In March 2018 the Greek wedding DJ community met in Athens for the 2nd National Wedding DJ Convention, two days built around a line we still like: wedding entertainment is a serious business.
Mike was invited to speak to his fellow DJs about something he had already been doing for years: working with couples who come from abroad to get married in Greece. Below are the slides from that talk, translated into English and lightly edited for the page, with a few notes of ours in between. The parts that only made sense in the room have been left out.
Part one
Value, before anything else.
In other words, value is not the price. It is what the couple believes they get in return for it.
There are two ways to make that number bigger: lower the cost, or raise the benefits. Only one of them is a business plan.
Part two
Who we are talking to.
They have usually been planning for a long time, from another country and often another time zone. What they need most from a supplier is to feel they can trust them from far away.
Part three
How to show your value.
Four prerequisites came next. None of them is complicated. All of them are easy to forget in the middle of a busy season.
- 01I use excellent English.
- 02I am consistent in everything.
- 03I am formal in everything.
- 04I care about them and their culture.
Part four
What it looks like in practice.
The last part of the talk was about tools: the actual documents we used with every couple at the time, shown as they were in 2018.
How we listen
Before any proposal, a short form about the couple, the day and what matters to them. We send nothing until we have listened.
How we stay formal
A proper agreement, every time. The details first, then the services, what is included, the terms, and a signature.
How we advise
A presentation and information magazine for every couple: who we are, what to expect, and the advice we wish every couple heard before their wedding.
Eight years on, the documents look different and most of them now live online. The principles behind them haven’t changed at all.
