communication fail

Some of you may or may not know I’m getting married this year. And even though I’m holding a small wedding, there is some coordination that needs to happen.

For me and Derrick, the two most important things to spend our money on were 1) food and  2) photography.

While other things are also important, food is something everyone who attends the event will experience… plus Derrick and I like to eat. We knew it was going to take up a large majority of our wedding budget.

As someone who’s never planned a large event before, it was a very enlightening experience to spend a good amount of money on something I didn’t completely understand but know I need.

I now get how most of you feel hiring a web professional.

Here’s what I learned along the way.

I judged people based on their websites.

I was told there was a very good but very expensive caterer… which I had a hard time believing when I went to the website. The large format pictures were blurry, it was not mobile friendly, and there was no useful information on their site (like sample menus or how much per person could be expected).

Now I may be more web savvy than the average person but all of us have seen enough websites to know when someone looks legit or not. These people looked like they could barely run their business by looking at their website.

I want to tell about half the people I looked at to pony up some funds and get their website looking legit… because they might be leaving a lot of money on the table.

Open ended questions scared the crap out of me.

I’ve NEVER done this before. I have no idea how it works.

With one person I emailed with, they wanted to know what I wanted to know ‘what I had in mind’. Like that was all they asked me.

This put pressure on me to think of what they meant. I had given them the number of people, the day and time, and the approximate vibe I was going for ‘casual buffet style brunch’. What else do they want to know? Did they want a menu? Did they want me to send pictures? I still have no idea.

Having a questionnaire would help me understand what they need to know to quote me. Our eventual caterer had a list of what she wanted from me so that was a much easier initial email to answer.

Other people have thought of the questions you should ask. 

When you are ready to hire someone (you’ve got past that initial stage), you need to be really clear on what you’re getting or not getting.

The great news is wedding websites, blogs, and your friends have great ideas of questions you should ask before you hire someone.

Armed with questions from a Real Maine Weddings checklist http://realmaineweddings.com/, I asked questions of our caterer and got my answers which helped make the decision.

Hire someone you like.

If someone is providing you services, you’ll have to be able to talk with them and have it feel like they are addressing your concerns.

If someone seems pushy, difficult, or otherwise has personal traits that are going to grate on you, that’s a good enough reason not to hire them. Your gut instinct is an important instrument, use it!

So yes, hiring a caterer was an exciting and terrifying step. Exciting because it means we are closer to our goal, terrifying because we are writing a check to them bigger than a mortgage payment.

Those of you who have hired Breaking Even on some good interactions and faith in us, I thank you. I now understand that feeling better than I ever have and I am lucky to have you.

And to those of you out there providing services and not getting a lot of phone calls or emails, ask yourself:

Does my website look legit and answer some basic questions for potential customers?
Do I have a list of questions I need answered to give a proper quote/follow-up answer to frame the discussion?
Am I prepared to answer the basic questions other people have told my potential customer to ask me?
Could a personal trait be holding me back?