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Book your Dream client by prequalifying them - Duncan Blount
171 Plays2 years ago
Happy Woo Wednesday!
Hot topic: Book your Dream client by prequalifying them
Duncan Blount is a blend of creative energy and entrepreneurial passion. I am the venue manager of La Venta, an event venue in Palos Verdes, CA. I also write music and screenplays. His innovative mindset helps with building businesses, forming effective teams, and hosting memorable events. From public speaking to having coffee one on one, he is open to connecting.
Connect with Duncan
https://www.instagram.com/laventainn_pv/
https://www.instagram.com/duncan.blount/
Connect with Carissa Woo
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Transcript
Introduction to Duncan Blamp and Pre-qualifying Clients
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Moo Wednesdays! I have Duncan Blamp in the Get a Heck Yes House. Today we talk all about Dubstep! Just kidding, we talk about pre-qualifying clients. He's a venue manager at LaVenta Inn in Palos Verdes, owned by Made by Meg Catering. One of my favorite venues in the South Bay with the best food. He is quite the character, go check him out on TikTok. He went viral by posting a video on How to Whistle. You are going to love this episode.
00:00:32
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host, Carissa, and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all. I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business.
Strategies for Wedding Creatives
00:00:47
Speaker
In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise. Some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story,
00:01:01
Speaker
Time hacks because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey. I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesdays so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon. Happy Woo Wednesdays. You know me. I'm Carissa Woo and welcome back to my podcast, Get a Heck Yes.
00:01:31
Speaker
Today we're talking about path of pre-qualifying.
Blending Creativity and Business
00:01:35
Speaker
And today I have Duncan Blount in the house and he's actually at my studio in Torrance and he's a blend of creative energy and entrepreneurial passion. He's the venue manager at the famous La Venta Inn. A 1920s historic Spanish style villa and palace birdies down the street from me.
00:01:57
Speaker
He also writes music and screenplays, and his innovative mindset helps with building businesses, forming effective teams, and hosting memorable events from public speaking to having coffee 101.
00:02:10
Speaker
Duncan loves to have fun. We know that. We just went to sushi with some clients. Dude, it was so fun to be able to connect over a client that we share. Yeah. To share sushi with someone and then be like, hey, let's have some sake together. Yeah. And then you build this rapport and this trust. That wedding is going to be so much fun. Yeah. Share the story of how that happened. Yeah. So finding clients who are your dream clients and then them messaging you and saying, hey, have you heard of this photographer?
00:02:37
Speaker
And you're like, yeah, I have heard of that photographer. And the photographer comes and you're like, yo, you're pretty cool. And then you're like, you're pretty cool. Wedding vendors know how to party. Yes, we do. And as someone who loves to party, you love to meet other people who love to party. And that's the cool thing about this industry is it's pretty easy to become friends.
Building Trust in the Wedding Industry
00:02:55
Speaker
Yeah. Because you show the same clientele, you go through like the grit and turmoil of event day together.
00:03:01
Speaker
And then you can become friends afterward. And this is the beauty of the industry, you know? It's all of it. Yes. I don't know if you guys heard that, era five. It wasn't the era five, because we're live in person, but Duncan's actually talking about me. That's right. So I guess tell us in your words, I know you have a crazy story, how you ended up in LA, but a little brief story about your journey and what it took you to today.
Duncan's Journey to LaVenta Inn
00:03:25
Speaker
Yes.
00:03:27
Speaker
I'm from North Carolina. I'm a Southern boy. And one day, one of my good friends in North Carolina, he made me a margarita. And he said, Duncan, have you ever thought that maybe you were meant for more? And I said,
00:03:43
Speaker
me another margarita let's talk about it. I decided to take the leap and as a southerner it's very hard to to leave the south and leave that that comfort and to have the audacity to dream for something bigger. I came out to Palos Verdes it was July 2021
00:04:04
Speaker
and the California sunshine dripping down, and I ripped my glasses off, and I looked up at that cupola, the historic laventa, and I said, dang, this is where I belong. And so I love California, I love the ambition, I love the drive, and I love the beautiful events. I'm so happy to be here. I'm gonna play that LAX when the Dream of God again. Yes, play it. So far, I know this story a little bit, but
00:04:35
Speaker
you actually got the job at LaVenta Inn before you came with your wife and a baby, right? We moved across the country and it was not easy. I had a two-year-old, a little six-month-old baby, and we went across the country to somewhere that we knew no one. Wow. Because we believed in the opportunity. Made by Meg is such a cool company. Meg, my daughter,
00:05:01
Speaker
chef, premier, CEO, definitely a top three caterer in LA. And she trusted me. And I get to learn from her every day. And it's such a blessing. So we, we came to learn, we came to grow. The education is here. It's just better. Yeah. Yeah. You have a lot of benefits in California. And sometimes Californians just don't realize how awesome it is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm here just walking around just wide eyed, just like a little puppy like,
00:05:27
Speaker
Whoa, these tacos. I'm happy all the time. You're the golden retriever that we just did. I'm just so positive. Okay, let's bring it back to that conversation with the margarita, maybe two, maybe three.
