Student InterviewFirst post-pandemic sale

Three, two, one. Hey, everyone, Brandon Miles here. Today, I've got Vigdis Sugata. We're gonna be talking about how Vigdis made her first sale in the past two months in the Destination Wedding Space. In the midst of all this crazy pandemic stuff going on, travel's been really down. Destination Weddings have been down. So, Vigdis, thanks so much for joining me and glad that you're here.

Thank you.

So, why don't we start with this? Tell me a little bit about yourself. Tell everyone who's listening, introduce yourself. Share a bit about your background and what you do.

Okay, so, I help advantage couples to plan unforgettable and intimate wedding in Iceland with an easy step by step planning process. I started my company in 2016 and have been growing ever since. In the light of the COVID pandemic. It has obviously hit my business really, really hard. So, the past months have been a bit difficult, but I'm staying positive. And I really, really actually used this time to structuring my offer better, working on my sales process, creating a new website and I've actually been doing a lot of things I wanted to do for some time. And I'm also glad that I was able to do that now.

That's awesome. That's awesome. So, let's go like before, even the pandemic and stuff, let's go back. How did you, how did you get into this field? Helping people, plan their weddings in Iceland?

It's a really good question. So, I actually come from the accounting industry.

Really?

I did my master in accounting and auditing after my business degree. And I certainly just found that it wasn't for me to be in the office like all day long and sometimes evenings and weekends and everything. I really, really wanted to create something on my own. I wanted to work for myself. Both to have more time for my kids and my family, but also just generally to do something that I love and yeah, just like get the feeling that I don't need to go to work every day. I think that was my biggest thing. And I have definitely been able to do that with my business because I never feel like I'm working. I'm just doing something I love. So, I think, I think that's why I got into it. I mean, i obviously I love Iceland. I love traveling in Iceland and showing people our, you know, beautiful country. So for me this was I believe the perfect knits to get into, to be able to show other people in my country.

Had you traveled and seen a lot of Iceland before you got into this field? Or was it more like once you got into it, you started to see all the different aspects of the country in firsthand.

Both, so, I have traveled a lot since I was just a small kid. There were not many places in Iceland I hadn't been to before. But obviously like this destination wedding industry helped me, you know, to go even further to look for more remote places. Look for unique locations where there are not a lot of people around and stuff like that. So yeah, first year, I really started to find new places and stuff like that after I started my business, but I had also traveled a lot before.

What? So, what are the types of people that typically work with you? Like who do you help? And what kind of is unique about those types of couples?

So, typically I work with people that want to have intimate weddings. We do a lot of like elopements and smaller weddings, maybe with guests, weddings with less than 30 guests, right? So, yes, I think like, those are the typical weddings that we mostly do, like on the smaller side. And also we really love working for adventure couples, you know, that want to do something a little bit different, like getting married on a glazier or in a cave or something really, really different.

Yeah, so, I didn't, when we started working here, I didn't know, that there were like ice cap weddings and getting married on glaciers and all this stuff. What are some of the like really amazing kind of memorable weddings that you've been able to be a part of?

I have to say like last year in September. I did a wedding for a couple and it was supposed to be in an ice cave. Something happened with the electricity in the ice cave.

There is electricity in them?

Yes, I mean, if there would not have any lights it would be completely dark.

Ah, that makes sense.

So, you need to have lights in there and it's actually an ice cap where you go into a glacier. It's really cool. But anyways, the electricity was down and we couldn't use the lights. So, we've got the idea of taking the couple, in this super trip to the top of the glacier. And it was, it was the most magnificent thing I have ever been a part of. You could see to other parts of the country from the top of the glacier and the sky was clear and you could see so far and yeah, and the weather was just perfect.

Were they happy?

Yes, they were like, I mean, they couldn't believe it. And I think I think they were, they didn't even realize until after wedding, how crazy this was. And then on the way down from top of the glacier the lights were back in the ice caps. So, we could still go in there and take pictures and everything. It was an amazing day.

It all worked out.

Yeah.

That's awesome. So, I imagine there's other folks that help people plan these types of weddings. Plan destination weddings in general. What do you think really makes you guys unique?

I think what makes us unique is our friendly service. So, what we try to do with our couples is really like, find what they want to do. So, I think generally when planning weddings, it's not always about what the couple wants. It can sometimes be about what the parents want or even somebody else. So, I think our important thing is to really get into what is meaningful for the couple, eh, how they would like the state to be, because it's their day and it doesn't matter what people want and what they want is the right thing for them to do. So, whether you want to have like a really fancy dinner in an expensive hotel or if you just want to go, you know, and have a hamburger with your friends after your wedding, that's like, we love that. So, just, you know, try to figure out what people want for their day and how we can help them make that happen.

