Weddings Meeting The Prospective Client

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SpinCin

SpinCin

DJ Extraordinaire
Mar 15, 2008
307
252
Chicago
www.angelswithanedge.com
Hello ODJT friends,

I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around a location that prospective clients want to meet.

Let me start by saying that I am a single op. I tell prospective customers that upfront. I operate my business out of my home & store my gear there also.
I like to meet clients at a Starbucks/Caribou/whatever coffee place. I buy everyone's favorite beverage & then we all sit down & talk about the prospective client's "vision" for their wedding reception. Again, that is all explained up front verbally & by email.

A particular bride & groom will be having their wedding reception on one of the more high end boats that cruise Lake Michigan. It is VERY elegant. They sent me an email saying that they want to meet at a "high end bowling alley & pool hall" that has a restaurant & bar. I'm sure this place is close to where they live. I was stunned, but thought maybe I can redirect them by pointing out the "noise factor". Their reply was "oh, it's the daytime & it shouldn't be so loud in the restaurant". Ok....so 20 inches of snow saved me from having to meet them this weekend. They still want to meet at the same place on a Saturday afternoon. I do not feel that this is an appropriate place to meet for several reasons.
1. The noise factor - I want to be able to HEAR what they have to say!
2. It is in a VERY (during normal weather) congested neighborhood in Chicago & parking is almost impossible. Imagine how it is now with a record snowfall.
3. When it comes down to it, this place is STILL a bar, bowling alley & pool hall. I don't drink or smoke or dj in bars & stay away from such places when it does NOT concern an actual paid gig - this is a "maybe we'll hire you".
And for some reason I'm getting the vibe that they are doing this for free lunch & drinks. I understand the theory that it is the cost of doing business, but there's a difference between spending $15.00 & $50.00.

I haven't responded to their last email & thought I'd post my thoughts here before I do or say something really dumb.

Thanks for letting me vent everyone!

Cindy
 
SpinCin said:
Hello ODJT friends,

I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around a location that prospective clients want to meet.

Let me start by saying that I am a single op. I tell prospective customers that upfront. I operate my business out of my home & store my gear there also.
I like to meet clients at a Starbucks/Caribou/whatever coffee place. I buy everyone's favorite beverage & then we all sit down & talk about the prospective client's "vision" for their wedding reception. Again, that is all explained up front verbally & by email.

A particular bride & groom will be having their wedding reception on one of the more high end boats that cruise Lake Michigan. It is VERY elegant. They sent me an email saying that they want to meet at a "high end bowling alley & pool hall" that has a restaurant & bar. I'm sure this place is close to where they live. I was stunned, but thought maybe I can redirect them by pointing out the "noise factor". Their reply was "oh, it's the daytime & it shouldn't be so loud in the restaurant". Ok....so 20 inches of snow saved me from having to meet them this weekend. They still want to meet at the same place on a Saturday afternoon. I do not feel that this is an appropriate place to meet for several reasons.
1. The noise factor - I want to be able to HEAR what they have to say!
2. It is in a VERY (during normal weather) congested neighborhood in Chicago & parking is almost impossible. Imagine how it is now with a record snowfall.
3. When it comes down to it, this place is STILL a bar, bowling alley & pool hall. I don't drink or smoke or dj in bars & stay away from such places when it does NOT concern an actual paid gig - this is a "maybe we'll hire you".
And for some reason I'm getting the vibe that they are doing this for free lunch & drinks. I understand the theory that it is the cost of doing business, but there's a difference between spending $15.00 & $50.00.

I haven't responded to their last email & thought I'd post my thoughts here before I do or say something really dumb.

Thanks for letting me vent everyone!

Cindy
Click to expand...

It is too late to choose another location. The prospect wants things in their comfort zone so they ended up choosing a place that suits them. A word of caution here, they have already taken control. You need to get back in the Captain's Chair!
Just do it and hope for the best. Take a contract with you so you can come back home with a signed agreement. Next time you want to meet another prospect, choose two places that suits you, then ask the first closing question "John/Mary, I can meet with you at Highbucks or McDonalds, which one would you like?" Either way is fine for you because you were the one who chose both places.

Based on where they are planning on having the Wedding, I don't think that they are looking to have a free lunch on your dime.
My question to you then, is it spending $50.00 or more that bothers you? If so, why?
 
The place might not be as bad as you think and they are the ones that chose it. You have nothing to feel bad about on that end.
However, if your time stands to be wasted, that's not cool.

