How many email follow ups do you do with prospects who inquire with you?

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How many email follow ups do you do with each prospect that comes your way?

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  • 4

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  • 5 or more! Gotta stay on them continuously to stay on their radar!

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  • I won't email at all, but I will call them if I have their phone number.

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  • Total voters
    6

DJ Ricky B

DJ Extraordinaire
Mar 9, 2015
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Just curious what everyone is doing in 2022 when it comes to following up with your inquiries after your initial contact with them? How many emails do you send them? Or do you only follow up with a phone call if you have their phone number?
 
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I feel like this has been asked before… but I only do one follow up email after a week of the initial inquiry. If I don’t hear back by then I don’t go chasing further. Very rarely does that inquiry ever turn into an actual client
This is the correct answer, in fact it may be too much, in reality if they wanted to book you they would have done so in the first 24 hours, as long as you don’t make the barrier to entry too high
 
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This is the correct answer, in fact it may be too much, in reality if they wanted to book you they would have done so in the first 24 hours, as long as you don’t make the barrier to entry too high
Yup that’s spot on. I would say most are ready to take the next steps within 24-72hrs of initial contact. For some, they’re decided before they even make the call. And with a $300 deposit, the retainer is never an issue. I also don’t even require the package to be chosen yet until 1 month before the event to make it even more stress free.

There are a small number of instances where that isn’t always the case, and a simply courtesy follow up after 1 week usually helps determine if it’s a legit lead or not. For instance, some are simply very busy, and they do in fact work at a much slower pace. I can think of two 2023 couples off the top of my head who I booked but it took about two weeks to get them to set up a consultation. For one of them, they lived a bit of a distance apart, and while the bride was gathering info, it wasn’t until two weeks later that her and her fiancé and their parents got together to discuss budgets and vendors. The other one apparently hadn’t even secured her venue before reaching out to me and wanted to do that first before setting up a consultation. I obviously didn’t know that, so a simply courtesy allowed me to know she was still serious but needed more time.

If you’re finding you’re having to do a lot of following up in general, then these are not qualified leads. Either you need to change your referral sources, or how you present yourself to these sources if they’re your main form of leads.
 
These days, everyone has spam filters dialed up so it doesn't surprise me when some emails go unanswered. Even within my own company, emails between employees can end up in the junk folder. It could be due to an attachment, an image, a link or some combination of words. I think a more important discussion is what your follow up emails should say. My biggest interest is the truth of the situation.

Follow up: Request a confirmation that the original message arrived. Keep the message content simple so nothing will trigger a spam filter.
"Dear prospect,
Thank you again for inquiring about our services. I sent you a response on xxx date & time. If you haven't seen it, please check your spam filter and it it is not there, perhaps there is another email address I can use to reach you.
I can also appreciate that you may just not be ready to discuss our services yet or perhaps you have already found another vendor for your event. I will not bother you further but if you don't mind, can you let me know if the initial message reached you?"

Chances are, if you get any reply, they will tell you why they haven't replied previously. That gets you one step closer to the truth.
 
I mis the days that people used too call you on the phone. Had a good closing pecentage. I still have not grasped the art of replying to exactly what content they are wanting from me & how to respond .
please send me more information about your services , what are your packages & what do you charge! Don't people even read what is on your website ??
must not even look at reviews on weddingwire or wedsite?
My baby setting days are numbered!
 
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I will sometimes go to 2-3 depending on the situation.

My branded @belasonomusic email sometimes gets caught in spam filters. So if I don't hear back I'll send one from a second gmail account just to confirm that they got the first note.

If a get another inquiry for the same date within about a 2 week window... I will also reach out in that instance just to let them know someone else has inquired and see if that creates any urgency.

But I definitely don't go chasing people that aren't interested in setting up a time to chat or have indicated some additional interest.
 
I normally just do 1 follow up but will add that, in years past, I built a web app that would re-email (automated, no manual work on my part) the prospect until they either said "Go away", booked or the date passed by. That system probably landed 3-5 gigs per year and you'd be surprised how many times I've heard, "Thank you for the email as I had completely forgotten to book someone." Man, I need to set that system up again for my venue.
 
I normally just do 1 follow up but will add that, in years past, I built a web app that would re-email (automated, no manual work on my part) the prospect until they either said "Go away", booked or the date passed by. That system probably landed 3-5 gigs per year and you'd be surprised how many times I've heard, "Thank you for the email as I had completely forgotten to book someone." Man, I need to set that system up again for my venue.


I remember you talking about this app multiple times in the past. If it lands even 1 more vent per year then I think it is worth doing if it is mostly automated on your end!

From a customer perspective...I HATE receiving a bunch of emails that I didn't sign up for. I get a lot of these SEO people spamming me because they find my site on google. Those all get deleted. I might read the first sentence or two, then delete. Some of these guys have been sending me email for years at this point and it all goes into my spam. It is like they send me a new email every month on an automated chain of emails.
 