Amazing. That's awesome, so cool. So like, let's go back to the beginning of us working together. So, what were you doing before we were working together?

Before we were working together. I was definitely confused like in the light of the COVID pandemic and so on. I really wanted to use my time to do some marketing and try to get a better idea. how I want my business to be in the future because I think a lot of business owners and I was like that myself. Like I was just working every single day. I wasn't really thinking like, how am I getting clients? How do I want this to be in the future? How am I actually doing my sales? I had a process obviously, but I needed help and I wanted to make my sales process even better.

Yeah, and I think, correct me if I'm wrong, but remembering back, the other thing was, I mean, you've worked with tons of couples. You've been in business for awhile. You've been doing great things, but when we started talking, it was like, maybe there's issues with kind of your service delivery and how much profit you were making and your business model itself. Does that ring any bells?

Yes, absolutely.

Speak to that a little bit.

Yes, so, well, I wanted to change my business model. I wanted to go from being charging maybe too little and getting too little for myself. And obviously that's one of the things I wanted to fix and I wanted to, yeah Like, you know, streamline the sales process. Go over the sale itself, my prices as well and how I could actually change my business model. So I would be able to make more profits.

Yeah. I mean, exactly. And it's , I think I remember there were some stories about maybe there were some clients you would bring on and you'd sell maybe like a one-time fee, and then they would be working with you for two years or three years. And it was like, whoa, like, you know what I mean? Remember that?

Yeah.

So, okay. So what, when we, before we started working together, what specific job where you were trying to tackle? I mean, what's the main thing trying to figure out a better business model or was it the sales process or a bit of both?

I think it was a bit of both. I think it was also to structure my packages. So, you know, in the wedding industry, like packages are really common. And I think what you helped me like see was that I don't necessarily need to do all these packages. It's rather more about just finding out what people want.

Okay, yeah. So, you have maybe some complexity in the way you're presenting your offers. You were kind of presenting these packages upfront and maybe that wasn't necessarily needed to get more sales and help more people, right? Okay, So, okay. Before we were working together, how were you trying to solve these things? Were you just working on this, like just working your way kind of grinding on your own or what was, what were you doing beforehand?

Yeah, I mean, I think, I think I wasn't doing too much. I think I was just working on the weddings, you know? So, like I said before, that's why when I suddenly had a lot of time to think about these things. I reached out to you because I want to get your help. So, I think, yeah, honestly, I think I wasn't thinking too much about how I was doing it. I was just, I was just doing it like consistently, without thinking too much about if it was the right thing or how i can make it better.

Yeah, so, I mean, I think one of the things I remember you telling me is like, before the pandemic, you were getting a number of leads every week from your website.

Yes.

What was it like 20 a week or like five a week or 20?

Yep.

Yeah, and-

10 and 20 a week.

10 and 20 a week. And so it was like, because that was working, this was all out of sight, out of mind. But like when that, when that happened. When those leads went away, you're like, well, let me evaluate everything. Like the way I'm running my business. The way I'm doing my sales. Take this time to figure all this stuff out. And so it's kind of interesting. Obviously it's not, it's not great the pandemic happened in general. It's not great that it happened your business but is it kind of a blessing in disguise? It forced you to think through some of these issues.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah, absolutely. I think it was really good to get help with structuring the offer and the sales process and, yeah. Also just like thinking further into the future and trying to build up a model that actually works in the longterm. And yeah, like you mentioned before I was doing this, the services, maybe for years. Still charging a fixed fee. I think we have pretty, I think we have a pretty good solution for that and I think it's gonna work out great.

Yeah, and I think I want, I'm just getting it as like, it's kind of, it's just funny and I'd see this in my own life, other clients, like how we were so good at what we're doing, we're working in our business, that it can take like some sort of external shock to make us be like reevaluate things that we've taken for granted, you know, and improve those things. So, that's kind of cool. So, looking back, like where did you first hear about me? How did we initially get connected? Do you remember?

Yeah, I think you reached out to me over Facebook chat.

Cool, and so when I, when we first connected, what peaked your interest?

I mean, we had a call, so I met you and I think you just, you're just a really friendly guy. You're really easy to talk to. And I think the biggest point for me was that you really did get what I was saying. And I felt that you had an understanding how you could help me. And also I knew you had been helping other people that are in a similar industry that I am, and that helped me as well to make confidence that you were the right person.