00:05:40
Speaker
And when he says maybe like, Duncan, you're meant for more. What more was that conversation? What were you doing at that time? And then what made you take that leap of faith? Was it Dr. Margarita? Was it your friend? Did you always know you had something more on you or was it just that spark? It takes courage to apply to jobs. It takes courage to see your manager experience and take it seriously.
00:06:05
Speaker
In the South, there's something called chicken biscuit syndrome. That's right. Chicken biscuit syndrome. And it's basically unhealthy humility. Whenever you're so humble that you don't believe in your leadership experience, you don't believe in your
00:06:24
Speaker
it can make it tough to progress or tough to really find top positions. But I took the risk and I said, you know what, I have done something special. I've built this wonderful event venue. It's called Uptown Indigo. So I managed that venue for about four years. It has 500 five-star reviews on Google. It's probably one of the top private event venues in the state. We did all kinds of experimental things. We had projection mapping on the walls. We had in-house sounds
00:06:54
Speaker
we created this very special venue and I was there at the founding. I was there helping
00:07:03
Speaker
venue. And I learned so much. And so I have something to offer.
Unique Management Style and Selection
00:07:07
Speaker
And so the trick is, yes, I'm going to offer have the audacity to grow and to do something bigger. Wow, that's that's a dream. I mean, what made it stand out on your resume to if you don't know, you know, Meg, she owns a catering company made by Meg and she's a powerhouse.
00:07:25
Speaker
What do you think made her choose you out of all the applicants and like what made your resume shine? She told me, she said, Duncan, every planner in LA wants this job and giving it to you, someone who literally knows none of the planners. And I was pretty connected in North Carolina and I knew all the right people. So I was leaving the network in North Carolina to join a network that didn't know me.
00:07:51
Speaker
I believe it was a strategy that Meg had to not step on any toes because she's hiring the United States, so she's not making any of the planters mad. She was finding someone with a completely different region and a completely different experience and a blank slate. And Meg has very particular expectations. She's extremely detail oriented and procedural.
00:08:16
Speaker
And so hiring a venue manager from somewhere that's not like that, she needs someone who's accepting of these new rules and situations and her management style. And I had that flexibility and I had that...
00:08:32
Speaker
the creative ability to work with her and to create contracts and to create all these different systems in place at a venue that has a good many rules, right? Most residential venues have a lot of rules. So we had to have a lot of solutions. And I think it was a good fit. I think we've created something really special in the last two
LaVenta Inn's Architectural Beauty
00:08:50
Speaker
years. That's amazing. Yeah. A lot of different changes happened in 2021. A lot of venues were getting taken over. So for context to our audience,
00:08:58
Speaker
Meg took over La Venta. And if you guys don't know La Venta, go check it out. It's one of the best venues in the South Bay. But paint the picture of what it's like getting married at La Venta and in Palos Verdes. The very first structure in the entire peninsula, when you look up and you see those beautiful red terracotta tiles, those white walls, Spanish colonial architecture,
00:09:31
Speaker
as a sales office for the Palos Verdes project. It was the first building. It was like a clubhouse. And now it's a wedding venue. You walk in, it feels like you're walking into someone's beautiful Spanish villa estate. There's a beautiful fountain with blue. Everywhere you look inside of that fountain is just
00:09:52
Speaker
blue tile. You just stare into the fountain. It's beautiful. You look up and you see the Jasmine blooming, all the flowers, palm trees towards the sunset. The sun sips through those palm fronds. You walk around the building, ceremony lawn overlooking the Queen's necklace. It was beautiful beach, leading to Redondo Beach. And then you have
00:10:16
Speaker
Los Angeles County. You can see on a video you can see all the way to the Hollywood sign across the entire county. So cool. I love those descriptive words. It reminds me of that movie like Under the Tuscan Sun.
