Talking Money - Cancellations, Refunds, Oh My!
CRISIS WEBINAR SERIES 5/5
MOTIVATING, MANAGING, AND HANDLING BUSINESS IN TIMES OF CRISIS
With the option to work from home becoming more available than ever, it's important to learn the steps you can take that will keep your team engaged, happy, and crushing their goals. Rachel Sheerin will guide you in ways to immediately boost trust, understanding, and performance.
Keep learning as if you will live forever.
THANK YOU! We had over 2,000 people sign up for these webinars this week, and I am so honored you chose to spend your time with me. I hope my webinars have helped you, your teams, and your hearts to wake up with a new thought, perspective, and energy during this difficult time - I remain always, a huge fan of your huge hearts.
HIGHLIGHT FROM THIS WEBINAR:
5min: Show me the money - forgetting group mindset and getting your mind right.
7min 45sec: We’re all saying together - I was successful before, and I will be successful again.
9min 15sec: Give your clients the benefit of assumption of intentions. They are not here to hurt you, look for the good.
9min 45sec: Defining true failure as the time you failed and couldn’t go on another day.
12min: Understanding how people think, fear, and feel based on their behavior.
19min 20sec: Preparing accordingly with contracts, payments, laws, and practices.
24min 25sec: Stacking Strategy, questions that lead to “yes”.
28min 25sec: How to prepare for future sales with the time we have now.
SOME OF THE QUESTIONS ASKED LIVE BY ATTENDEES:
How can we encourage people to continue to donate to our mission, instead of asking for refunds for previous donations?
How do we know when it’s appropriate to reach out to past and potential clients to set up business for after the isolation is over?
With all the cancellations and postponements, should I still reach out to new potential clients?
What conversations should venues be having about destination weddings with couples who may not wish to postpone?
Do you feel like I should continue marketing for new clients through this?
What is a reasonable amount of time to reschedule weddings?
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS WEBINAR
CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
ASAE: American Society of Association Executives
The Planner’s Vault: Grow Your Wedding Planning Business
+ Open Full Webinar Transcript
Rachel Sheerin:
Okay. Hey everybody, we're back. Sorry about that. I don't know if it's everyone being on zoom right now, but Oh my gosh. So sorry about that. I'm going to go ahead and share my screen and make sure that you guys are able to see relaunch. So thanks for everybody for sticking with me. I want to make sure you guys are all able to see each other and chat with each other. So I make sure that in the zoom webinar chat in this screen, you're able to select to go ahead and click on it and you're going to be saying all panelists and attendees, you want to make sure that is checked so everyone's able to share resources and talk. Additionally, make sure that you merging to the meeting windows so that you're available to see both the screen and the chat that's going on.
Rachel Sheerin:
We're having awesome dialogue on these webinars and I am so freaking grateful that you guys have joined us. So welcome. Again, my name is Rachel Sheeran and today's quick fast crisis webinar is really on talking money and feel free to drop it in the chat if you've been a lot like me. My week has been consumed with people talking about cancellations, postponement rescheduling as well as date adjustment and it's been wild. I don't think I've ever read more contracts than I have this week ever. I got in the habit of my business as a keynote speaker and a trainer. I of course I don't my contracts with a lawyer when I first started, but did I ever go back and look at them not that closely. Right, so Denning, intimate and related again with the areas of the contracts that we have has been a fun opportunity to reset and also all of us maybe feel like we have a minor law degree right now.
Rachel Sheerin:
Today we're talking money and as I mentioned before we were cut off. One of the things that I wanted to let you guys know is this is going to be a very fast abbreviated webinar because I want you to put your questions in the Q and a box. There should be a little box at the bottom of your screen labeled Q and a that you're able to click on and put your questions in there. Go ahead. Don't wait for the webinar. It just start. Go ahead and put your questions in there because chances are if you are thinking it, we're going to want to talk about it anyway and I really want to be able to serve you all in the ways that you need it the most right now. So listen, this is where we are. Okay? Does anyone feel like poor group in terms of money?
Rachel Sheerin:
We have no money. Yes group, man. I, yeah, Julie, I see you raising a hand. I can see you guys when you raise your hands on this side. Listen, I feel like this a little bit. There's stress, right? Money is one of those things as a society people or either really quick to talk about or really scared to talk about. Does anyone else feel that? Like when they, when you think of money, feel free to put it in the chat. When you think of money, what are the words that normally come to mind for you guys? Just even in general when things aren't in crisis, the one that I hear a lot of times is anxious nerves and says tough. Yeah, absolutely. Budget. Stephanie, I feel you on that insecurity. Yeah, there's a lot of different feelings that come up with money and I will, I feel you Christie.
