Weddings Meeting The Prospective Client

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mikemerlin said:
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
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I agree with you on the above. Most rules that DJs have are self inflicted. If everyone had the thinking that other peoples businesses are not their office, then Conference rooms, meetings rooms etc will all go out of business.
Meeting at a mutual place like a Highbucks etc can put both parties on the same level field. It is easier to take subtle control of the situation at these places.
 
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....
.
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and where every minute is a waste of time.... :)

j/k
 
patrickrlewis said:
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
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I deal with this constantly. Case being I live near Baltimore and prefer to work the affluent DC area. problem is, this homie does not want to drive to Tysons/Warrenton/Downtown/etc on a whim for 'tire kickers'. A phone chat is mandatory and meeting only when likely of a signed agreement is imminent. Otherwise, I will kindly advise them to 'kick the other tires' then come back to me.

As far as location, your home is NOT the best place. What if they fall/get injured/etc? Homeowners will likely NOT cover since it was a business vs a social visit. To say otherwise is fraud.

Their home also might not be best. Let's say it is just you and the potential bride. Let's say the meeting did not go well. She could cry 'r a p e' and your good name is instant trash.

Starbucks/Panera/Caribu/Venue all work for me. :)
 
patrickrlewis said:
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
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Hi there I'm the Devil's Advocate and I've crafted a letter in response to yours :)

Dear (company)

As a client I really couldn't care less about your operating costs or business issues as I'm really just interested in hiring a DJ that won't scare away my guests. The fact that you won't meet with me scares me, do you perhaps have a hygiene issue or a glass eye I should know about? Are you the type of person to look me in the eye or do you turn into the rain man when someone talks to you? If we could meet you could put me at ease but since you can't, I cannot in good faith have you as my DJ because quite frankly I'm afraid you might suck. Best Regards,

(client)
 
^^ ouch ^^

That certainly is another take on the issue. Point taken and noted.
 
Ed Witles said:
Your home is NOT the best place. What if they fall/get injured/etc? Homeowners will likely NOT cover since it was a business vs a social visit.

Their home also might not be best. Let's say it is just you and the potential bride. Let's say the meeting did not go well. She could cry 'r a p e' and your good name is instant trash.
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Ed, very good points..just like meeting someone for the 1st time from match.com...make it a public place and CYB.
 
I'm like you (single op, operating out of my house)
What works for me?..

Many times, I am meeting the bride (alone) it is BEST to meet in a safe/neutral location, NOT in her house or mine. I prefer to meet at the venue where the event will be held. You get a leg up on other DJs, because you can possibly do a walk-through where the event will be held. I don't want people I don't know coming into my home & visa-versa.

Also, most places have an area where you can sit down & talk without noise & disturbances. Sometimes this is not always possible & the client may want to meet at a Starbucks type of location. If so, I NEVER offer to pay for their drinks or food. (I used to do it...not anymore) I do not want people to feel obligated.

If after they hire me & we later meet to go over the details, at a public location, yes, I may offer to pay for their drinks or food.

As a potential client, I do NOT want the salesperson buying me food , drinks etc. I don't want them to put me in that spot. If they offer me a water, etc. that's fine.

Whatever works best I guess?
 
I ask them would you like me to meet you at your house, i do this for a couple of reasons, 1, mom and dad are sometimes there so i get to know them - they get to know me , so as a group we can go over all the wedding actives , it also helps me in knowing who the parents are before hand it makes it a little more personal, but where ever they want to meet its ok with me
 
mikemerlin said:
Again just playing devil's advocate. My experience has been if a couple is going to take the time out to meet you they are serious about booking...it;s just up to us to sell ourselves and seal the deal
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Not always. Esp those who insist on meeting in their back yard. I had a few who said they were checking around and had many more to meet.

So I pretty much say, if you like what you heard, let's lock this down. Otherwise, when I leave, there is no obligation to keep the date open and I won't be in touch again. Don't want to be a bother and give apparent pressuring to book.

How to lawyers do it? The low $ chase after the clients. The high $ have clients chase after them....
 
Ed Witles said:
Not always. Esp those who insist on meeting in their back yard. I had a few who said they were checking around and had many more to meet.

So I pretty much say, if you like what you heard, let's lock this down. Otherwise, when I leave, there is no obligation to keep the date open and I won't be in touch again. Don't want to be a bother and give apparent pressuring to book.

