What is the best way to meet with Venues?

If you take off your coat; place it against the wall and let go - it falls flat on the floor.
Visiting venues is no different - you need a hook to hang something on.

If you send a letter it has to be regarding something of interest.
If you visit then you need a reason to be there.

They need a reason to talk to you - so, start by identifying what those reasons might be. They can be different for each venue. You have to be interested in and appreciate the venue as more than a mere enabler for your business.

If you work in a venue and they don't even realize you're there, then you have ignored some important opportunities.

Venue managers generally don't recommend DJs they've never seen working in their venue before.

You should always contact a new venue prior to doing a gig there. You want the staff to be expecting your arrival and know that you were diligent enough to consult with them about the upcoming event before the date arrives. At that point the staff person in charge is likely to greet you shortly after you arrive and now you have reason to introduce yourself.

Always make a point to say: "Thank you" before you leave at the end of the night. Ask then to keep you in mind if any future patrons have need of similar service.

There are a few big obstacles to over come when it comes to working with venue staff to achieve more business for yourself. It's more difficult than ever these days.

1. You expect them to scratch your back, and throw you a few bones. What will you be doing to scratch their back and make it worth while for them to throw you a few bones?

2. You need to identify the person who has direct influence with their customers. A typical Banquet coordinator that might be working the event is USUALLY not that person.

3. The busy venue sees dozens of different DJs at their venue on a regular basis. What makes you so special for this venue to refer business to you?

4. You need to be a very likeable person. If you don't establish some sort of business relationship with the venue manager/sales director/owner then you aren't going to get anywhere.

Caveat to all of this. Your efforts will prove to be pointless if the person of interest that you establish a business relationship with quits/get's fired, and leaves the establishment. I have seen this cycle occur time, and time again.

If you can find a venue where the person/persons who are a direct influence with their clients has been at the venue for quite some time, and you expect to stick around at the venue for a long time to come...then you might have a solid meal ticket for referrals.

I don't have any of these any longer because venue personal has all changed over the years. Often the new people don't really care about referring vendors because typically within the next 12 to 18 months they are gone themselves.

You will also find that a lot of venues simply say "The clients bring in their own vendors...we don't have anything to do with that". Only the wedding factory type places do preferred vendors these days. Often it's simply giving their client a brochure listing all their vendors they recommend.

The best way to get noticed by a venue is to work there with a client who prefers you.

I had wedding bookings two weeks in a row at the same venue a couple of years ago. I thought this was my time to talk to the manager about getting on the referral list. Her answer was that they already have several DJs on that list and every other DJ wants to be on that list. I did a great job at both weddings and did the right amount of schmoozing the manager but it did no good.

Competing with DJs that have been preferred for many years takes more than doing a good job and schmoozing. You have to figure that these people are quite busy, don't really have the time and don't really care which DJ does any particular event.

I guess I don't have the answer, but building relationships with these people would be the only chance.

Did a bridal show yesterday at a venue, the venue does the bridal show - back scratching 101 there. They do refer me.

Whenever I do a new venue I try to contact the manager..but it varies so much and some just don't 'count' - like the parks in the area that have lodges and barns for rent..they don't refer anyone - gov't policy.

As has been stated, managers come and go, at some venues it's a revolving door. There's a place i've been to half a dozen times over the years and I guess they have a new manager..she was at the bridal show hawking her place and did stop to chat and said she's looking for vendors to recommend. Fingers crossed that she does do the followup she promised and she's employed there longer than 6 months.

The general way of doing this sort of cold contact has been snail mail a letter of intro and some marketing materials to the person in charge (call to get a name first). Then a week after you mail it call that person to see if they got it - many ways to approach is.."Do you have a minute to talk? Did you get my mailing? Just checking to see the PO is doing their job LOL BTW...could I buy you a cup of coffee?"

Not trying to sound negative here but the reality is, the venue doesn't really care about us.
Why? because the venue is almost always booked before the dj. We are almost always last to the party so to speak and because of that fact the venue doesn't have to care about us because while they may be a good source of referrals for us, we are a poor source of referrals for them.

Whichever vendors get booked first (usually the church/officiant and the venue) becomes a source of referrals for us, but because we are almost always last to be booked, we don't have the opportunity to reciprocate as much.

The venue doesn't care about us because they don't have to, plain and simple.

I agree with IceBurgh, an old school mailing with a brochure to start, but not necessarily every venue. Only target the ones you want to work at based on your own price level. If you are charging $1500+ per event there's no sense in sending a mailer to the local legion, vfw, steelworkers union hall etc....

You should follow up once, but don't expect much to come of it. As I said in my previous post, they don't have to care about us or any other vendor for that matter. Plus they have lots of every type of vendor vying for those sames spots on the referral list. It will take a long time to get on one of those lists.

After you've followed up once, don't keep pushing it but look for opportunities to network with them, either through events sponsored by your local chamber of commerce or by booking space at a few bridal shows and going around and reintroducing yourself to the venues and caterers there. Again don't try and sell yourself at these shows or mingling events, but use the approach of wanting to meet with them at a later date (again not to try and sell yourself) but to try and find ways to increase business for each other. Make them feel that you are truly interested in their business and you will find a more willing ear than if you take the salesperson approach.

Remember, you need them, they definitely don't need you!

Good luck!

Hmm I always call the venue and ask to speake to whomever is in charge of bookings for their events, I then invite the to join me for lunch to discuss what we can do to help make their job easier handshakes are way better than mail

As most know I recently re-located to Florida. In one of my most recent inquiries the Bride told me where the wedding and reception were taking place. Being new to this area I had no idea where the venue was located. I found the venue listed on the internet and where it was in relation to where I now live. I would never give a monetary quote without first having visited the venue unless it was an emergency contact. So, I called the venue and spoke to the owner. Explained that I was new to the area and would like to know a time that would be convenient to visit. She was thrilled that I had called and asked to come see the place. She actually gave me the tour of the venue. At the end of the meeting she made the comment that not many DJ call to schedule a visit prior to their scheduled event. To make a long story short, I scheduled a meeting with the Bride which she never responded to confirm the meeting date, time and location. In good faith, however, she did mention that she had a meeting with another DJ on the Monday prior to our projected meeting date. My assumption is that she hired the prior DJ.

I still prefer to email to get all the information prior to issuing a quote.

DJ TJ said:

Not trying to sound negative here but the reality is, the venue doesn't really care about us.
Why? because the venue is almost always booked before the dj. We are almost always last to the party so to speak and because of that fact the venue doesn't have to care about us because while they may be a good source of referrals for us, we are a poor source of referrals for them.

Click to expand...

I know this hurts a lot of DJs' egos but TJ just nailed it. DJs practically always are the last to the party and rarely (if ever) can refer a client to a venue. The only thing the venue cares about is that you show up early, do exactly what you're suppose to do and you don't cause any problems with their folks. I think it is a good idea to make contact and send out brochures to venues. I think it's a bad idea to insist on taking up their time in meetings or to just drop by the venue. Just keep your name in front of the venue manager and make sure every time you work at their facility that you make them happy to see you. That's about the only way you'll get referrals from venues.