I feel like this has been asked before… but I only do one follow up email after a week of the initial inquiry. If I don’t hear back by then I don’t go chasing further. Very rarely does that inquiry ever turn into an actual client

Yes, I did ask this exact question in 2019 or maybe 2018. I wanted to see if any one has changed their process up since the pandemic.

I also am seeing this facebook ad constantly from JOE BUNN DJ. He is selling the exact emails he uses in his follow ups as a system, and claims it 100% works to get DJs bookings and people responding to your follow ups. LOL...I don't believe there is any true set of phrases or system of emails that can truly get people to book with you who. He wants $27 for the information. It looks like DJs are buying into it lol. I believe his email system calls for a series of up to 6 specially written follow up emails to send to prospects before finally giving up.

I have been doing only 1 email follow up to every inquiry or lead for probably 5 years now. I use to do 3 with every inquiry and lead, but realized that what I Was doing was simply a waste of time back then. If I did even get a response back from people after the 1st email follow up the responses were 1 of these 3

1. Thank you for following up, but we already booked someone
2. "We decided to go in another direction"
3. We found another DJ with a lower price and are booking them.

I received #3 just yesterday morning after a single email follow up for a Sweet 16 party. I never book Sweet 16s around here any more, and she is telling me the exact reason why I don't. My price for these parties simply isn't competitive enough for the area.


  • theresa's message:
  • Sent: 4/4/2022 12:52:59 AM
  • Thanks for following up! We’ve found better pricing, so we’ll be hiring another DJ.

I don't particularly care if I book Sweet 16s any more because I focus on Weddings any way so it's no dirt on my shoulder. This just tells me that I'm not competitive on price for sweet 16s, and probably have not been for years now. I don't attract the rare $25,000+ Super Sweet 16 party clients. I attract the ones that put the party together for under $6,000 and are at a Community Center, Fire Hall, or maybe a sectioned off ball room in a hotel. The $250 to $300 Craigslist, or $350 to $400/4 hour thumbtack DJ is likely the one getting these, and I am quoting double these rates for them. It's probably been a waste of my time to quote on these when they come my way the past few years.


I am currently debating if I do want to do more email follow ups with inquiries. I say this because I have had 5 direct referrals from a venue who speaks highly of my service in the last 30 days. NONE of them have booked which I find strange. Actually I have heard nothing from any of them after the initial contact from them. Some are 2023 dates, some are for this year. I also have 4 other website inquires that I have not had a response from after sending them a quote, and asking them to set up a phone call to discuss everything. So that is 9 direct inquiries in last 30 days with no progress or response at this point, and that is abnormal for me.
 
If they want me, they will contact me. I don't want to get a gig because I dogged then again and again until they finally gave in. That's not a good way to start a business relationship like this.
 
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If they want me, they will contact me. I don't want to get a gig because I dogged then again and again until they finally gave in. That's not a good way to start a business relationship like this.


Interesting view point! I am trying to figure out.

I have had a handful of clients that I booked that did book after multiple email follow ups in the past. I can't recall the experience of deejaying for them being bad. One bride did mention she had just been so busy, and things occurring in her life that booking me fell into the background. She booked me over 3 months after her initial email inquiry to me. She responded to my final email to her which was like 2 weeks prior. Would have she remembered my quote, and booked me if I never did any follow up with her? Hard to say. Maybe she would have. But that was one instance where I give credit to the follow ups for booking that one. That was many years ago before I went down to just a single email follow up.

I have been doing a single email follow up 24 to 96 hours after the initial quote for 5 years now up until this week. I'm currently giving a 2nd email follow up a test run with these nine inquiries I have sitting in my inbox from March.
 
There is no single right solution. It all comes down to effort vs reward. If you are busy enough, you don't need to chase down prospects that are slow to respond. However, if things are slow, what harm is there in sending another follow up? I doubt anyone is losing gigs because they sent a 2nd or 3rd follow up unless their communications skills reflect poorly on themselves.

I have seen those Joe Bunn ads. I haven't looked at his materials though. Many DJs are only so-so at writing highly effective emails. His suggestions could be better than what you currently have. Then again, your competition could be sending the exact same messages. That might be awkward. I read sales and management books all the time. Sometimes the suggestions are crap (at least for my needs). However, I don't fret the money I spent on bad books because even reading stuff I disagree with makes more aware and deliberate about the path I have taken. For $27, it might be worth it. I spend more than that on cable organizers and those don't do anything to help with sales.
 
I will caveat this though...

My process is based on the fact that most of my inbound traffic is referral. If it was mostly cold leads coming in from WeddingWire, The Knot, etc. I'd be quite a bit more aggressive.

I tend to start from a much hotter lead and have a nice close rate as a result. The lower quality your leads are, the more the process is critical. And that's not a knock on those leads, but just something to keep in mind.
 
Interesting view point! I am trying to figure out.

