By Debbie Orwat

Wedding planners can be a major source of referral business for many wedding professionals. How can you build relationships with local event planners in your area? Today I am sharing 5 tips to help you and your business get noticed by wedding planners.

1) Learn everything you can about a particular planning company, including their brand and ideal clientele

If the planning company has a young, hip, modern vibe and you are a photographer ready to retire who hasn’t updated your wardrobe in 20 years, it doesn’t matter how good your work is. If the planner refers you to their young, hip, modern clients, the clients are going to be so confused and wonder what the planner was thinking, which reflects badly on the planner. Before trying to build a relationship with a wedding planning company, check out their brand, blog, and social media outlets to see if you and your brand are a good fit. Look for those planners who have a brand and ideal client similar to yours.

2) Start slow

As wedding planners, our reputation IS our company. We need to have worked with you, have built a relationship with you, or have really strong recommendations and references from someone we trust before we can refer your business to one of our clients. Building a relationship with an event planner takes time. Start following local event planners on Instagram and Twitter, and like their business page on Facebook. Then take time to interact and respond. Comment on their events, reply to their tweets, and get to know them. You could also look beyond the traditional ways of referral marketing and take the aid of social media for winning a better reach. Hiring experienced professionals from companies like iTonic or similar agencies for doing social media marketing could be a good idea to attract wedding planners.

3) Attend industry events

Are the wedding planners in your area part of ILEA, Wedding Network USA, or another local networking group? Are they participating in a bridal show that you are going to be at? If you are connecting with a planner on social media, you can see what upcoming events you could potentially meet at, then make sure you show up and introduce yourself.

4) Offer your services complimentary

A photographer can offer a complimentary family photo shoot for the planner and her family. This allows the planner to get to know you and see how you work. A florist can surprise a planner with a birthday delivery of flowers. Any vendor can offer a one-time special offer for a planner to gift to a client such as a photographer offering a complimentary engagement session. This may give you the opportunity to work together so the planner can gain confidence in your product or service.

5) Meet with newer event planners

Experienced wedding planners do add new vendors to their lists but now might not be the right time. Instead of trying to meet with established event planners in your area, start building a relationship with planners who have recently started their business. Newer planners are often still looking for the best event professionals to work with and are most likely still adding to their recommended vendor list. If you build a relationship from the early stages and do a fantastic job for their clients, they will keep you on their list as their business grows.

6) Exceed expectations

When you have the opportunity to work with an event planner, do whatever you can to exceed her expectations and her client’s expectations. Follow up and respond quickly to emails and over deliver what is expected. On the day of the event, pay close attention to the planner’s wedding day timeline, be easy to work with, and arrive early.

If you keep trying to meet or work with a certain planner but aren’t getting anywhere, it may be best to cut your losses and move on. Maybe he or she just isn’t the best fit for you. They may not be adding to their vendor list at this time or they might contact you at a later time when they need what you have to offer. Sometimes we are just so busy that we can’t respond to all event professionals who inquire about working together. A full-time wedding planner can easily receive 10-20 inquiries a week from event professionals who want to be referred by the planner.

Above all, don’t get discouraged. Getting referrals from an event planner is great but it’s only one of many ways to build your business.
This is a guest post by Debbie Orwat. Debbie is the Founder & Chief Inspiration Officer at Planner’s Lounge. Planner’s Lounge is a community and resource site for wedding and event planners to relax, talk, learn, and inspire.