One fact that will never change in bridal retail, is that brides will continue to bring their party directly to your bridal shop in search of a good time and the perfect wedding dress. While it’s nice to share in the excitement and emotion, extra guests can cause extra stress.
Bridal Times caught up with bridal expert Jo Stott at the Harrogate Bridal Show 2019 to get her expert advice on the matter.
Jo Stott is the owner and founder of Y.A.P. Bridal Boutique and Jo Stott Consultancy, and has recently partnered with Maggie Sottero Designs to spearhead “Primed for Success”, a retailer support initiative for clients in the UK.
While sitting on the panel of “Ask the Experts” at the Harrogate Bridal Show, here is what Jo had to say about the bridal entourage.
Jo, how can bridal stylists prepare for appointments with the bride and her entourage?
As a bridal stylist, you need to look at “who” is coming through your bridal shop door – what are their needs, what type of people are they? These are important exercises to think about.
To prepare for appointments, you have to train with your team, and discuss the different types of personalities coming through your door and who from your team is best suited to take care of the bride.
For example, you may have the “advocate” bride who has followed you on Instagram, reads all your reviews, knows your boutique inside and out, and wants to get the exact same experience at your bridal shop as that which they read and hear about on social media. These are difficult brides to sell to, since their expectations are already high. So you must ensure that you deliver that expectation.
You need to develop a feel for which of your salespeople are the right fit for each different scenario.
When meeting a person for the first time, you only see the tip of the iceberg. How do you get past that with brides?
A bridal stylist needs to instantly mirror match the bride’s personality and get a feel for who they are. As you sit down for a consultation, this is the time to delve into the emotion of what is happening to this person.
Sounds like psychology in a way..
Yes, it really is like psychology. If your “Hello” is wrong, your sale is gone. It’s through your consultation that you hone into the emotions and feelings, because people buy emotions and experience from buying your product.
How do you get the “Hello” right the first time?
Well, you have to train for it – develop, talk with your team and most importantly, listen to the bride when she walks in the door. We don’t just hear the person, but we listen to what she has to say and pick up on key words of her likes and needs.
One of the questions that should be in your bridal consultation should be: “How do you want to look in your wedding dress?” and “How do you want to feel in your wedding dress?”
If she says, “I want to feel like a princess.”, then you ask, “Would you like a ball gown?” and the bride says, “No, I want a fit and flare”. The question that should be asked is “What would make you feel like a princess?”
My perception of a princess could be totally different from the bride’s perception. We just have to ask and listen.
I mentioned earlier about emotions and what the bride wants. The emotion is that she is searching for her wedding gown but she wants to be looked after, or most importantly, she wants her guests looked after. She may want her mom to have the same experience she is having, or maybe she doesn’t have a mom and has her grandmother there instead, or her closest friends. The emotions run really high!
And how can a bridal stylists properly split responsibilities between focusing on the bride and taking care of her guests?
You have to be clever. There should be an entire step-by-step process at your bridal boutique to do this, but it shouldn’t look or feel manufactured. This will be done with bridal stylists that you have carefully and brilliantly trained, and will go through this process with the emotional intelligence that they should have.
How can bridal stylists stay energized and positive, especially if they are having a difficult or bad day?
Bridal Stylists can’t come into work angry. As a bridal shop owner, I would say to an employee, “You leave your negativity behind at the door or you don’t come in.” In this job, these are memories and dreams that you are helping create. Most importantly, it helps to have a great leader to maintain that positive energy in the bridal shop.
What are some things to say or do when guests make unnecessary or negative comments about a bride’s choice of dress?
Yes, this happens a lot. You might have a mother and daughter who have very different opinions on wedding gowns. The mother is more interested in how she wants her daughter to look, and not how her daughter feels. That is something you shouldn’t let bother you, and I know it’s so hard. As bridal stylists, you have to work on building up a rapport and finding balance with both individuals.
Another situation is when you have an entourage of 10. You’ll have a couple of difficult bridesmaids sitting out there, but the bride clearly loves the dress. What you can do is say, “Ladies, we are about to see the gown. Susi loves this dress! Tada!” You instantly notice the change in behavior in the room, and no one would straight out say, “I don’t like it.”
What is your advice for brides who plan on bringing 5 or more guests?
If a bride has over five guests, it just makes things difficult for her, the bridal stylists, and even for the guests themselves. Some bridal boutiques don’t have the space for so many people. When booking an appointment, it’s good to ask how many are coming so that you know how many you can possibly accommodate. A way to cut down the number is to put a notification on your website explaining the number of guests a bride can bring with her.
And lastly, what is your advice to bridal stylists on how they can stay focused in a high emotion job?
I think you need to mentally commit and be in love with your bride. Do it with your heart because you are there for a reason. Commit to this beautiful person who wants to find their wedding dress with you. Another thing to consider, is that it isn’t always just the bride you are selling to. Bridal stylists only find this out earlier on in the consultation. This is when you find out who you are selling to, and from there you work on maintaining your focus.
On the behalf of Bridal Times, we would like to thank Jo Stott for this interview at the “Ask the Expert” sessions at Harrogate Bridal Show 2019.
If you or anyone you know is a bridal sales trainer in D/A/CH countries, we’d love to hear from you and share your knowledge on Bridal Times! Simply email us at info@bridal-times.com