Rachel Sheerin:
I see you on the chat. Say I like money, but managing, it's not my forte. And by the way, folks, when you're chatting all panelists, go ahead and make sure that you actually chat all panelists and attendees and the little two area. Cause when you say it to all panelists, only I can see it, but I want you guys to be able to share with each other. Yeah, I'm seeing guilt. Oh my gosh. Amanda, are we Catholic? Hello? It was Sarah says, potentially awkward conversation. Scarcity. Yes. Amanda says she's Jewish. I love you. I love you Amanda. Oh, Chestnut and vine goes, what is the current power ball match? You know what? That's a great question. Y'all want to go in on a ticket? We should listen. In terms of money, we have no money. It feels heavy and just think about all the rules that we've been taught about money throughout our parents.
Rachel Sheerin:
Like the phrases that come to mind are money doesn't grow on trees or you better save for a rainy day. The quotes that our parents and well-meaning adults and mentors and even society has taught us essentially make money a really taboo topic and if you happen to be a female listening out there, the world is actually not that inclusive. Traditionally of women being able to even earn money or have money or spend money. The fair credit act of 1974 actually made it possible for women to get their own credit cards. If you wanted a credit card and were a woman in 1973 you had to get your husband or your father to approve your credit card and y'all what the what the what. So listen, in terms of money, we have no money. But what we're talking about today is not just money for right now, it's not just clients and talking about and thinking about money for right now.
Rachel Sheerin:
It's for forever. Megan goes, that's crazy. I completely agree. Inhaler, a stuff from Philly. It's great to see you on here again. Listen, this is where we want to be, right? We want to be like, surely the money is anyone else having these moments this week where you're running around like a chicken with your head cut off and you're just like, where's the money? Did I store money in a mattress? Is there money in the bank? What bank accounts do I have? Do I have an old aunt? Do we have an old aunt that's already passed away from natural causes that I never claimed any money from you? You know, we start to get, we start to wind up, and by the way, it's not just us. The world outside us ramps up and especially I think a lot of times we often times in the events industry, if you're watching from that perspective, if you're in the nonprofit industry conventions, who tells whatever industry you're in, I'm going to guess that because you're seeking out knowledge, you're going to be a lot like me, and you're going to be that person that's pretty reasonable.
Rachel Sheerin:
But then when you see other people out, you're like, should I? Okay, maybe I should start freaking out. And then it starts to wind us up like a pressure cooker, right? It's stirring yourselves up and saying, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, what is happening? What is happening? So listen, I know you might feel like saying, show me the money and going all Tom cruise from whatever tho movie is. Jeremy was Jared, Jeremy, Jeremy guys. Is it margarita time or is it margarita time? It's margarita time. Jerry Maguire. And I know you feel like that, but I'm here to tell you that this is the feeling we're going for. Okay? A collective breathe. I love this emoji. Anyone else? It's just like you're kind of hugging. It's that feeling when a dog is sleeping next to you and it nuzzles it's nozzles, its nose into you. This feeling is what we should feel around money because you know what this is, this is comfort and this is security.
Rachel Sheerin:
This is safety. And it's confidence. It's the confidence being able to feel deeply in money. And I do a webinar course actually. It's a package of free recorded webinars on money mindset and really making sure that you can feel this. You can talk about money, you can save and arrange your finances, things like that. But today this is a mini crash course in getting you from freaking out or feeling bad to feeling like this. So what are we going to do? First of all, it starts with getting your mind right. There are three facts that I'm going to ask you. It's going to sound corny. You might be, well, here's the fact. We're probably all quarantined so you're not going to feel that weird saying it out loud to your coworkers or your animals, but listen, getting your mind right. I'm going to ask you that.
Rachel Sheerin:
You come along with me just a little woo, not full. We will, but just a little woo and I want you to say it out loud with me. I want you to embrace it. I want you to think at the first is that you were successful before and you will be successful again. Yeah, aye and successful before and I will be successful again. That is an undeniable truth. I said it on yesterday's webinar. Big hearted people can't lose. They can't. The world is built on it and you have been rewarded for all the big heartedness and all the incredibleness and creativity and love and leadership that you've put out into the world. It's gonna happen again. So you have been successful before. You are going to be successful again. And by the way, success is way more than money, but I think that's a different combo.
Rachel Sheerin:
You know that. I know that. The second one is you've got to look for the positivity in these money conversations. What you see. Yeah. What you seek is what you find, so make sure that you're looking for positivity. I want you thinking with when you're talking to clients, when you're talking about money, when you're having these hard negotiations, I want you to say, this is going to go well. This is going to go well. I am about to get on this call and there's going to be understanding. There's going to be, there's going to be commiseration. There's going to be honesty and vulnerability. There's going to be good intentions and best wishes for me for the y'all. I already know you're giving it to your clients. I know. I mean honestly, if you are listening to this webinar and you don't have good intentions, hop on off.
Rachel Sheerin:
This is a good intentions crew right here. Okay? I know you already care so deeply about your clients. Give them the same benefit of assumption of intention. They are not here to ruin you. Wreck your business, yell at you, take out their frustrations. It happened as a cause or an effect. Maybe? I don't think so. I don't think so. Especially when you're getting your mind right. Look for the good look for the generousness and I see I've done that and it does happen. What you look for, you're going to find third of real serious question and I don't know. I'm going to pause on this. When have you ever truly failed? When have you ever truly, truly failed that you did not go on another day?
