Weddings Pricing on your web site?

[Guest]

Rick:

I was acvtually hoping somebody would say that. I had my sister-in-law, the lawyer, look it over. Her exact words were that I covered everything included in the price and cannot be responsible for what folks assume.

I had a guy call me about it and he said to me that it would be $200, just like you said. I asked him if he read the entire ad and he said yes. I asked him what it siad and when he got to the part about "the price includes" I then explained to him about the amount of time involved in that. He got it.

I state very clearly that it is $50/hour and what that $50/hour includes. If they assume that it is for performance only then that is the fault of making an assumption instead of reading.

 

[SoftJock Rick]

Don't get me wrong Tom, I totally understand what you are doing -- then again, I've been in this business almost as long as Cap...


To me, it seems like yer gonna waste too much time explaining it, possibly get yer chops busted by said AG, and alienate potential clients...


I (as consumer material), would rather see something like this:

I will do your wedding for $800. That includes xxx sound, xxx lights, xxx hours of consult. Additional charges will apply, if you require more than that offered. Then, I will read further, to see what is included.


At least I have a starting point, and am clear as to what that will get me, without having to call first. If all is in ballpark, I will then check your availability, and pick up the phone.


At that point, you do not have to sell me -- I already grabbed the hook

 

[MIXSIRS]

Tom

I agree with Rick, price first, than the breakdown.

 

[Sounds To Go]

.....the lawyer, look it over. Her exact words were that I covered everything included in the price and cannot be responsible for what folks assume.

Just because it's "legal" doesn't necessarily mean its a good or advisable marketing tactic, let alone an ethical one. (not saying you are unethical... just in general).

I had a guy call me about it and he said to me that it would be $200, just like you said. I asked him if he read the entire ad and he said yes. I asked him what it siad and when he got to the part about "the price includes" I then explained to him about the amount of time involved in that. He got it.

If you just post a single all-encompassing total rate, and that rate is REASONABLE, and based on TANGIBLES, you don't HAVE to go about that step of explaining at all.

I state very clearly that it is $50/hour and what that $50/hour includes.

Personally, I don't see any positives to this approach to come even close to equaling the potential pitfalls and negatives, let alone balancing them out or surpassing them.

Any supposed good faith or perceived "lower price" benefit you might have gotten with the initial sticker-perception of the $50 that peaked their interest is potentially either offset at best or obliterated at worst once they find that after "all is added up" you are priced no differently or better than others.

If they assume that it is for performance only then that is the fault of making an assumption instead of reading.

Here's a concept - put it all in black and white and don't leave ROOM for assumption AT ALL! Seems a bit too passive aggressive to me to leave so much room for interpretation in the first place and then to use some kind of self-satisfying and condescending Socratic method with them on the phone to get them to add things up with you so he can "get it."

All of the assumption for them, and all need to explain anything by you is taken out of the picture by simply posting the price they will pay.

Why such a large amount of resistance to such a simple concept? Seems almost masochistic to subject yourself and the potential clients to all the hoops and exchanges that don't even need to happen at all if they have the info up-front.

Work smarter, not harder people! :sqconfused:

 

[Guest]

Rick:

I understand and appreciate your concern. This is also part of the SEO experiment I am working on.

I don't mind explaining it to them and my sister-in-law's got my back on the legal side; who knows, maybe I'll get some residuals on frivolous law suit counter suits.

I'll let the ad run its course and see what happens. I've gotten some leads from it and they have all understood what I mean by $50/hour. Plus, when I contact them I ask them if they understand that it is $50/hour for all hours and most say yes.

 

[Sounds To Go]

Only way I would EVER feel comfortable with an approach like that is if I had a disclaimer on the same ad that said something like: "*Average/Typical wedding = 18 hrs, or $800"

But I would never do that for the above mentioned reasons because all that does is open you up to unecessary and entirely unbeneficial conversations where you have to break down and justify the number of hours.

If anything requires justification or explanation, you either communicated something that didn't need to be communicated in the first place, or were not effective in communicating it.

 

[Guest]

OK, I'll change the graphic. See attached...

