What defines you as a wedding professional? It's not your camera or DJ equipment because I can buy that same setup and it won't make me a professional photographer, videographer or DJ. There are real and perceived differences between your company and the others in your market, but can you tell a bride what they are? Do you even know what they are?

You're an artist. You're a craftsperson. You're an entertainer. What makes anything worth what someone is charging is the willingness of people to pay your rate. It's really that simple. You have to show her that the value of your services is equal to or greater than what you're asking.

So how do you do that when there are countless others in your market that are essentially providing the same service (at least on paper), some for less money, some for more? If you're competing on the number of flowers, shrimp or invitations it's a losing game. You're commoditizing what you do and then it becomes all about price. Where you win is in the intangibles. The intangibles are much harder to compare on paper and on price.

• It's her first impression of your business.
• It's her impression of you and/or your staff.
• It's how you communicate with her via email and in person.
• It's how you make her feel.
• It's how easy it is to do business with you.
• It's what it means to do business with you.
• It's who you're associated with.

We all have companies that we like doing business with. Maybe it's the people who work there or maybe they're just easy to do business with. Either way you're a repeat customer so they have to be doing something right. Of course the opposite is true, too. You're guilty of exactly the same actions as your brides. If you don't perceive one company to be any different than another then the low price wins.

Do you pay more for better service? Sometimes yes, sometimes no and sometimes you do it subconsciously. The challenge with weddings is that brides don't know the difference between wedding professional in your industry and another, at least not on the surface. She can't tell from the tangibles. They all look pretty similar on paper. You all have competitors that have similar years of experience and similar services (in the eyes of a bride, anyway) so that gets negated as well.

So why should she hire you?
Can you answer that? Is it second nature to you and your staff? Can you articulate it in your ads? On your website? At a bridal show? In person? It's harder than it sounds. A good place to start is the testimonials from past customers. What is it that they're saying a about you? Are they saying "they were the cheapest caterer and that's why we loved them"? I doubt it. Even a budget bride wants, and deserves, quality services.

Her wedding guests aren't going to judge you by what the bride paid, but the bride will judge you on the satisfaction of her guests. Just remember that you don't get to play a song, cook any food or decorate any rooms unless you first make the sale. So focus on providing the best possible level of customer attention and service at every single touchpoint, before during and after the sale.

How do you do that? It's simple and it's hard. Be the company you would want to do business with. Emulate the best companies that you know. Why do you like doing business with them? What is it about the customer experience that you like, and don't like?

It sounds simple, but in practice it's a lot harder than it sounds to do it consistently. It's easy to fall back into your old ways so don't take it for chance. Make a plan for how you're going to step up your level of service. Write it down. Share it with people you trust so they can hold you accountable. Lastly, don't try to do it all at once. Making small improvements you can stick with is better than trying to overhaul your entire business model at once. So, what changes are you going to make today?