Rachel Sheerin:
It might've felt like failure. It might've felt like heartbreak. It might've felt like the worst day, the worst mess up, the worst thing. But you know what? Today? Today's a beautiful 75 degree day here in Charlotte, North Carolina. Today it's Friday. Yes. Oh, can we still celebrate Friday's? Woo. All right. Today is March 20th today is March 20th and it's, it's the second day of spring. It's my dad's birthday. Oh, I miss him so much. He's in heaven now, but today is a day, which means I'm still winning. And it means that you are so many too. If you were here, that means you have never truly failed. And I want you to own that power. This might, this might be one of the hardest things you're ever going to have to do. And you know what? This is going to be a hell of a story, a hell of a chapter in the book of your life.
Rachel Sheerin:
Okay? What can I learn from this? Listen, I learned in the bring it on. I don't want to, I don't want to have this all bring it on, but we're here and you know what one have you ever truly fail? I, Oh, I encourage you to own the fact that that is never, you have a never truly fail. You will never truly fail. You stop, you change directions, you reassess, you pivot, but you don't fail. You just don't. And that that is the energy we are going into for Friday and for the road ahead. So when it comes to money talk, here are some fast and true advice that I've been using in my background as a director of sales. So multimillions tens of millions of dollars. I have sold it in my lifetime for my own company as well as others and the biggest, biggest nugget I could give you, not just for selling but for life, is really to be able to predict your clients.
Rachel Sheerin:
If you've been in team trainings with me, done my webinar packages, I'm done my life coaching, you will have seen the, I rely on behavior analysis. I'm a certified behavioral analyst. It sounds fancy, but what it means is that I essentially help you understand what people think, fear and feel based on their behavior and I want to, I want to bring you into that. I have two questions for you. When you're thinking about talking to your clients right now about money conversations, what is their pace? Are they fast paced or are they slow pace? Now I know y'all out there probably can guess what I am. I am a fast paced person. How can you tell that? The way I walk, the way I talk, how, how loud I am typically fast paced. People are louder, slower pace book, steadier pace. Folks, they might talk at a cadence in their voice, a pace in their voice that's similar to this.
Rachel Sheerin:
They might feel like a hug. They might do this weird thing where they think before they talk fast paced people, bass, bass, people talk to think. Have you ever started a conversation and you've had one idea maybe where to go to dinner? Ooh, I can't wait to go out to dinner soon. I'll come on quarantine. But have you ever had this conversation? Maybe with some of your girlfriends, a partner, you're talking and you're talking and you're talking and then essentially you think that you want Italian, but you end up all the way over here at Tai. You don't know how you got there, but in the end tie sounded better. That's a fast paced person talking to them. So what is the pace of your client? Are they fast based or are they slow pace? The other question you have here is what is their focus?
Rachel Sheerin:
What is their focus? What do they focus on? Two times two sides. They have a task focused person or a people focused person. Now. Yes, we're a combination of both, but what would they prefer when you talk to them? For example, are they short with a hello and go right into business talk? That tends to be a fast paced person if they're very into goals, deadlines. If what you talk about is more on the professional side, a lot of times they're going to be more task focused, personal focus people, I tell you what, you know them, especially if you're in the hospitality industry. These are the people that when you go to networking events, they're asking about your dog and your kids and vacation and they've got this memory like a trap for people. They always call you by your name. It's one of those things where people focus.
Rachel Sheerin:
People often ask how you are and then ask how you really are before getting to the work side of things. Is it right or wrong? Absolutely not. It's just a tendency of behavior. So I want you to think about, I want you to pause right here. If you're preparing for a difficult conversation around money with a client, what is their pace? Are they fast or slow and what's their focus? Do you think they get right to work immediately or are they more personally connected and personally focused to you? And by the way, you're going to get this slide deck. So if you're not in a position right now to do that, you'll be able to do it a little bit later. Think about it and note it down as you're taking notes. So what do you do once you've, what a client is into or what their focus is, here's some help.
Rachel Sheerin:
So no matter slow paced and fast paced. What do you do? Listen, you talk at their speed, you communicate at their speed, fast paced people out there when you pick up the phone and you go, hi, thanks for calling. This is Rachel. And the person on the other end of the line is slow paced and they're like, hello, aye. I am interested in discussing. And you're like, no, no, no, no, no. This is too slow. Listen, it's a real bass bass. People like fast paced people, slow pace people, they prefer a slow and steady. So our base folks, have you ever picked up the phone to somebody? Maybe it's a prospect because those phones should be ringing soon when the prospect picks up and you're like, hi, thanks for calling. And they're like, yeah, hi, listen. Yeah. What it was interested in is your products and services in any way.