 

[Sounds To Go]

Thats better! Now they know about what they can expect. Still just my opinion it sets you up for some unnecessary and avoidable hurdles/clarification, but that is better

 

[MIXSIRS]

Tom

Your website states spending 4 hours checking out the venue. I can see having to do this the first time but after that you should know what to expect. Another thing, if you mention to a prospective client that you have done an event at a certain venue I would want to know why I have to pay $200.00 for you to check out the venue again.

In "No Hidden Fees" you mention free ceremony if in same venue. The problem with that is it could be in the same venue but in a different room making things more complicated than expected. I had this happen to me twice.

I like your idea, I think it just needs to be tweaked.

 

[Guest]

Your website states spending 4 hours checking out the venue.

That's four hours with three hours (1.5 each way) travel included. The site visit itself only takes about an hour.

I can see having to do this the first time but after that you should know what to expect. Another thing, if you mention to a prospective client that you have done an event at a certain venue I would want to know why I have to pay $200.00 for you to check out the venue again.

Banquet managers and coordinators change. Ideas change. Ownership changes. I have always found that visiting the venue each time and talking to the manager/coordinator assigned is the best thing to do.

In "No Hidden Fees" you mention free ceremony if in same venue. The problem with that is it could be in the same venue but in a different room making things more complicated than expected. I had this happen to me twice.

I also said "Second sound system for $150 if needed". I think that covers it. Plus, a site visit each time will help determine these "little" things.

In one site visit to a venue at which I had performed several times revealed that the reception was right next to the ceremony room and we were doing both. I had only performed receptions there in the past. I already knew that the ceremony and reception were in different rooms and that the cocktails would be in a very different location that we did not have to cover. My client did not have a clue as to the specific locations. As a result of the site visit I was able to cut out a second system (which I offered to refund back to the client) and do a very quick and easy move of my main system from the ceremony room to the reception room. The client refused the refund BTW.

I like your idea, I think it just needs to be tweaked.

Thanks. Hopefully it will evolve into a useful tool.

 

[MIXSIRS]

Thanks for clarification.

Your main system move tat easily. I want one of those!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for clarification.

Your main system move tat easily. I want one of those!

Wheels, baby, wheels! The main rig is set atop a Gator rack base on wheels. We just powered down, disconnected from the speakers and power, and we were ready to roll. We had a second set of speakers set up in the reception room already so it was just a matter of positioning the rig, connecting up, powering up, and then striking the speakers in the ceremony room. It took about ten minutes to disconnect, move, connect, power up, and run through a sound/mic check. It took another ten to strike the speakers in the other room and stow them behind the facade. We also had to move the facade from room to room but that was easy. After we were back up we had about fourty minutes to relax (and grab some snacks from the cocktail area, LOL).

 

[Esoteric]

Man, I need to get off my duff and get into the wedding industry. There are a lot of dupes (I mean potential clients) out there that I could make a ton of money from.

Mike

 

[MIXSIRS]

Tom

I like the idea of you trying a different marketing strategy but I'm having a tough time with the 50.00 per hour. I still can't see the same value in a site inspection with the actual performance time. IMO, the hourly value of the actual performance is much higher than the site inspection. As a potential client I could not see the justification.

Sounds To Go's suggestion seems the way to go for what you want to accomplish.

Only way I would EVER feel comfortable with an approach like that is if I had a disclaimer on the same ad that said something like: "*Average/Typical wedding = 16* hrs, or $800"

*Changed 18 hours to 16 hours.

I'm only asking questions, if this works for you, go for it.

 

[Guest]

I still can't see the same value in a site inspection with the actual performance time.

The way I explain it to them is "$50/hour for all hours invested in making your special day even more special". The site visit is time invested in them and that time, to me, is just as valuable as the time spent in performance. That is just my philosophy on it.

 

[Ron Auger]

Man, I need to get off my duff and get into the wedding industry. There are a lot of dupes (I mean potential clients) out there that I could make a ton of money from.

Mike

Then why don't you? Specific reasons would be nice.

