What would you think?

[Mark Wild]

This is an email back from a potential customer I quoted over the phone who said either way I'll get back to you. This is what she wrote, what do you make of it?

Dear Mark,

Apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I've choosen *name removed*, probably because he gave me a passionate sell, he was the cheapest at £120 which included a professional karaoke dj and all the disco trimmings. I would say it was a very hard decision as it wasn't the price that sold me. I would really have preferred to hire someone that was recommended to me, however I made a choice based on what little knowledge I had, and I know my whole night will be based on how good that choice is.

His sell was how important my business was to him; how the organisation just wants an honest pay for their work, the fact that they appear to be experts in not only dj'ing, but as alround party planners.

Not sure if that's helpful to you and if I can help further please let me know.


Kind regards

*name removed* (her spelling errors)


I have a few thoughts and feelings on this but was just interested to see yours. :)

[Danno13]

Great salesman/conman (delete as appropriate) but not a good businessman by the sounds of.. how on earth you could make any money charging that kind of money and including "all the trimings" is beyond me.. :bang:

[djsteve10]

Had it today too, Sent a booking form out 2 months ago for a wedding that is in 3 weeks, 2 copys were sent to the address over the weeks and nothing was sent back to me so I thought I will give them time. Today I phoned up to see if they still wanted to go ahead as I have recieved no forms back through the post. They claimed they never recieved anything although I had sent 2 copys to the address and I checked the address today with them. They then told me they had booked a cheaper DJ. She had an attitude with me and said her other DJ didnt do all this paper work.

I then explained to her that the booking form and deposit would of secured her booking with myself. I then expalined if she hadn't returned the form but still wanted to use me there would been no disco there on the day, She just told me to :Censored: **f and put the phone down.

[Jiggles]

Tell her that the chance of getting 'all the trimmings' for that price is abit doggy!

[Mark Wild]

Had it today too, Sent a booking form out 2 months ago for a wedding that is in 3 weeks, 2 copys were sent to the address over the weeks and nothing was sent back to me so I thought I will give them time. Today I phoned up to see if they still wanted to go ahead as I have recieved no forms back through the post. They claimed they never recieved anything although I had sent 2 copys to the address and I checked the address today with them. They then told me they had booked a cheaper DJ. She had an attitude with me and said her other DJ didnt do all this paper work.

I then explained to her that the booking form and deposit would of secured her booking with myself. I then expalined if she hadn't returned the form but still wanted to use me there would been no disco there on the day, She just told me to f*** **f and put the phone down.

Unreal, with a stinking attitude like that mate, it's probably a lucky escape and "the other D.J didn't do all this paperwork" shows her lack of brain cells.

[Danno13]

I have a nice stock reply that I've used 3 times now.. two times it worked (my quote was £340, against £180, and second time £375 against £220), the other was only yesterday, so fingers crossed!

The part in italics I only used on the most recent one as the other companies price was considerably lower than those above, so I felt it needed an extra "seed of doubt" :D


Thanks for your reply.

I’m afraid as a full time company, our prices are fixed and are reflective of the overall quality of service we provide. August is also one of our busiest months, especially Fridays & Saturdays, so it wouldn’t be in my interest to offer any special offers as I know these dates will be filled anyway.

I usually find my pricing is extremely reasonable when compared to other Wedding service providers who may not have the same impact on your Wedding as a good DJ would, or be remembered as much by your guests!

It would be unprofessional of me to speculate as to why the other companies are so cheap, however, to put the pricing in perspective, each booking takes up approximately 10-12 hours of my time once you include travelling, setup times, preparation, paperwork and of course the time it takes to run a professional business – if I were to charge as low as XXX I wouldn’t even be taking home minimum wage!

My own pricing is worked out in a way that takes into account the realistic costs of delivering professional entertainment and I always receive positive feedback from my clients, which is published on the website. I would simply not be able to promise the same quality of service and standard of DJ, at a lower fee.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

[rob1963]

Great salesman/conman (delete as appropriate) but not a good businessman by the sounds of.. how on earth you could make any money charging that kind of money and including "all the trimings" is beyond me.. :bang:

Exactly what I was thinking.