Unless a client lives an unreasonable distance from me, all my meetings are at my home.
That's where I keep my books, store my gear and can best represent my services.




.
 
Alot of times, I prefer to meet the client at their house. I get to show pictures, etc then. Plus being that it is the comfort of your home, you're relaxed and at home. It works rather well for the client and for me - who's trying to get to know you.
 
If you feel it's too much to spend on a chance let them pick up thier own tab.
 
I personally like meetings at Panera Bread Co. they have free wifi and a lot more to offer by way of gnoshable items aside from the usual highbucks coffee.... plus there are 3 locations that are typically good for most of my clients and neither of us has to drive way out of our way to meet.

In the end if you want the gig then meet where they want to meet..... be sure to bring your balls
 
Hank Davidson said:
The place might not be as bad as you think and they are the ones that chose it. You have nothing to feel bad about on that end.
However, if your time stands to be wasted, that's not cool.

Unless a client lives an unreasonable distance from me, all my meetings are at my home.
That's where I keep my books, store my gear and can best represent my services.
.
Click to expand...

Cousin Hank pretty well summed it up.

We meet the vast majority of potential clients on our turf (ie: our living room) and have only gone to the clients location (their home) on the extremely rare occasion.

We tried the Panera Bread meetings, etc and it just wasn't us and I for one found it very difficult to attempt transacting business in such settings and will avoid using someone else's business as our office.

YMMV

Good luck on your decision. My gut reaction on this would be to go ahead with this meeting and see how it goes. :dontknow:
 
jokerswild said:
If you saw my neighbor hood you'd understand why I wouldn't bring a client home.... but, you do bring up a good point about useing someone elses business as your office.
Click to expand...

Well, it was a good neighborhood until you moved in...right? :triwink::triwink::triwink:
 
Kirby Ball said:
Well, it was a good neighborhood until you moved in...right? :triwink::triwink::triwink:
Click to expand...

Oh I so owe your for that one big guy..... :triwink::tritongue:

Seriously though it's also a convience factor as well for both client and myself.... I've even taken to meeting in hotel lobby's.... and really anywhere there's a wifi connection even though I can tether my phone sometimes a wifi connect is better.
 
Kirby Ball said:
Cousin Hank pretty well summed it up.

We meet the vast majority of potential clients on our turf (ie: our living room) and have only gone to the clients location (their home) on the extremely rare occasion.

We tried the Panera Bread meetings, etc and it just wasn't us and I for one found it very difficult to attempt transacting business in such settings and will avoid using someone else's business as our office.

YMMV

Good luck on your decision. My gut reaction on this would be to go ahead with this meeting and see how it goes. :dontknow:
Click to expand...

I actually prefer to meet them at their location, I advise that I need power and we should be able to talk. It usually ends up being their house with the added benefit of their surroundings, etc. It seems to put them at ease. Because you see their house, you get an idea for their taste, etc. Gives you some insight into what you're possibly getting into. Remember, the more information you have, the better your educated guess can be. Even unspoken information is good information. In fact, most of the information we run on is unspoken - reading crowds, etc.
 
Yeah, but we're lazy and we figure if they want us, they'll come to us... :tribiggrin::triwink:
 
If I were a Panera, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, etc I would love the fact that people were coming in and conducting business because it would mean business for me. Whenever I meet a client at one of these type places the consultation is usually 30-40 minutes and I usually ending up buying coffee for everyone. Win win
 
I know I have said it before, but will go ahead and throw it out there again. We do not do face to face meetings. Here is email we send to clients who request one. Yes, we sometimes lose jobs with this policy, but it prevents these kinds of issues. Here is the email we send to prospects who ask for a face to face:

Hi XX,

In regards to a face to face consultation, this is something we stopped doing last year. Our site is designed for every client to be able to completely plan their entire event anywhere they are in the world. I am also available for a phone consultation at any time, plus various forms of online chat (AIM, Yahoo, Gchat, Facebook chat).

Our goal is to make every event as affordable as possible to every client while maintaining high service standards. We find that face to face consultations add an extra cost which can be avoided by incorporating every new technology possible to make each event we do run smoothly and without any issues.

We would love to your entertainment choice at your wedding, and hope to hear from you soon!

Patrick
 
I say,
Add the extra dollars on to your final fee, so you get covered, and I hope they don't back out. Or they could be doing this to all vendors, so they can get a meal on the weekens.
Wow, thats a good scam
Good Luck
 
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