Wedding Business Solutions

Is 2024 The Perfect Storm Trifecta?

• Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

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Is 2024 The Perfect Storm Trifecta?

Is your wedding business prepared for the challenges of 2024? Are you feeling the effects of the COVID hangover? How will the wedding gap impact your bookings? And what about the unpredictable noise of a presidential election year? In this episode, I outline how to navigate these turbulent waters and make the most of the opportunities that come your way. Dive in to understand how to work harder and smarter in this unique environment.

Listen to this new 7-minute episode for insights on thriving amidst the COVID hangover, wedding gap, and election year noise.

If you have any questions about anything in this, or any of my podcasts, or have a suggestion for a topic or guest, please reach out directly to me at Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or visit my website Podcast.AlanBerg.com 

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Episode Summary: 

In this episode, I dive into what I'm calling the "perfect storm trifecta" that could shape the wedding industry in 2024. This trifecta includes the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which I refer to as the "COVID hangover," the "wedding gap" caused by a lack of engagements during lockdowns, and the complications brought about by a presidential election year. I discuss how these factors create a climate of uncertainty and noise. To navigate these turbulent times, I emphasize the importance of working harder and smarter, refining follow-up strategies, and focusing on existing leads to sustain and grow your wedding business.

View the full transcript on Alan’s site: https://alanberg.com/blog/


Alan hasn’t done a virtual master class since Covid, and since there’s been so much interest, he’s going to host only one before the end of 2024, to get you ready for engagement season, 2025 and beyond!

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I'm Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you'd like to suggest other topics for "The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast" please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com. Look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.

Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:

©2024 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com

Is 2024 the perfect storm Trifecta? Listen to this episode. See what I'm talking about. Hi, it's Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast 2024. For me and for a lot of people, I'm calling it the perfect storm trifecta. It's the COVID hangover. I should trademark that. It's the wedding gap and it's a presidential election year.

So hear me out on these three things. The COVID hangover and I really should trademark that. The COVID hangover is we went from 2019, which was a really good year for a lot of people. 2020 started out great and then came to a screeching halt. And then into 2021, things were just starting to come around. 2022 was just a gangbusters year. 2023 had a carryover of that. And here we are in this Covid hangover.

We don't know what normal is. And a lot of this is because people that are in the industry now, a lot of them were not in their position or in their company six years ago, right? Go back to 2018, maybe 2019, five or six years ago. I ask audiences and when I'm doing sales training, I'm asking them all the time, how many of you were not doing what you're doing five years ago? Because if you weren't, you don't know what normal is. You cant compare it to last year. Thats what we try to do. What are our inquiries versus last year? What are our sales versus last year? You cant compare it to that because youre probably going to be really disappointed when you had to gang bus through years, but they were artificially fed gangbusters. This Covid hangover is the rocky seas that were seeing, were not seeing the normal smooth sailing over here. Were seeing just still that waves.

And we dont know, is this what were supposed to be doing? What it means is that you have to get to work, right? That's what it means. So the next thing is we have the wedding gap and the wedding gap. I spoke with Vanessa Joy about this on another episode where in 2020 and 2021, people didn't meet because they weren't out, so they didn't get to meet. And then that two years, two and a half years later when they get engaged isn't happening because they didn't get to meet. So there's going to be this gap now. Is it just this year? Is it into next year? But it's going to level itself off. But you do have that other thing here with the wedding gap where just people didn't get engaged because they didn't get a chance to meet. And then the third part of that is the presidential election year, and this is every four years, things just get a little wonky.

And the reason they get wonky is not because of true factors, it's because of noise, because the noise says the economy is bad, yet unemployment is still at historic lows, wages are up, the stock market's at highs. Right. So how is the economy bad? If that. Now people could say inflation, which is certainly a factor in here. But if you have those other things in there with employment is low and wages are up, that also counter effects that. But it's just the noise, because if you go back to, they can't go to 2020. So you go to 2016, you go to 2012, you go 2008, right? 2008, you could say we're in the middle of a recession. Sure.

And then 2012, there's going to be something. But it's the presidential election year because in the local elections, there's some local noise, but it's quiet noise. Not everybody pays attention to their local elections. Then you have the statewide, then you have the federate, so the Congress and the senators, and then you have the presidential election year. And that's where the noise gets the loudest. Right. Which is billions of dollars being spent on advertising. So we're being bombarded with this.

And what happens is people get skittish and they take their time making decisions. So they're going to do it. They're going to book you. It might be closer to the wedding or event, but they're going to do it. But it's because of this noise. I mean, I personally can't wait till we get past November. So the noise finally quiets down because it's going to be real noisy up until then. I know you're listening to this.

Well, if you listen to when it first came out in September, it's probably really, really noisy right now. So here's the perfect storm. Covid, hangover. It's the wedding gap and it's the presidential election year. So what does that mean? What it means is you have to work harder and smarter. And what that means is you're getting inquiries, right? If you're not getting inquiries, that's a marketing issue. You're not doing enough marketing and advertising. You're just waiting for that.

And if you get referrals from other vendors and they're slow, well, that's slowed down, too. So you need to look to do something else, and then you have to work smarter on following up with your inquiries. The biggest opportunity that you have is the people that have reached out that haven't yet said no. I just had a caterer the other day who said, this couple, that they gave him a proposal and then went quiet. And six weeks later, the couple's like, okay, we're ready now, right? Are you still following up? Is anybody still following up with that couple? Because that's what you need to do. You need to keep following up. I keep talking about this from our secret shopping. Over half of, well, first of all, 17% of the companies we shop as of today don't respond at all, which is ridiculous.

That's just throwing money out the window. And then a little bit more than half give up after one attempt. In other words, you respond to them and you don't hear back, and then you leave it at that. That's throwing money out the window. And then you have about a third that will try three times. That means two thirds of you, not including the 17% who didn't follow up at all, two thirds of you, were giving up after sending them two messages. That's throwing money out the window. It's so much easier to just take the time to follow up again with the people that have reached out, that haven't responded or haven't said no, than to go find an new inquiry.

These people already put you on a short list, so you need to be more assertive and confident in following up with them. I mean, I hear it all the time. Richie Steadman, who started me on the podcast, he had followed, I told this story already. He followed up one weekend with months worth of leads and booked five weddings. He did it again recently and booked two more weddings just from the ghosts. So work that rather than saying, I need to go find more leads, find more leads. No, you got leads, work them better. If they're not responding to you, maybe it's what you're sending them.

It's not them, it's you. Same thing with me. If people aren't responding, I change what I'm sending them. I change the, I start calling or texting. If maybe my emails are going to spam, change the subject lines, change the messages. But if they're not responding and you already got that inquiry, they're already interested. And as somebody very well put it on Facebook one time, they're not ghosting the one they're going to book. So make that be you.

So here's the perfect storm trifecta. Here, the COVID hangover. It's the wedding gap. It's the presidential election year. You're still getting leads. That's a good sign. Work those leads better. That's where your profits are going to be.

Thanks for listening.


I’m Alan Berg. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions about this or if you’d like to suggest other topics for “The Wedding Business Solutions Podcast” please let me know. My email is Alan@WeddingBusinessSolutions.com or you can  text, use the short form on this page, or call +1.732.422.6362, international 001 732 422 6362. I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Thanks.

Listen to this and all episodes on Apple Podcast, YouTube or your favorite app/site:

©2024 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com


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Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

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