[DJ INDIE]

to be honest, id be glad she had got backed to me - at least you know where you stand - ie not waiting for confirmation, worrying whether to chase up etc.

its obvious from the reply that (however she puts it) theyve gone for the cheapest disco - by her own admission she has little knowledge, so i wouldnt take anything to heart.

I would personally reply just saying thanks for the reply and genuinely wish her all the best for the evening.

but i do understand the frustration - just put it behind you and carry on as normal.

[geoffrey]

he was the cheapest at £120

Unbelievably crazy prices and it's not just in this industry either. We have been working for 6 years for a client of ours and got ditch on Friday because someone has came in 50% cheaper.

So much for :Censored: Loyalty. :mad:

[CRAZY K]

Had it today too, Sent a booking form out 2 months ago for a wedding that is in 3 weeks, 2 copys were sent to the address over the weeks and nothing was sent back to me so I thought I will give them time. Today I phoned up to see if they still wanted to go ahead as I have recieved no forms back through the post. They claimed they never recieved anything although I had sent 2 copys to the address and I checked the address today with them. They then told me they had booked a cheaper DJ. She had an attitude with me and said her other DJ didnt do all this paper work.

I then explained to her that the booking form and deposit would of secured her booking with myself. I then expalined if she hadn't returned the form but still wanted to use me there would been no disco there on the day, She just told me to f*** **f and put the phone down.

To be honest you need to sharpen up your procedures.

You dont give people 2 months to :Censored: you about.

Its a phone call here or email after 14 days---did you get the Contract ok--sometimes the post lets you down---ok so please can we have the Contract and booking fee in the next few days.

If it doesnt arrive in 7 days no booking--finished.

There is NO excuse thats acceptable to me.

Not had any problems here adopting this procedure.

Believe me---people who tell you to -----off are NOT people you want to deal with---imagine what all the friends and family will be like:eek:

As regards the original post--not swayed by the cheapest price eh?

:BS: :BS: :BS:

CRAZY K

[Jiggles]

I recently found out that some will charge a fair bit for example £170 but still don't turn up.

[Mark Wild]

As regards the original post--not swayed by the cheapest price eh?

:BS: :BS: :BS:

CRAZY K

Might thoughts exactly ;)

[Bouncy Dancefloor]

Including all the trimmings

1) all his friends showing up for the buffet
2) all of the DJ's favourite music
3) 12 way strobe system

[Shakermaker Promotions]

I don't mean to sound funny but that email is pretty indepth for a reply. Most customers won't go to all of that trouble to tell you exactly why they chose someone else. Normally (in my experience), they usually say something along the lines of "Thanks for the quotation. We have now found Disco Entertainment elsewhere..."etc

[rob1963]

To be honest you need to sharpen up your procedures.

You dont give people 2 months to :Censored: you about.

Its a phone call here or email after 14 days---did you get the Contract ok--sometimes the post lets you down---ok so please can we have the Contract and booking fee in the next few days.

If it doesnt arrive in 7 days no booking--finished.

There is NO excuse thats acceptable to me.


Well said Crazy...that's EXACTLY the way I operate.

Great minds, eh? :D

[Excalibur]

Well said Crazy...that's EXACTLY the way I operate.

Great minds, eh? :D

In your case, no! :p

[rob1963]

In your case, no! :p

:moon:

[Mark Wild]

I don't mean to sound funny but that email is pretty indepth for a reply. Most customers won't go to all of that trouble to tell you exactly why they chose someone else.

Well this one did. ;)

[JTRS]

Some people buy on price, some people buy on quality, some people buy on impulse, some people buy on the persuasion of the salesperson.

My own take on that was that the customer was honest with you and decent enough to let you know that she had booked someone else and the reason why. I noted that she did mention that you were recommended to her so that's a positive, whoever recommended you to her will no doubt recommend you again to someone else.