00:10:30
Speaker
Do you know that one? I feel like I've heard that. Okay. She's very, she's like kind of like a book writer, but she uses very descriptive words. Have fun describing it. Yeah. I was going to ask you, okay. Tell us a little bit about your musician background and how it helps you become a venue manager.
Enhancing Sales with Creative Background
00:10:47
Speaker
Maybe it helps you in sales.
00:10:48
Speaker
Well, we were just using creative words to have a creative writing moment. Writing is a big part of who I am. It's a big part of copywriting, a part of marketing. You got to catch people's attention and you've got to give them what they need to make the decision for the sale. I love writing. I think it's a huge part of my day-to-day as a salesperson, even just emails. You can learn a lot in between the lines.
00:11:19
Speaker
As a writer, I know that I'm a better salesperson, and the creative outlook for my writing has always been poetry and music, and I love writing music. I love singing. I'm a very extroverted poet, and singing is the combination of those two, being on stage and having a spotlight. Let's go. It's very macho, certainly. Yeah, so I just picture back our sushi date with their clients, and like every five seconds I'm getting like,
00:11:50
Speaker
The thing I love about Korean and Japanese cultures is that you want other people to pour the sake or sojourd into your cup and then you want to pour it into their cup. It's all about hospitality. That's the industry we're in. So it's very symbolic to go to a Japanese restaurant and have that sake poured into my cup and then to be able to pour it into our clients' cups. There's something about fellowship with clients. It's not just this black and white
00:12:28
Speaker
be yourself more in this industry, which I just love. Yeah, we definitely were ourselves. We weren't ourselves. I love that too much about me. But we're closer. And honestly, on the event day,
00:12:42
Speaker
Things go wrong sometimes. And I'm a big believer that when you have rapport and you have trust with your team and your vendor team, you step up for one another. Yeah, exactly. You're able to step up for you, you're able to step up for me. And sometimes patience wears thin at venues, you know?
00:13:00
Speaker
But whenever we have the connections, like, okay, how can I do my best for Chris? How can Chris do her best for us? And so I'm a big believer in those relationships.
Providing Value and Building Trust
00:13:08
Speaker
I really am. Yay! Yeah. Okay. So what is your best, heck yes, sales technique? Because we're going to be talking today about pre-qualifying our clients. So you could answer this any way you want. I'm on my Instagram right now.
00:13:25
Speaker
is a reel with four photos that you took. That was a gift. You gave me a gift. Here's a sales hack. Give venue managers gifts. I gave you a gift. We'll give you four really wonderful photos. I was busy. I was opening up the venue. I was closing different types of air. I think I was turning off the air conditioner whenever you took those photos and you said, Hey, stop. Wait a second. I want to get your photo.
00:13:50
Speaker
Those were great photos. Fantastic, unique lighting. I had my grandma's scarf on. My grandmother passed away recently. And you took these great photos and you sent them to me. And I was like, what? It's not about bribing, then you made it. It's about how can I give you something of value.
00:14:15
Speaker
every photographer listening to this knows that. So trying to give, I get photographers all the time saying, can we get on your preferred list? I actually got one this morning. I'd never heard of him. He didn't include any of his work. Why? Why would anyone say this? It's about reciprocating and building trust. And if there's no reason to trust you, do that.
00:14:50
Speaker
And that's a great way to, heck yes, because venues are at the top side of the funnel. Photographers are further down the funnel, even like second or third on average to be booked. Venues on average first. We don't get a lot of referrals from places. I'd say 25% of our business comes from planners. Everyone should be using the planners. If you keep shooting those planners, you got to do it. But 75% of our clients, they don't have a planner. They get a planner after us. And I say that because
00:15:28
Speaker
I recommend trying to build relationships with venues. When I do a styled shoot at La Venta, I try to do a styled shoot every three months. It's not just about the photos or the publications. It's not just about the theme or the vendors who are experimenting. We love experimenting with style shoots. It's about the relationships you build. It really is. If I enjoy being around you and I trust you,
00:15:55
Speaker
And I know that you're going to follow the rules on event day. And I know that you're going to treat our clients, right? Yeah. That's why I want to pay you for the list. And with LaVenta, it's actually Meg who has the final say, but I have a lot of input, right? I say, Hey, here's the ones that I recommend for our 24 list. Meg approves it. So I, I see that and it's all about the relationships and you have to build that beforehand. Thank you for including me in your answer.
