Tips for marquee site visits

Last week I covered making a good impression at a marquee site visit. This week I thought it sensible to add some tips about what to say and run through as the potential customer might be after you actually saying something as well as taking your shoes off and making a good impression.

Be confident. If you’re starting out then fake it till you make it and just act confident. A site visit is very much about convincing the customer to have faith in your ability to turn their patch of lawn in to a temporary venue.
Listen to the customer. The flip-side of being confident is you don’t want to come across as arrogant or think you know it all and end up telling them what they want (surprisingly easy to end up doing). Before you measure the garden, before you run through photographs just sit down with the customer and listen to what they’re after.
If it’s a wedding marquee then listen to the main decision makers. Generally this is (in order): Bride, mother of bride, groom. There’s often various hangers on present but if you keep those three happy then you’re doing well.
Once you’ve listened to the customers ideas then also ask if they had any plans for where they would like to position the marquee. It’s pointless measuring their garden in one place if they want to have it elsewhere.
Take your time measuring the garden. If you’re not confident at doing both jobs of measuring and explaining/selling at the same time then just say to the customer you need a few minutes to measure and you’ll come back inside once you’ve got an idea(s).
You don’t have to come up with all of the answers there and then. If you’re starting out and this all seems a bit overwhelming then don’t worry, take your time and take down all of their requirements and make accurate drawings of the garden. You can then email us and we would run through with you a few likely options together with the pro’s and con’s of each idea that you can then go through with the customer. It’s slightly delayed but it can still come across as a professional service and you don’t need to stress about having all of the answers there and then. We’re always here to help but it won’t take many before you know as much as we do 🙂

Ultimately the biggest bit of planning on your part is how big does the marquee(s) need to be. As I say this can be done after the meeting back in the office but it is easiest if you can do it there and then. I guess I’ll cover that next week.

Thanks for reading.

Spencer