‘Laura Loves…’

As with last week’s blog, my customer service story for this Friday comes from two wedding venues!

If you didn’t read last week’s, I mentioned that the investment for a wedding is comparable to high-end implant and cosmetic treatments that your patients may be paying for at your practice.

On Saturday I went to one venue. We were met at the door and taken in, then introduced to the owner who gave us what I would call an introduction – information on the background of the venue and the team, which really built value.

When he took us to the purpose-built marquee (which was stunning) he focused 100% on the USPs (unique selling points) of the venue –

• Décor

• Lighting

• Position of the dance floor and the bar

• Proudly showed me the bathroom facilities (nice hand soaps and creams)

• The quality of the glass

• The fine bone chine plates

• The chairs and chair covers

• The linen

• The wedding coordinators

You name it; the list went on and on!

He then took us into a lovely room with big leather sofas and a log fire. He made us a cup of tea and also provided biscuits.

We talked a little more about the dates and what we wanted and he helped us to visualise our goals. The owner then left us alone while he went to get a quote for us.

What he did next really made me smile. He handed me a box full of thank you cards which had been sent to the wedding coordinators and my fiancé a photo album of the wedding that had taken place at the venue.

We didn’t have to wait long but both thought the quote would be huge because he had built so much value.  It was less than we expected however, which was great news and we have “pencilled in” our preferred date! He is happy to keep this for a few weeks while we look at other venues but he is confident we will choose his venue!

The one thing I really loved was how he complimented his wedding coordinators and also proudly told us that he pays them an excellent salary. When you’re paid well you work well.

Contrast this experience with the following day where we went to a prestigious venue with an excellent reputation. We were met by a scatty old lady who couldn’t stop talking about her family member who was getting married there (who lives in a mansion).

She even started talking to other people while she was showing us the venue, pointing at children and saying how sweet they were and talking to their parents – how rude!

She also declared to us that she doesn’t talk about money – “the girls in the office do that”. Why is that? Because she doesn’t think the fee you pay is worth it!

That final nail in the coffin confirmed what I was already thinking; no way is this venue getting my money, it’s overrated , has poor staff who are unprofessional and have no people skills and the venue itself is more of a dump than a prestigious Hertfordshire venue!

So who do you have in your practice? Is it slick, trained person (a TCO) who makes your patients feel comfortable and important or a team who have no listening skills and just talk crap to people, while declaring that the fee you charge isn’t worth it?!

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