Weddings I'm no Peter Merry

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karaoke_carlos

karaoke_carlos

New DJ
Jun 30, 2008
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OK... this is a semi-rant... and a request for advice/support.

I have a customer that I procured from my full time job when I was employed. I met with the bride and groom, worked out a deal for a second sound system for the ceremony, in addition to the standard reception routine. Because of my relationship with the groom (co-worker) I gave the couple an absolutely awesome deal, in hopes of getting more business from them. They are recent college grads and could lead to more weddings. And, to make things worse, the groom was laid off on the same day as me, so i'm sure they're not in great financial shape either.

Where does the Peter Merry comparison come up? They just attended a wedding where Peter Merry performed, and now they have a ton of new ideas. They want to do things that require quite a bit of preparation and pre-production for our presentation.

This really was not a part of the original agreement. I'm a little miffed that they're expecting a lot of this extra work. It's not so much that I can't do it, I just don't think I should have to do it for free.

So that's my dilemma. Yes, I can do funny introductions of the bridal party and the bride and groom. Yes, I can do the whole pre-production prep. But I don't like the idea of doing it "gratis."

They've recently started talking about lighting. I am happy to do the lighting, but we are definitely not going to do that for free. I'm thinking I could make up a little on the lighting, but that's not a "for sure" choice.

So here's my dilemma. I've already given them a great price for their wedding. If I have to do all the pre-production work, what's a fair price to do for the additional work? and how do you go about pricing extra work, if it wasn't included in the original quote/agreement/contract?

Thanks in advance for your insight and support!
 
Maybe I am just a little too simple to get this, but all of my work is the same, no matter what kind of introduction they want.

What am I missing here?
 
My reply back would be, "Peter Merry gets $5,000 plus for doing all that. If you have the money, I can do it for you; otherwise, you will get what I can give you for what you paid. If you don't like it, here's everything but the booking fee back and go hire Peter."
 
TommyO said:
My reply back would be, "Peter Merry gets $5,000 plus for doing all that. If you have the money, I can do it for you; otherwise, you will get what I can give you for what you paid. If you don't like it, here's everything but the booking fee back and go hire Peter."
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So he claims... I doubt he gets that often.... I bet if he opened his books we might find a whole mess of $1500 weddings.
 
Damn Tom, no coffee yet?!

If he is on good ground with you, I would simply say this:

"I am definitely looking forward to helping you guys out for your wedding, and I really want to give you the best deal possible on a great wedding, which is why I gave you guys the awesome price I did. The kinds of things we are talking about though just require a lot more time, attention, and involvement than what would be included in a "typical" reception, and if you really want to do those kinds of things, I will definitely give you a great deal on including those things in as well. My goal here is to take care of you guys and make sure you have a great wedding day, and if you want all of these extra items, we can definitely discuss how this might change the quote I gave you before. Then you can decide if you really want to move forward with them."

Feel no shame in reminding them that you are doing them a favor and hooking them up. Also feel no shame in gently educating them as to why your rock-bottom rate you quoted doesn't include the moon, the stars, and the sun. It is possible to remind them that beggers can't be choosers - it all depends though on how confident you are that you can deliver that message in a non-confrontational and relaxed manner that won't turn things sour on you.

As long as you're super-cool with the guy it shouldn't be that hard to either find a middle ground you are both happy with, or make him reconsider his desire for all kinds of extras.
 
Papa Deuce said:
So he claims... I doubt he gets that often.... I bet if he opened his books we might find a whole mess of $1500 weddings.
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And a lost invitation to sit on Oprah's couch.



I know, I'm bad. I'm a bad boy...
 
Sounds To Go said:
Damn Tom, no coffee yet?!
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No, too much experience with clients that see stuff like this at another DJs show or on YouTube and expect me to do it for no extra charge.

1. Several clients that wanted the Peter Merry introductions after seeing another DJ do it.
2. Several clients wanted the joke first dance with five or six songs and sound effects mixed.
3. One client wanted me to remix the Evolution of Dance number.

And so on. I told them how long it would take to prepare each, what was needed for each, and gave them a quote for the extra charge. All thought they were getting it for free. After I stated what was involved, most actually got it that there was extra prep work involved but only one was willing to pay for it. The rest did without.
 
Sounds like they now want someone different than who they hired. I would let them go find them. Money or not, if they now wanted something that I didn't offer to begin with, I guess all bets would be off.
 
TommyO said:
No, too much experience with clients that see stuff like this at another DJs show or on YouTube and expect me to do it for no extra charge.

1. Several clients that wanted the Peter Merry introductions after seeing another DJ do it.
2. Several clients wanted the joke first dance with five or six songs and sound effects mixed.
3. One client wanted me to remix the Evolution of Dance number.

And so on. I told them how long it would take to prepare each, what was needed for each, and gave them a quote for the extra charge. All thought they were getting it for free. After I stated what was involved, most actually got it that there was extra prep work involved but only one was willing to pay for it. The rest did without.
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True. Crazy intros and the like with intricate editing are extra for sure. I will typical throw in a "scratch-n-switch" first dance if they want it though cause that's like 10mins of my time and I have fun doing them.
 
