You know it’s coming. You FEEEEEEEL it on the horizon.

Engagement Season is on its way, my friends. That exciting time of year when you get more leads in 4 months than you do for the rest of the calendar year. 

Let’s be sure you are ready for that influx of inquiries from excited couples. Because you know what they want? A response from you—and FAST. How to make that happen when you’re only one person and you haven’t (yet) figured out how to clone yourself?

The answer is a really excellent, high-performing auto-response message.

This is easy to set up and it will keep you in the running for all those RFPs that come in on your days off.

A GREAT AUTO-RESPONSE EMAIL:

• is short.

This is not the place to give them details; you need to follow up first thing when you’re back in the office with a more personal email. Right now, just let them know you are out until XX date and you can’t wait to be in touch.

• is sweet.

The biggest win you can have here is to set a ton of friendliness and welcome. Let them know how much you want to talk to them about their big day.

• has a link to your website

so they can get more information about weddings at your location. If your pricing is on your website, point to that here.

• includes a few images to whet their whistle

and make them remember why they were interested in your place to begin with. The more they are in love with your photos, the longer they’ll wait for a response from you.

So now you’ve got a great auto-responder email. Fantastic! What’s next?

Now you need to follow up on that RFP in a more detailed, personalized email first thing upon your return to the office. This should be top priority if you are in a sales role at your venue. 

I can’t say it enough: every focus group we’ve done with engaged couples tells us that the venues who respond quickest are most likely to get the booking. So it is an actual race to this finish line! 

TO DO FOR YOU:

If you don’t have an auto-responder email, write one and make it active.

If you do have one, take a look at it given what you learned above. Edit and add to it to make it the best it can be.