PROTECTING YOUR WEDDING BUSINESS in 2021 [CLUBHOUSE REPLAY] w/ Kunbi Odubogun of Legally Set

hi everybody hi everybody i'm so excited to be  live with y'all today i'm so excited um i know   this is a bit of a surprise but i've decided that  i want to use this facebook group as my replay um   area alright so welcome to my replay crew for  everything that i'll be doing on clubhouse so   for many of you guys already know that i'll be  going live in clubhouse today at one o'clock   i will be going live with Kunbi Odibogun  who is the owner of legally set she's an   attorney um specializing in creative um  you know work for creative entrepreneurs   and today we're going live together and we will  be talking about all things relating to you know   preparing and protecting our wedding businesses  for 2021 obviously we are still in a pandemic   there's still a lot of considerations to keep  in mind right so that's what we're going to be   talking about today on clubhouse now clubhouse  of course is an audio only club but here because   you're part of my inner circle because you're in  the facebook group you get to see a little bit of   visuals right so i will be on clubhouse you'll  get to listen in on the conversation if you do   want to ask a question you will have to join the  clubhouse because this is a clubhouse conversation   but this is just you know your opportunity  to get the replay um you know in case you   couldn't join live and also in case you want to  see something visual and not just audio all right   so the reason i decided to go with this topic  for today you know preparing and protecting your   wedding business in 2021 it's because i mean  it's at the top of all of our minds right now   right like there's just so much going on right now  with um there's just so much going on right now   frankly with everything but especially with kovid  kovit is still running rampant um many people are   still trying to figure out like do i want to make  you know do i want to make microweddings like the   new norm for my business etc there's just so  much to consider when it comes to you know   when it comes to this when it comes to  us thinking about 2021 how are we going   to prepare for 2021 continue to make sales how  are we going to manage reschedulings and all of   that so that's what we're talking about today  live in clubhouse all right we're talking about   preparing and protecting your wedding business  for 2021 so stay tuned i'm about to hit start   to start the room and we're going live we're  about to go live i'm so thrilled about this   so so thrilled to be doing this um going with  my dual technology today i'm excited about it all right hey Kunbi hi how are you how are you  i'm like i'm hoping clubhouse doesn't just ruin   my entire business i'm like always on here you you  are always on here excuse me i'm not even gonna be   like oh no girl i know you you're not always no  you are always on here when i wake up early in   the morning and i'm like let me see who's on i'm  like okay i don't know what's happening i feel   like my phone yeah like oh god like we're just  always talking yeah but yes hey how are you i   am well i'm so excited about this so excited to be  hosting my very first room um i've really enjoyed   being on clubhouse like i've really enjoyed being  on clubhouse and i've enjoyed um learning from   other people um occasionally stepping up to ask  questions or maybe to add something like this is   such a fun platform um believe it or not i  actually went out and bought an ipad so i can   get on clubhouse because i'm team to android but  yeah there's some like i wish you hadn't shared   that like it's really embarrassing what is your  problem like you said that you had people find an   i but like why are you still team android listen  i'm an engineer at heart and most of us who are   most of us who are geeks like we we're you know  we're sold out to the droid life so well that's   why you're talking to an ipad right now dear  because i don't know like like that thing sure   whatevs whatevs but yes welcome everybody  to the room i'm gonna go ahead and um   i'm gonna go ahead and do a quick intro so  obviously we are one day we are two days away from   the new year two days away from 2021 so i thought  it was more than time for us to hop in and talk   about preparing our wedding businesses for 2021  and also protecting our wedding businesses right   i think that many of us early on in the pandemic  didn't think we would be where we are right now   in the pandemic so if you haven't already put  you know the effort in to protect or prepare   your business for 2021 now's the time to do it for  real lots of people are still getting engaged over   the holidays like booking season is still about to  be raging so we want to we want to go in um armed   so that's why we decided to have this room i'm so  so so excited our goal is to keep this room to 90   minutes so cumbia and i have a few questions we're  going to go through to start and then we're going   to open up for q a so our goal is to keep it to 90  minutes so if you have any friends who are in the   wedding business please ping them into the room  have them come on in because we're not going to   be here all day and we have a whole lot to share  so please ping your friends in the into the room   and ask them to come on in but while you're doing  that i'll go ahead and introduce myself and kumbi   i will ask you to introduce yourself as well  so my name is Feyisola it's nigerian so yes it   is a different name uh Feyisola i'm nigerian i  am a wedding planner and i own a company called   statuesque events we're based in the dc metro area  but we service weddings all along the east coast   and other destinations as well we love planning  cross-cultural and multicultural events uh we   love celebrating people's culture we love working  with our black brides and grooms like that's what   we take a lot of pride in just displaying that  that black love and cross-cultural love that's   something we love to do i am also a business  coach and i run an accelerator program for   wedding planners called planners who profit um  you can learn all about it um by following me you   know checking out the link in my bio et cetera  and i love coaching wedding planners who are   experienced who have already planned some weddings  but are looking to get to that next level of your   business right you want to profit right exactly  what it's called planners who profit you want to   get to a place where you're profiting where you're  on getting into a higher level of the market   and that's the sweet spot over the years that i  have found of who i enjoy coaching and who i can   help get massive results so that's what i do and  that's what i focus on and before i pass it over   to coombie i'll say i have worked with her before  she helped me with my legal documentation for my   um accelerator program so she's great at what she  does which is why we're hosting a room together   and um yeah with that i'll turn it over to kumbi  so could you please introduce yourself let us know   who you are where you're from what you do besides  sitting on clubhouse you know exactly sitting   in here i am kumbi and i live here i'm joking  but um i'm a business attorney based in new york   i am i've been practicing for over 10 years  now and i am um my practice mainly focuses on   creative entrepreneurs and event pros like all of  you all because for the last actually eight years   i have also been running an events publication  called perfect it used to be called out perfect   and so that is um that is how my life has balanced  into this very