Hank Davidson said:
Sounds like they now want someone different than who they hired. I would let them go find them. Money or not, if they now wanted something that I didn't offer to begin with, I guess all bets would be off.
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Not necessarily. It's not that they want someone else or someone to do what you "don't do," but just in this particular case, something you weren't intending up-front to be included in the price initially quoted.

Two completely different things. What Carlos is looking for is a way to let them know he's happy to do those things for an additional investment - not that he "doesn't do them" at all as an entertainer or as part of his greater offering of services.

But yeah - if they pull that switch mid-stream and you DON'T do those things at all and DON'T WANT to do them, then yeah - it's off to another dj you go.
 
Sounds To Go said:
True. Crazy intros and the like with intricate editing are extra for sure. I will typical throw in a "scratch-n-switch" first dance if they want it though cause that's like 10mins of my time and I have fun doing them.
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Plus you can also do it live. I've lost count of the folks that want a slow song mixed into something like Baby Got Back for their first dance. No big deal there.

I have one coming up that wants a separate song for each couple on the intros. I'm not really having a problem with that one either. My assistant will do the voice and I will do the music live. Those kinds of things that don't get frantic I have no problems with and can do live because I have the time to load the next song without fumbling. A rapid fire mix of six or more songs for a first dance is a different animal that will be prerecorded and get an extra charge,
 
Sounds To Go said:
Not necessarily. It's not that they want someone else or someone to do what you "don't do," but just in this particular case, something you weren't intending up-front to be included in the price initially quoted.

Two completely different things. What Carlos is looking for is a way to let them know he's happy to do those things for an additional investment - not that he "doesn't do them" at all as an entertainer or as part of his greater offering of services.

But yeah - if they pull that switch mid-stream and you DON'T do those things at all and DON'T WANT to do them, then yeah - it's off to another dj you go.
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You're right Carlos did not ask what I would do. So, I guess I've got nothing to offer. :sqwink:

Sorry Carlos. Good luck and knock their socks off.
 
I see two divergent approaches to addressing this situation.

1) Instead of setting yourself up to fail (if that would be the case), tell them, honestly that you don't DO things like that, to that level, and did not charge them for that, either. If they would like to hire another (possibly even Peter Merry himself), offer to let them out of the contract and directly into sticker shock when asked to pay for what they're asking for.

2) Come up with pricing and packaging for what they're asking for, or as close to it as you can determine and/or accomodate.

They want something more than "basic." If you think you can rise to meet their expectations, do so, but make sure that they understand that more work = more money. Being frustrated that they don't want something "basic" (especially at a good price) is understandable, but is focused on you, not on the client, where it should be focused.
 
Simply tell them if they want Peter Merry to go hire Peter Merry, If they want you to cheese up their wedding you will do so for XXXX dollars extra!
 
OK guys let's not turn this in to a bash Peter thread
 
Jeff Romard said:
OK guys let's not turn this in to a bash Peter thread
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Okay, then let's bash this clown....I mean monkey.

Tork.jpg
 
Carlos,

I have had crap like that happen to me several times. I give someone a deal (usually a friend) and they end up abusing the hell out of my kindness. Really pissed me off. But as peeved as I was, I knew it was my own damn fault for letting it happen. But you know what I did? I bit the bullet, worked my arse off and gave them the best show that I could and didn't disappoint or piss them off.

I learned a lot by doing that. It gave me new ideas and an easy way/reason to implement them and practice them.

That doesn't happen to me anymore. I always charge enough that I don't care what they want, I feel happy giving it them and making their day perfect to the best of my ability.

Now pull up your pants, find out what they want and give it to them as best you can. You may learn something from them that will profit you 10 fold. Look at it this way, you have already learned to NEVER to charge that little again.

Have fun and make the best of it.
 
Thanks guys. I think you have all made some really great points. Like I said, when I first met with bride and groom, it was a fairly basic "just an extra sound system for the ceremony" type of deal.

If they had not gone to this other wedding, they would have never gotten all these "crazy" ideas. I understand how it is. They want to have fun. And I'm sure that, to a certain extent, they want to keep up with the Joneses.

They are also talking about doing some lighting now. I'm thinking about charging them a little more than usual to make up for some of the lost income, but that could backfire if they decide to hire a lighting-only company.

Thanks for not turning this into an "I love/hate Peter Merry" debate!
 
Well... my thoughts for what they're worth:

You know the couple probably better than anyone. You know they're not wealthy.

Not being wealthy shouldn't prevent them from having a very memorable wedding. :)

If it was me I'd explain that, while I'm not Mr. Merry and couldn't duplicate his show, I'd do my best with their ideas to ensure that they and their guests had a great time.

Granted, your time is your inventory and shouldn't be given away. But there are other considerations. These folks could well being some fantastic referrals later. And they'll always be a professional reference.
 
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