If you’ve been in the bridal world for more than a few years, you may be toying with the idea of how to control your schedule more by using waitlisting – or if you been in the game for a long time, maybe you’ve never really thought about using waitlisting. 

Now you see a lot of people in January talking about opening their waitlist for 2024 or later in 2023 and you’re curious. What does that mean, why would I turn away someone who wants to book me? Waitlisting, like any strategy, has pros and cons. First let’s look at the cons of waitlisting: 

• Potentially missing out on a booking - When somebody inquires and says, “Hey, I want to book you for May of 2024,” but you’re not booking for that date yet, you only open your books for twelve months in advance. They might say, “Well, I want to get this checked off my to-do list, I really wanted to book you but, I don’t want to wait another four months.” There is the potential that they are going to go find somebody else that is booking for that date, and they will get the contract and you don’t.

• You can’t control when you get inquiries – You can’t control how far in advance you’re going to get inquiries and how far in advance people are going to be ready to book. There’s a lot of strategy and work in order to get waitlisting to work for you. 

• Your income can come in all at once - A lot of people will book when you open your waitlist and then you’re taking in a lot of bookings, and a big chunk of your income all at once versus taking bookings as they come in. Without a waitlist, they come in more sprinkled throughout the year and allow you to space out your income more. With a waitlist strategy, you tend to get a huge lump sum in all at one time during the year, basically taking that income and moving it further down the line to one point in your year.

While there are a couple of negatives to using a waitlist, there are many more positives: 

-You get control of your schedule – You are in control of how far out you’re going to book, making sure that you are scheduling in priority time first. I always recommend that when people are mapping out their year, they block off any holiday, birthdays, or travel dates they don’t want to miss out on. By waitlisting, you can set your schedule for the entire year and block off time for you, while still leaving space to piece in bookings one at a time. This also lets you know immediately when you’re completely booked, or available.

-You control your rates – By using a waitlist and the timeframe your taking bookings, you don’t lock yourself into a wedding 18 months from now with a rate you would have charged two years ago. If you’re costs increase and you’ve taken so many bookings at a rate you wouldn’t now charge, you’re limiting your income potential and having to book further and further in advance because your selling so many yeses. 

-You build demand and urgency – Sometimes when people want information, you send them a contract, and a week later you don’t have the information back. With a waitlist, that person is waiting for their opportunity, and they know they have 24 hours to get the information back or lose their chance to book with you for their wedding. By speeding up the process, your building value, demand, and urgency. 

-You control the process – You don’t have to open your waitlist a year in advance – you can be strategic about it. If you have multiple inquiries for the same date, you can put together a waitlist and schedule a best fit consultation. Maybe one inquiry is at much further venue, or they’ve already booked someone else, or maybe your just not the right fit for their wedding, and that’s okay.  A higher level of customer service is a luxury, and you’re building a reputation of saying I’m not a wedding factory, I really care about my clients and I’m making sure that everybody who interacts with my business has the best quality experience. 

Episode 46: To waitlist or not to waitlist?  

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While there are some cons to waitlisting, there are many more pros it can offer your business when a few simple strategies are used. 

In July of 2022, I created a Masterclass that has all the strategies to make waitlisting work for your business. You can access this masterclass through my business course Next Level Bridal Business.

If you’re looking for more strategy and business tips, new for 2023 , I launched my Masterclass Magic series which gives you access to five amazing masterclasses, plus a new masterclass for each month.

What's Next?

You might also really love my July 2022 BONUS Masterclass from my Masterclass Magic Series all about Waitlisting!  This masterclass is dedicated to helping you create a waitlisting strategy beyond just closing and opening your books and actually builds excitement and anticipation with your brides.  Learn how to keep them waiting without worrying they will book someone else in the meantime and take better control of your schedule!  Check out more on the masterclass and all the monthly topics here!