unique industry that i find myself   in now i am primarily the founder of legally  sets which is a contract template shop that   gives you you know ready-made digital download  contracts for your creative business so if you're   an entrepreneur an event pro influencer um an  online business owner of any form then there's   a template there for you and i'm really excited to  do this like facial i said we have worked together   and um even pros have my heart completely  so i'm just always excited to talk about   this so looking forward to it awesome awesome  awesome yes well thanks so much guys for joining   um yeah i mean like i said earlier the reason that  i'm passionate about doing this at this point is   that right now you know it's it's time for us  to prepare and protect ourselves from 2021 we've   been in a pandemic now for nine months um it that  you know we've we've been shocked and re-shocked   at the way that things have been handled and  the way where we are right now but i you know   based off of what we've learned um you know we  definitely want to make sure we're preparing   ourselves and moving forward and arming ourselves  with the things that we need so i guess kombi   i guess what i i'll start with you so as part of  our teaching um again we're going to be sharing a   few things then we're going to bring people up  for q a so could be my first question for you   is what clauses should every wedding business have  in 2021 um if you want to elaborate more on maybe   what kinds of contract terms i'm not sure if  i'm using the right words but what clauses what   kinds of contracts or amendments etc should every  business every wedding business have in 2021 given   the things that have been going on and maybe even  touch on some of the things we should have always   had okay so very great question i think moving  forward everything that you're doing now is about   protecting your your business and protecting  your bag in general for lack of a better word   so for for me and the first thing that i always  just advise my clients and first thing i look   for in an agreement anyway is the payment clause  compensation looking as to how your compensation   is laid out like what is what what is the payment  schedule and is the money refundable in any form   is there a non-refundable aspect of any payments  is there um what kind of payment is do you win   and what happens if that payment is not made  because i think even before we even get into   the more like you know noteworthy clauses that  clause needs to be clear from the beginning you   shouldn't be going in anywhere where you find that  you are you're having to refund more than you have   worked for or like or refund in some cases like  i think some of my clients and i know one or two   are in here or refund in any situation anyway so  um for me that's the first thing that i look for   in an agreement and i think um as event eventbros  and as people who um whose um livelihood not only   depends on the situation like the condition  of the country the state of the country in   some form or the other it's really important that  you you have a well outlined payment section that   dictates how payments will be made and whether or  not any amount of money is going to be refundable   the next thing for me and of course the one that  i'm sure everybody has like thought about over   the last year is the postponement clause this is  the most imp is probably going to end up being   the most important clause inside your agreement  since a lot of people are postponing instead   of cancelling or postponing postponing then  cancelling so it's really really important that   your postponement course establishes what happens  in the event that a client would like to postpone   for one reason or for any reason given that we  are in an active like pandemic we're in an active   situation where there is uncertainty there's no  excuse anymore that you're saying that this is a   surprise so there's no reason why you should be  signing in new clients on an old contract that   does not dictate what happens if the client has  to postpone so for me that that clause is is one   if you haven't yet it's either you go and get an  attorney to review it or make sure you have an   attorney drafted postponement clause because  your postponement clause could literally be the   difference between you being in business this year  or you've been out of business by the end of 2021   and the postponement clause needs  to establish okay so what happens   within which window can i actually postpone  this event like you've heard of clients coming   maybe they've been just been waiting to see  how how the pandemic is like you know going   and how the pandemic is playing out and then you  get a text or something 20 days before an event   well at 20 days before an event i would hope  that the expectation is that there are no refunds   and that if there is a postponement a lot of  things might have permanently already been set in   place that will will lead to extra payments being  made for a future date i would also hope that you   have something in there that states that both  parties have to find a mutually agreeable date   before they can move forward with a new date  because somebody's not just going to tell you   that they picked peak period like august 20th 2022  or something and expect that you are available   knowing fully well that not only are you booking  2021 clients you're booking 2022 clients so not   only are you moving your old clients but you're  also booking new ones so each date is a premium   and it has to be clear whether or not you are  charging a premium for those dates a b or whether   or not there will be a postponement fee these  kinds of things and i had i spoke with a couple   of coaches yesterday and the same thing i'm going  to say to them is the same thing i'll say here   the more detailed and the more direct your  contract is about how and how something is handled   the easier it is for you to contest it and defend  it when the time comes especially as event right   right so yes because i mean obviously facial  like you've seen this as well like as an event   planner yourself you will find that as event pros  because you're dealing with something so exciting   in someone's life sometimes it's very easy for  you to remove the fact that it's a business   and it still has to be run like a business  so having this information there when   you're dealing with something so delicate  sometimes is really important so you don't   have to start going back and forth and being  the mean person or the grinch when it's time   to talk and when it's time to talk particulars  about such a thing yeah yeah i guess yeah i mean   i think that that is you know that's essential  i know that you have um or at one point anyway   at one point i'm not sure if it's still free  but there was a rescheduling um oh yeah it's   still free yeah it's still free i actually i have  a free version and obviously i also do have a paid   version that's very very detailed but the free  version is amazing and you can actually just grab   it if you type in freeamendment.com on um in your  browser it's freeamendment.com like free amendment   you can get it for free and that's a very simple  straight to the point rescheduling agreement that   you can use to have that in place because that's  actually a very good point and a good segue   another thing about your postponements yes  you are postponing based on the terms in your   agreement but you should have that amendment  in place to amend to the new date because   these things a lot of things i have seen  over the last 10 