As a mentioned in another thread, my friends are getting married. They decided to wait until the last minute to start planning everything. So unfortunately, all the vendors that I would recommend to them are booked. As I am part of the wedding party, I don't want to DJ too. I tried that once and it sucked. So they are looking for a DJ and asked me to tag along since they were checking out DJ's that I don't know and get my opinion on them. Mind you, price is not their top factor. They are well off and want someone to do a good job. So here is what I learned from being a customer. It was interesting because I picked up on things that they didn't and they picked up on things that I didn't. Note: I did not tell anyone I was a DJ.
1. Negative marketing looks bad - I saw several examples of "bad DJ's" in presentations. A lot of pictures and video of bad setups and bad performances. My biggest problem was I would hear "This is what other DJ's do, we do it better" but there was never a good example of how they did it better. Also, don't tell people that only full time DJ's are any good.
2. Having an office with a showroom was a big positive. As we have talked on here before, having an office made the experience and presentation much better and it seemed like you were at a real business. My friend made the comment "We'll they can afford an office, so they must be doing something right"
3. If you have an office with a showroom, make sure your showroom is completely setup. If only half setup because you are using some of the gear for another event, don't bother showing it. Half hooked up lights, blank TVs, and empty speaker stands don't look good.
4. Organize your thoughts and presentation. Don't tell the customer you are still tired from the gig the night before. I thought, well my wedding is on a Saturday and you have a Friday wedding that weekend, so are you going to be this tired and unorganized at my wedding too.
5. Don't say "Craigslist DJ's will show up with 2 speakers and laptop" and then have a picture in your presentation of you using 2 speakers and a laptop. Most customers, as my friends, don't understand the difference in speakers and the various other pieces of equipment we use that are hidden behind a facade.
6. Quality video of you working is a huge plus. I asked one if they had any video of them DJing or MCing. His response was "We did video for awhile, but nobody watched it, so we stopped." That put up a big red flag because I then knew they had the capability of taking video but were unwilling to show it. They had no problem showing video, that they had taken, of bad DJ's that they had seen.
7. "Packages" are pointless.
8. Don't charge per uplight. Charge X amount to light the room.
9. Do not brag that you only use in-house DJs that you trained and do not contract out, and then not have any information on the DJ that will be sent that night.
10. Don't say "We will have a planning meeting a couple weeks before the wedding if we can fit it in our schedule. If not, you can just use the online planner"
11. Help with coordination ideas, timeline ideas, and ask them things that they don't know. These things help you stand out and make it look like you know what you are doing and that you are willing to help. Don't just say "We can do whatever games or special moments you want to do" Instead, give ideas or say "Hey, we just did this wedding and they did X a little different and it worked out really cool"
12. Don't say you hate doing a part of your job. This was an exchange I heard.
DJ: "We can do pipe and drape but I hate it"
Customer: "Why do you hate it?"
DJ: "I just dont like doing it"
Customer: "What do you mean?"
DJ: "Well. its a lot of work, I have to load all the stuff in the truck, you have to use a ladder, I have to clean the drape, it takes time to take down. It just a lot of work"
Customer: "So it's not that it doesn't look good or doesn't add to making the event better, you just don't like doing the work?"
DJ: "Yea its beautiful, I'm just lazy"
He also told us he hates doing school events but they pay the bills.
13. Only use pictures in your presentation of events you did. Nothing is worse than the customer saying "I really like that picture, where was it?" and the response is "I don't know, that's not one of my weddings"
14. Don't say "Most DJ's treat announcements like they are announcing a clean up on isle 5. We understand that there are better ways to announce you to the floor for your first dance" Then not be able to show a video of your "better announcement", or be able to just say how you would announce.
15. The DJ asked "Before we get further into the presentation, do you have any questions" My friend said "Yes, do you have a price sheet, so as we look at setups, I have a better idea of if I can afford those items or not." His response "Yes, price is a good question and I get that you don't want to build up an idea in your head and then realize at the end, that it cost too much" He then continued with the presentation and didn't mention price until the very very end.
16. Clients don't care that your lights are now wireless so it takes you less time to setup. Clients don't understand the difference in controllers. Clients do care what your setup looks like. We always hear "Nobody ever complains about my wires" My friends did notice how clean a setup looked.
17. Even though funny, don't tell stories about every time you screwed up.
18. Video is king.
19. Showing hand written notes or pictures of your reviews meant nothing. Those help in getting the client in the door but during the meeting, it was wasted time.
20. Being a preferred vendor at a venue mattered. One DJ, was the preferred vendor at a venue they looked at and they took his information, then ended up not using that venue but are booking him.
