP!
Notes from our Speaker:
Check for a re-cap of our Speaker’s presentation in future issues of News & Events.
Posted in LWP Association News | Tagged: Meeting Announcement, News & Events | Leave a Comment »
Posted by charlestonlwp on February 15, 2009
Founded in 1994, Lowcountry Wedding Professionals has served Charleston and the entire Lowcountry with wedding vendors who uphold the highest standards in honesty, integrity and a commitment to excellent work. Our members have become some of the most well-known and highly respected members of the Charleston wedding market.
15 years of excellence takes a lot of dedication. As we look forward to the next 15 years, our organization has decided to take a look at the way that we have been reaching out. We have decided to re-launch the LWP in May of 2009. We are using these next few months to re-focus and refresh the LWP.
Our future plans include a new focus on our work for wedding clients, with a newly created board position to focus exclusively on these clients. Not only will we provide a list of members, but we will also provide guidance in choosing vendors, planning their wedding, and enjoying their day.
We are also renewing our outreach to area wedding vendors who would like to join our organization and meet our high standards for excellence. Networking, small business education, support for ethical business practices, and referrals to prospective clients will all be offered to our current and prospective members.
This is certain to be an interesting and fulfilling journey, we hope you join us!
Take your wedding…from good to Great!
Take your business…from good to Great!
Contact: CharlestonLWP@live.com
Posted in LWP Association News, Wedding Clients | Leave a Comment »