00:16:22
Speaker
All right, so what is our hot topic today and why is it so near and dear to your heart?
The Importance of Pre-qualifying Clients
00:16:27
Speaker
I want to talk about pre-qualifying. I think that's what's going to be the most helpful for your listeners. Okay. Pre-qualifying is not a phone call. Pre-qualifying is not just sending your pricing over. It's all of marketing. For us, if you come in for a tour, you've been
00:16:53
Speaker
in the funnel above the tour. When someone comes in for a tour of the Venta, we've probably spent over $200 getting that person to walk into New York. It's a lot of marketing, a lot of energy, and it's a low conversion thing, right? If you think about the hundred people who look at this beautiful ocean view venue online and they reach out
00:17:17
Speaker
It's a low percentage that actually ends up coming in. So part of it is providing pricing. I'm a big believer in providing pricing before you meet in person. Someone needs to disagree with that. I want them to know that they want us before we meet because I only have so much time in the day for tours. I have a team of one booking specialist who gives tours and then I have another team member who gives tours and I give tours. We can only give 70 tours in a week. We want to give tours.
00:17:54
Speaker
We talk about policies and pricing and dates. It's a long amount of time that I spend the tour. So it can't just be anyone. It has to be pre-qualified. And what I'd like for your listeners to know is that pre-qualifying starts with the very first moment they learn about your thing. Because it's the dream, right? You hear this a lot. Your dream couple, your dream couple is pre-qualifying themselves.
00:18:31
Speaker
inside of that packet, they are pre-qualifying themselves because if they know they're not a good fit, they're going to walk away and that's what we want. We want them to walk away if they're not a good fit because we're looking for the dream couple. Yeah, I'm trying to wrap my head around all of this. Honestly, I think we're also talking about not just pre-qualifying, but we're talking about like
00:18:53
Speaker
Yeah, finding your dream client in this pre-qualification process. So you're talking about like, what they see, the portfolio, like what you're showcasing. Yeah. What would you say like your dream client for LaVenta is? Yeah, we want couples who value food.
Ideal Clients for LaVenta Inn
00:19:12
Speaker
who value privacy and who value that version of you that doesn't go till 2am. Residential venues cannot stay within late and that's a big downfall for the venue cycle too. So the couples that don't mind 10pm music off time are venues or couples who want a venue
00:19:33
Speaker
about family. If they're trying to impress their friends and dance the night away, it's about their family. If they're trying to really have some good food and gather as a family, then it's about family. So I would say traditional couples who maybe are in their early thirties, they have iPhones, they like cocktails, food is a big part of their experience. They call themselves foodies. I could go on and on. Yeah, it's time to stay. But people who match that, but it's
00:20:00
Speaker
Already make solid proposition, privacy, fine-custom catering, and ocean view at a very early time.
00:20:06
Speaker
when that overlaps with a couple of building blocks, then that's already coupled. That's awesome. I danced my ass off at that venue, at your venue. So it is about friends. It's just not the late, late night experience. And I have to tell our couples that all the time, look, I know it's 10 o'clock music off, there's after parties, there's hotels. No, I was, I was all about the late like, oh,
00:20:31
Speaker
You told one o'clock and then everyone left at like nine o'clock and he said, we're all drunk. I was dumb at the time. I used the phrase after party and I always relate it to the next chapter. It's the fifth chapter, chapter one ceremony, chapter two cocktail hour, chapter three dining, chapter four, and sing at Lavinza. And chapter five, well not everyone joins chapter five. That's after five.
00:20:56
Speaker
I think it's a fun element and people remember that. The chapter last is last chapter that you don't want to. And then the more mature we are, it's that final chapter. That's awesome. Okay. So a lot of wedding photographers are listening right now. Well, would you tell them how to pre qualify, like some tips to pre qualify their potential clients?
00:21:26
Speaker
I didn't know how to get into spaces that I wasn't invited into. My aha moment was I finally found a venue that I jammed with and I think that we're gonna have a great relationship so I'm super excited to be on their list.
00:21:43
Speaker
I have presented myself, my art, and my business in a way that is speaking to someone, that is speaking to somebody enough where they recognize my brand. They know who I am and I don't know who they are, which is amazing, and they want to work with me.
