Upsells: from booking to wedding day
The learner can add value to booked clients at every touchpoint, from the signed contract to the wedding day, growing revenue per wedding while the couple feels more looked after, not sold to.
9 lessons · about three hours with practice · grounded in The Business of Love by Kerri Lynn Glover
The lessons, in order
- 1The touchpoint map 20 min
Lay out every touchpoint from signing to wedding day, with one owner and one purpose each. - 2The first 30 days 20 min
Countersign, welcome, introduce and gift so the couple feels chosen back. - 3Build the upgrade menu 25 min
Write every upgrade as a benefit the couple can picture, with a clear price and a reason to exist. - 4Planning meetings are selling moments 20 min
Run a planning meeting that listens first, notes what they want, and recommends second. - 5Time the offer to the milestone 20 min
Raise each upgrade when the couple is deciding that very thing, not when you need revenue. - 6Presenting an upgrade 25 min
Recommend an upgrade in their words, show the picture, say the price once and let them choose. - 7"We're over budget" 20 min
Hear a budget worry, find what matters most, and reshape the plan without discounting. - 8The final-details meeting 20 min
Run the last planning meeting so nothing is missed and the final good ideas still land. - 9Measure revenue per wedding 15 min
Track revenue per wedding and upsell rate, and change one thing at a time.
The touchpoint map
Outcome
You can lay out every touchpoint from the signed contract to the wedding day, give each one an owner and a purpose, and know which ones are natural moments to offer more.
Why it matters
Most venues go quiet after the signature. The couple paid, the salesperson moved on, and the next contact is a frantic final-details email. Silence feels like neglect, and neglected couples do not buy anything extra. They shop around for it elsewhere. A planned run of touchpoints does the opposite. Each one shows that you are thinking about their day before they have to ask. Trust builds, and trust is the only thing that makes an upgrade feel like care instead of a pitch. The book is plain about it: regular contact is where upgrades naturally come up, and the offers should fit the couple's vision and budget.
The method
- Start from the signature, not the inquiry. Module 2 ended with the handoff. Your map begins with the countersigned contract and ends with the week-of call.
- Use two clocks. Early touchpoints run on months after signing. Later ones run on months before the wedding. Write both on the map, because a couple who books eight months out will skip the early ones.
- Plan one touchpoint a month. A short, useful, on-brand message: an idea, a link, an invitation, a check-in. Never a bill on its own.
- Give each touchpoint one purpose. Inform, inspire, invite or confirm. If it does two things, split it.
- Name one owner. Sales owns the first 30 days. The planner owns the planning months. The final-details meeting may be shared. Write a name, not a department.
- Mark the offer moments. Some touchpoints carry an upgrade because the couple is deciding that thing right then: bar at three months after signing, rehearsal dinner a few months later, linens close to final details. Mark them. Leave the rest as pure service.
- Fix the short-booking rule. When a couple books inside your normal timeline, collapse the early touchpoints into the welcome call. Do not send six months of messages in two weeks.
Say this
"You'll hear from us about once a month. Each note is short and has one useful thing in it: an idea, an introduction or a check-in. If anything can't wait, call me."
"Nothing to decide this month. We just wanted to say we're thinking about your day, and we're here whenever a question comes up."
Common mistakes
- No map, so contact depends on whoever remembers.
- Every touchpoint carries an offer. The couple stops opening your emails.
- Two people own the same touchpoint, so it goes out twice or not at all.
- Using months-after-signing for everyone, so short bookings get a pile of messages at once.
The book's Maison timeline runs from a "team is here to help" note one month after signing, through Pinterest ideas, a signature-cocktail note with a nudge to book bartending, an engagement-photo invitation and a rehearsal-dinner quote, to linen and walk-through scheduling two months out and a "happy wedding month" note. Use it as a pattern, not a schedule to copy.
Sources: The Business of Love, Ch 12 Crafting an Exceptional Client Experience through Touchpoints: BOL-v8-p1682 to p1688 (touchpoints build the relationship and create natural upsell moments), p1699 to p1700 (offers that fit vision and budget), p1708 to p1714 (start early, stay engaged, be the venue that cares), p1767 (a separate funnel for signed clients), p1772 to p1774 (timeline of touchpoints, images 38 to 42). Owner, purpose and short-booking rules are this course's additions.
The first 30 days
Outcome
You can run the first month after signing so the couple feels chosen back: countersigned contract, welcome, introductions and a gift that looks and feels like your venue.