months of this you know   nightmare is that i've seen people making these  changes and doing all of these things by the most   random through the most random avenues  like text or word of mouth or anything   like that you have to remember that  we're literally in a rolling situation   and you do not want to leave anything down to he  said she said and also for your own peace of mind   document everything and that's the reason why  you need a rescheduling amendment because then   you have it in clear terms what the deal what the  details and changes to the original agreement are   if you're not having that if if you're not having  the wedding on that date anymore establish when   this new contract has been amendment has  been amended to and also establish how much   if any changes are going to be made to the  original terms of that agreement for instance are   you going to be charging a rescheduling fee for  planners who have already done the work and done   everything are you going to be charging something  to basically accommodate for the time and extra   effort you'll be doing for florists who have  already created the products and maybe it might   end up being lost goods are you charging for the  additional work that may be done in the next year   also if the couple is scaling down in some form  or the other maybe you're scaling down from like   a 300 person wedding to a 100 person wedding what  what does that mean for the changes in fees are   you going to have to accommodate for new styling  a new design or something establish those terms in   your rescheduling amendment so nobody says he says  she says and it's very clear what the expectations   are yeah yeah no i mean i think i think that is  obviously it's it's spot on um coming from you but   i mean i think that i mean that's a big one  right because with a lot of clients you know   you have to lay out what rescheduling means for  certain clients and i mean honestly i have some   clients who are pretty amazing even though their  their weddings got rescheduled they didn't like   expect like that we're gonna start from scratch  redo the whole design plan and just kind of like   you know kind of be going back and forth so we  kind of had those agreements but for me i agree   with you like just in general i tell my clients  all the time and even when i'm you know coaching   other people if it's not written down it's not  real so a lot of times and i and written down like   in an email or in like for me the only thing  i really care about is like what's in email   timelines and if it's something related to  a contract like what's in the contract if   it's not any of those things then it's not real  text messages and send when people start sending   screenshots of text messages and stuff like that  where he said she said it's just like for me   i'm just like there's no way to prove this  and we're gonna waste more time trying to   figure out who said what six months ago um  than than having it written down i know that   a lot of times with us we we try to be uh as as  creatives we're always trying to be so personal   like okay just text me or just what's at me but  then when things get confused it's it's like   you're spending triple the energy just trying to  figure out what was agreed upon in the first place   and it's just not worth it like that's not that's  not high value work for us as event professionals   so it's really like it's really important for  us to really like put the effort into just being   organized being organized about what we're asking  for being organized about what we offer what   people's options are up front and really thinking  things through and i think another thing that   comes with that you know just from uh you know  obviously everything you said is right but i'm   just thinking more from like you know putting  it into practice is not feeling the need to   give an instant response to everything so someone  asks you a question because i think that this is   i mean i don't give an instant response pretty  much to anybody and i know it sounds crazy but   i always give a complete response and i think  that that's something that makes that causes   people to generally respect me because yes i  may not give you a response in three minutes   but when i give you a response i'm gonna say okay  this is what we're gonna do this is how we're   gonna get there a b and c right so i think that  for us we have to take the time obviously couldn't   be through a whole lot of questions right like  what happens how far in advance can you reschedule   to this and that those things take a little  bit of time to think through and to connect to   so you have to think like that it's the most  important thing we have to do as business owners   we have to think so that we can actually guide  people and not just like let things happen to   us and then complain and vent in facebook groups  after the fact like we have to be able to think   about what we want and not just what we want  what we think is fair and not what's going to   be the best for the client and like take that  time to think right um and and and really just   jot down this is what i think i want and then  of course consult with a lawyer and say hey   this is what i'm thinking how do i put this in  into the legal terms or you know get you know   get a template or you know that that matches up  with what you're looking for so sorry i wasn't   trying to cut you off i was just trying to oh  no 100 that's i was just i was just completely   agreeing i think that that's strategy for anybody  even across any industry like you have to remember   that with what you're doing there's so many things  and so many little pieces in place especially in   this period where you're already in postponement  mode and like like for lack of a better word chaos   so there's a lot of things that come into play  and a lot of decisions that you might have even   forgotten in your head so trying not to say  yes or no right away is the best way to go   because there's one thing we say in law all the  time there's something like an informed response   like basically an informed response means in our  case that means you've consulted your lawyer so   you know nobody's doing rubbish for you but  basically more than anything else an informed   response means you have all the facts and you have  all like you have everything in place before you   respond so taking the beats to at least look make  sure that you make sure you're not double booking   make sure that you're not emotionally responding  most importantly because clients will do that   to you and then you're saying oh yeah  sure we can move it to august 22nd but   guess what august 22nd might be the day that  you were waiting for another person to respond   for a different for a different event so taking  a step back and and giving like facial i said   what was it i loved the complete response is  ideal and very important moving forward in 2021   yeah it's it's for me i like the complete response  over the instant response because the funny thing   is that it'll save you time you know when you  respond to someone and say hey these are your   options you can go with a b or c it's written out  and then give them time to think about it and i   also don't need an instant response from you you  can think about it for two three days talk to your   your husband um pray about it whatever you need  to do so that when you come back to me we're on   the same page and we're not just ping-ponging for  weeks and weeks about what you want to do right so   that's that's just my approach everything um and i  think that that's that's really important