So, is that, was that Peter and the wedding photography stuff?

Yeah.

So, you guys talked right together, some.

Yeah, we did.

Got it, so, yeah. So, for everyone who's listening, Peter is another client of mine who's in the wedding photography industry. And like, it's not the same thing as what Vigdis is doing, but it kind of rhymes. And so, I think I put Peter in touch with you before we were even working together.

Yeah.

And so was it, that was a helpful conversation with him?

Yes, really, really nice guy.

That's awesome. Okay, cool. So, once we started working together, trying to remember back, like, what was the first thing that we worked on?

It was probably like my sales process. Was it, can you help me remind?

Yeah, no worries. So, I think we started with what was your message, right? What was your message statement?

Exactly, yeah. That's right.

And then the offer structure. We looked at those two things, right?

Yeah.

So, we worked on that and then we also worked on your sales process after that, right? And your sales script. So, just thinking back through all that, what we're, you know, now that we've done that work what were, were there any surprise benefits of that process? Anything that really stood out and you're like, wow, that was super helpful?

Yeah, so with the methods, I think you pointed out to me some websites that I could use in general When making content and creating content too, that is meaningful to my clients. That helped. So, that was something new I hadn't seen before, yeah. So, that was really helpful. And yeah, I think just like in general overall calls. I think you were just really helping me, like you really wanted to help. And a lot of the time I was a bit like, okay, I'm not sure how I can do this? Or I'm not sure, how can I complete this? And you kind of just, okay. That's okay. And then you just came with another idea or helped me even further. So, I feel you never left me just without something I could work on. So, always after our call, I had kind of like a homework to do, and I had a really good understanding, like how to complete it then and actually work on it. And I think that was the most valuable thing to get a really clear help and methods from you, how to do things.

Yep, so it sounds like what I'm hearing is like, we have these calls together and on those calls it felt like I was holding your hand every step of the way.

Absolutely.

Once we had a call, like after the call, you always knew what was the next immediate thing that you need to do to move forward. Is that fair?

Yes, and of course, like just having the accountability. I know that I would not have been able to complete what I did in 30 days if I would not had you on my side. Because I was really strict with myself, to book the meetings and I always felt I needed to complete my last homework before the next meeting. So, the accountability was really important too. And I got to do a lot of things in short time frame.

Yeah, I think the other thing, like, I feel like a lot of people will work with somebody like me and it's they give them like very hand-wavy like high-level advice. How in the weeds do we get all these issues?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Really deep. When i didn't understand how to do it. You still helped me, helped me to do it, so.

Right, I mean, I remember there were multiple calls were going through sentence by sentence, like your sales script. Picking it apart.

Yes, and I mean, I think that's what I needed and that's why I'm happy with the service. Because I really needed help with what to say and when to say it and not just guessing if it's the right thing.

So, what do you, what areas do you think of your business in your own life, have improved so far based on what we've done together?

I think so, before this call, I just came and foremost, my first sale score, like in two months.

And yes. So, what happened on that?

And I actually signed up that client which am really happy about, yeah.

It's amazing.

Yeah, I mean, this COVID pandemic has obviously been really hard on my business like I said before but anyway I can feel things are picking up. And I also like I was more confident on the call, you know. I'm still in the beginning of using my new sales process, my new offer, my new sales script and everything. And it was my first like real sales call so of course it wasn't perfect, you know. But still, I really felt I was more confident and I was there. I was really pumped up for making the sale. So, so yeah.

I'm so happy for you. It's amazing. So, when I'm, yeah, like, you know, people talk about giving, being given fish versus like teaching how to fish. Do you feel like you have like a better mental model about how sales work. Why people buy all that type of stuff that will like serve you going forward?

Yes, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, I will be working on my sales script continuously it's an ongoing process. It's not something that is just finished in sometime. And then you have different clients on the phone every time. You need to always need to adjust the sales script a little bit to each person as you go on with a call, of course. But yes, I'm much more confident than I can definitely feel that it's gonna work, not just for this past call, but for future calls-

For future calls. That's awesome.

Yeah.

So, why do you think, why do you think these improvements have stuck? Why do you think that this is gonna be something you can take going forward?

Because we have talked so much about it.

You've done the work, you've put you've really, really put in effort.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, I know that just by obviously being a business owner and so on, eh, that it's much more helpful to actually get this service kind of like done with you instead of done for you. So, if you would have just wrote the same script for me and sent it over. It would not have been like as good and not even close to it because obviously when you go through the sales call and you adjust it every single time when you read it. you sound like over and over and I was able to talk about it with you in steps, I don't know like how many meetings we did just about the sales script.