00:22:00
Speaker
Yep, she's just one of my dozens of students crushing it. Go on my website, www.hecyesmedia.co and book a 15 minute strategy session with me. Only if you want to be booked out on multiple preferred vendor lists and have a proven marketing plan. Yeah. Think about your, I call them tumors, but maybe you have a consultation phone call.
00:22:28
Speaker
What do you give during those moments? Because if you're only spending five minutes on the phone with the client talking to them, the first time you talk to them, you could afford to pre-qualify less. But if I can only give three tours a day because I have a busy schedule, there's only three couples I could talk to the entire day.
00:22:46
Speaker
because I give so much. Our tours are full walk arounds. We like to fire. Meg has custom water bottles with a little ventilator. We give water bottles to all of our clients. Sometimes we even bake cookies. We bake cookies out. That's a big investment. So obviously the higher your investment is at that first touch point that has been personal on the phone,
00:23:09
Speaker
the lower the threshold for your pre-qualifying. But our tours are great. I want people in California to say, we don't charge for this. I don't know if you know this. Some of these will charge for tours. I've seen it. I've seen this in Virginia, North Carolina.
00:23:29
Speaker
You want to come to our venue, it's $200 because they don't want to mess around for anything. They're saying, our time is so bad, we've got to pay us. Which is, I think a little bit intense. I want to open it up a little bit more and I can give these really great free tours. All to say, pre-qualify in the sense of getting people ready to know that they want you and that they can afford you.
00:23:56
Speaker
and then giving them something that's really valuable whenever you first come up with them. And I give them something very valuable. I give them a great conversation, great information, great views. They come in for a tour and I make it worth their time. I want them to be worth my time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, there's only so much to give. We both have two kids. I pre-qualified my potential clients through a 10-minute screening full call.
Tips for Wedding Photographers
00:24:21
Speaker
And it's just pretty much getting to know them a little bit in their wedding.
00:24:26
Speaker
I actually send them a proposal with my pricing and make it kind of cool and custom with the venue in it. And then if they take a call with a 30-minute Zoom call with me, we have to be all three parties on me and a couple. That's what I would relate to the tour, right? Yeah.
00:24:47
Speaker
like an in-depth consultation, but that's the value. That's the value moment. You're a 30 minute from a 45 minute. You're exactly right. You need that before they would actually put down a deposit. Exactly. Yeah. Any other tips for, I'm thinking of photographers screening, like maybe like a questionnaire or maybe some do the don'ts or do you send an email like of everything like that you guys offer for a venue?
00:25:15
Speaker
We have a wedding guide. It's a 22 page PDF. The trip with PDFs for all of your listeners is to compress the PDF. I see way too many PDFs sent that were like 12 gigabytes. I don't want my photos to be damaged. It's like, it won't just compress it. Send a PDF that's easy to open on the iPhone. They open it up on the iPhone and they get most of the information.
00:25:37
Speaker
And if they read through it and they see the pricing, which you can or can't, depending on your preference, add to the PDF, then the next step is, okay, well, how do we schedule this from call?
00:25:50
Speaker
Um, so for us, it's the wedding guide and it's our website. I got to see this wedding guide. Yeah, it's, it's good. It's, and oh, this was the next idea to download it from our website.
Comprehensive Client Engagement Strategy
00:26:01
Speaker
You have to give us your email address. So if we wanted to, we could reach out to you via the email address. If you didn't reach back out, my philosophy is if you look at our wedding guide and we're not in your budget.
00:26:11
Speaker
and have a big worth of time to reach out. But from a sales perspective, they gave you their email. So you should at least try again. So we have a drip campaign. I would say LaVenta and Make by Make is probably top 1% of sales strategy. We have a seven email drip campaign with lots of people once they sign up to get that PDF. Very special. We have a great marketing director named Taylor.
00:26:34
Speaker
Taylor takes care of all those drip campaign actions and getting people excited. Sometimes, let's say it was a photographer, you're looking for a photographer as a recently engaged couple, you're going to reach out to 10 photographers that first day. So sometimes it's the drip campaign, it's three days later, seven days later, 10 days later, it's the reminder. Yeah, I forgot to follow up with that person.