because   i mean i'm not sure we're going to bring more  people up to the face to ask questions in a second   but i'm sure like as you were going down the list  of oh what happens in this case or that kids i'm   sure some people are like what like this is a lot  and it's like yeah it is it is you know which is   why you need to take some time to sit down and  think how how am i going to respond in these   situations what are some scenarios that could  come up and what do i want right so um yeah that's   that's pretty much what what i what i wanted to  add there okay i do have another question for you   at what point should i customize a contract versus  use a template right so is there is there um is it   okay if i customize my own temp you know contract  from your temperate library at what point should i   hire a lawyer to create a custom contract or to  customize one for me like what would you recommend   especially you know given everything happening  in 2020 well i think that obviously i'm going to   say it first now just because it's always a great  idea to consult with an attorney obviously because   everybody's needs are different right obviously  with legal templates like the ones that i have   they're they're created with with the industry  professional as a whole like this facet of the   industry professional and created specifically  for them with their needs in place like each each   contract is created with and actually supervised  by somebody in that industry specifically so that   everything is kind of done but the whole idea  with the template is like it's a general take   on what you what on the on what we believe you  need to be legally set if you have custom needs   you can go through it and that's the whole  idea so you purchase the template and they   look through it and see if there's anything that  you feel like could protect you even further   especially when you speak with your attorney  and another thing is i find that with event pros   you are your biggest experience because your your  needs evolve but and my favorite phrase to say is   is when your needs evolve as the clients show  their real self so every time you have a client   relation like you have a client incident you  realize that you know what this is another i   call it my no-no list which is a whole like a  whole discussion about the [ __ ] that you will   not tolerate when you contract with a client like  so for instance i think maybe the first or second   time you find yourself cleaning up when you're not  supposed to be cleaning up or holding somebody's   head when they're throwing up in the bathroom  you realize that you know what this is not my   job and then all of a sudden you're adding these  limitations or your no-no's into your contract   so these are the things that of course create  a custom situation or if you find yourself   especially when you're dealing with high net  worth clients and you find like your payment   schedule needs to be tweaked a little bit or you  need to have more like more strict boundaries in   your in your situation then i always think that  as as you evolve and as you grow as a professional   you you should seek the assistance of an attorney  at least even just showing them to sign off on   the on your new agreement because your needs  will always be custom but like i said before   we have created this this with event pros in mind  like literally event professionals like what is it   that you're going through and you know there's  been a lot over the last year so those have   been put in there so anybody that has purchased i  know at least two people that have purchased the   contract in this group anybody that has purchased  the contract will find that okay wow they even   thought about this but of course i can never ever  not tell you to not consult their attorney because   oh yeah yeah okay okay that sounds good that  sounds awesome that's that's definitely excellent   advice um i know for myself like i said i i  work with coombi and i i did ask for a custom   um custom contract so we went with the hybrid  we you know went with it yes we did because   yeah the template and then and then um customizing  it but um yeah i think it really just comes down   to you know your comfort wanting to wanting to  protect yourself um as opposed to just downloading   something from it you know one of these free  contracts on the internet but you definitely want   something specific to you so that you you actually  understand it frankly um you can't really enforce   it if you don't even understand it a lot of people  have contracts that they don't even know what it   says so you want to you have to understand it and  know what it says to enforce it um okay i think   that's even that's you literally just answered  the question for me because i think it's also   important there's no excuse anymore for you to not  know and understand the terms of your agreement   you see you would find that a lot of people had  problems with their contract and had the primary   reason for contract issues during this time was  the fact that you yourself didn't even know what   you had in your contract so half of the time i was  reviewing contracts that were literally like close   to clause they were fighting with each other yeah  so like you would have contracts conflicting with   each other inside there because people have  copy paste their contract from the internet   with the idea that okay you know what well you  know what this person had this in their contract   i'm just going to copy paste it here but the truth  is each contract like i always say it's literally   an extension of you and your business it's  literally about you and your product your it's an   extension and a living extension of your business  so anything that you change or anything that you   just touch on from somebody else sometimes isn't  going to work with actually what your business is   about and it's very dangerous and it's the reason  why it's really important that you have a cohesive   agreement and which is the reason why what facial  did was great with me like when she came in for   custom custom help outside of the contract is  because she wanted something that was 360 her   like completely her and so it's really important  that you have that in mind as well like so at   least reading your contract and digesting it  and knowing that okay this clause works for me   this clause works for me why is this clause here  maybe find out otherwise then you're just going   in blindly and then can't even have like a clear  conversation with your client about the terms and   guess what one thing that you can expect in 2021  is client pushback period they're going to be more   they're going to be much more critical about where  they're putting their money and they're going to   be much more credible about terms because they  want to make sure that they have an out as well   because of the pandemic because of what happened  in 2020 because it was so shocking and because   there were so many postponements people are going  to want to negotiate their contracts further   so you have to be able to stand in your contract  and be able to defend the terms of your agreement   or at least explain it to them so that both of  you are on the same page right yeah i think that's   excellent i think that's excellent like amazing  all right so i'm gonna reset super fast i'm gonna   reset the room um so we are talking about  preparing and protecting your wedding business   for 2021 um so we're talking about the legal  side and also preparing for 2021 right like   in addition to protecting ourselves we also want  to continue