I am sure I will remember more but in summary:
- Have an office with showroom
- Have quality video of you transitioning between songs, events on the timeline and MCing
- Have a printed booklet or items that people can take with them
- Make it clear that you are willing to customize or meet several times if needed
- Listen to what the client is saying or asking during your meeting
- Be organized, dressed nice and don't use obvious sales tactics
- First impressions are big
Hopes this helps everyone. It was a real eye opener for me and I plan on changing how I do things based on my experience. I do plan on going back to the DJ they booked and giving him some ideas and feedback.
1. Negative marketing looks bad - I saw several examples of "bad DJ's" in presentations. A lot of pictures and video of bad setups and bad performances. My biggest problem was I would hear "This is what other DJ's do, we do it better" but there was never a good example of how they did it better. Also, don't tell people that only full time DJ's are any good.
2. Having an office with a showroom was a big positive. As we have talked on here before, having an office made the experience and presentation much better and it seemed like you were at a real business. My friend made the comment "We'll they can afford an office, so they must be doing something right"
3. If you have an office with a showroom, make sure your showroom is completely setup. If only half setup because you are using some of the gear for another event, don't bother showing it. Half hooked up lights, blank TVs, and empty speaker stands don't look good.
4. Organize your thoughts and presentation. Don't tell the customer you are still tired from the gig the night before. I thought, well my wedding is on a Saturday and you have a Friday wedding that weekend, so are you going to be this tired and unorganized at my wedding too.
5. Don't say "Craigslist DJ's will show up with 2 speakers and laptop" and then have a picture in your presentation of you using 2 speakers and a laptop. Most customers, as my friends, don't understand the difference in speakers and the various other pieces of equipment we use that are hidden behind a facade.
6. Quality video of you working is a huge plus. I asked one if they had any video of them DJing or MCing. His response was "We did video for awhile, but nobody watched it, so we stopped." That put up a big red flag because I then knew they had the capability of taking video but were unwilling to show it. They had no problem showing video, that they had taken, of bad DJ's that they had seen.
7. "Packages" are pointless.
8. Don't charge per uplight. Charge X amount to light the room.
9. Do not brag that you only use in-house DJs that you trained and do not contract out, and then not have any information on the DJ that will be sent that night.
10. Don't say "We will have a planning meeting a couple weeks before the wedding if we can fit it in our schedule. If not, you can just use the online planner"
11. Help with coordination ideas, timeline ideas, and ask them things that they don't know. These things help you stand out and make it look like you know what you are doing and that you are willing to help. Don't just say "We can do whatever games or special moments you want to do" Instead, give ideas or say "Hey, we just did this wedding and they did X a little different and it worked out really cool"
12. Don't say you hate doing a part of your job. This was an exchange I heard.
DJ: "We can do pipe and drape but I hate it"
Customer: "Why do you hate it?"
DJ: "I just dont like doing it"
Customer: "What do you mean?"
DJ: "Well. its a lot of work, I have to load all the stuff in the truck, you have to use a ladder, I have to clean the drape, it takes time to take down. It just a lot of work"
Customer: "So it's not that it doesn't look good or doesn't add to making the event better, you just don't like doing the work?"
DJ: "Yea its beautiful, I'm just lazy"
He also told us he hates doing school events but they pay the bills.
13. Only use pictures in your presentation of events you did. Nothing is worse than the customer saying "I really like that picture, where was it?" and the response is "I don't know, that's not one of my weddings"
14. Don't say "Most DJ's treat announcements like they are announcing a clean up on isle 5. We understand that there are better ways to announce you to the floor for your first dance" Then not be able to show a video of your "better announcement", or be able to just say how you would announce.
15. The DJ asked "Before we get further into the presentation, do you have any questions" My friend said "Yes, do you have a price sheet, so as we look at setups, I have a better idea of if I can afford those items or not." His response "Yes, price is a good question and I get that you don't want to build up an idea in your head and then realize at the end, that it cost too much" He then continued with the presentation and didn't mention price until the very very end.
16. Clients don't care that your lights are now wireless so it takes you less time to setup. Clients don't understand the difference in controllers. Clients do care what your setup looks like. We always hear "Nobody ever complains about my wires" My friends did notice how clean a setup looked.
17. Even though funny, don't tell stories about every time you screwed up.
18. Video is king.
19. Showing hand written notes or pictures of your reviews meant nothing. Those help in getting the client in the door but during the meeting, it was wasted time.
20. Being a preferred vendor at a venue mattered. One DJ, was the preferred vendor at a venue they looked at and they took his information, then ended up not using that venue but are booking him.
I am sure I will remember more but in summary:
- Have an office with showroom
- Have quality video of you transitioning between songs, events on the timeline and MCing
- Have a printed booklet or items that people can take with them
- Make it clear that you are willing to customize or meet several times if needed
- Listen to what the client is saying or asking during your meeting
- Be organized, dressed nice and don't use obvious sales tactics
- First impressions are big
Hopes this helps everyone. It was a real eye opener for me and I plan on changing how I do things based on my experience. I do plan on going back to the DJ they booked and giving him some ideas and feedback.