00:27:04
Speaker
like, you know, that they go back to your website, they schedule from here. So yeah, I guess, yeah, drip, but nurture email sequence. That's also what I teach my students. I actually mean to like,
00:27:21
Speaker
email marketing because it automates literally everything. And some people don't use it. Yeah. But I'm kind of glad. Don't know about it. My students can use it. Yeah. I mean, photographers sometimes a little behind. So but yeah, FYI email marketing, you could drip it out for even for photography, like 12 months because yeah, because people want to hear about like,
00:27:51
Speaker
They're in your market like way before they get engaged. Venues, maybe not so much. What is your woo factor? I would say when I'm pretty good on Zoom, sales calls, that's what I teach, and you're very smooth and good at your walkthroughs, which is very similar, but what would you say your woo factor is, your Duncan factor?
Success through Curiosity and Connections
00:28:13
Speaker
Whenever I'm myself and I'm genuinely curious and I show my curiosity,
00:28:20
Speaker
I create fun conversations. Whenever I have a good conversation with someone and they're sitting by the fireplace when they're looking in the ocean, it's not me trying to really live. It's just showing hospitality that I care about them.
00:28:38
Speaker
Whenever I see, whether it's noticing a ring or whether it's noticing a watch or whether it's asking about where they're from, usually I can find a way to connect it back with something that I really care about and I'm curious about. And that's really what conversation is all about. Good conversation is finding alignment.
00:28:58
Speaker
And I would look for that in my conversations. And I leave them with this feeling of, wow, I really enjoyed talking to Duncan. He was genuinely curious about me. I am curious about my clients. If someone says they're from Wisconsin, I say, oh, tell me about that spotted cow. Are you going to have some spotted cow? She's like the most famous of the year in Wisconsin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can find ways to relate. Yeah. Because I'm genuinely curious. I think it's my wound factor. My wound factor. Duncan factor, number one.
00:29:30
Speaker
Yeah, me and you are the type that we kind of get close to people fast. I had that a 10 minute screening call yesterday with a potential client and then I think I could get away with it because I don't know why I can but I asked her like what took you so long to get married. She said she moved in for 11 years and she actually opened up and she said that
00:29:52
Speaker
She never wanted kids because she just wanted to do her career as an attorney. And then she saw her brother's having kids and she just changed her mind recently. And that was pretty deep, right? For someone to just tell you that in like five minutes after speaking with you. There's an overlap of vulnerability and willingness to take the next step. So if you're vulnerable with a client, like asking a tough question and they're vulnerable back,
00:30:21
Speaker
And then you were to say, Hey, let's talk about the next step. They're more open. They've, they've revealed themselves. And I'm a big believer in being vulnerable and there's different leadership styles. I'm on the more, I want to be open with you. I want to be transparent with you. And some leaders aren't like that, right? There's a very militaristic leadership style. It's like, I don't need to know what I'm thinking.
00:30:44
Speaker
I'm going to be thinking three steps ahead. I don't even know what those three steps are. And that's not me. And that's going to come back to bite me in some ways in my life. And that's okay because I leave with a lot of trust. Whenever you have that trust and you do that with clients as well, I think it's better for simple. So I really do think it's better for sales. Oh yeah. Same, same, same. We talked a little bit about follow-up before we started recording. Let's talk about the fortune and the follow-up because I know you're very good on that.
00:31:13
Speaker
At LaVenta, we have catering specialists and we have a booking specialist. We have me. All of those people can send a contract and book someone. My job as the venue manager is to be available for encouraging the next step. And sometimes it takes a smooth sounding bass
00:31:38
Speaker
And that's the question to get the next step. So I am probably calling 10 people a day following up, saying, hey, we're coming for a tour. I'm just coming for a tour. I'm the new manager here. Tell me about your vision. And sometimes it's people who've already toured. Hi, have you considered Levinta? Are we in your top three? What did you like about Levinta? What did you not like about Levinta? What's your obstacle that's holding you up? You learned a lot on those calls.
00:32:08
Speaker
it gets easier over time. I want your listeners to know what you call the easier it is to call. I'm not scared at all. I remember being 22 right out of college and looking at that phone and being so scared to open that phone number, Excel sheet, and just the dial
00:32:33
Speaker
I would call any number, anyone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a great skill. So it's a skill that you have to grow. It's mostly you have to train, but it's worth training. It's very powerful. Wow. Yeah. I did multi-level marketing, so in college. So I had to randomly call people. I was very tough, but I think it was pretty good. Let's talk about the last five, 10 minutes. Just more about you. You've been here for two years now, and what do you think
00:33:02
Speaker
How have you grown the most in what aspect or like, how have you changed in
Personal Growth in Hospitality
00:33:07
Speaker
past years? Are there a lot how this happened? And then the other kid, you know, a new city, new states, or maybe like talk about your growth and maybe what you struggle with most and how you overcame it. Yeah.