Why it matters
The days after a big purchase are when doubt creeps in. Did we pay too much? Did we rush? A fast, warm welcome answers that before it is asked. It also sets the pattern for everything that follows. A couple who is spoiled in month one opens every message after it, and listens when you suggest something. This is not the month to sell. It is the month to earn the right to.
The method
- Same day: countersign and thank. Return the signed contract with a short welcome note from the person who gave the tour. Celebrate with them, not at them.
- Within 48 hours: the welcome email. Who their planner is, when they will hear from them, the first milestone and the best way to reach you. Repeat nothing they already told you. Use the handoff notes.
- Within a week: the introductions. Send your preferred-vendor list and offer to connect them with the two or three vendors they need first, usually photographer and caterer or bar. A warm introduction is a gift and a quiet upsell at once.
- Within 30 days: the gift. On brand, handwritten note, from a real person. Make it something they will want to photograph. If handwriting every note is impractical, print a well-made template and sign it.
- Week four: the first planner call. Short. Confirm the date, guest count and what matters most. Ask what they are most excited to plan next. Write it down; it tells you which offer comes first.
- Plant seeds, do not pitch. Mention, once, that there is a menu of ways to make the day theirs and that you will go through it when the time is right.
Say this
"We are so happy you chose us. My job from here is to make this the easiest part of your planning. You told Sam the garden ceremony was the moment you're dreaming about, so that's where we'll start."
"As we go, I'll share a few ways couples make the day even more theirs. No pressure, ever. Just ideas when they're useful."
Common mistakes
- A countersigned contract with no note, sent days later.
- A welcome email that asks them to fill in forms they already answered on the tour.
- A gift that could have come from any business. If it does not feel like your venue, it does not work.
- Opening with an upgrade list in week one. It confirms the fear that they bought into a sales machine.
In the book, Maison's gift is a "Married at Maison" box: a note, a logo sweet and an antique key standing for an open invitation to come back. The lesson is the idea, a gift that tells the brand's story, not the box itself.
Sources: The Business of Love, Ch 12 Crafting an Exceptional Client Experience through Touchpoints: BOL-v8-p1773 (image 39: contract signed, countersigned contract, welcome email, vendor introductions, then the gift), p1779 (gift on brand, handwritten note or printed template, couples share it on social media), p1783 (Maison gift box example), p1712 to p1714 (be the venue that cares). Ch 11 Sales, p1658 to p1660 (gift within 30 days). Ch 15 preferred vendors for the introduction step.
Planning meetings are selling moments
Outcome
You can run a planning meeting that listens first, captures what the couple wants in their own words, and recommends second, so every suggestion feels like it came from them.
Why it matters
A planning meeting is the best selling moment you have. The couple is relaxed, already committed, and talking freely about the day they want. Every wish they say out loud is a recommendation waiting to happen. But only if you listen. A planner who arrives with an agenda of things to sell will hear nothing. A planner who arrives curious will leave with three ideas the couple actually wants and will thank you for.
The method
- Prepare from the record. Before the meeting, read the tour worksheet, the handoff notes and the last meeting's notes. Know their three "what matters most" answers by heart.
- Open with them, not the agenda. Ask what has happened since you last spoke. Engagement photos, a dress, a family drama. Let them talk.
- Work the agenda. Cover what must be decided at this stage. Keep it moving.
- Listen for wishes and worries. "I wish…", "We were worried…", "My mom keeps asking about…", "We saw this at a friend's wedding…". Write each one down, word for word.
- Match, do not pitch. For each wish, ask yourself: is there something on the menu that makes this true? If yes, note it. If no, note that too; it may belong on the menu next year.
- Recommend one or two, at most. Near the end, connect a wish to an upgrade. One sentence of picture, one of practicality. Then stop.
- Close the meeting with next steps. What they are deciding, by when, and when you will follow up. Send a short recap the same day, including the idea you mentioned.
Say this
"Before we get into the list, tell me what's new. How did the engagement shoot go?"
"You said twice that you want the party to keep going. A lot of couples add an extra hour for exactly that. It means the last dance isn't at nine-thirty. Want me to add it to your recap so you can think about it?"
"I don't have a perfect answer for that yet. Let me ask our florist and come back to you."
Common mistakes
- Opening with the upgrade sheet.
- Recommending five things in one meeting. The couple feels the meter running.
- Not writing wishes down, so the next meeting starts from scratch.
- Treating a wish you cannot meet as a dead end instead of a question for your vendors.