Rachel Sheerin:
It's going to be on July 21st, 2021 and your life. I need a bed. Wait a second. Like, Oh my gosh. Okay, listen, there's a pace out there for everyone. Just make sure that you're matching their case that you can. And really when we're talking about stuff with task focus people, make sure that you're sticking in these money conversations to the facts. Make sure you're, you're touching all the details and you're making sure that you're pointing what you're talking about to the blank. Right? So instead of saying your wedding, say the event, right, the wedding, the wedding of the year. Sure. But instead of really focusing on like, well you and I in me, in Dubai, you want to focus on facts. You want to focus on being able to connect with them on the details because typically task focused people, they're here to work with you and then they keep their friend group really separate.
Rachel Sheerin:
Now, if they're people focused, folks, what you're going to see here is that you really should keep it more personal. You should talk about emotions, right? Emotional people are people focus. People love talking about emotions. It's one of those things where you know, you ask how are they and you're taking the time to really listen. You're also going to talk about big picture stuff. Don't get into the nitty gritty. Sometimes we really lose clients because we force very people focus. People who just want to work with us, be friends, get happy, do good, feel good, all that kind of stuff. We get bogged down in the details of things and we tell them a bunch of stuff that honestly either a confuses them, which makes them feel stupid. B overloads them and makes them shut down or see, kind of turns them off.
Rachel Sheerin:
Like, there are people here that don't plan things. Have you had clients like that? They never read the contracts that never read those emails. Even though you tell them to read those emails, they never read the emails. Yes. Abigail goes, yes, I feel you. Those kinds of folks, we want to keep it high level and fun for them because you know what? Things are already stressful enough out there. Let's keep, let's keep it a little bit bigger picture. They don't need to know all the steps you've done to help them right now. Additionally, keep the, keep the focus of the conversation on I you and we. If we can talk about us, if we can talk about we a lot more. It's going to boost confidence for people, focused people. It's going to be one of those things where they understand that they are not alone in their brain.
Rachel Sheerin:
Our brains are such funny things. Whatever we feed them it it. It can either inflame our brains or soothe our brains. Let's be the soothers right now. I the U the week am I do a big reminder. This is for people focus stuff. I know that if we are in that Jerry McGuire moment of money in business, a lot of you listening out there and watching out there are going to be solo business owners. I mean, hello, I'm an entrepreneur too. What's up? Me and my team, it is just us. I see you guys raising hands. This is one of those things where you know, making sure that if it is a task focused person, it doesn't mean that they don't care about the personal connection and the effect and things like that. It means that we need to fix their problems first and then they can connect with us on a personal level.
Rachel Sheerin:
So you know it right now. I think it's a sensitive time right now. Don't be too turned off by that. Yes, your clients care about you. That's a fact of it. Your clients care about you and they trust you, which is why we're in these money conversations. So what does this look like? Once you've identified what kind of client you're talking to and what you should be focusing on in conversation, you've got to prepare accordingly. And here's the thing. As somebody who's very fast paced and who tries to keep away from the news a little bit more than most because, Oh, I'd kill my vibe guys. There's a lot of stuff going on and I don't even know what's real and fake anymore. Well, listen, you've got to prepare accordingly. And so take the time. Even if you know, even if you're confident in your ability, even if you're have the gift of gab, make sure that you're preparing a quarterly.
Rachel Sheerin:
So what does that look like? Well, first of all, of course it starts with contract and money's paid. You've just got to make sure that you've got everything. And I would say if you're talking to a a task focus person, make sure you've got date of contract signed and you've got date of deposit and things like that. Like make sure that you're aware of that. You also want to make sure that you have the lead of cdc.gov Oh look, there's a misspelling. It's not dot CIOs. Oh, y'all. I am a flawed human and thanks for loving me anyway, the latest cdc.gov and local government statements in certain areas. I know my friends watching from new Orleans in Seattle as well as California and New York right now. Y'all have very interesting and and restrictive laws right now. And the fact of the matter is here in North Carolina, you know, every state is different.
Rachel Sheerin:
Make sure that you've got the most up to date information because here's the thing, we cannot assume that they know the information and are paying as close attention as we are. They just hear a blip in the news like a lot of us do and and then they just carry on. But your to be the expert right now you're to be the expert, right? And by the way, if you were area hasn't come out with any particular statements or you know that there's a press conference coming up, make sure you've got that info too. Now what about community practices? This is where I don't know about you guys, but I've loved being here on these webinars. We have had over 1500 people sign up for this week of webinars. We had a group of over 500 student leaders on the webinar before this. I mean gathering together thousands of people y'all.
Rachel Sheerin:
This is incredible in this virtual community that we already knew existed, but we're building for ourselves right now. I mean I'm, I'm building with you. I love this, this margarita motivation right here. I mean like you know the lines and me and salted rims so good, but this community practices is going to be more important than ever. So how were you able to connect, first of all, what are your vendors doing? If you are somebody that works with a team of vendors to create either an event or an experience, a conference and engagement, perhaps you're in an association, it's a membership driven association. What are the vendors and or your peers doing? What are the best practices that are being forced out of this? That's going to be something that will give you stronger confidence as well as references. And if you can have a unified circle, that will be really, really good.
