Creative Commons License
With so much information available for engaged couples, it’s no wonder that they sometimes feel overwhelmed and have trouble making decisions to plan for their wedding. This week we’ll be working on strategies to work with the indecisive client. We’ll be discussing:
- the indecisive client
- good questions to ask the client
- assisting and educating the client
“So much to choose from”
These days we have hundreds of choices on everything. We can walk into a mega media store and choose from gazillions of books, CDs, dvds. We don’t even have to leave the house. All we have to do is turn on the computer and we have the world of choice at our fingertips. Imagine what it’s like to get married these days! Brides and grooms can go to hundreds of wedding website, thousands of blogs, millions of online stores. And, this is just on the computer. No wonder they feel overwhelmed and indecisive!
In the Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz discusses how so many options make it difficult for people to choose:
A recent series of studies, titled “When Choice is Demotivating” was set in a gourmet food store in an upscale community. In one condition of the study, 6 varieties of jam were available for tasting. In another, 24 varieties were available. In either case, the entire set of 24 varieties was available for purchase. The large array of jams attracted more people to the table than the small array, though in both cases people tasted about the same number of jams on average. When it came to buying, however, a huge difference became evident. Thirty percent of the people exposed to the small array of jams actually bought a jar; only three percent of those exposed to the large array of jams did so.
This is what engaged couples face every day that they are making decisions for their wedding. They are choosing between hundreds of vendors, hundreds of flowers, thousands of invites, millions of songs, hundreds of dresses and so on. Often the excess of choice is preventing them from deciding. How can we help them get through the sea of choice and feel confident in their decision?
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about ways we can ask the right questions so that they can pare down their options.
by Michelle Loretta
show hide 4 comments