I have had a handful of clients that I booked that did book after multiple email follow ups in the past. I can't recall the experience of deejaying for them being bad.
Not sayong it would ve bad. Just aaying that I am not the type to chase down a lead. Ever contact a vendor for some work, and then tell them you're not interested.? They still call you and text you and bug you. I don't want to be that guy.
 
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I will caveat this though...

My process is based on the fact that most of my inbound traffic is referral. If it was mostly cold leads coming in from WeddingWire, The Knot, etc. I'd be quite a bit more aggressive.

I tend to start from a much hotter lead and have a nice close rate as a result. The lower quality your leads are, the more the process is critical. And that's not a knock on those leads, but just something to keep in mind.


I agree! And let me know if you kinda see things this way.... I kind of have a 1 to 10 scale in terms of how warm/cold a "lead" or "inquiry" is after utilizing all of these forms of obtaining paying clients over the years.

1. Thumbtack/Bark/Fash/Eventective - About a 1. These are the coldest leads in our business - Potential for a lot of spam. Lots of money and time wasted for little to no gain.

2. The Bash/Gig Masters - A lead focused site, but they are strictly for Entertainment - About a 2, maybe a 3 - Potential for spam, but less than Thumbtack and others in my experience.

3. Wedding Wire/The Knot - Roughly a 3. They try to verify members that sign up, so less spam, but still some. Often their info can be sent to multiple vendors when they put in a request so sometimes they visited your store front before contacting you, but other times they did not, and you are blindly sending them information. Its also like a yellow book for wedding vendors.

4. Facebook referral in a post where someone the requester does not know told them about you and they happened to contact you through face book. Maybe a 4? Legit that it's not spam, but the referral person does not really have influence with the prospect. They just happened to read the opinion of another and decided to check our page out, and maybe our website too. They are also getting multiple people chiming in telling them different DJs to contact and how great we all were for their wedding or their sister's wedding or son or daughter's wedding etc.

5. Website inquiry where they found us on google, or an internet search just browsing for DJs. They saw our website, and decided to contact us. These leads are good because they directly contacted us, but they are doing a lot of research. We could be the first one they contacted, or the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and they are getting information from multiple different DJ companies directly. Then they could also be getting referrals from their peers as well.

6. Facebook referral from a friend or family member that has some influence with the prospect - I think this would be a solid 5, maybe a 6. Almost like an in person referral from a close friend telling them how great we were when they hired us.

7. Venue Preferred Vendor List - The client has chosen that venue, and they know that we are a good option because we are on the list of vendors that the venue personally recommends. This type of client checks out our website first, and then contacts us directly. A solid 6

8. Referral directly from the Venue Manager or Catering Director at their venue - This type of referral is great because a person of influence at the venue talked about us directly to them, and highly recommended our service to them. I feel this type of lead is very warm, and Half of the sales job was done by the venue already! Up to us to finish the job. A solid 7

9. Referral directly from their personal Wedding Planner - I find that Wedding planners that work closely with the bride or couple have even more influence than a venue manager does. If the wedding planner speaks very highly of us from the get go, and tells their client to book with us (if we are in their client's budget) then 80% of the sales job is already done. At least a 7, and maybe an 8

10. The prospect has seen us at an event already. They thought we did a great job on the wedding they went to, or were simply awesome and they already know they want to book us. They get our contact info from the bride or groom from that wedding who reaffirms how great we were, so they contact us, and are already willing to book with us. We just need to be available, and not too expensive for them. These are like a 9 or even a 10. I don't see how a prospect could be any warmer than this type of prospect.
 
Not sayong it would ve bad. Just aaying that I am not the type to chase down a lead. Ever contact a vendor for some work, and then tell them you're not interested.? They still call you and text you and bug you. I don't want to be that guy.

Well, yeah I would never be that guy either.

I would Like it if all the tire kickers, or non responders simply responded with "Not Interested" rather than ghosting or being silent. I wouldn't reach out at all to them any more, and move on. Silence, or Ghosting leaves it up in the air. Are our emails getting through? Does the prospect just need more time to evaluate their options before choosing someone? Did something happen to them? So many questions. A simple response with "not interested" or any response with a No, booked someone else already, went another direction etc. would stop any further communication.
 
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Let me tell a story that I feel was kind of both our fault and then I have a question. I ran across a lead for bride looking for a DJ. I responded to the request. I found out the wedding was around a month away and I felt that it was last minute looking to book a DJ. I kept sending email after email and finally I was told they got some extra money and booked another DJ. So I kept bothering them till they got fed up with me. So I blew it. I didn't know if this was the bride was looking to book a DJ last minute or something else happened.

Now on to my 2 questions. For a wedding what do you consider to be a bride looking last minute to book a DJ for their wedding? What about any other event?
 
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Not sayong it would ve bad. Just aaying that I am not the type to chase down a lead. Ever contact a vendor for some work, and then tell them you're not interested.?

I would love it if they'd actually tell you "We're going with someone else." The vast majority of the time they inquire then ghost you.
 
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