A BRIDAL salon also known as bridal store, bridal shop, or bridal boutique is a place where all things pertaining to weddings are sold, some sell only wedding dresses, lovely bridesmaids dresses, bouquet and adorable flower girl dresses while others have in store stylish grooms suits, tuxedos, page boy suits, bridal magazines, fabulous mother of the bride and shoes for the entire bridal party.
We could have seen ready to wear boutiques where wedding dresses are displayed for sale, however, such shops are not bridal salons.
A bridal salon is always surrounded by gorgeous gowns and joyful clients, such salon owners need to shop for the latest designer gown and be among the first to know about new fashion trends.
Brides want to look beautiful even in tough economic times, as you order these gowns, they should be timeless so that they can be used all year round.
Elegant bridal salons in Zambia have come and gone, but wedding cerebrations are still here with us, some few months ago such lovely salons were in full operation, nice interior designs, sending a message that they would stay, sadly though, these bridal salons are no more.
People in society say that everyone starts at a very good point but the finishing is always poor, it’s possible to start, stick and finish at a very good point.
The problem is that they want to start at a high level, instead, start small, do not envy those who are big, and do not try to be big.
Premature closers of some salons might be as a result of poor customer relations that send brides and grooms opt to shop online through the internet.
Every customer will listen to reason when approached in the right manner but woe unto the bridal consultant (salesperson) who tries to bully the bride into believing her taste is out of fashion.
If you would know what your customer is thinking as a bridal consultant, study yourself and find out what you would be thinking if you were in your customers place.
I walked into one of the best known bridal salon, for the purpose of purchasing some bridal items, a lady stepped forward and asked what I was looking for, if I had been that lady I would not have asked that question, she ought to have known by the fact that I had approached the bridal accessories that I wanted to look at these accessories.
Bridal consultants know what the brides want by watching the kinds of items they are picking up and examining closely, follow the eye pupil view also, a bride could follow a gown but the pupil is focusing on shoes encourage them on the benefits of buying both.
The reality is that a bride will not stand by a counter and fondle a piece of item which she does not like.
As the bridal consultant, it is your duty to carefully observe the brides likes and dislikes as you will also sell a lot of bridal items at one sitting by merely watching what appeals to the bride and then concentrating upon the sale of that.
If given the opportunity, any bride will give the alert bridal consultant a clue as to the particular merchandise which should be stressed in an effort to make a sale.
Learn how to size people up at a glance, some have a challenge in the way they dress up or down, but as they enter your salon do not assume they cannot afford the most expensive gown or suit, don’t say this wedding gown is very expensive.
People generally do not complain of high prices, providing the “service” or embellishment, what people complain of and rightly so is high prices and sloppy service for this is also one of the major reasons they shop on line, neglect the salons near them.
Some bridal salon, their  bridal consultants have taken up the role of a security guard or door bouncer, they are thief minded, anyone who enters to them might steal something, so they follow  behind without saying a word, making one very uncomfortable, missing out on what is important to explain the product and service they are selling, say something!.
Explain the designers behind the gowns, grooms suit, flower girl dresses be persuasive to an extend that you convince a theft to buy instead of steal, but if you carry out your duties wrongly and behave as if you are the bodyguard from Beijing on a special assignment and told not to say a word, then you are not worth having.
The way you answer phone calls can bring in or turn away customers, l phone a bridal salon for more information after watching their advert on Television, numbers to call for more information were included, the gentleman who answered the call made quite a hit with me when he replied by saying, “lam sorry madam but our store is as big as Shoprite so you cannot phone to ask, just come to our store and see for yourself, since you are calling from another town, can a ask Mrs X who is our regular customer and lives in that town”.
I was young and now lam of age yet l have learnt that if there is anything which nettles a woman, especially that type of a woman who knows exactly what they want and can describe it the moment they call or walk in a bridal salon only to be told that you cannot call, the store is too big, just come and see as if its doubting Thomas you are talking to and ask a customer about a store they do not own such a statement is an insult to a woman’s intelligence or what she thinks is her intelligence and in most cases it is fatal to a sale.
As a bridal salon owner or manager you should not lack tact and diplomacy, explain some of the services you offer just a summary and then invite the customer to come over for a full view and learn more about the store.
A bridal salon is a place where a bride is guided along the way with professional advice and that personal touch they deserve, assist them in creating their most memorable day and remember that any wedding is very important to the bridal salon and so they are part of it by making it as perfect as possible. It makes the wedding of your dreams alive and put your mind at ease.
A bridal salon can get busy and a consultant may have to leave you for a couple of minutes at some point to assist a colleague or another bride, should something come up. However, busy and neglecting are very different things, as a consultant you should have common sense to communicate her whereabouts with you, if she needs to excuse herself for a moment, she shouldn’t disappear for even 10 minutes without letting you know first and should certainly never leave you half way.
A bride or groom do not only go to a bridal salon just to look for gowns but for a full ensemble which includes a veil, a headpiece, shoes and jewelry, whether they are purchasing these accessories from this place it does not matter, what matters is offering to style and full service, make them feel loved, grateful that they visited your store, they might not buy but they will use word of mouth to tell others about how welcoming your salon is.
For brides to appreciate these bridal salons and business to stand a taste of time is by offering a good service, good customer relations, make everyone feel comfortable, understand the benefits of these salons and how important they are to those having and organizing weddings.
Zambian wedding gown designers should come on board and support the local bridal salons by showcasing their gowns, if we can have 60% local based designer gowns in these salons and 40% foreign designers it will be vital as the locals understand the culture values, the gowns will be designed with a Zambian bride in mind.
Local designers can hold what is called trunk shows in the bridal salon. A trunk show it a special event at which a wedding dress designer visits a bridal salon on a set day with his/her entire line of new dresses (bridesmaid’s dresses and wedding dresses apart from those already displayed in the salon).
The bride benefits because she has the opportunity to talk to the actual designer, discus the gowns, any changes she may want to make to the one she’s considering for herself. Designers benefit because they get to watch brides try on their gowns and listen to their comments, even the senior citizens, mothers of the bride can have their say. It is a great opportunity for you as a designer and a bridal salon owner as it will raise your profits and brides will begin to appreciate and the wedding industry will move to a whole new level.
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