Rachel Sheerin (21:52):
Now I will just like to say you get to define that community. So for example, if you might be, I'm gonna use a wedding planner example. If you are a wedding planner and your in a local market, stick to your local market for getting your community guidelines, whether it's your local state or your metropolis area because those are the things that your couples are going to care about. But if for example, you're in a national association, then I would look to either a, if you're part of a larger association, for example, ASAE, what is the best practices there? That's the association or American society of association executives for those that don't know. And long story short is, it's one of those things where your peers in an association level might look a little different. And by the way, if you have competitive, which I put big, huge, giant, giant air quotes because really there's no, there's, there should be associations for everybody, every walk of life, every type of life.
Rachel Sheerin:
But if you have competitor associations, this is the time to circle the wagons with them and ask what they're doing and bring out a unified statement. [inaudible] Additionally, the unification makes a stronger position. You're able to point to it and by the way, gaining resources that you can point to. I know Meghan Gilligan, she's launched the planners vaults for event and wedding planners in this planner's vault. There's different webinars, legal contracts, things like that. It's a low monthly fee for people to join and get access. It's going, it's going even more pivotal right now for, I think it's something like $20 a month. You've got access to all this stuff and it saves you thousands and [inaudible] in a lot of different education spaces. What are the resources you can point to? What's the podcast? What's your associations doing? Making sure that you've got things to lean on.
Rachel Sheerin:
And by the way, sharing it with your clients, having backup. It's just like when we were selling to them originally, where are the reviews from past clients? Make sure that you're those kinds of reviews and that supporting documentation. It is one of those things that really can make a difference. And while we're added, I want to share with you one of my favorite sales strategies and also comes in handy for times like this. So as you're preparing to have these money conversations, I want to introduce you to the theory of stacking. Have you guys ever been on a like been on your couch watching TV late at night and you've seen those like commercials on QVC or like the, what are they? The like the, the help me out guys. It's like the commercials for like the copper chef and other stuff. Infomercials. Yes. Thanks Dean.
Rachel Sheerin:
Sharon guest infomercials. Thank you. So infomercials are so funny and I loved them so much. And full disclosure, I love my copper chef. But infomercials are one of those things where it's like, get this pan, but wait, there's more. You get the lid, you get the boom menu, you get the cookbook you get. But wait, wait, Oh, for three easy things, right? And so you're just like, Oh my God, I don't even love most of the stuff. But by the end of it you're like, do I need a copper chef? And the answer is definitely yes. So here it's the thing that is a strategy of sales called stacking. It. Stacking essentially means that when you're starting to stack on top of things, they, it's bonus and bonus and bonus. When you're leading something, someone does something that's positive in that even whether or not they want it or it's on topic, it actually helps our brains feel a lot happier and a lot more open to collaboration as well as ideas and suggestions that you might not be normally primed for.
Rachel Sheerin:
So here's the way you can use this in your money conversations right now. I want you to get creative and I want you to start asking questions that lead to a yes. So let's take an example of a client that's upset and they'd like to, okay, cancel an event. Since a lot of us are event pros here are on this webinar. So they want to cancel an event. Your contract clearly States that they cannot cancel within 30 days or else the full balance is due. And all this kinds of things. So one of the things that you can do here is questions that lead to a yes. Yeah. Abigail, have you enjoyed working with me? Yes. And Abigail, do you remember when we first met? Yes. And Abigail, do you, I remember that you said that what you were looking for is an honest relationship before the longterm.
Rachel Sheerin:
Yes. That is what I'm committing to you. I still want to have a longterm relationship with you. Do you want one with me? Yes. And as you're listening guys, you might be thinking, I couldn't ask that. The answer is yes. The answer is yes. Here's the thing, have you ever had somebody ask, can I be Frank with you? Right. Can, can I ask you a question? Get permission, start there. Start asking yeses and what you are, you know what you are able to ramp up to is to really ask for what you need. Abigail. Thank you. Cause I want a longterm with you. And the fact of the matter is is that we, I'm really proud we employ 210 people here at this property and some of them are at risk of furlough and we need to get them back hired. We need to get them back from furlough as soon as possible.
Rachel Sheerin:
That is what this income is there to do. Can you help me? Can't, how can we work together on this? Will you trust me that this is not a, this is not a trick. This is business. This is, this is honest. However, those conversations need to go build by stacking and by the way, if you need to apologize, stacking also works when you get ramped up on it and yes, yes, yes. When you start to need to apologize, which you can empathetically or just in general as business goes on and we're all flawed humans, right in the goof up occasionally you can also stack the Ansaris. It's one thing to say I'm sorry for everything, but it's another to say, Abigail, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that this has happened to you. And I'm sorry that I don't have more control over this. And I'm sorry that I don't own the world.
