I’m a big fan of documenting your work processes, and that includes your client inquiry process. As we move from the end of wedding season to proposal season to booking season, now is a great time to evaluate your inquiry process, document it, and make updates as necessary! Here’s a look at my wedding client inquiry process.

1 | The Inquiry

Most of my inquiries happen via email or phone. I have a business line set up through Grasshopper, and I automatically get a transcribed email of the message every time someone calls that number. It’s my goal to respond within 6 hours of receiving the call or email (unless I’m out of the office or it’s the middle of the night, of course).

Once I receive the inquiry, my first step is to send them the link to my pricing guide. This brochure doesn’t have specifics regarding services, but it does give some basic information on pricing and my minimums. I feel it’s important for them to know what they are getting themselves into, and I would much rather they realize early on that I’m out of their budget than schedule a meeting and figure it out after we’ve both wasted our time. Below is my canned response when I receive an inquiry.

Hi {Inquirer’s Name Here},

I am available on June 7, 2014 and I would absolutely love to chat with you more about what you might be looking for in a wedding planner. Are you available sometime this week or next to get together or to schedule a phone call?

In the meantime, you can find information regarding my services and rates here. Note, however, that the majority of my services are completely customizable according to your needs, and I won’t be able to get you a custom quote until I know a little bit more about your wedding.

Please let me know if you have any questions at all, and if you are interested in setting up a meeting!

I look forward to hearing from you!

{Signature Here}

*A note on including your rates on your website – should you do it? Honestly, that’s completely up to you! For me, my ideal client doesn’t particularly care about rates immediately. They are more interested in hearing about my services first. Obviously that means that I do receive some inquiries from those who are outside of my rate range, but once they receive my pricing guide, they rarely request a meeting if they can’t afford my starting rates.

Not sure about who your ideal client is? Sign up for one of my FREE webinars on finding your first client to learn more!

2 | the Meeting

I prefer to schedule meetings in person rather than have calls over the phone, but since so many of my clients come in from out of town, phone calls are pretty normal.

At this initial consultation, we go over every detail of their wedding, including:

• Do they have a venue and a date?
• What have they planned so far?
• What is their overall vision and budget?
• What services are they in need of?

An Initial Consultation Form is available for free in the Aspiring Planner Shop!

3 | The Proposal

One of the most important things you can do for your business is give your client a custom experience. Up until this point, all documents that they’ve received regarding my services are standard; after the meeting, however, once I get a good idea of what exactly they are looking for, I put together a custom proposal with their rate and services detailed. It also includes an overview of my general policies and what I need from them in order to book. Note that I never give out proposals without talking to them first, either over the phone or in person. 

Here is a proposal that I would send to my clients.

[Tweet “One of the most important things you can do is give your client a custom experience.”]

I give them the option to reserve their date with me for up to one week without a contract or deposit.

Shine Society Members can get a wedding services proposal template here!

4 | The Contract

Once they let me know that they are interested in moving forward, I have them fill out a special form with their information, including contact info, social media, etc. Once I receive the form back from them, I put together a custom contract and send an invoice! They have access to me as a resource from that point forward.

Note that this post contains affiliate links.

A Look at My Wedding Client Inquiry Process originally appeared on Aspiring Planner.