Help Your Customers See the Value of Event Planning

Here’s an issue you may have faced more than once in your event planning career. The customer can’t see the value of your event planning services. It’s frustrating to have the person you’ve just presented an elaborate event plan to question whether or not they could just as easily do the event themselves. The problem is that you may be the best event planner in the world but if you can't present a strong case for the value you bring to the table, you'll never be able to sell your services.

There is something in the business called a value proposition which is the way you communicate the benefits of doing business with your customer base. 

Building an Event Planning Value Proposition

To build a great value proposition, you need to ask yourself four basic questions.

• Why is my event planning business better than the competition? This is your differential.
• What do I bring to the table that adds value to my customers’ events?
• How does my service actually save the customer money?
• In the end, why will the customer be glad they trusted me to plan their event?

If you take this exercise seriously and write down your answers (because you’re going to be using them to create a strong value proposition for your marketing plan) and you still aren't sure why a customer should hire you, you’re likely losing out to the competition.

The Essence of Good Marketing

Think back to events you’ve coordinated and the things you’ve done that someone without your experience might not do. Review all the small details you took care of and all the ways you saved your customer's money. If you’ve developed a strong vendor network and leveraged it to deliver the best events possible for your clients and you’re poised in a crisis and don’t let last-minute snags turn into disasters, these are deliverables on your part.

Depending on the level of event management you do and the type of events you specialize in, you should also be able to customize your statement to highlight specific advantages. Think of a way to express these specific advantages succinctly and smoothly. What you want to do is paint a picture of someone your client can trust to create a first-class event while reflecting their tastes, all the while staying within budget.

The Magic of a Strong Value Proposition

A strong value proposition builds trust in the customer and allows them to seal the deal with confidence. You can't ask someone to do business with me simply because you're an expert. You need to give your customers concrete reasons to trust you.

Even if you’re progressing in your event planning training and you’ve built a portfolio and begun marketing yourself and building a network of dependable event-support vendors you can't leave this last step undone. A strong value proposition lets a customer know, without a doubt, that you are the best person to handle their event and can tackle things they can not.

Spreading the Word

Once your unique statement of benefits is written, give it star billing on your website, Facebook page, Twitter profile, and other social media venues. Be sure to update this regularly and ask satisfied customers for testimonials that specifically address your unique special event planning skills.