Rachel Sheerin:
I'm sorry that I can't give you everything that you asked for. I'm sorry that we didn't get to have the best day ever together on March 28th but can you trust me on this? Can you, can you stay with me on this or insert whatever you want from them. And literally the stacking of I'm sorrys when you are specific is masterful. And here's a bonus tip. Do it with the people you love. Those blanket, I'm sorry, your heart is so much bigger and better than that. Start getting used to stacking. And it seems a bit silly, but I promise you that it is not. It's effective. And by the way, while we're talking about money, it seems I'd be remiss if I didn't already talk about the future of sales. So what are the future sales look like? How can we prime for it in this time?
Rachel Sheerin:
Right now? Listen, now is the time to reconnect with your biggest fans and share how they can support you for $0 million. And by the way, I see it going around right now. Yes, referral a reviews are important. Wherever people review you, great. By the way, that includes LinkedIn for recommendations. If you see somebody in your community, it goes back to my mantra of the three CS. We connect and celebrate. We congratulate and we console. If you see somebody who is out of work during all of this crisis time, please go on their LinkedIn and write them a recommendation. Say what's true about them. This isn't just for our clients, it's for our people and our peers. But share how they can support you. You're your best cheerleaders for $0 million. This is the time to ask for referrals and intros. And I want to make a very big statement here that I, it's hard to emotionally connect with, but I know that this is true and it's helped me immensely.
Rachel Sheerin:
If you are in the hospitality restaurant and events industry and the travel industry right now, you are being hurt, hit so hard. I am right there with you. I was a long time event pro. Now I'm on the speaker and trainer side of things. I get it. But do you know what is not happening? It's not happening nearly as hard to other industries. Other industries have business going on and yes, it's moved to virtual and yes there's work from home, but at the end of the day, there are other opportunities out there. There are other industries that are still going on. Now is a business as normal. It nothing is normal. Who the heck knows what normal is right now? But I can guarantee you that there are going to be opportunities out there. Find your biggest fans, the cheerleaders, the ones that love to refer you, the ones that you wish you could clone over and over and over.
Rachel Sheerin:
If you're an association, find your biggest cheerleader members. Find your biggest cheerleader sponsors and ask for referrals and introductions. Hey, you know what, if I could clone you, if I could clone you if Mary Chris from visit Lansing or in Michigan is on this webinar, Mary Chris, if I could clone you and I could have all my clients be exactly like you, I, I would be the happiest person alive. Mary Chris is one of my incredibly special, big hearted association clients and I could love, I could work with her all day long. And you know what? Merry Christmas given me the gift of referrals this week, this week, and y'all, you know, it's Friday. I don't know if you guys are starting to come down and be emotional, but I have tears in my eyes right now because, because you support me because you show up for me.
Rachel Sheerin:
It enables me to do what I love to do. And in my dream I get to live my dream right now by speaking to you and being with you. So thank you and thank you to Mary Chris and thank you to the people that do refer me so that I can continue. It is beautiful. And guess what? When you ask people for referrals and they have the opportunity to do good, you know what that does? It makes them feel good. It makes them feel good, which makes them do more good. It is a cycle and we see it guys, we see it. Y'all, we know this to be true. We see it every day out there. How doing good feels good. Give your biggest cheerleaders, supporters, and past clients the opportunity to feel good and help you, help you in the ways that matter the most.
Rachel Sheerin:
So I know we're, this is such a big topic. I'm going to move over to questions and answers. If you have a question, go ahead and put it in the Q and a box. I see this, I see this coming in. Oh Laura, I see you're crying too and I haven't had a margarita yet. Need to sister? Let's do this. Oh, Becky from Wisconsin. Love back to you. We are all isle and Hudson kisses back up. I just, I can't wait to read this chat later. Oh my friend Mary Chris. No. Ah. Lansing's hashtag love Lansing big time. So let's take a look at the question and answers. Feel free to pop them in and I'll stay as long as you guys want. And of course if you need to jump off now, the replay will be coming via email later to you guys. So let's see, Caitlyn asks, I work for a nonprofit organization that plans events that we now have to cancel.
Rachel Sheerin:
Well, how can we encourage people to donate to our mission instead of asking for refunds and previous donations? Ooh, Kaitlin, great question. So we'd just like to shout associations our life. I love my associations and I'm a member of an ones that I work with. And so when it comes to being able to, you know, have events and discuss the refund, what I would say is at possible, and this is true for anyone where possible, show them behind the curtain. Show them the why. Most people, I will tell you as your members, there'll be shocked to know that you still had to pay. You'll be shocked to know how many people it takes to run your association. They will be shocked to know how much work I always say in events. If you are surprised or if you love an event, you would be surprised at how much work making an event look easy.
