[Dixielandjazz] Band Advertising

[Steve Barbone]

"Larry Walton <larrys.bands at charter.net> wrote (polite snips)

> A few minutes ago I booked a second St. Patrick's gig for next year.  This gig
> was the direct result of a flyer I sent out last April.  I almost immediately
> got 10 gigs off of it and they have been trickling in ever since.  This month
> alone I have booked six gigs directly as the result of my flyer for various
> Christmas parties which counting the five for next year brings the total to
> around 25 from it.  This month I booked 11 jobs which is about double for last
> year. . .   About half are new clients that I had never played for before and
> some are return calls from the original 10.  Today's booking was with a new
> client.  I think many of them saved my flyer. . .

That's terrific Larry. My experiences are similar. There is no easier method
of obtaining gigs than direct mail, be it e-mail or snail mail. ALL of my
gigs now are either responses from mail, or word of mouth, or repeats. Kind
of like clipping coupons. (Hint to others) The objective of the mail is to
1) get someone to call you and 2) differentiate your music from all of the
other music out there.

> I always, when they ask me how much I charge, ask them what their
> budget is.  A lot of you don't do that.  If it's less than what I want I try
> to bring them up and sometimes I am surprised and make a couple of bucks more
> if their budget is more than I expected.  I have converted a couple of really
> low ones to what I wanted too.  I also try to get them talking about something
> else as soon as I can and get the focus off of the price.  I come back to it
> eventually after I know what they are expecting to spend.  I ask them things
> like how big is the room and how many people.  I don't really care most of the
> time but that gives me a time to think about sewing up the deal and how much I
> can get.  I get a lot less dickering over price and a whole lot fewer hang ups
> (almost none).

Very good point. Phone answering technique is very important. About 50 years
ago I helped develop the phone answering scenario for AAMCO transmissions.
The objective was to take control of the conversation once a prospective
customer called. Here's what we taught:

Hello, AAMCO, who's calling please?  (ask a question and take control)

    This is Sam Jones.

How may I help you Mr. Jones?

    My transmission is acting funny.

How is it acting up, Mr. Jones?

etc., etc., etc. What we taught the franchisees was, how to control the
direction of the call and avoid price talk until all the benefits were
discussed. We wanted to differentiate the AAMCO service from all the other
transmission repair shops out there before the price was discussed.

Same with music. In my case, I always find out what they think they want,
then how many people, how big is room, what is venue. (very important when
figuring out price) For example I have two XMAS party gigs this month in
very posh venues. One on a restored sailing ship restaurant on the Delaware
River and one at a du Pont Estate. Pricing was only discussed after I
determined where and for whom the parties were, for obvious reasons.

> Previously when someone called, the conversation usually went something like
> How much do you charge?  I would tell them and then the line would go dead or
> some version of that scenario.  I used to lose half or more of the calls.  Now
> I sell almost all. . .

> One thing that helped me at first is I wrote out some telephone scenarios with
> the most difficult questions to answer and posted it by the phone.  After
> awhile I got pretty smooth coming back with answers.  That telephone
> conversation will make the difference between booking and staying home so you
> need all the help you can get to be good at it.  I occasionally go brain dead
> and revert to old dumbness but it's getting less and less and the bookings are
> picking up.

Our AAMCO phone scenario was also written out on plastic cards, indexed into
a 3 ring binder, and placed by the phone. It also included suggested answers
to objections like: "Your Price is too high." In effect, the phone answerer
did not have to be an accomplished salesman, most franchisees were not. He
just needed to follow the track.

And if you can't overcome a budget problem, then offer a smaller band, or
less hours. (I start my quotes at 2 hours) AAMCO offered 3 different
services and price levels in order to clinch the sale, based upon the
guarantee. (90 days, 6 months or lifetime) In sales lingo, that's an
assumptive alternative close. Which one would you prefer Mr. Jones? (it
assumes an affirmative answer and gives the prospect a choice)

Main thing I learned, after the phone technique, was how to differentiate
Barbone Street from all the other bands in my territory. Learned that early
on from Eddie Condon who was master at self promotion. His credo? "It's just
a matter of recognition. As long as a jazz man is just a musician in the
opinion of those who hire him and those who hear him, he can be replaced by
anyone who can hold an instrument." (Page 257 "We Called It Music"). With
that scenario, all you have left is price and groveling. Much better to be
unique, paid well, and treated like a human being rather than a hired hand.

For some ideas on promotion, read Condon's book, if only from page 256
("Nick's and The Revolution") to the end. Lots of good stuff there and a
clue as to why the music seemed, in many areas of the USA, to slowly become
passe after Condon died.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone