9 Simple Prompts to Get Client Reviews (promptly)
REVIEWS! We need them so potential clients can see how wonderful we are and want to hire us, right? But after the wedding is over and we’ve asked for a review from our couples, it’s crickets.
Why?! How do we get our couples to not only send in a review, but to have them rave about the work we did for them?
If this were a simple answer – we would ALL have loads of 5-star reviews. So, hang in with me as I share some details that will hopefully make sense and get you on your way to raving reviews from gushing grooms, boasting brides, and a proud parent or two.
Let’s take a deeper look at why we need or want reviews.
According to The Knot 2021 Real Weddings Study, more than 70% of couples find reviews to be very important when deciding which vendors to contact—mostly focusing on overall rating (96%), photos (93%) and total number of reviews (92%).
Reviews are evidence from past customers that we are competent and will provide the service we say we are prepared to do. What are potential couples doing when they read a review? They are looking for criteria for the wedding professionals they will hire. That criteria will vary depending on what is important for the couple. We can also think of these criteria as ‘Pain Points’ for the couple. Do you know what your couples’ pain points are? Have you curated your customer experience so that you address those pain points and make the client journey as seamless as possible? That’s where you want to start.
Most couples will say they have NO IDEA where to begin when it comes to the ceremony.
As a Celebrant, all of my ceremonies are custom written and I end up having a close relationship with my couples as we work to create a personalized ceremony. All of this is outlined in our initial meeting. I want my former couples to write about this in a review.
Consider everything you do for your couples to ensure that working with you is enjoyable, informative, and stress-free. Then, do an ‘Alan Berg’. Alan’s mantra is ‘make it easy’ for them. So, make writing the review easy by helping them with what to write about.
Post-Wedding Prompts for Better Reviews, Faster!
In my email to my couples after the wedding, I start with reflecting on a happy moment from that day. Then I ask them to write a review and how it helps other couples learn more about what I do as a Celebrant. I share the links for Wedding Wire, The Knot, and Google Business.
Then, I offer the following questions to get them started:
- Was our initial meeting helpful and informative?
- Was I responsive when you had questions and concerns?
- Did you feel you had input with the ceremony creation?
- Did the ceremony reflect the two of you as a couple?
- How did you feel when you first read the ceremony?
- Are you happy with the way I presented the ceremony?
- How did you feel during your wedding ceremony?
- What did your guests say about the ceremony?
- Finally, include any details that you feel are unique to your situation that will help other couples understand what your experience was like.
When you offer prompts such as these, couples are more likely to write a detailed review, instead of one or two lines.
INSIDE A ROBUST REVIEW
Here are two (loooooong) reviews to give you an idea of the incredible detail that our couples share. Can you see how a potential couple could read these and then want to hire us on the spot?! I encourage you to highlight all of the pain points that are addressed in each review. This can be an eye-opener and will show you just how these reviews influence other couples!
Hire Cely & Lehigh Valley Celebrants and you will not be disappointed!!
My husband and I highly recommend Cely and Lehigh Valley Celebrants! If hearing the phrase “And now a reading from the 1st Corinthians” makes you want to walk out of a wedding like it does for us, listen up. We attended a friend’s wedding where Donna was the celebrant, and we were so impressed with her storytelling, unique perspective, and enthusiasm, Lehigh Valley Celebrants was the first and only company we looked into when we got engaged soon after. We chose Cely (we wanted to choose someone different from our friends’ celebrant!) based on her thoughtful bio, and from the first meeting until day of, Cely was nothing but a true wedding professional—she was knowledgeable, warm, kind, and helpful. Cely walked us (more like held our hands) through every step of the process, from the outline of our wedding, to what we wanted the overall vibe to be, to how to speak, walk, and kiss during the ceremony, to how to obtain our marriage license. She gave us a detailed questionnaire that allowed her to build a personalized ceremony program for us catered to what we wanted to talk about. We felt like she really understood who we were as individuals—as well as a couple—after just a couple of times meeting over zoom. She gave us tips and tricks only someone with the experience she has could give, and even calmed our nerves and checked in on us in the week prior to the wedding. She also made it easy to work through a pandemic reschedule. The process was easy, fun, and meaningful, and we are so grateful that we had Cely be a part of our team. Cely was incredibly prepared on the day of our ceremony, and coordinated effortlessly with the venue, the band, and our photographers—she knew we would be distracted, and handled everything on her own perfectly. Our wedding guests couldn’t get over how personal and unique our ceremony was, and we were so happy with what she came up with for us. Our friends also didn’t believe us when we said our wedding day was our first time meeting her in person! Working with Cely truly felt like working with a friend. If we ever have a vow renewal, we know who we are calling! 10/10 we would recommend; you will not be disappointed.
BEST CELEBRANT EVER
When choosing who you want to write and perform one of the most important ceremonies of your life, choose Kiera. You couldn't hope for a better experience. When my wife and I chose her, we were already confident she would do a wonderful job. She was a family friend already, so of course we trusted her. We still managed to underestimate just how lucky we were to have her be our celebrant. There are so many things that made working with Kiera a wonderful experience. I'll try to point out some of the highlights without writing a novel. To start off, Kiera as a person is a delight to work with. She is interested, and personable, and above all professional. From minute one you can tell that she loves what she does and takes pleasure in doing it well. Kiera understands how much this moment means for you, and joyfully does everything she can to make your wedding ceremony as special, personal, and individual as possible. Kiera is able to do this, thanks in part to the process she follows. My wife and I were given questionnaires to fill out individually. My wife and I chose to keep our answers secret from each other so we could be surprised later. The questions included some of the obvious things. How we met, what we liked about the other person, what we enjoy doing together, but that was just the start. The questions became more specific and insightful beyond that. It was a little daunting at first, but once my wife and I dug in, we found ourselves really enjoying the memories it brought up, reliving some of the stories the questions asked for. By the end, Kiera got to know us and our story almost better than we did ourselves. This close knowledge of who we are and what matters to us informed the tone of our ceremony, and together Kiera helped us choose what beats to include, a union ceremony, and accommodated our own particular needs for the ceremony. We wanted to stream our wedding, so one of the things we asked for was a way to include our friends and family at home, and to make the ceremony engaging to watch. Kiera provided resources for example vows, different kinds of traditions and ceremonies, and was always quick to answer any questions we asked. Closer to the wedding, we were sent a draft of the ceremony. We walked through it with Kiera so we could tweak it to fit just perfect. She was willing to write 3 separate drafts of the ceremony for us, and I'm sure she would have done more if we wanted them. The actual ceremony was performed with such joy and care that you could hear it in her voice. She was engaging and clear in her delivery, and was perfectly comfortable being recorded for our stream. After the wedding, we received so many compliments on the beauty and fit of our ceremony. I'll say here what I told everyone that gave us that compliment. It's thanks to Kiera. Without her our ceremony wouldn't have been half as magical. Thank you, Kiera. From the bottom of our hearts.
I’m sure you have the same experience with couples not knowing where to begin with regard to the ceremony and hiring an officiant/celebrant. These reviews help to put them at ease! But understand, the bottom line is to provide them with an exceptional customer journey! This will be the driving force for them to want to write a review.
You better believe we ask for reviews and testimonials from our Graduates as well! Read what former Celebrant Academy students have to say about our Masters Celebrant Certificate program HERE.
