All-Inclusive packages are essentially bundling core services and physical goods into a singular package that creates value for the consumer. By choosing great partners to include in your package, you layer more and more value onto your venue, making your venue package virtually unbeatable.
If you want to pour rocket fuel on your venue packages, you need to create strong and synergetic relationships with other vendors and business owners. Having strong partners, whether thinking about an all-inclusive package or a venue-only package, will help you build value in the eyes of your potential clients.
Plus– it’s more fun to do it together, isn’t it?
Partnerships in All-Inclusive Packages
Here’s the part where I deliver the honest truth to you.
You don’t need to partner with top-tier individuals to make a successful all-inclusive package. You just need to partner with people who will accomplish your business goals. Don’t partner with people so that they can elevate your brand. That’s a bad reason to partner with someone. You are responsible for elevating your own brand. Find companies that fit within your financial objectives.
When you know what partnerships you want to include in your all-inclusive package, you’re going to want to make a good, better, best list with two vendors in each category. Then you’re going to use the template here and send out six emails to different vendors. You’re going to ask to set up a meeting with them to discuss what a partnership could look like.
Many companies that you’re going to reach out to for partnership have never been involved with an all-inclusive, nor have they sent proposals to a venue making an all-inclusive package, so just be prepared to read over proposals that don’t make sense with your business objectives. You’re going to have to guide and direct conversations with vendors to get them to your desired outcome.
During this process, you may even want to flush out some additional options for offers, or they might bring ideas to the table that you didn’t think about at first. You must be open, but must know that this partnership is intended to serve your customers well and to make you money. If it only serves your customers well, you don’t have a good partnership.
Build flexibility into your partnerships.
Allow edits along the way, but maintain that profit margin you established in your profit report from the get-go.
That is why getting a good grasp on your projected profit now is so important– it will be the bedrock of your growth. You’ll have to edit as the market fluctuates (as we saw in a big way from 2020 on) but I highly suggest increasing your overall package costs by at least 4% year over year to at least combat inflation and know that your partners will most likely do the same (anywhere from 3-5%, but try and negotiate into that 3-4% increase YOY).
The Meeting: Outline for Success
Meet face-to-face, vibe them out, bring them something: a branded sweatshirt, a hat, a Stanley, etc. – there is something about the reciprocity that you’re subtly setting the tone for.
Ask them, what would make this partnership a success for you? What add-ons do you typically see couples add on? What is something really unique and fun you’ve offered clients in the past? You can use this information to build out your packages and add-ons.
Take note of natural response times, professionalism, etc., as it gives you an idea of how they will respond to your clients. What I found is you want partners who have their shit together from the get-go. You don’t want to have to put their shit together for them. And all the people who have all-inclusives said: AMEN.
If our DJ offers a photo booth to their couples outside of our venue, but we invested in a photo booth, the DJ company cannot market their photo booth to our couples. Make sure you’re clear about this from the get-go and write it into your agreements. The flip side of this is, if your vendor partner has things you think would be a good fit for your couples but you don’t want to offer them in your packages, you could write it in your partner agreement for them to be able to offer this to your clients as an upsell. Usually, how I would handle this is if the vendor wanted to offer upsells, I would add it to my client-facing invoice and then pay the vendor out minus 10% as a kickback fee. This would be clearly outlined in your partnership agreement.
You’ll want to fully flush out what you need from each of your partners before your meeting. Obviously, there is potential for edits, but again, really try and nail down exactly what you are looking for. Let’s go through some examples:
During the meeting, ask them what 3 things their business needs right now. Then reverse engineer this to make creative partnerships. One creative partnership that I did was to partner with a florist who needed a studio space. I had the room, and with a couple of grand I made a studio for her. That significantly reduced the cost per wedding for me because we were able to come up with a creative plan that met both of our needs.
Partnering for the Long-Term
Just like you’re selling value to your potential customers, you also need to sell value to your partners. If you are just starting your venue ownership journey and don’t have a lot of sales to prove yourself to these partners, you need to come in confident with a plan and vision. If you’ve been selling for a while, see if you can come in with strong numbers of guest counts, how many weddings you have, or the growth you’re confident you can have. They will feed off of your well-prepared vision. Sometimes, finding an established company with a great track record will prove to be the right move, and sometimes starting your all-inclusive package with a partner who is hungry for business can be the right fit.
Remember that research shows that 85% of failed collaborations cite poor communication as a primary cause. Your communication in the beginning sets the tone for your future partnership. 5 years, 10 years down the road, you want these people by your side. It’s 1000x easier to get this right in the beginning and work toward greatness together than to have to turn over a vendor a year or two into your all-inclusive. It’s just really messy.
Recommended Vendors for Venue Only Rentals
If you’re a rental-only venue and aren’t interested in having an all-inclusive package, you’ll still need strong partnerships to help level up your venue. Partnerships can take many forms, but I recommend looking for those in your area that your venue aligns with and creating referral programs for those vendors. Sometimes referral programs have a fee to be listed (i.e., $1500 for a year listed in our Vendor Guide); some are purely goodwill-based. This would mean finding partners you love when they are in your space and recommending them formally to all of your couples. Many times, the venue is booked first, and then couples heavily rely on the venue’s recommended vendors to plan their wedding day. I would advise you to verify that each of these vendors that will be working often in your space and that you’re recommending have liability insurance and are properly licensed to work in your area.
Even with recommended vendors, make an agreement that includes what circumstances would make it necessary to remove the vendor from the list, and what is required at your venue for the relationship to work well. Do they need to bring their equipment? What time do they need to strike? By communicating these things in writing, you are setting the relationship up for success.
Using the tips in this article will help set you up for success moving forward with the partnerships you create in your All-Inclusive Package.
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