Standards of Excellence: Making It Right For the Client

Providing a good customer service experience prior to the purchase, during the purchase, and even after the purchase impacts the growth of your company along with the perception of your organization. Sometimes we focus only on the initial experience a customer has in the first encounter with us. What happens if mistakes or missteps are made? How do you handle those situations? How well can you deliver excellent service even when the customer is dissatisfied? Do you understand them and admit to the mistake that was made? Do you embrace their frustration and try to make it right? This is a challenge, but it is possible to still make it right. I experienced a challenging situation that I learned a great deal from. For the first time, I had customer partially satisfied and partially dissatisfied. I was devastated by the situation because I pride myself on delivering my best and always aiming to supersede expectations. During this experience, I did not loose my desire to provide excellence. I thought it through and came up with a solution to satisfy the customer to the best of my ability. Keep in mind that every situation is different. Solutions are not always cookie cutter. Evaluate the current situation and tailor the solution to best fit your customer. The next step was to present the solution to the customer, they agreed to the solution, and we moved forward to take action.

In business, we typically share the wins or the great experiences and rarely share our missteps. The reality is that mistakes will happen. The key is how do you as a Company respond to it! Do you have a Customer Resolution Plan in place? If not, today is the day to begin developing your process to ensure the entire experience of working with you and your company is excellent!

The Dress Fitting Experience

This past weekend, I spent a couple hours at a Bridal Fitting for one of my Brides and her Bridesmaids. We actually had a really good time with one another. The Bride, Four of the Bridesmaids, one Jr. Bridesmaid, Three Friends, plus the Wedding Planner were present for the fitting. A big group right. If you watch "Say Yes to the Dress", one of my favorite shows, the Consultants are always concerned about the number of family and friends in attendance along with how they will respond every time the Bride presents each dress. Normally I do too! Amazingly, we had a great time and everything went smoothly. It made me think, why? How did 10 women enjoy the experience with each other? Here is what I assessed regarding the experience. Whether you are the Bride, Bridesmaids, Mother of the Bride, or friends of the Bride, you may find this helpful.

1. The Bride carefully selected her Bridesmaids. She selected women who she has a strong bond and relationship with. Women who really wanted to be apart of the journey with her.

2. The Bride also selected very close friends to attend who have the capability to be honest, but honest in a loving way. Each one watched her facial expression and asked the Bride "How do you feel in it?" before they gave their opinions.

3. The Bride already knew the style of the dress she was looking for. Everyone in attendance understood her style was HER style and they saw the dress from the Bride's Eye and not their own.

4. The energy of the ladies was up lifting and excitable. I could tell that everyone was happy for the Bride and wanted to see her happy.

5. The Wedding Planner - I've heard several times on "Say Yes to the Dress" how annoyed the Consultants are with the Wedding Planner trying to take over. I've seen how over bearing they can be on the show. My purpose for attending was to help assist where ever needed, take notes, and make the Consultants life easier. Prior to the fitting, the Bride selected a series of dresses for her self and the her Bridesmaids. I copied and paste the pictures in a Word Document along with the item numbers and presented the document to the Consultant. She was grateful that we knew what we were looking for and had everything organized! We also welcomed her opinions and ideas in the appointment.

Overall, we had a great experience and the Bride did say "Yes the Dress"!

Need Help Choosing Your Wedding Colors?

Recently working with one of my Brides, she was having challenges finalizing her wedding colors. I thought about a few ways to help her narrow down her color theme. Just in case you are looking for some additional guidance, here are some ideas to help you too!

Your Favorites: Simply think about your favorite color. What colors do you love the most? It's okay if you have more than one. If you do have more than one, create two color themes you can select from.

The Venue: Think about the your Reception Venue or the Venue you would like to book. How will your colors work with design of the venue? Test your color scheme. Schedule a site visit. Bring table linens in your colors and place it over the table to begin to envision the space and determine the best color scheme.

Color Matching: Purchase individual swatch of your colors and see how the colors compliment each other. You may even want to look at various Bridesmaids Dresses to have a larger view of the color and even place the second color next to it to see how well the colors look together.

Google Search: Take the time to do a Google Search for photographs of your colors. This will help you get an additional view of how the colors work with different venues.

Tis the Season: What time of the year will you have your wedding? Some Brides will decide to go with colors that match the current season. Remember it's your day, so don't be afraid to go with your favorite colors!

NEW YORK FASHION WEEK PANTONE FASHION COLOR REPORT · SPRING 2012 Visit the this link to see the Colors for 2012 http://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr.aspx?pg=20910&ca=4

Planning Your Wedding Budget?

Wedding Budget Notes:

(1) Know that Budget Breakdowns are guidelines and will vary per region and per vendor.

(2) Many vendors typically offer a variety of package selections at different price structures. Options can be customized as well.

(3) Service fees can also vary based on experience and professional certifications.

(4) The season of the year can effect pricing. Peak season pricing may be higher than non-peak season.

(5) Be clear if your budget is your absolute actual amount you can spend or if there is room for overage.

*Basic Wedding Budget Breakdown:

45-55% Wedding Reception (site fee, music, rentals, food, beverages, cake)

2-3% Ceremony (location, officiant, marriage license)

8-10% Wedding Attire

5-10% Flowers and Décor

8-12% Photography & Videography

4-10% Music (ceremony, cocktail hour, reception)

2-3% Transportation (limo, vintage car,)

2-4% Gifts

2-5% Wedding Bands

2-4% Stationary (invitations, programs, thank you cards)

8-10% Misc and unexpected costs

15-20% Wedding Planner

It's also important to establish a budget and revisit your budget in the early stages as you can begin to determine the services you need to create your wedding. You will find that you may be making adjustments often through out the wedding planning process to stay on target with your budget. This is okay and very common. The key is understanding that there are several variables that effect the "basic wedding budget breakdown" you may find in your research versus the actual services you may select for your wedding. For an additional website to evaluate fee ranges per area, click the link below.

http://www.costofwedding.com/index.cfm/action/costest.index