She had been 'talked into' (or sold to), by the other DJ, personally I would not have done what she did, I would have gone with the recommendation as opposed to booking someone who was an unknown.But you can't always figure out why some people make the choices they do.

JTRS

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I don't mean to sound funny but that email is pretty indepth for a reply. Most customers won't go to all of that trouble to tell you exactly why they chose someone else. Normally (in my experience), they usually say something along the lines of "Thanks for the quotation. We have now found Disco Entertainment elsewhere..."etc

Sometimes it's worth chasing though Gary. I have actively chased (as an experiment) a couple of people who said they couldn't afford me. The last one was this morning. I sent them details and a quote and they came back to me and said their budget was £125 less than I charged. I emailed back saying sorry I couldn't help, but please think very carefully about your budget and what is important and I got an email this morning saying that he wished to book and that he had convinced his other half!

[Ryu]

How long was the booking for? What travel was involved for you?

Be interested to know.

As far as the competitor goes, It may be that he can afford to do the night at that price, and make some money from it, If anything, there is no reason to suggest the guy is some rip off cowboy, because he underquoted you...
Whats to suggest other person is new on the scene, offering cheap(er) work to get some reputation?

[kjdiscos]

Basicly sounds like the company she rang, talked the talk, A salesman born and bred probably, The type that could sell anything,

But by no means does it means hes offering sub standard work out, He could offer an excellent service, But does it for the love of it as opposed to the money.

As you have removed the company name we will never know

[Mark Wild]

If anything, there is no reason to suggest the guy is some rip off cowboy, because he underquoted you...


I fail to see that suggestion from me anywhere in this thread, implied or otherwise.

[Ryu]

Not from you granted, but from subsequent replies. My statement was simply missing 2 words. "For Anyone" in between "reason" and "to".

Apologies for that error on my part

[CRAZY K]

But does it for the love of it as opposed to the money.



That takes about 3 months to wear off---then most people work out its a mugs game doing it for next to nothing when they can get paid a reasonable fee.

Those who say they dont do it for the reward I dont believe--I have been round the block too many times and worn out too many T Shirts.;)

Reality kicks in.

If your a live Musician then some of them do it for low money because they get a genuine kick out of it--and theres often not much hard work involved with equipment.

Working with recorded music--which I have all my working life---Nope!!!!

CRAZY K

[CRAZY K]

How long was the booking for? What travel was involved for you?

Be interested to know.

As far as the competitor goes, It may be that he can afford to do the night at that price, and make some money from it, If anything, there is no reason to suggest the guy is some rip off cowboy, because he underquoted you...
Whats to suggest other person is new on the scene, offering cheap(er) work to get some reputation?

Well if he was new then whilst not being a Cowboy he wouldnt probably be as effective as Bellshill who would if nothing else have more experience and know how which could make a huge difference on the night.

(No disrespect to Bellshill)

I suppose you could as a final answer highlight this from the web site--

Keep in mind though, that if it's the only factor, and if it's the cheapest disco that you are looking for, then we are probably not the right choice for you.


I tend to agree with Gary ( Shakermaker ) its unusual to get an apology for not booking--very very odd--top marks to Daz though--

CRAZY K

[Mark Wild]

I tend to agree with Gary ( Shakermaker ) its unusual to get an apology for not booking--very very odd--top marks to Daz though--

CRAZY K



Dear Mark,

Apologies for not getting back to you sooner.

The apology wasn't for not booking.

Myself and the potential client spoke on the phone for quite while and struck up a good rapport (why them saying he was passionate suprised me as I thought I was too). During the conversation she emphasised a few times she'd get back to me whatever the decision was and I asked if she did go elsewhere if she could let me know the reason why (taken onboard from Daz in another thread I used the sentence "as we are constantly striving....." hope you don't mind Daz) So although it might be strange to get an indepth response, I think the potential client just kept their word following our conversation on the phone. :)