A lot.

Still it was like totally worth it. And it was what I needed. So, now I'm confident on I just think it even more like, as I go and get more sales calls.

Yeah, It's so funny you saying about how if I've written it and just given it to you it wouldn't be as useful. It makes me think of like, yeah. If I had written it for you or someone else had written it for you. Because you have to deliver it it doesn't really work 'cause you have to like digest it. It has to, it can't just be here. It has to be like here, right? You have to know it really deeply. And turning it over in your head, working on it and you know the niche better than I do. So, it's like, it really needs to be birthed from you. But having somebody who's a sales expert who can help you massage it and Polish it that's like where like the magic can really happen. If that makes sense.

Yeah, absolutely.

So, looking ahead to the next 30 days, what's the action plan for you? What's the game plan?

My game plan is getting more people on the phone. That's going to be my main thing to do. And I'm gonna put all my time and work into getting more people on the phone. Yeah, and I'm just really, I'm just gonna focus on that. I'm gonna try to be not distracted by other things and try to get real focused on that.

And practice some sales calls too.

Yeah, yeah.

I think that's great. Both those things make a lot of sense. So, remembering back to at the end of our sales process, me talking to you, right? Why did you decide to do business with me?

I think it was, I think it's really simple. I just believed that you could help me. Like I said before, so I think like, the first thing was that you had helped other people, not in the same niche as I am, but pretty similar. So, that's gained me more confidence. But then in general, I think it was just really nice to speak to. And I believe you gave me some points, like how you would help me and which things we would be working on and so on. So, I could really see the action plan on that call and like what we would be working on in the next 30 days. So, yeah.

Amazing.

But, but mainly just like, you are great to work with and I could see it in the beginning as well, so-

Just from the sales conversation that it was, yeah, cool. That makes sense. So, was there anything that kicked you over the fence? Like there was any doubts or anything like that or it was like pretty, pretty easy decision for you?

I think it was a pretty easy decision.

Nice, great. So, would you recommend others to work with me?

Yes, I would, absolutely. So, go to Harry if you need help in your business.

Why would you, why would you recommend me?

So, I would recommend you.

Or maybe better like, what types of people do you think it's a good fit for working with me? You know what I mean?

Yeah. Yeah, I know what you mean. I think people that are already in business, but still people that need like they want to grow their business, obviously. And they want to sort of like, I lost that, but yeah. So, what types of people should work with you?

You know like types of coaches or consultants, or like coaching consultants at certain stages of their business. Like, you know, why do you think, who do you think it'd be a good fit for?

Yeah. I think people that would be a good fit are people that are already in business and, but they still want to like grow their businesses and get a clearer future plan for it. If that makes sense. I think people are just thinking that they're like thinking if what they need to do to make their businesses better and working on absolutely the same process and stuff like that.

Yeah, so maybe I mean, they're already in business, they've they know how to make sales. They have some leads, but maybe they're not making enough profit or like they don't see like a sustainable longterm path. And they want someone to come in and audit everything with them and set up a stronger foundation so they can have a really profitable business.

Yes, and also definitely business owners that want to work less. I think that's also like the big point-

Yeah, like what lacks in the business. and more on the business.

Yeah, exactly.

Sorry, I cut you off, what we're you gonna say?

Yeah, so I think people that also want to work less in the business and more like on the business.

Totally. So, if someone's listening right now and they're on the fence, why should they take Action Greatness?

Because if you say you can help them, you can.

What do you mean by that?

I mean, that, I feel you're really like honest and genuine person. And I know that if you would not be able to help someone, you would tell them. When you really say that you can help them and you're willing to go all the way with them, take their business to the next level. That's what you're going to do.

Cool, thank you so much. That's really, really kind. I appreciate that.

You are welcome. What your number one piece of advice for coaches and consultants?

Number one advice. Never give up.

Say more.

Never give up.

Stick with it.

Yeah.

Awesome. So, if people will, thank you so much Vigdis for talking to me, amazing story. Keep at it. I'm excited to see what happens in the next 30 days for you. If people wanna learn more about you, your business, like where can they find you, online?

Eh, they can find me on Facebook. I have a Facebook page, Vigdis Sugata and we also have a website Luxwedding.is

How do you spell that?

Eh, L-U-X-W-E-D-D-I-N-G.I-S

Perfect. All right, well, Vigdis thank you so much again for your time. Really appreciate it.

Thank you.

All right. Bye everybody, thanks.

Bye-bye.