making sales let's be frank right we   want to be able to get the sale you know um push  our you know push our services and and all of   that so i just i just want to encourage you guys  please ping your friends all your industry friends   um anyone who's in the wedding events  industry or or creative even outside of it   a lot of us could use it so um please ping  your friends into the room we just want to   make sure that everybody gets a chance to to  chat with us my name is faisha i'm a wedding   planner i own a company called statuesque events  based in the dc metro area and i'm also a coach   i i run an accelerator program for wedding  planners called planners who profit and it's   for experienced wedding planners who are looking  to um yeah profit and increase their profit   and move into a higher market i'm also joined  by kumbi who is a as you can already hear   an awesome attorney with a heart for creative  professionals and especially wedding professionals   she has an entire contract shop of all kinds  of clauses and contracts that you can use in   your business one of them that she mentioned is  free which is the rescheduling clause so please   make sure that you know you follow us both  check out the link in her bio to access the   to access the contract shop and the link in  mind to learn more about our accelerated program   and i also have a free um challenge coming  up in 10 days so if you want to learn more   about that make sure you hit the link in my bio  sign up for that and i will be chatting more in   10 days right that's a challenge to start off the  year right now i wanted to um switch a little bit   um into preparing for 2021 but i do know that we  had one person raise their hand um if you don't   mind just wait just one second i just wanted to  answer one quick question before we hop into the   q a formally um but yeah one question that i get  a lot you know just from those who come to me who   are interested in coaching etc is do i have to  sell only micro wedding packages or do i have to   sell only discounted packages now that we're in  the pandemic and is it possible to sell regular   price packages is it possible to to raise my rates  etc during the pandemic um and i just want to   share my perspective on that i think absolutely  yeah yes um i think absolutely yes but just   keeping in mind that people like congress that  people are very a little bit more critical they're   they they want to know where their money is going  etc so yes i know that a lot of times we talk   about charging our worth and raising our rates but  you also have to present yourself a certain way   you've got to be able to answer questions um for  me i i can speak for myself and say that i've   gotten clients because of the pandemic i you know  earlier in the year spoke to a couple of clients   you know on sales calls and they're like oh we  really love your work but you know the typical   it's too expensive you know i'll do it myself  which was cool i don't argue with people about   that um because yeah i get a lot of inquiries  so i'm always just trying to find my clients   but i've had a lot of people kind of circle  back as the pandemic continued to rage on   and say you know what i can't navigate this by  myself like i actually need someone to help me   to navigate through this um you know and i think  that the interesting thing is that the pandemic   is actually helping people to see the value of  of quality wedding vendors um so if you when   you can present yourself when you can articulate  your value and how you're going to help people   um not only just to have a pretty wedding but  also help them through logistics through changes   through chaos and really inspire confidence which  is literally it's literally all in your ability to   to notice patterns um in your business and as  your servicing clients and also your ability to   communicate it right so that's why i have a whole  accelerator program it's all about helping people   to communicate their unique value their unique  positioning so that a client can understand   because the thing is that we for the most part in  the wedding industry we're serving clients who've   never done it before so they you literally have  to be able to speak in terms that they understand   and i find that a lot of times we don't know how  to do that as wedding professionals we just say   oh yeah we'll help you through everything but  what is everything right like what is what is   the everything that they need help with is it  just finding vendors can't they just go on your   instagram and pull the vendors that you tagged in  your last post and just use those same people like   what what is it like you know and i think that the  truth is that yes you can raise your rates you can   still sell your regular price packages i mean i've  sold multiple just you know domestic destination   wedding planning packages during the pandemic you  know and they're people who sought me out for my   specific um niche which is cross-cultural weddings  so it's very doable i don't want i think there are   a lot of people who are preaching doom and gloom  of like oh my gosh like all people are doing is   rescheduling and all people are doing is canceling  and having microwaves but that's not everyone   because again the the laws are different state by  state is the you know size of weddings i'm sure   that by the time summer comes some some states  will be back to like weddings of 200 250 et cetera   um so i i do think that it's all about your  positioning and your ability to communicate   your value in what you do um and answer questions  and frankly to address the elephant in the room   when you're on sales goals that's my that would be  like my biggest gem when it comes to selling right   don't just talk to a client as if we're not in a  pandemic while you're in the sales call with them   or while you know etc like let them ask questions  some people are for whatever reason are nervous   about asking questions but let them ask questions  and say hey how are you handling rescheduling like   what happens if i have to reschedule you know and  that goes back to knowing what's in your class   like so if it's in your mind you already know what  you put in your contract about your rescheduling   agreements you can say hey yeah i allow clients  to reschedule up to a year in advance right for   so if you book me for august you can reschedule  up until the following august um for a 500 fee   at no additional fee or maybe a saturday's at an  additional fee but weekdays are less or whatever   the case is whatever your um whatever your terms  are you can explain it so people don't feel like   they're signing and then are going to get hit with  random charges or surprises later right just being   able to explain things in layman's terms because  one thing i did mention yesterday when i was in   i was in kundi's room we were talking to  coaches but the sad thing is that a lot of   people don't really read their contracts um and as  we mentioned today including those who are sending   the contracts but so even it's even worse on the  client side so sometimes like you you know your   ability to just explain it off the top of your  head it helps people to say like this person is a   true professional like she has processes she knows  exactly what's going to happen in this case or   that case like i've had this conversation with so  many people and people always leave and say wow i   i feel relieved because i understand what's  going to happen in every case whether i can have   this 150 person wedding whether it has to  be 50 or whether i elope like i understand   the