Whether you're a club, mobile,
mix-show, or rave DJ, it's important to sell your skills. In
this month's tip, Robb D. Smith, an Instructor at the Florida
Academy of Mobile Entertainment (FAME DJ School), demonstrates
the importance of selling your artistic services to secure employment.
DJ Business: Are
You A Salesperson Or A Clerk?
by Robb D. Smith,
FAME DJ School
December
2002
In our business, there is a great
deal of perception - what our clients perceive is their reality.
What we make them perceive - with our skill in selling - is what
will amount to our reality ... a trip to the bank.
So many of us (DJ's) have limited
sales backgrounds, even though some of the best DJ's that I've
had the fortune of training come from a sales-related past job
history. In my experience, I've seen a lot of DJ businesses that
have either one or the other: an excellent staff of performers
and weak sales people; or the opposite, tremendous sales people
but a product that does not live up to the hype made by the salesperson.
Either one is a recipe for disaster.
Learning to sell can be taught
with techniques ranging from preparing to handle their objections
before they even say them - to keeping the objection yours and
not theirs. Whomever owns the objection has the power. Learning
to sell even after the client has told you "NO" is
even a better technique.
Here's an example: Just recently,
considering the busy holiday season, I received a call from a
woman looking for a DJ for December 7th (OUCH). We had one spot
left so I knew we would sell it for top dollar anyway. I qualified
her by asking the important questions (where, what times, how
many guests, and how she heard of our service?). She answered
by telling me it was a high-class country club, late Saturday
evening, around 100 guests. She heard about us by seeing us perform
before. All these things point to TOP Dollar. So when I quoted
her our rate, I could tell by her voice that she freaked. She
immediately tried to get off the phone. So at this point I had
nothing to lose but to SELL the job.
I said "from the sound of
things, that seemed high to you?" "Why yes," she
responded, then I asked "how much did you have in mind for
a professional entertainer for your event?" She responded
$300. Then I acted like she did, I gasped and tried to get off
the phone. She then tried everything she could to get me to continue
talking. When I informed her that we were professionals and I
thought it would be impossible to find a professional for that
price - especially on that day - she seemed concerned. She said,
"what do you mean?"
Then I changed things around
on her. I said "does the DJ have to be good?" This
is because I can get you a body to spin records for $300 - of
course no guarantee - but it'll be in your budget. She said "well
of course he does." I said, "well good luck!"
I'm sure having it at the country club on the 7th (with their
prices), budget was not an option. Think about this statement
- In our industry we allow clients to tell us what we're worth.
Then I hit her with, "by the way, are you the one choosing
the DJ?" She said, "yeah that's my job this year."
I said, "well I'm sure that your co-workers and your boss
won't hold it against you if the DJ is horrible - as long as
you saved the company a couple bucks huh?" She then started
asking me more questions - about this and that - and, just by
my responses, I kept reminding her that we were more professional
than our competition. Finally, when I asked her how much she
was paying per plate at the event for the food and the bar, she
then realized how inexpensive we were after all.
In closing, I got her for our
rate (significantly higher than $300 I might add). Yes, it was
a lot of work and I probably could have sold it easier to somebody
else. But I wanted to prove that learning to sell, taking the
seminars, and continuing to excel will make your company grow.
On a slow day - when I need that job desperately (and at top
dollar) - I know I can get it.
Moral of the story: I got this
job described above due to one big factor - "I ANSWERED
MY PHONE WHEN IT RANG." Sounds simple, in a recent survey,
less than 40% of DJ companies actually have a LIVE person answering
their phone during normal business hours. I know of very few
service industries that can boast that sobering statistic. Are
you one of those part-time DJ's who wants the full-time money?
If you're returning answering machine messages - remember this
- if they left a message, then the clients' standards are not
as high as those who expect a professional to be there answering
their questions. So don't quote them too high - because they
are waiting for return phone calls by some other DJ's who will
more than likely undercut you and get the job. Quit making excuses
as to why others are better than you and become one of them.
It's not hard to do. You want your clients to spend more money
- then why won't you? When you go to conferences or conventions
take the sales seminars - and catch the speaker demos later.
They'll still be there.
Contact DJ
Robb D. Smith
Industry News
Winter Music Conference (WMC) will be held at the
Radisson Deauville Resort on March 18-22, 2003 in Miami Beach,
Florida. Early registration ends on December 18, 2002 ($195),
while year-end registration ends January 8, 2003 ($235). Late
registration ends March 5, 2003 ($345). The conference expects
to draw over 7,200 music professionals and enthusiasts from around
the world. This year's WMC will feature remixing and editing
workshops, demo listening workshops, poolside performances and
DJ sets, nightclub showcases, the International Dance Music Awards,
and a DJ spin-off. To contact by phone, call 954-563-4444.
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