00:33:22
Speaker
As a hospitality professional, I am built out of courtesy. I'm a Southern boy, and I say, yes, ma'am, everyone. I am made out of courtesy, and that comes with a weakness. The weakness is that you're not as stern as you probably should be. So whenever there's a guest yelling out in the parking lot, and we have neighbors who do not like to hear guests yelling in the parking lot, my first response is, gentlemen, please, please, please, please, if you
00:33:53
Speaker
which is realistically too nice. Yeah, yeah. And I've had to learn to be more stern, more firm, more direct. And I've learned a lot about growing as a leader that as a leader, you can always be nice. And that's okay. It's okay to not always be nice. You know, you could buy like a taser on Amazon. Hospitality. Oh, you're being loud. Let me show you. You don't have to say anything.
00:34:23
Speaker
You're like, no, man. I want to give it to our parking lot and just buzzle them if they start screaming. I think another way that I've been growing, though, is what I want to see in my own events. Alyssa and I got into the event industry. This is my wife because we love hosting events. And that's for a lot of us, right? We love hosting events.
00:34:45
Speaker
And I've learned more and more about what events are really about and it's about friendships. And to have friends this last January where we had enough friends to host a dinner at our house, it was so special to be able to see our friends together around one table again after moving and not having that. It makes you realize
00:35:08
Speaker
that it's about friendships and gathering. And good friendships are people that want you to grow. They want to support you. You tell your friends good news and they look you down and they say, that's awesome. Cause they want the best for you. So to be around people here, if you want the best for me and to have that team that I feel like I can grow as a leader and grow as a dad and grow as a party monster. It feels good. It feels really good. Aw, that's so special. It's the community.
00:35:35
Speaker
Okay, one last question. Maybe your very last best advice. There's a lot of wedding photographers and signers and DJs listening and say someone's struggling to find that team, to find that passion, to find that table of people that just want to support
Focusing on Passion and Gratitude
00:35:51
Speaker
them. And maybe they feel like the opposite, like people don't want the best for them. Like what's like a mindset shift you could give them today to do? I think it comes down to
00:36:06
Speaker
asking if it wasn't about the money, what would I want to do?
00:36:11
Speaker
And so often we're in survival mode, you know, especially living out in California, right? Like rent, rent's pretty expensive compared to North Carolina, let me tell you that. I just got married from my parents, it was like $86, that's what she bought. Hey, back off. Listen, I just had to pay a 10% increase in rent. Oh my God. California, it's expensive. And when things are expensive, you chase the money. I mean, you chase the money, you forget about what's important.
00:36:39
Speaker
I invite you to ask yourself every day why. Why am I doing this? Why do I want that? Because we need to be thankful for
00:36:52
Speaker
And we need to be chasing those same, the most important things. And it's interesting how gratefulness should be the lead. Because you think like, whenever I'm dreaming, I need to be dreaming about something I don't have. But really what you have now teaches you more about what you want in the future. And you got to work your way back. You got to visualize that perfect Duncan. And you got to work your way back. Well, how do I get to that perfect Duncan?
00:37:17
Speaker
And it's all about the why I do what I do and that feeling of here's who is the perfect Duncan is. And for me, the perfect Duncan is a good dad, a good party monster, a good leader, and I create memories for other people. My tagline is memory crafter.
00:37:36
Speaker
I want to craft memories for other people. I think that's my gift. That's my art. I want to create memories for others. That's beautiful, Duncan. Well said. And we do, I forget, we do have couples listening in bride and groom. So tell everyone where to find you, if you want them to find you, and how to work or book a wedding at your venue.
Booking Tours and Social Media Invitation
00:37:57
Speaker
Yes, to book a tour at LaVenta, go to laVenta.com and learn about us with the PDF, check out our galleries, and then do our contact page. To follow me, it's Duncan Blunt on Instagram. I have a creative page and I have my professional page. And I talk a lot about the event industry. I talk a lot about working with vendors. So Duncan Blunt on Instagram. Follow your boy, memory crafter. Let's go. Let's go.
00:38:26
Speaker
Cheers! Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine. See you next time, Wedding Pros!