At Maison, every booking has one planning log, so the planner opens the meeting with the couple's own words from the tour and every earlier call on one screen.
Sources: The Business of Love, Ch 12 Crafting an Exceptional Client Experience through Touchpoints: BOL-v8-p1696 (anticipate needs, address concerns, personal support), p1699 to p1700 (understand preferences, tailor offers to vision and budget), p1703 to p1704 (trust and partnership), p1728 (trust and rapport create the conditions for upgrades). Ch 16, p2136 (promote upgrades in planning meetings). The listen-then-recommend structure is this course's addition.
Time the offer to the milestone
Outcome
You can raise each upgrade at the moment the couple is deciding that very thing, so the offer feels like help, not a pitch, and lands before they have spent the money elsewhere.
Why it matters
Timing is the difference between an upsell and a service. Mention a late-night snack station the week they choose their caterer and you have saved them a decision. Mention it eleven days before the wedding and you have added stress. Timing also protects revenue. If you suggest the bar package after they have hired an outside bartender, the answer is already no. Every upgrade has a window. Miss it and it closes.
The method
- List the couple's milestones. Most weddings move through the same decisions: vendors booked, look and feel, guest list and accommodation, food and drink, timeline and extras, final details. Put rough dates on each, counting back from the wedding.
- Pin each upgrade to the milestone it belongs to. Bar when they choose food and drink. Extra hours when they build the timeline. Rentals and linens when they settle the look. Rehearsal dinner and accommodation when the guest list firms up. Vendor add-ons when they hire that vendor.
- Open the window early, close it clearly. Raise the upgrade at the start of the milestone, not at the end. Say when the decision is needed and why: staffing, ordering or availability.
- One offer per touchpoint. The monthly note may carry one idea. Not three.
- Use events as milestones. A group tasting or a cocktail tasting is a natural window for bar, food and décor upgrades, because they taste and see it.
- Keep a few for the slow months. The book suggests a limited-time offer on upgrades to booked couples when the venue needs cash for a project. Use it sparingly and give the real reason.
- Mark it in the calendar. Use the offer-timing calendar worksheet. Every booking gets its windows on the day it signs.
Say this
"This month is all about food and drink. Before you lock in the menu, here's how our bar packages work, so you can decide both together."
"We need to know about the extra hour by the 60-day mark, because that's when we schedule staff. After that we'll try, but I can't promise it."
Common mistakes
- Offering what you need to sell this month, not what they are deciding this month.
- Raising the bar package after they have hired a bartender.
- Inventing urgency. Couples remember it.
- No deadlines at all, so everything piles into the final-details meeting.
The book's Maison timeline sends a signature-cocktail recipe around three months after signing, with a reminder to book bartending, and a rehearsal-dinner quote a couple of months later if the date is free. Both are offers placed at the right milestone.
Sources: The Business of Love, Ch 12 Crafting an Exceptional Client Experience through Touchpoints: BOL-v8-p1710 (timely, relevant, personal), p1774 (images 40 and 41: bar booking, rehearsal dinner, accommodation, linens and walk-through placed through the planning months), p1810 (group tastings with preferred vendors). Ch 13, p1955 to p1959 (signature cocktail tasting as a showcase for upgrades). Ch 16, p2136 (limited-time offers to booked clients). Milestone mapping is this course's addition.
Presenting an upgrade
Outcome
You can recommend an upgrade in the couple's own words, show them the picture, say the price once and let them choose, so a yes feels like their idea and a no costs nothing.
Why it matters
"Do you want to add anything?" is the weakest sentence in venue sales. It asks the couple to do your job. A recommendation is different. It says: I listened, I know this place, and this is what I would do for you. The aim is not to sell everything. It is to sell the right thing, the one they will be glad about on the day, and to leave the relationship stronger whatever they choose.
The method
- Start from their words. Repeat back the wish you noted. "You said you want the party to go on." The upgrade is the answer to something they already said.
- Recommend, do not list. "I'd recommend…" One item, maybe two. Not the whole menu.
- Paint the moment. What it looks like, when in the day it happens, how guests will feel. Show a photo from your venue.
- Take something off their plate. Say what they no longer have to worry about: staffing, set-up, a separate vendor, cleanup.
- Say the price once, plainly. Do not apologise and do not rush past it. Then be quiet.
- Offer an easy next step. "Shall I add it?" or "Want me to put it on your recap so you can decide together?"
- Accept a no gracefully. Thank them, note it, and do not raise it again unless their situation changes. A respected no buys you the next yes.