Rachel Sheerin:
Really goes into like, there is a lot of hard work behind that. So how do you continue to donate to your mission? I would say let's make it creative. Also in the ways that they can donate. If that's an in kind donation. I I was on a webinar earlier that I was hosting with university and college associations and professionals and they had a great idea about a virtual five K that could be another way to raise it and raise our endorphins and fitness levels. Another thing too could be asking for donations or support in ways that you hadn't before. So I think actually we could learn something from us presidential campaigns right now, not to be political, but I do see Bernie Sanders and he makes a really interesting point. He says $2 and 70 cents. That's the first ask that he asks for.
Rachel Sheerin:
Then he goes to $27 in the psychology of money. This is of course, that I do for live webinars and for teams. So if you're interested, let me know. But it's about the psychology of pricing and OD prices actually increase transactions. So don't ask for $3, ask for $2 and 70 cents. The same can be true as you're starting to grow. I love this, Katelyn, if you want to talk more offline, just shoot me an email. Thanks for asking that. Oh, I see Terry, what's up Terry from California? I want to be able, I want our sales team to be able to reach out to past and potential clients too and show that once we hit the ground running and have business, but how do we know when it's appropriate? Again, Terry, the answer is it is always appropriate, I think, as sooner than later to send an email.
Rachel Sheerin:
Insane. Hey, I was thinking about you because of X. I was thinking about, let me, let me use uteri teary. I can see you right now with your huge smile. And I wish we were cheersing wine and laughing about how crazy the catering world is. Like that's what I wish, right? So if that's, if you're my client's Arie, I would reach out to you and say, Terry, I'm thinking about you and your big smile. And so wishing we could share a glass of wine right now. But you know, I know it's chaos. Anything, anything I can support you in right now. Question Mark. Let me know. Talk soon. Hashtag quarantine crew, you know, Rachel another thing could be that, Hey, listen, I saw this article and I thought of you, Hey listen, I know your team went to Homebase. Here's a webinar from Rachel Sheeran on motivating from home.
Rachel Sheerin:
What are the resources? It goes back to the strategy. [inaudible] I teach in sales about depositing before you withdraw, how were you able to deposit something before you withdraw? How were you able to help give connects? And here's the thanks. You will be surprised when you don't even ask. You don't even have to ask, how can I support you right now because spoiler alert, most people have no clue how I can help you now after this webinar, you know how I can help you. Recommendations, referrals were created, right? And you guys are gaining that knowledge because you're fricking bad acids, but most people have no clue. It's like a child when they're tired and you ask like, what do you want? And they're just like, Whoa. And you know, as parents they get this glazed look on their eyes. Like, okay Terry. I would say there's always an appropriate time to reach out and then when it is appropriate, again, I would say every single time you have a new offering or you see a client in their space starting to pick up or some good news around that start reaching out of them.
Rachel Sheerin:
Thanks for the question, Veronica. I'm a destination. Hey Veronica, I know who you are. You're a destination wedding planner and I work mainly off the commissions for the resort with all the cancellations and postponements is a true, it's really affected my bottom line. Should I reach out to potential new clients? Hell yes, you should. Veronica. Heck, Yad am I the only one out there who needs a fricking vacation right now? Like I don't even know where I would go. I think the target might be my first vacation destination after all this. But yes, absolutely. In Veronica, here's the thing, I would put that out there as you know you know, affecting your bottom line and reaching out to potential clients. I would start hosting just, just things personally about you wanting to take a vacation or for you wanting to go to the resorts are really, you know, making sure that you're depositing before we try and share the knowledge that, you know, the resorts are going to be fine, that you know, your resorts are backed in, in bondage share you know, messages from president CEO's share a live stream.
Rachel Sheerin:
If anyone has a great Caribbean beach livestream that they want to post in the chat, I, I think we all could use that. Well, Veronica was do what sensitively do it, do it positively. And by the way, I think that may be a target client for you right now. You know, if that's something that you're looking to, to find new folks, find the people who are joking, find the people who are laughing. Don't find the people you know who are posting more serious stuff online. You know, they all, all responses to what's going on right now are completely appropriate. There's no right, there's no wrong. Just, you know, to help you make sure that you're not reaching out to folks on my find out if fences, you know, follow your gut. Women especially out there. We have very strong intuitions. Let's see. Jacqueline, what about for venues F for destination weddings and couples that may not wish to poke on postpone?
Rachel Sheerin:
Oh, you clarify. With regards to the venues, if the couple's not able to put on what should be with the venues in regards to the couple asking for a refund, if they cancel, I'm Jacqueline. This is where I would say strength in numbers really comes on. I would say that a lot of times this planners especially I saw a thread about this I think in the planners vault. That was really helpful. But I think that personally getting, getting people of position on the phone, having a United front with vendors and getting people, you know, the venues, ownership, this is the time for them to be very involved. If you own, if you own a company, this is the time where it was your number one goal is supporting your team. It really, really is that. And if you could continue to pay paychecks, that'd be great too.