How to lawyers do it? The low $ chase after the clients. The high $ have clients chase after them....
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But isn't meeting with them part of our job no matter where its at
 
It's really been an education reading everyone's posts! Quite a few things here that I never thought about & I have been djing for awhile. I'll say it again, thank you EVERYONE for your thoughts. I'm planning on using some of your suggestions immediately.
 
Ed Witles said:
As far as location, your home is NOT the best place.

Merely your opinion, which you are entitled to.

What if they fall/get injured/etc? Homeowners will likely NOT cover since it was a business vs a social visit. To say otherwise is fraud.

Hmmm, what about us that are covered by our home owners insurance and our "business" liability insurance.

Would you care to provide some statistics on DJs have been sued by a client or potential client when they visited the DJ's home office and were injured?

Their home also might not be best. Let's say it is just you and the potential bride. Let's say the meeting did not go well. She could cry 'r a p e' and your good name is instant trash.

Again, can you provide some hard statistics on this? Client or potential could cry rape saying that you followed her from the Panera bread and then accosted her. Your unfounded paraniod reasons don't hold water.
Starbucks/Panera/Caribu/Venue all work for me. :)

First thing I can agree with you right there. It works for you. But don't try to dismiss others' methods by using speculative statements.
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FYI, we (meaning my wife and myself) meet with potential clients as a team since we are in business together. In the last 7 years I can think of only a small number (less than 10) of Brides who arrived by themselves. They normally arrive with a family member (Mom, Dad, etc. or a combination of), girlfriends (Maid/matron of honor, etc.) and sometimes even the groom.

YMMV
 
Ok Kirby. By having a home as your place of business, what if a wheel chair client wants to meet? And you cannot.... They can file suite.

The insurance offered covers the venue, not your home unless there is a specific rider.

Agreed, these are worst case. But just takes one to put you out of business.

I have a single level bungalow w/ no handicap access and no office. Ain't bringing anyone here.

Most of my clients live in DC. Ain't driving 60 miles round trip to just 'chew the fat' if there is no chance of a booking.

Plus.... I have a 9-5 day job. Now that might cost me some cred right there.

It also allows me to be more choosy of my clients vs make every booking regardless of cost or time invested.

Like you said... YMMV.
 
You're really stretching it there Ed...... :trirolleyes:

And how would you know what my insurance covers and what it doesn't? Have you read my policies? Have you talked to my insurance agents?

One cannot live their life in fear of "something might happen."

Show me the numbers of this in "real life" and not from the "department of pulling numbers out of my butt." :triwink:

Not knocking your business approach but your rabid fear of the unknown. :dontknow:
 
mikemerlin said:
Hi there I'm the Devil's Advocate and I've crafted a letter in response to yours :)

Dear (company)

As a client I really couldn't care less about your operating costs or business issues as I'm really just interested in hiring a DJ that won't scare away my guests. The fact that you won't meet with me scares me, do you perhaps have a hygiene issue or a glass eye I should know about? Are you the type of person to look me in the eye or do you turn into the rain man when someone talks to you? If we could meet you could put me at ease but since you can't, I cannot in good faith have you as my DJ because quite frankly I'm afraid you might suck. Best Regards,

(client)
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And that is when I hit the delete button and never think about that person again. We have plenty of pictures up on both our site and Facebook page which show exactly what we look like, if that is what they are concerned with. We also have plenty of tesitmonials up on our site, and are more than willing to give out references to prove we don't "suck".

I can sit at my desk and knock out 3-4 client meetings, sometimes all at the same time, through GChat or AIM in an hour. These same meetings would require 2-3 nights being taken up to accomplish the same thing.

To me this is just another one of those scare tactics used to get people to pay more for the exact same service.
 
Our company office is in our townhouse in Mississuaga (Toronto Burbs) We have held 2-3 meetings per night avg 5 days a week the past 2 1/2 weeks that I have been here. No complaints and all of the ones who have walked into the office have walked out and signed the contract a few days later and some have closed on the spot. It works for us and with 200+ gigs per yr and a great formula for DJ selections early in the process we are going to be a force to be reckoned with with my additional help and shooting for 300+ for 2011.
 
I cannot believe this thread lasted as long as it did.
WHO THE HELL CARES WHERE YOU MEET???

now if you have issues with the location they chose for the RECEPTION.....
 
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