Wedding Business Solutions

The definition of futility is doing the same thing the same way, and expecting a different result!

• Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

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Are you still chasing phone calls when your customers just want to text? Are you making it easy for potential clients to do business with you, or are you unintentionally pushing them away by sticking to old habits? In this episode, I challenge you to think about whether your tried-and-true methods are really working as well as they used to, and I share thoughts on adapting to customers’ preferred ways of communicating. What could happen if you stopped resisting change and met your clients where they are?

Listen to this new 7-minute episode for practical insights on adapting your process, making it easier for customers to connect, and staying relevant in a changing market.

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 

Please be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave a review (thanks, it really does make a difference). If you want to get notifications of new episodes and upcoming workshops and webinars, you can sign up at www.ConnectWithAlanBerg.com  

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


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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:

©2025 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com

The definition of futility is doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different result. Listen to this episode. See where I'm going with this. Hey, it's Alan Berg. Welcome back to another episode of the Wedding Business Solutions podcast. I was thinking about this just recently because a lot of people that I'm consulting with or that I'm speaking to at events are banging their heads against the wall doing what they've always done. It used to work, it doesn't work anymore, and yet they keep banging their head against the wall. Just the other day I was talking to a client and you know, their goal is to get people on the phone.

I said, is that really right? This happens to be a venue. I said, is that really your goal? Or is your goal to get people into your venue for a tour so that they can see how beautiful it is and you can talk to them in person? And do you need to have a phone call to do that? And maybe that used to be the case, but is that still the case? I don't think so. I think that we're dealing with digital natives. We're dealing with people who have communications and conversations all day long without using the telephone as a voice. Or maybe they're sending voice memos back and forth, but they're not having real time voice telephone calls. And if you're trying to get somebody to do something that they don't want to do, that's a good reason for them to ghost you, and it's a good reason for them to not respond to you at all. And I've seen a lot of this lately with people doing what used to work. And I get it, it used to work, and it even works sometimes now.

But it doesn't work as well as it used to. And there goes the definition of futility or insanity. Some people say doing the same thing the same way, expecting a different result. I've been in the industry over 25 years, actually over 30 years now, and I've had to adapt to how you, my customers, how you want to do business. I had to adapt from in person and telephone to faxing and emailing and whatsapping and texting and Facebook message and LinkedIn message and Instagram message. And, you know, you know the drill, right? But we're still having conversations. And I have conversations all the time with people without using the telephone. And when someone says they want to have a meeting and it wants to be a voice meeting, I said, do you prefer phone or zoom? And I give them the choice.

Do you want phone or zoom. So if they say, hey, let's have a call, or we need to have a call for a reason, like when I do a sales training, I have a pre call with people so that we can make it as effective as possible. When I come on site, prefer phone or zoom, I leave it up to them. Some people prefer the telephone, some people prefer zoom. I'm okay either way. We're having a conversation either way. The point is that if what you're doing now isn't working as well as it used to, and again, it might be working just not as well as it used to, you have to try something different. You have to adapt and not try to force the customers to adapt to you and not say, well, my longer contact form means they're more interested if they fill it out.

No, if they don't fill it out, it doesn't mean they're not interested, it doesn't mean they're not a good customer. It just means that maybe they don't like filling out long forms when somebody else has a short form and is making it easier. Just remember this, in the days when the phone would ring more of the time, maybe even if you were in the business before email or before it was used widely, you didn't know anything about that person when the phone rang. Well, if you get a contact form and you have basic information from them and you need to ask them questions to get the rest of the information, you're having a conversation, whether that's on the phone, text, email, WhatsApp messaging service, the not Messenger, Facebook Messenger, Instagram messenger, whatever, you're having a conversation, step back and think of it that way. Why not just continue the conversation the way the other person wants it to be, right? And yes, it might be more convenient for them than for you, but we as the businesses have to make it more convenient for our customers. That's our job, is to make it easier to do business with us. Because if we make it harder, there's somebody else that will take their business that will make it easier. I've had people say to this to me so often as a speaker that I just make it so easy for for them.

As a speaker, I make it easy for them. At the conference. If they need something from me, they get it right away. I've created a page on my website that has my headshots, my logos, my intro, my bio, my social handles, my room set up, my AV needs, and here, here's a link, here's everything. And yet they're pulling teeth to get this from other speakers. If I make it harder to do business with me at the price point that I am, they will find somebody else very easily at a lower price point. Now, if they want your results, they have to hire you. But as I've said on a previous podcast, are your results really better or are they just different? The answer is they're just different because we'll never know if they're better because no one else is going to get a chance to do that particular wedding or event.

So how do you make it easier to do business with you? One way is adapting to the consumer, and if they prefer email or if they prefer text or if they prefer WhatsApp or messaging service, we have to at least meet them there in the beginning before we try to switch it to something else. And this is that definition of futility. If you're really just trying to get them on the phone, get them on Zoom, get them in person, right? That's okay. But if you rush that process, you will scare people off and you will force them to someone else who is making it easier to do business with them the way that that customer wants it to be. It might be hard for some of you to hear that, you know, yes, you want to talk to them on the phone, but maybe they don't want to talk to you on the phone. It's still a conversation. You have to accept that. I had this with a client that used to do in person appointments before COVID and then during COVID they were doing Zoom appointments.

Then after Covid, they want to go back to in person, and their customers don't want it. They don't want that. And they were the ones that were struggling with this because they wanted it to go back to the way it was, but the customers wanted it to be the way it is. So if you've never read the book who Moved My Cheese? I recommend that who Moved My Cheese? It's a small, little, square parable book. It's a great book about change. We have to go find new cheese. That's what it is. We have to go adapt to customers the way they are.

So if you're finding that what used to work isn't working at all or as well, don't blame the customers. I always say you look in the mirror, you. You find out where the problem is, and you adapt to them. Hope it gives you something to think about, and hope you try it.


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:

©2025 Wedding Business Solutions LLC & AlanBerg.com


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Alan Berg, CSP, Global Speaking Fellow

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