Episode 82: Getting Clients to Trust You

This Week in Weddings

When you're in a creative field, getting clients to trust your vision can be challenging, especially when they can't see the finished product before hiring you. In this episode of the This Week In Weddings podcast, we're chatting with invitation designer and owner of A Fine Press, Matthew Wengerd, who has taken steps to fine tune his consultation strategy to attract clients who are trusting of his creativity, experience, and desire to think outside the box. Regardless of your area of the wedding industry, you're sure to find takeaways from this week's episode to help you narrow in on clients who will trust you with their big day.

About our guest:

You know how NPR has "driveway moments?" Matthew Wengerd makes "mailbox moments." And, while stationery with a wow factor certainly makes an impact, he believes that stationery given as a true gift can last a lifetime.

Matthew spent a lot of time and effort pursuing a life in jazz before realizing that the act of creation was what he was really after, and that this act can happen on paper, at a keyboard, or on a press just as easily as it can on the bandstand. In fact, it was a fateful composition and arranging lesson that brought him face-to-face with a certain fountain pen and his future life as an art-minded stationer.

He's adamant about giving stationery a second function that keeps it out of the trashcan and might even move it to a place of honor. And he does his best work when he gets to answer the question "what happens if we...."

In this episode, listeners will hear about:

• Matthew's background and how he became drawn into the world of stationery and invitation design
• How some clients are naturally more trusting of professionals than others
• How to identify clients that will be a good fit for the creative work that you do
• Matthew's philosophy on pre-screening clients prior to going to contract
• Charging an initial consultation and/or concept fee prior to doing any proposal
• Creating work for your portfolio vs. creating work for a client

Want to connect with Matthew?

• On the web: https://afinepress.com/
• Instagram: @afinepress
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/afinepress
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/afinepress