Q. What do you do when vendors take FOREVER to call back or reply to a email? Thx, you rock!
A. Ah, yes. Vendors who take forever to get back to me drive me up the wall too. HOWEVER, the term "forever" is relative to who you are and what your personality makeup is.For instance, if you work in the corporate world, someone taking more than 1 hour to get back to you could be considered forever. The wedding world is very different. You are dealing with artists who (mostly) own their own companies. That means, along with doing their art (floral, photography, etc.) they are also wearing every hat that involves running a business: advertising, marketing, networking, branding, accounting, filing, following up on leads…..you get the idea. Wedding vendors work on the weekend and usually take time off during the week (if they’re lucky!). So the organized ones have certain days or time blocks that are dedicated to office work and emailing/calling clients back.
What I recommend is this:
-Compile your list of questions so you have ONE email with questions 1, 2, 3, etc. so you don’t bombard that vendor every day. Chances are, unless it is certain crucial weeks, your questions aren’t life or death urgent.
-ONLY flag the email as urgent if the question truly is and you need an answer ASAP. Don’t be known as the boy who cries wolf because you think every question is important. Clearly state in the email why your question needs to be answer by a certain time such as: “I need to get the wording of the menu by tomorrow as I have to put my invitation order in by Friday. Thank you for your time!”
-Know that your vendor is juggling as many as 50 other brides at the same time. And a personal life/family/pet rock.
-In the wedding world, if you don’t have an answer back within 3 or 4 days, it is totally appropriate to re-forward your email with a polite “hi! I’m just following up on the questions I sent you!”. That usually makes the vendor feel bad for not getting back to you
5 comments:
Well said!
This is so very well written, and absolutely true. Great advice for brides to be as well. (Especially the last bit!)
Great points!
Great tips Amber. I work in the corporate world and expect people to work at my pace. Thanks for the insight into how wedding vendors work. I try to allow 48 hours before making my 'next move'.
yep yep yep. xoxoxo
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