options at every single stage i understand  the decision points and all of that and i leave   relieved and it's amazing talking to people  about having to reschedule their wedding and   the unknown in the future and causing people to  leave that conversation leaving relieved and it   all comes from your ability to just be clear on  what what you are going to do how that's going to   help them and at what point you're going to you  know for those who are my actual clients what   point we're going to actually make the decision  right of whether or not you're going to reschedule   that inspires confidence and i know for  myself i consider myself to be someone like   not only do i i charge my you know charge i would  consider high ticket for my services i also pay   people um high ticket for things because i  don't like i don't like a whole lot of back and   forth i don't want to be anybody's like anybody's  experiment like i like things to just be done well   so for me i'm looking for the same thing when  i'm speaking to people and i'm sure all of you   guys can if you really think about it for  anyone who's like a homeowner or anyone who   um maybe you are looking for a home you're working  with a realtor or maybe even like when it comes to   something even like your hair you know imagine  when you're when you're speaking to someone and   you're looking to hire them for something you've  never done before or something that you've never   worked with them about you're looking to see like  does this person know what they're doing or do   they just are they just kind of saying fluff to  get my attention and i think that your ability to   to just communicate and give that value and  let people know like hey i know what i'm doing   i have clear terms i have clear you know  processes that will help you decision points   you don't have to we don't need to like be on a  call every single day for five hours to determine   whether or not we're going to reschedule  this is the point where we're going to do it   and all of that helps to inspire that confidence  and it helps to make the sale i mean i have   you know like i said i've booked i've and i've  also raised my rates this year and continued   to book right um originally rates largely  because i don't know how many more weddings   i even want to do next year but i was just but  people have continued to book and it's been   great and they've enjoyed the service because  they because of that clarity people want you   to leave them right so i think that and it's now  more than ever they want you to lead them through   everything that's going on right now and i think  that that's actually elevating the value of a   of us as service professionals right now i  don't know that many people who are looking for   month of coordinators or wedding management  in this particular situation that we're in   right now right most people are like i need  a planner because there's too many changes   and i'm gonna need to make decisions um in  advance about my my event or my wedding so   for me you know for myself i've i've raised my  rates booked more clients for those that i've   coached they've raised their rates they've booked  more clients because people are still like people   are still getting married they're never going  to stop getting married um and especially now   with the vaccine and everything what people are  really planning for you know for that grand event   and i think that's something i just think that's  an important thing to always keep in mind i think   that we do need to protect ourselves and i  know that in a lot of the event professional   rooms we talk a lot about canceling events  and pivoting into other fields which is   you know pivoting into other fields is great  it's something that you if you have a passion and   something else it's something that you should do  as well but don't just give up on weddings because   you know 2021 is gonna be a big year and once you  know covet is really under control it's going like   everything's just gonna explode and it's just it's  just gonna become a matter of whether or not your   business is ready so that would just be my two  cents on preparing yourself like really like   this is the time to really do that inner work of  what is the value that i bring beyond just oh yeah   i have a good network of vendors like what and  and being able to actually communicate that right   um as a wedding professional so that was just  one thing i wanted to share um i want to remind   everybody if you do have a question please hit  the raise hand button i know some people might be   new if you have something to to ask or  if you have something you'd like to share   please hit the raise hand button about preparing  or protecting your wedding business for 2021 and while people are doing that  i do have one other question   oh hey nicole she's back hi nicole can you go  ahead and unmute and you can ask your question sorry guys i had a call quickly um so i think it's going to be yes but i want to  ask anyways i have a lot of my clients who are in   a situation where for instance i started working  with them in 2018 and now they postponed all the   way to 2021 or 2022. so my question is because of  the pricing change and difference do you suggest   we put that into our main contract as well as an  amendment what are you suggesting regarding people   changing pricing just because of postponements  okay so that's a great question and i think that   that goes back to what i was saying about like you  know not having you should you shouldn't really   even be using the same contracts beyond like 2020  and sending out new ones is always a great idea   obviously some clients might say oh we already  signed one and then you send an addendum with that   listed in there like any further date change will  be subject to um updated rates for instance or be   subject to to um to um contractors updated rates  or you could charge a flat fee for it in my like   in general what i find with my clients is that  they're more comfortable even just having it in   their original contract stating that postponements  are limited to 12 months and anything beyond the   12 months range would be subject to an x  fee or updated contractor rates for that   for that year and also even stating that a further  date change beyond that an additional date change   after the initial date change would either  be subject to an updated agreement or will   be subjected to an updated amendment amendment  and updated fees because um i think that's one   part that we're all missing so that you don't find  yourself having to do addendum open addendum but   addendum especially when it comes to increased  rates stating in your contract from the beginning   that they will be subject to contractors  updated rates is always a great idea perfect thank you so much okay yeah it's perfect  thank you yeah and get that money girl there's no   reason why you should be working with 2018 rates  we're in 2020 and you you deserve a premium preach awesome awesome thanks thanks for sharing that  also nicole um she left but um also if anyone   else has a question please raise your hand we'd  like to bring you up on stage and also if you   have anything to add you know it's an open space  you can you know come on up and and share um oh i   even i had a question you have a question for each  other go ahead no you you know i have a list of   questions so but go ahead what you were going to  do because i was going to mention um because you   know we were talking about clauses originally  so one thing i hadn't even i didn't finish the   clause um list because beyond the