The Opportunity
Finding an internship was the ultimate goal. Last year I was so focused on finding any internship but lost sight of finding the RIGHT ONE. After being rejected from the internship that I wanted, I had the opportunity to go to a Grove City College Panel. Before I knew it, I wasintroduced to two women, Holly Muchnok and Bethany Addams. They gave me an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.
East Wing Events, LLC, is the event planning company I had the opportunity to work for this summer. At first I would have told you that my internship had nothing to do with sales. Throughout the summer, I realized more and more that I was completely wrong. Each and everything thing that I had to do involved sales. Although I might not have been selling a tangible product, I was selling something. Here are 3 points I learned through my event planning sales experience, and pictures to represent a wedding that got every detail right.
| sell the BIG picture but do not forget the detail |
One of the most impo
rtant things in event planning selling is the big picture. If you are unable to communicate well with others and present the vision to your clients there is a high likelihood that they will not be sold on your idea. A way to capture their minds and hearts on an idea is by creating an atmosphere that they would not want to leave. While the atmosphere is important,he detail is where the entire event comes together. Use the small details to completely win the client over. Present your vision and follow through with the small details that make the difference.
| correct the mistakes |
There will always be something that goes wrong. Rather than d
welling on the fact that something went wrong, fix it. This past summer, a few interns and I were getting things together for a wedding. Thinking that a cookie table would be an easy task to put together, we realized we were missing the Bride’s fathers favorite cookie. What seems like a minor issue, became a huge issue to our client. Either way, we were immediately in the car driving to the store to pick up the 3 dozen “lady locks” that were missing. It is important to not stress over the mistakes. Find what is wrong, stay calm, and make it work.
| know your client & learn to communicate |
The most important part of selling is knowing your client. If you don’t know your client, you will not know how to cater to their specific needs. Communication comes in to play as well. It is important gauge the individuals
that respond well to truly getting to know you as an individual as opposed to the ones that just want strictly business.
I did not think I would be doing any kind of selling this past summer, but I am thankful that I had the opportunity to learn the “ins” and “outs” of event planning selling.
BoweryJE22
Great pictures!! Like you mentioned here, and like it was mentioned in class, I like the idea that fixing a mistake is a form of selling. If you’re capable of quick fixing an issue, the client may come back to you in the future because they know you can handle the unexpected.
I also enjoyed the photos! And I love your three points of advice from your sales experience; I think those points can be relevant for so many other situations as well. Especially the idea of correcting your mistakes. I know for me if I make a mistake in a job, my natural instinct is to freak out, but mistakes are an inevitable part of living in this world and figuring out whats wrong, staying calm, and then working to resolve the issue/fix the mistake is really good advice!