- Bundle only when it helps them. Pairing bar with extra hours, or rentals with a lighting package, makes sense when it solves one wish in one decision.
Say this
"You both said the dance floor is the whole point. I'd recommend the extra hour. It moves your last dance to ten-thirty, our team stays on, and you don't have to rearrange a thing. It's [price]. Shall I add it?"
"Totally fair. I'll leave it off. If anything changes, you know where I am."
Common mistakes
- Asking "anything else?" instead of recommending.
- Describing features (fixtures, pours, hours) instead of the moment.
- Repeating the price, or justifying it, before they have reacted.
- Raising the same declined item at every meeting.
At Maison, bar is sold as named packages and enhancements come from a catalog, so a planner can say, for a couple who love cocktails, "This is the package with the signature drink you tasted," rather than reading the pour list.
Sources: The Business of Love, Ch 12 Crafting an Exceptional Client Experience through Touchpoints: BOL-v8-p1699 to p1700 (tailored, value-added options), p1728 (linens, premium bar, extended hours; trust makes clients consider them). Ch 16, p2138 (invite clients to invest more in their dream experience, using the trust you have earned). Ch 13, p1911 to p1913 (signature drinks and bar menus) for bar examples. Ch 15 preferred vendors for vendor add-ons.
"We're over budget"
Outcome
You can hear a budget worry, find out what matters most, and reshape the plan with the couple, without discounting and without damaging the trust you have built.
Why it matters
Almost every couple goes over budget at some point. Guest lists grow, a parent adds a request, the photographer costs more than they thought. When they say it to you, it is not an attack. It is trust. They are telling you because they believe you will help. Handle it badly and two things happen. Discount, and you teach them your prices were never real. Push, and they feel sold to and stop telling you things. Handle it well and you keep the revenue that matters, protect the experience, and earn a couple who tells everyone you looked after them.
The method
- Thank them for saying it. Out loud. It lowers the temperature at once.
- Ask one question first. Is the worry the total, the timing of payments, or one item? Each has a different answer.
- Go back to what matters most. Read them their own three answers from the tour worksheet. Everything that serves those stays. Everything else is open.
- Reshape, do not cut the price. Swap a per-guest item for a flat one. Move from a top bar package to the one below. Replace three small enhancements with the one that carries the moment. Trim what they will not remember.
- Look at timing. If the problem is cash flow, see whether the payment plan can be reshaped within your policy. Say what you can and cannot do.
- Never discount the venue fee. Your price is your price. Value is what moves.
- Write it down and confirm. Send a revised summary the same day, showing what stayed and what changed, so they can see the day is still theirs.
- Note it, and leave it. Do not reopen removed upgrades unless they raise them.
Say this
"Thank you for telling me. That's exactly what I'm here for. Is it the total, the timing of the payments, or one piece in particular?"
"When you toured, you said the three things were the ceremony in the garden, great food and a packed dance floor. Let's protect those and look at everything else together."
"I can't change the venue fee, but I can help you get more of what matters out of the same number."
Common mistakes
- Offering a discount in the first minute.
- Going quiet, so they feel judged.
- Cutting what they love and keeping what they do not care about.
- Promising payment changes your owner has not approved.
At Maison, a planner reshaping a plan moves a couple from one named bar package to the next one down, keeping the signature drink they loved at the tasting, rather than touching the venue fee.
Sources: The Business of Love, Ch 12 Crafting an Exceptional Client Experience through Touchpoints: BOL-v8-p1700 (offers aligned with vision and budget), p1696 (address concerns with personal support), p1703 to p1704 (trust and partnership). Ch 11 Sales handles budget objections before booking (see Module 2, Lesson 5). The thank, ask, reshape, confirm method is this course's addition; payment-plan changes follow your own contract terms (Ch 9, reference only).
The final-details meeting
Outcome
You can run the last planning meeting so every detail is confirmed, nothing is missed, and the final good ideas still land, without turning the last month into a sales push.
Why it matters
The final-details meeting is where the wedding becomes real: timeline, floor plan, vendor arrivals, final counts. It is also the last natural moment for small upgrades that make the day smoother: an extra bussing team for a bigger guest count, a getting-ready breakfast, a late-night snack. Done well, the couple leaves calm and excited. Done badly, they leave with a longer to-do list and a bill they did not expect.
The method
- Schedule it at the right distance. Roughly 30 to 60 days out, after their guest count is close and their vendors are booked. Ask for it in the two-month check-in.
- Send the event questionnaire first. Ask them to fill it in before you meet so the meeting confirms rather than discovers.