postponement  to your cancellation also it has to be very clear   it has to be super clear as to how you are  handling a cancellation because like i said   some people will postpone postpone and then cancel  or some people will cancel from the beginning   based on something or the other i'll decide like  you know what it's not worth it anymore to keep   postponing or it's not worth it anymore for me  to have to wait till 2021 so i'm going to go   ahead and cancel and in that case for me it's um  it's really it has to be your cancellation clause   could literally dictate whether or  not you're going to get money back   how you need to be notified if you are going to be  returning any money or if everything is considered   work performed based on where at the point of  which they are canceling and for the reason   they are cancelling and then letting them know  that they will um they would not be receiving   any amount back or they will be receiving a  pro-rated amount back is really important so   that you don't find yourself i have seen clients  who like the client will cancel like let's say 30   days out or like maybe even less than 30 days  out and then we'll still be trying to ask um   ask for a full refund no there's no reason  why your contract should be quiet about that   language because that is something that you don't  want to even have to start defending in court   you shouldn't have to even go that extra step  like like you were talking about facial that   systems are so important part of the reason  why your contract is there is to make your life   super easy so it should be clear whether or not a  cancellation is possible obviously it is if they   decide they don't want to have the wedding anymore  here is how much you'll be getting back or here is   here is a nice flower because you're  not getting anything back so either way   it needs to be documented and also if they are  cancelling and and for any reason at all honestly   for for any reason like no there shouldn't be  any reason why you shouldn't even send them a   cancellation agreement to to tie up that loose  end if the contract doesn't complete naturally   like by the performance of the event for any  reason at all you should have a termination   agreement in place a cancellation agreement that  establishes that this this relationship has now   ended this is how we're ending we're parting ways  blah blah blah there will be no disparagement ever   the terms of this termination is conf confidential  and then you call it a day those things are really   important now especially because clients will  switch up on you nobody's beyond that people will   switch up on you differently and you find out that  all of a sudden they're like oh yeah you cancelled   but i yes i canceled the wedding but where's my  money back and you're like okay so but we decided   we weren't getting any money back and this is why  determination agreement is also important right   yeah no i think that's that's yeah i love it i  love it i love it i love it um crystal what is   your question for us um so say your name where  you live all that good stuff and your name um yeah all right we'll wait for her to come back um  all right so like i said i've got a whole list of   questions uh let me reset the room really quickly  so we're talking about preparing and protecting   your wedding business for 2021 so what that means  is how do we you know prepare to continue to run   our businesses make sales make money in 2021  and how do we protect ourselves protect our   money our um and our reputations et cetera in 2021  so my name is facial i'm a wedding planner owner   of statuesque events i'm also a coach and i run  an accelerator program for experienced wedding   planners call planners who profit and i'm joined  by kumbi who is an attorney um specific and she   does specialize in creative entrepreneurship  um has amazing templates for wedding and event   professionals in her contract shop called legally  set um she is also the mastermind behind perfect   so for the publication perfect as well um all  right so kumbi i have a question i think this   is something we could probably both um maybe just  have a discussion on so one of my it's something   that's come up a few times so one of my clients  were scheduled multiple times and i'm getting   frustrated um and i want to charge more so how  do i protect myself against endless rescheduling   in the future i mean i know that you've talked  about you know having a rescheduling clause and   making it clear let's say this person hasn't at  the you know had him at the onset said oh hey   you know if you want to reschedule you know  each time you reschedule is going to cost   this or whatever what should they do now now  that they're in a situation of you know every   schedule three times and now this person wants  to do it we're scheduled to like december 2022   and i just i can't give them the same current  rate what do i do now okay so for that one it   still goes back to that same conversation about  this is why it's so critical to have a fire   rescheduling class from the beginning because  it should let them know that first of all it's   it's limited to a single rescheduling or  you can in in some cases people are like   will permit reschedulings but it has to be within  the 12-month period from the original event date   in the situation where this person doesn't have  that that's why the an amendment is so essential   and which like i said you guys as i've mentioned  before i have a free amendment i'm giving out   so it's just go to freeamendment.com and you can  grab it there but um this is exactly why because   then you can put anything else that you want to  amend the terms from from the original agreement   so even in that amendment you can state that  this um the change is limited to a single change   a day change and any change further than that  or in addition to that will be subject to a   termination of the agreements and clients will  not receive and and both parties will no longer   be liable to each other there will be like there  will be a cancellation of liability and there will   be completion of the terms of the agreement or  any further changes is subject to a new agreement   because you shouldn't that's another thing  you shouldn't just keep adding band-aids   and band-aids onto an initial agreement it's  exhausting and it's a way for them for you   to find holes in your agreement so having that  terminate at one point or the other don't keep   this on an endless loop especially if you want to  be able to charge more money so let them know or   you can even put it in there like i said that  an additional change will be subject to x fee   that way you're able to now patch that on and  and maybe honestly even curb this endless um   amendments and changes because you have to  remember that each client is each each booking you   have is another booking that you can't have so for  that reason alone keeping yourself in an endless   loop of day changes could then end up being a very  exhausting game to play so having it there and   letting them know that okay any additional changes  will be subject to this and then we'll render   everything and and then you can also put in that  also render all previous payments non-refundable   because they've already been paid and in exchange  in consideration for the movement of the dates   you are now in contribution for the movement of  the date you are the date that you are permitting   this client to move to clients understands that  this is now non-refundable and then any further   date changes will be subject to x fee yeah yeah no  i mean i