11 Ways to Impress Your Client as an Event Planner

Every experience as an event planner may have taught you something new; for some, this knowledge came with the price of an unhappy client. A dissatisfied client leaves you anxious about the quality of your services, your ratings and reviews, and how likely you'll land another client. 

You may be new to event planning and trying to find ways to make your client's first experience with you the best, or you may be a rookie aiming to increase your client satisfaction rate.

Either way, you don't need to offer expensive wine or kill a cow to make them happy.

The tips in this post will teach you all the necessary actions you can take or improve on to make your clients happy and satisfied with your service. Implementing these tips will also expose you to potential clients or help you to get clients.

Understand your client

Much like most jobs, the foundation is understanding your client and their guests or target audience. By understanding them it means you are deeply acquainted with their needs, problems, wants, backgrounds, preferences, and even personalities. It covers their social, economic, and psychological background.

Having this depth of knowledge about your client and their guest allows you to plan according to their preferences which will include knowing the kind of vendors to hire and how to communicate with them effectively to make the event a success.

Your clients will notice when you really want to understand their expectations for the event. They'll pay attention to the questions you ask which might revolve around the purpose and goals of the event, important guests, event budget, logistics, marketing and promotion, and special requirements

Keep your promises and overdeliver where necessary

No one likes a failed promise, and that includes your client. If you give your word to make a certain wish come true or see a task through, do your absolute best to fulfill it because not doing so will mark you as an unreliable event planner to your clients, and they may not trust your words or services next time.

Don't make a promise if you can't keep it.

Go out of the box to always over-deliver to your clients and give them the best experience. This not only ensures that your client is satisfied and sees you as an expert in your field, but it also boosts their trust in you.

You may think of not doing more than you're paid to do, but exceeding expectations where you have the chance can open more opportunities for you.

Manage expectations and boundaries

Showcase your expertise and deliver an experience to your client based on their vision, budget, and expectations for the big day. Be clear and transparent with what you can offer your clients to ensure that they have a clear picture of what to expect on the day of the event.

This prevents overpromising and underdelivering.

Be clear and transparent with what you can offer your clients

Address situations that may potentially cause problems for your client at the start of your project. Ensures that boundaries are set and potential problems are solved.

Let your expertise shine

Nothing impresses a client more than getting maximum value from their investment; in this case, they are getting the best value from hiring you. For event planners, you want to share helpful resources, suggestions, and other relevant information about the event based on your knowledge and experience that may help create a wonderful experience for your client and their guests.

You can also showcase your previous works from your event planning business that are similar to theirs to assure them of your capability to handle the project. You can link your previous projects to GoldnLilies to showcase your expertise to clients and potential clients.

Ask for feedback

Get feedback every time to improve

Displaying a determination to do better by genuinely asking for feedback on your overall service and in areas where you might have fallen short will impress your client. Asking for feedback goes a long way in showing your clients that you value their opinions and satisfaction. 

This approach when done right can help you retain clients for repeat projects.

Communicate regularly and be polite

Clients always appreciate an event planner who keeps them in the loop regarding any updates on the event planning process. This includes communicating daily tasks, milestones, and challenges, including ways to overcome them and actions that have been taken. 

When communicating with your clients, it is important to maintain your composure and be polite at all times. You should understand that it may be a crucial time for your clients, and they might be on the edge. Not taking things personally and always being polite in your communication will go a long way in impressing your clients and setting a standard for your services.

Build vendor relationship

Event planners should have quality relationships with vendors for services like catering, decorations, and media production. This ensures that you deliver only the best services to your clients. It is also a way to assure potential clients that you have everything in control and in check.

Having this established network is a great way to be flexible with your project and ensure that your tasks are executed smoothly.

Goldnlilies can help you access a wide network of high-quality vendors.

Great budget management

Every client loves an event planner that delivers a satisfying and quality event while sticking to the budget provided. When it comes to this aspect of an event, you want to implement the best budget-friendly tips for planning an event.

Great budget management is a quality that can help you to get more clients for your business as it is a highly desirable trait. In all your efforts, make sure that you are transparent when reporting all things budget to your client.

Go down the sustainability hole

Event planners often meet with different kinds of people with different life goals and interests. You can suggest eco-friendly and sustainable practices for your client's events. This practice expresses your deep concern for the environment and creates an image for your business.

Your clients must not be familiar with sustainability practices before you suggest it, you can simply educate them on the benefits. You could also state that their guests might be impressed with their consideration of adopting sustainability to their event.

Follow up after an event

For most event planners, a project seems to end the day the event ends and we say goodbye to the client. While this is not problematic, it is best to have a follow-up plan after every event. Following up with your clients can mean checking in on them to know about their well-being after the event, asking for feedback after the event or even asking for a referral to get the contacts of potential clients for your event planning business.

Follow-ups are important because, for your client, it leaves the impression that you care deeply about working with them and that their satisfaction is a priority. An added benefit is that a follow-up can grow your business through word of mouth referrals. Before planning an event, you need to have follow-up plans and strategies in place, and they should all be tailored to your client's profile for personalization.

Display your problem-solving skills

When planning events, unexpected occurrences are almost inevitable, and what really matters in that kind of situation is how you handle things. From your client's perspective, problem-solving can be shown in your decision-making, communication, adaptability, and creativity when coming up with solutions.

Not only does this impress your clients, it is also a great way to build a portfolio as an event planner who is very adaptable and capable of working even in a fast-paced environment. You also attract potential clients when you have a great problem-solving quality.

FAQs

Q: How to get new clients as an event planner?

You can get new clients by populating your portfolio, website, or social media accounts with the great job you've done for previous clients. A great way to get new clients is by referrals from previous clients.

Q: What are the key skills an event planner needs to impress a client?

To wow your clients, you need to be great at communication, prioritization, creativity and innovation, problem-solving, time management, and effective budget management.

Q: How do I make my event stand out to clients?

Personalize certain elements of the event to your client's or their audience's soft spot. This can be a fond memory, a deep interest, or just something they really like.

Conclusion

Doing the necessary and basic things the right way boosts your client satisfaction rate as an event planner.

This includes showcasing our expertise, over-delivering where necessary, communicating regularly, asking for feedback, and managing expectations. Impressing your clients with these actions helps you get more clients via word of mouth or your event planning business.

Are you ready to find your dream clients for your event planning business and deliver the best services? Be a part of GoldnLilies and have access to a digital solution connecting event planners to clients nationwide.