Rachel Sheerin:
This would be something that I would get strength and numbers on and I would also to you know, if you haven't already really start sourcing out a little bit of legal advice, I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't, you know, contract anybody yet, but I would just find a name and a number of somebody that you can trust you know, through those community networks and have that in your back pocket. If things do escalate. Let's take a look. I'm ope, we've got Aaron, what is a reasonable amount of time to reschedule weddings, our contracts state that need to be a schedule. Oh, within a reasonable amount of time. Okay. So Aaron, we'll pause there and say, you know, we got to change that for the future. So we'll define that and we're pushing for ASAP even though we're allowing them to reschedule within the current year.
Rachel Sheerin:
We have couples asking for 20, 21 days here in just since I know that you're planning weddings or rescheduling weddings I'll say what I'm saying for my personal clients as well as the clients I work with in on Mike one-on-one sales coaching that are in the wedding industry, I say three 65. I think that within 365 days that's reasonable. I also think it's reasonable to really incentivize and hype up off months, whatever off month is going on in your markets. Like for example, I live in Charlotte, North Carolina. So January and February and March are not the busiest times for weddings. Y'all, let's try and push this January, February, March market. Okay. Whatever market you live in, hopefully there's going to be slower dates that are traditionally on the calendar. Look for them and see if you can find some folks that are willing to do the three 65 and honestly are able to reschedule a little bit a little bit sooner.
Rachel Sheerin:
There might be two an opportunity to maybe get creative with some of your vendors if you want to incentivize people in your slower dates. We can, we can maybe talk about that. I will say, just as a blanket statement, I'll be really interested to see what the travel companies are able to do for all of our folks. All right, perfect. Oh, let's take a look. Oh, I see. Folks are putting some questions in the chat. Let's see. All right. Mmm. Let's see. Oh, I love the odd prices idea. Who re Oh, that works for Mike Roman and catering sales. Oh, if you have not read it, I know it's, it's out of print now, but it's called, if you can't sell it, you are, if you don't sell it, you can't cook it. And that is a Mike Roman book for caterers out there. It's incredible.
Rachel Sheerin:
I see Jessica, I see your question here. I'm a corporate event planner and we have an amount of October with the deposit due on Monday. What's the best way to ask them? And if they can push back the deposit deadline as our company's trying to reduce expenses. That's great. Jessica. I would say I feel you. I see you and for all of the event pros out there, this is uncharted time. What I would say is what about starting the conversation with explaining the position and saying, you know, what are the options here? Can you split this deposit payment into six payments? Can you split it every single month? Will that help your bottom line? Is this something where you just need 14 days to pay it? Or is it something where a smaller hit is going to be a lot better? Because at the end of the day, there's really a few different factors behind the curtain.
Rachel Sheerin:
I would encourage you, Jessica, to ask your venue and the ones who are contracting with, listen, what's your, what's your state of affairs right now? You know, I know that there is chaos and things like that. Now, how large is your team? Also pay attention to the news. I know, you know, it's, it's tough to look at, but we've got new Orleans hoteliers Seattle hoteliers fired furloughed. There's a lot of payroll that is almost dead mill for a lot of people right now. So depending on your venue, I don't know your exact situation, but depending on your venue, they may have a lot of payroll then they have no payroll. And honestly like at this point, I think to my own self as a business owner, if I owned a venue and it was me and maybe maybe one or two employees with family owned a little bit to meet to you means a lot to me.
Rachel Sheerin:
So I, I would, I would ask questions around, you know, strategically what the options are. I love the idea of breaking down payments. And by the way, just shout me out. Jessica thinks we're not canceling your event and even thinking about the deposit. So yes, postponement is the message, so thank you. Let's take a look. Oh, I love people asking for virtual margaritas. The answer is definitely yes. Well, listen, I absolutely I absolutely love being with you all this week has just been such a, it's been a joy for me. I love teaching and training. I would love to see you all again. Just please let me know what I can do for you. We do have webinar packs. You know, for prerecorded webinars, we're going to be doing a few different live series of webinars. One of them is going to be on sales and team development and other one's going to be on becoming a coaching leader.
Rachel Sheerin:
So for all of you who have transitioned to work from home and have teams under you, and you're wondering, okay, what the heck are you going to do with these folks? Listen, I'd love to help. And of course we're, we're making it just as affordable as we can. So as a small business owner, listen, I appreciate you as a human of this earth with a huge heart and just loving, seeing all this love out here in these chats and being with you guys. Just thank you. I meant what I said because you guys showed up today. I got to do what I loved and serve you all, but I'm going to end you with, I'm going to end with the fat. It's 1000% true, eternal, unbreakable fact that you, you out there are valuable, not for what you do, but for who you are. You are valuable, not what's for, not what for you, what you do, but for who you are. You are truly, truly great. We, this is a great life. It's a great Friday and it's a great time to crack open a margarita. So shake away my friends. I will see you soon on another webinar. Don't, don't be strangers. I love you guys. Follow me on Instagram. Good. Oh Abigail, I'm tearing up too. So wipe away. Thanks you guys. I'll see you soon. Be good. And of course, as always, wash your hands.
Questions / Comments / Margaritas? Let me know below!