love that i think that is that is that is   excellent i mean i think another thing i mean  this kind of goes into just for scheduling in   general like we're scheduling with lots of vendors  and you know i guess depending on certain clients   i have a wedding that was supposed to take place  five days after um the world like officially shut   down obviously kovit was looming but i was really  hoping we could get through this wedding we didn't   um and yeah so everybody was was booked and paid  um and so we're you know we're scheduling that   wedding we had to schedule it twice now um the  client got pregnant so and then they live in a   different state from where the wedding was taking  place so there was it was very understandable   reasons but we've had to you know reschedule it  and there's just you know a lot going on there   um and yeah it's a lot of work you know we're  scheduling with a lot of clients a lot of vendors   is a lot of work because everybody's availability  changes daily and it's hard to find that that that   perfect space so we have to we we kind of have  to protect ourselves you know against that um so yeah okay i think we lost someone so i'll  wait for her to come back up if anyone has   any questions please raise your hand we'll  bring you on stage so that you can speak um   and and ask your question all  right so we've got someone all hello hey hi hi conby i love you girls um you guys are hilarious especially   you're very you're very straight  shooter like you don't even play   but my question is all right so a lot of contracts  were obviously sent out uh before covet hit so   what do we do do we get amendments and send it  back to the client and say hey um we need you to   sign this because of covet and the changes that  have you know have happened or how do you navigate   that because a lot of the questions that were  asked it's more like you should have had your   contract ready from the beginning but because this  was all new to all of us um it's like how do you   move forward yeah i have a i have a comment about  that um so one thing that changed for me after   um i kind of already mentioned uh rescheduling um  in my contract but i didn't have any i didn't have   a covet liability clause right basically saying  that you can't sue me if you or anybody in your   at your wedding gets catches covid um you know  despite our best efforts and all of that because   we can't control it just like the rest of the  country can't control it um so that's something   that i had that i did resend to clients um i  did explain that i'm updating the agreement   and i need them to accept it basically in order  for me to show up at their events right because   i need them to understand i mean granted the  weddings that we did this year for the most part   were smaller but i still needed them to understand  that you can't just come back and and blame me for   you know random stuff it's not my fault if someone  just chooses not to wear a mask or if someone   you know is asymptomatic and spreads coveted so i  think that there's other things we have to protect   ourselves against even but even beyond um like  their scheduling that was the first thing that i   i chose to um amend in my agreement and that was  something that nobody would have had pre-code   right so i think that that's kind of why  i wanted to hop in and just say like that   was something that i sent i allowed my clients to  have time to think it through um you know and but   basically just sending it to them and basically  saying i i am not able to show up unless you   kind of sign this um you know and and explaining  that that was the only part you know that was the   only thing that you know that was the only part  that was amended um and in the contract i didn't   really have any pushback um or or anything there  and you know i've already explained to them that   we're going to be wearing masks to protect the  clients we're you know going to have minimal to   no con you know contact on people you know explain  the safety measures that are going into place but   despite best safety measures it obviously was an  evolving situation first the first wedding we had   this year was in july so it's like i still don't  think we 100 know every way that this disease   is transmitted honestly but definitely then we  didn't so it's just like we're going to do our   best we're going to do our best we've already  discussed that but no matter what like i don't   want you know because that's something you  want to protect yourself against too you don't   want someone to get sick and pass away i mean i  think we've all seen these stories in the news   where they they decide that this wedding was a  super spreader or this funeral or this backyard   party was a super spreader event um and it just  kind of happens and goes away but then i i never   really hear of if there was a planner or if there  was a vendor what ended up happening in that case   um and if someone decided to go after that  that vendor so for me i think i think that   and i mean it's hard because it this this the  answer to this question relies on your clients   being reasonable people but i do think that  you know if you can't explain like not just   throw not just throw an extra two three pages on  your contract and say hey i need you to sign this   but explain these are the clauses that i've added  and this is why it's important um i i don't know i   just think that that's that's kind of like the  front end like practical side to get people to   understand because again people some people their  eyes just glaze over once they see all those words   and they're not going to read it in detail so the  fact that you just explained these are the three   things i'm adding this is why it's important  and yes it's protecting me right but this is   why it's important and i kind of need you to sign  it for me to show up i think that that's that's   that's a good way to um to present it and i think  um i think you may have touched on like their   scheduling um and cancellation too but yeah if you  i if you have anything to add or correct from that   said please do so yes so i've had like many most  of my clients this year have had to send out new   agreements or at least send out amendments  and um what facial i said is right like you   basically just send it out as a notice of updated  agreement or notice oh you know what i mean   of notices of changes first of all and then just  break it down to them make it cute and flowery as   much as you want to but still make sure that you  know the [ __ ] is legit because our first time   one of my clients she's in the audience i will  mention but she sent that out and she sent out   a notice basically letting them know that this  is how she was going to be handling the covet   situation and the reason why that was important  is because like you said nobody was expecting this   right so this was this was a response basically  just you know letting everybody know what's up   like here is the this is the state of event  and here is the updated agreement with this   information in terms of the schedule and  that's exactly how you can do it if it's if   for me obviously i think it's always better to  have a new agreement presented to them that way   you can terminate the old one and then just have  new terms clear as day for everybody but you   will find that sometimes clients will push back  because they want to keep their original agreement   in which case you can just do an amendment and  let them know that this is your policy on this   right and in

2021-01-03 00:19

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