 

[Sounds To Go]

The way I explain it to them is "$50/hour for all hours invested in making your special day even more special". The site visit is time invested in them and that time, to me, is just as valuable as the time spent in performance. That is just my philosophy on it.

All parts are necessary, and all are important and have their place in the process. I just have a problem personally with any "per-hour" approach because it puts you "on the clock" as far as the client is concerned for all those parts of the event, and even after you get passed the hurdle of selling them on the per-hr concept, what happens if they feel or claim that any of those items that they "paid-per-hour for" was not done, completed, or to their satisfaction?

You open yourself up for having to defend or justify yourself at best, and refunding a $50/hr flat rate for all those incidental items that might come up at worst.

For the anal client, are you really willing to "punch a clock" and hand them a final bill "day-of" with your ACTUAL time spent and itemized for each part of the event right up through the end of the performance?

Even if you aren't thinking this way or it doesn't come up that often, or yet at all - this is the next logical step for this pricing strategy/philosophy, and its only a matter of time before someone, for whatever reasons legitimate or not, tries to hold you accountable for, or call you out on, that time you put in.

I'm not punching a clock myself - block of performance time + all of the behind the scenes - WHATEVER THAT IS for $X.

Nice and clean.

You don't want them to think about you as an "employee," you want them to think about you as a service providing professional who provided a GREAT VALUE on a SERVICE PACKAGE that was all-inclusive.

You don't want them leaving the event thinking about which $50/hr segments they felt you excelled at, and which might have been lacking, etc.

Your END RESULT PRICE is either a GREAT VALUE for the TOTAL services rendered, or it isnt.

Why give them an opportunity to "pick it apart?"

Just my opinion, but pricing this way is just as absurd and baseless as the dj practice of dividing their base-rate across the number of performance hours to get a "per-hour charge" for the all-inclusive service.

We get down on those guys because we claim that their pricing doesn't make visible or highlight all the legwork and prep that goes into events, thereby reducing the general public's/consumers perception of our scope of services and overall value.. This $50/hr alternative just seems like the other extreme of the absurd spectrum - though borne out of the best and most admirable of intentions - making the couple aware of what goes INTO an event behind the scenes, it associates what in the end is an arbitrary and baseless hourly rate with each of those items. At least that is going to be a common perception.

 

[Capital Disc Jockeys]

I thought of a question..

I've had "prices starting at..." on my site since day one. I figure it's a good idea to get them interested, then provide an exact quote once I have all of their details.

I too have thought about putting a starting price on my site. What if you put starting at $795, but you charge that for a Friday wedding, not a Saturday. Would you be that specific? I would think yes.

Thoughts?

 

[nextgen1]

I'm sure that in this thread I have posted before but rather than look through all the pages its easier for me just to post . Personally I don't have our prices on our site. Not that we are the most nor least expensive. But I simply like be able to call them. Most people leave there number and if I try twice to call over 2 days and get no answer then I will email them my standard answer which details who we are and what we do. If they just leave and email I will answer them with just and email. But it is also the standard informative email that I send out. I think alot of people call and generally with the quality of your website will have and idea what to expect. If your site looks cheezy its going to be tough to sell them the over 1000 dollar price point. Our price in our area are a little over average but not that much,

We have only been in business for about 5 years but I do continue to raise our price and don't have much trouble getting (thank your God). Our weddings in our area start out at 800 dollars this year and will be going up to 850 dollars next year. This is our package that includes ceremony and reception with up to 6 hours for the reception. If your want lights or our music video package (This is popular) then there is and added charge. If you want screen and projector to play your premade photomontage then that is also extra but the music video package is added on free to that. Our pricing does seem to work for us. We have some great DJ companies around here so the compatition is steep.

 

[simplyfrank]

No prices = more email inquiries...

And yes most of them want to know the price, but based on my website deisgn and pictures, most know that I am not a 400 500 or 650 dollar dj.... And they have no problem paying what I ask...

A friend of mine recently told me I was too cheap, that I appeared to be a $2000 DJ just from my website and marketing...

So next year I will try that concept...