- Walk the day in order. Arrival, getting ready, ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, exit. Same order as the tour, now with times and names.
- Check the numbers against the plan. Has the guest count grown? Does the bar, staffing or seating still fit? A bigger count is a service issue first and an upgrade second.
- Offer only what fixes a gap. If the timeline is tight, the extra hour. If the getting-ready morning is long, breakfast for the party. If guests will be hungry late, a snack station. Tie each to something you just found together.
- Confirm every vendor. Arrival times, contacts, load-in, power, meals. Your preferred vendors should hear from you directly.
- Lock it. Final counts, final payment date, final timeline. Send the confirmed version within 48 hours and tell them the next contact: the week-of call.
- End with reassurance. Tell them what they no longer need to think about.
Say this
"Today is about making sure the day runs exactly as you picture it. By the time we're done, you'll have nothing left to think about but each other."
"Your count went from 120 to 145. To keep service as smooth as you saw at the tour, I'd recommend adding a second bussing team. It's [price]. Want me to add it?"
Common mistakes
- Using the meeting to read the upgrade menu one last time.
- Discovering the guest count grew on the wedding day.
- Sending the final timeline a week later.
- Finishing with tasks for them instead of reassurance.
The book's Maison timeline sends a linen brochure and asks to schedule the final walk-through about two months out, then a "happy wedding month" note with the event questionnaire, then a final-details check-in the week before.
Sources: The Business of Love, Ch 12 Crafting an Exceptional Client Experience through Touchpoints: BOL-v8-p1774 (image 40: two months out, linen brochure and final walk-through; one month out, wedding month note with questionnaire; image 42: one week out, final details and arrival text), p1696 (anticipate needs). Ch 16, p2122 to p2127 (per-guest upgrades: getting-ready breakfasts, late-night snacks, extra bussing staff). Day-of operations are out of scope for this module.
Measure revenue per wedding
Outcome
You can track revenue per wedding and upsell rate every month, see which upgrades and touchpoints are working, and improve one thing at a time.
Why it matters
Module 2 measured one number: contracts divided by tours. This module moves a different number. If you do not measure it, you will not know whether your touchpoints build trust or just send email. And measure the feeling too. Revenue that comes at the cost of a couple who felt pushed is borrowed from your reviews.
The method
- Revenue per wedding. Total revenue for weddings held in the month, divided by the number of weddings. Track the contracted amount at signing and the final amount at the wedding. The difference is what this module added.
- Upsell rate. Weddings with at least one upgrade, divided by all weddings held. Aim to raise this before you chase bigger tickets.
- Average upgrade value. Upgrade revenue divided by weddings that bought any. This tells you whether your menu is priced and described well.
- Attach rate per item. For each upgrade, how many couples who were offered it said yes. Low attach means rewrite, reprice, retime or remove.
- Track by owner and by touchpoint. Which planner, which meeting, which monthly note produced the yes. Use the scorecard worksheet.
- Measure care alongside revenue. After the wedding, ask: "Did you ever feel sold to?" and "What made you feel looked after?" Read every answer. Ask for the review the week after the wedding, with direct links.
- Review monthly, change one thing. One new line, one retimed offer, one rewritten menu item. Watch the numbers for a month. Then the next.
Say this
"We're always trying to get better. Was there ever a moment you felt sold to? And what made you feel most looked after?"
"Revenue per wedding is up, upsell rate is flat. The extra hour is carrying it. Let's rewrite how we describe lighting this month and see if it moves."
Common mistakes
- Tracking total revenue only. A busy month hides a falling average.
- Celebrating upgrade revenue while reviews slip.
- No baseline, so you cannot tell what changed.
- Changing the menu, the timing and the scripts all at once.
At Maison, each booking keeps both the signed proposal and the final invoice, so the difference between them can be read per couple and added up per month.
Sources: The Business of Love, Ch 12 Crafting an Exceptional Client Experience through Touchpoints: BOL-v8-p1724 to p1730 (financial benefits of touchpoints, upgrades boost the bottom line while keeping the experience seamless), p1774 (image 42: thank-you and review request a week after the wedding, newsletter, client for life), p1704 (care leads to referrals and reviews). Ch 11 Sales, p1649 to p1654 (measure and practise). Revenue per wedding, upsell rate and attach rate definitions are this course's additions.
Keep going
Worksheets, the quiz and role-play scenarios for this module are in the printed handout pack. The three modules run in order: Marketing · Sales · Upsells.