How to Provide Outstanding Customer Service Without Breaking Boundaries

As a wedding pro, making sure that your couples get everything they need is an essential part of feeling like you’re doing your job. From getting in front of a potential issue and preventing it before it ever happens to answering the phone when you’re in the middle of running a personal errand, there are certain things that you can find yourself doing in the name of client experience and in pursuit of that 5-star review. But, just as with most things in life, there is a balance between going above and beyond and killing yourself to make it happen. So today, we wanted to talk to all of the people-pleasers out there who find themselves needing to choose between providing a high level of service and crossing a line. Read on for ways to help ensure that you and your team can always offer outstanding customer service without breaking boundaries.

Build a team of people who are hospitality-minded

Making sure your couples always feel more than taken care of starts with building a team that is as obsessed with them as you are. And, while there are lots of qualities and skills you need to look for in potential hires, one of them is that they are hospitality-minded. What exactly do we mean by that? You want to build a team that, regardless of the exact position, can (and will) treat your couples in a warm, friendly and welcoming way. This is an important quality to hire for because, in reality, you want outstanding customer service to be more than a thing you do; you want it to be a core value of your business, and the way each of your team members treats your couples and communicates with them (especially in stressful situations) becomes an extension of that. 

How does hiring for hospitality help you maintain boundaries? People who are warm, friendly and welcoming in every situation you can put them in are, above all else, confident. And, confident people can provide “service with a smile” even when they need to hold their ground. 

Define your service standards

Even after you’ve built a team with hospitality in their bones, you should not assume that their standards are the same as yours. You must have already defined your service standards so that you can set the expectation with your team as a part of their training, because, in terms of boundaries, this is where you put the minimums they must meet and the lines they must not cross. What types of standards should you have defined? While this list is far from exhaustive, here are some that we think you should start with:

• Communications standards (via email, while on the phone or in person)
• Dress codes (when meeting with clients, during setup, breakdown and at an event)
• Meeting expectations (purchasing food or drink for clients, drinking while on the clock, phone usage around clients)
• Conflict resolution (and the chain of command for escalating)

Have a clear and repeatable process

Consistently providing outstanding customer service is a matter of practice, and you can ensure each of your couples has the same great experience with you by establishing a transparent, repeatable process (or standard operating procedure). This is often closely tied to your workflow and how you guide your couples through the wedding planning process, but it is more than checking tasks off a list. Your client experience includes how you onboard your couples, how you use strategic gifts to surprise and delight, how you check in with them, and how you work with them after the wedding day to make sure every loose end is taken care of. And, with it being a part of nearly everything you do with your couples, it must be not only clear to what level you want these things to be done, but also how exactly you expect them to be done. So, just as you need to define your standards and expectations, it is essential to document how you want your team to execute them.  

• Are there particular points in the planning process that you want couples to be checked in on? Even if it is about celebrating birthdays or being 30 days out from the wedding
• Do you have specific vendors or shops in mind for client gifts? If so, is there a defined list of items you like to send?
• Is there a specific way you want team members to ask for client reviews and feedback? If so, can you set up an email template?

These are just some of the things you can create transparent, repeatable processes for to maintain a high level of service and experience.

Set boundaries (and stick to them)

We obviously couldn’t share advice about how not to break boundaries without stressing the importance of setting them! And even if it makes your people-pleasing, non-confrontational side cringe at the thought of saying no, believe it or not, having boundaries will help you give your couples five-star service. Because when we are talking about boundaries, we are really talking about eliminating the grey area (you know, that awkward space where no one really knows what to do or say?). When it comes to setting up the entire stage for an overwhelmingly successful client experience, it starts with knowing what you are willing to do and when you are eager to do it—and communicating them to your team and clients:

• What day(s) of the week do you take off? And, do you reply to work-related calls, emails or texts on them?
• How quickly can someone expect to receive a reply to an email?
• What are your office hours?
• Is an Instagram DM an appropriate way to try and get a hold of you?
• Do you expect team members and clients to speak professionally to each other at all times?

You absolutely can provide outstanding customer service without breaking boundaries—you need to set and communicate expectations with every new working relationship you establish. Want a boost of confidence in the event you need to say no to a client? Read our tips about how to have hard conversations with clients in a way that won’t reflect poorly on your customer service skills!

Photo Credit: Eva Blanco/shutterstock.com