Who is your "Booking Specialist"?

[Capital Disc Jockeys]

I have been contemplating hiring a "Booking Specialist" for our business. This person would be responsible for all email inquiries, taking phone calls, making and being involved in all appointments/meetings, attending bridal shows. It would be a commissioned only salary.

Is there anyone doing this already? If so, do you mind sharing your success story? The good/bad...

Thanks!

 

[ahoustondj]

I have been contemplating hiring a "Booking Specialist" for our business. This person would be responsible for all email inquiries, taking phone calls, making and being involved in all appointments/meetings, attending bridal shows. It would be a commissioned only salary.

Is there anyone doing this already? If so, do you mind sharing your success story? The good/bad...

Thanks!

Why reinvent the wheel. Just sign up with a few Entertainment Agencies. They do their own Marketing and Ads and when you are called it is for a Gig not some would be client price checking you. Instead of having one person do the job, have several.
Also ask yourself, would the person who you are hiring make a living from this? Multiply the amount of gigs you do per year by the percentage you are going to pay and see if they can really take home the Bacon with it.

I have been using Entertainment Agencies for over twenty years now and by and large their gigs that they send to me = more $$$ (After their cut) than I would have gotten on my own.

 

[Chuck The DJ]

I'm with the "Redhead Lover" here... 90% of my events are booked by agents...

The one thing you have to let go is how much they make,,,, in my case one of my agents tacks on a 40% fee....

But what I do is I tell them how much I want per gig,,,, whatever they get on top of that is fine... I don't worry about it because I am happy knowing I get what I want.

They have all the connections, they do 99% of the work, they have the insurance (I still have my own) they have the rep and I never worry about not getting paid.

In many of my events, there are two or three people involved in the hiring process, each one of them will add on so by the time the client gets the bill, my fee is usually well over $2000.00 to the client...

I did a 2 hour party on Lanai (another Island) where I charge my agent $1600.00 plus expenses, travel, hotel, meals..,,,, they in turned marked me up 40% to the hotel and then the Hotel charged the DMC XYZ $'s for me and then the DMC charged the client,,, God knows how much....

Now IF that company would have called me direct (which they wont) I could have saved them a few bucks... LOL

But I was happy with my $1600.00 for 2 hours.... I did have a pre set so I had to stand around for 1.5 hours during dinner... they also had a band playing....

 

[Guest]

I worked through two agencies in Norway for 3 years. Brilliant. Loads of jobs and just 8% for rebookings which I usually got.

I always demanded splendid accommodation, "courtesy bar" and travel money over the really high paying jobs with crap rooms.

I always stayed in the hotel I was working in - the chicks deserved a decent room to get shagged in

Happy days

 

[ahoustondj]

The one thing you have to let go is how much they make,,,, in my case one of my agents tacks on a 40% fee....

But what I do is I tell them how much I want per gig,,,, whatever they get on top of that is fine... I don't worry about it because I am happy knowing I get what I want.

They have all the connections, they do 99% of the work, they have the insurance (I still have my own) they have the rep and I never worry about not getting paid.

The Pineapple Man hits the nail right on the head. Some DJs don't want to go that route because of Greed. They look at the small picture instead of the big picture. It is also an ego thing with them because they want it to be all about them.

There is something here to consider though. When an Agency "Hires you" to do a Gig, YOU DO NOT GO OUT AND PASS OUT YOUR BUSINESS CARDS. It is the Agency's Client plain and simple. In most cases you can't take a gig from that client, even if they contact you direct, for a year. Why would you want to bite the hand that feeds you anyway. The main thing that should matter is that you are getting good money to do someone's gig.

 

[JoeChartreuse]

The OP was about hiring someone to do the work specifically for HIM, which is a bit different than an agency, which may have many clients.

While the agency may have many connections, nothing says the "booker" ( Customer service/sales rep in reality) can't do the same. Also, while the agency has the luxury of living off of more than one client, a company employed booker spends ALL working hours promoting HIM, or doesn't eat- a very powerful incentive to sell.

I guess I kind of like the idea, if one kind find someone to work straight commission. I think that he'll end up paying some sort of base rate, at least for the office work.

I also think that if the "booker" is successful, he/she will probably end up going independent as an agent, and he's back where he started.....or maybe not.

Just kind of thinking out loud here. No set opinion, just mullin'...