In the past few weeks I have decorated two birthday parties, one to celebrate a 21st Birthday and the other an almost 'surprise' 50th birthday!
I do not decorate very often any more, not because I don't want to, but it is not so easy when you have other commitments and cannot guarantee being available... but I was delighted to have the opportunity to go through the whole process once again from consultation to completion.
It's funny because when I teach a class these days I try to include a small section covering 'selling techniques', as I feel this is such a vital part of our business, so this was my opportunity to put my words in to practice!
Both of the customer enquiries came via a telephone call, both informed me that they were on a budget and that they did not want to spend too much.
Firstly, I wanted to know a little about the person who's birthday it was, was there a theme, where was the party being held, favourite colours, anything and everything that could help me to decide what type of decor to propose.
One client wanted to meet up and discuss the party in greater detail, the other client was more than happy for me to send some ideas over the internet.
But not once did I ask them what their budget was!