[Dixielandjazz] Quoting a price for services over the phone

[Dixiejazzdata]

I use a site called Gigmasters.com  because they are all over the internet, they are however the least productive of 
all the sites I use, because they insist that you bid on the jobs with a price, and they send the gig lead to everybody in your category of music.

I bought their highest level plan for a year and never got one GIG,  worse than that never even got a reply to any of their gig leads, I complained to them about this and they refused to talk about it.  They kept sending me renewal pitches and I complained again with each reply.     And told them in no uncertain terms why their site sucked and I would not consider renewing and paying them at any level.    They then sent me a Free Top Level six month membership, and I have received two gig leads so far and still no reply.    They suck and people who only shop for live music with budget in mind are usually not worth the time and effort to even deal with.   Have your price structure and stick to it as much as possible, dropping down to their "BUDGET" will only let other more sophisticated music buyers know you are cheap, and or really not very good.

When asked what we charge I simply tell them that that depends upon the gig situation , where when, how long, travel time for the players involved, kind of music they want,  as I may have to substitute other specialty players to comply with their musical request from time to time, how much equipment is needed to perform what they want,  and I always save the KICKER question for the end  Do you have a professional P.A. System to accommodate our needs ?  if not I can offer you our P.A. provider  with an operator to deliver it set it up and operate it for the duration of your engagement for  $$$$$   of course usually we take it along and it is set up by one of us and it gets the budget back up.     Sometimes I let them know that the P.A. system is included as all travel costs in the bid quote,  however in emails they rarely understand what we are quoting anyway, they are only looking at the $$$ number and if it is $$$  and their budget is $$  or $  they just won't even reply.    We have a series of P.A. systems, and bid for sound production and back line gear for festivals of up to 5,000 people, and this often is how we get better money, I sell them the Sound system for the day  8-10 hours plus delivery, set up operator (s) tear down and return.   They have no problem with that they seem to understand it, but have no clue why a Band wants to charge soooo  much money.      I tell them to try just putting the Sound system and stage up and see if ANYBODY is willing to come pay an admission to see it

I often use the Sound Company to book a good gig for the Band, by just making it all inclusive and if they pay big $$$$$ for the Sound Co, I'll throw the band in for Free :)) ha ha  I also often reverse that situation and throw the Sound in free if it's $$$$$.   

Many are willing to pay $300 to $600.00 per hour for a P.A. system but don't want to pay more than $300 for an entire band for 4 hours,  as I said buyers are not very sophisticated.

Cheers,

Bart.

 

 


Absolutely.  If you give them a price anywhere near to the beginning of the 
conversation you have a very good chance of losing it.

You have to keep control of the conversation.  That doesn't mean you talk 
all the time.  Ask questions like Steve suggested.

Follow Steve's blueprint.

Another killer question is what kind of music do you play?  Again engage 
them and find out what they want.

When I first started booking a band frankly, I was terrible at it and lost 
at least 75% of the calls I got simply because I broke the rules.

Let me add.  Never quote a price by E-mail.  Get their phone number and call 
them.  After losing the first three E-mail bids I learned.  That's a 100% 
loss.    Even when I was a beginner I did better than that.  If you must use 
e-mail then break it up the same way you direct a conversation but I highly 
recommend not doing it.
Larry
StL

> I'm with John McClernan.
>
> What works for me is finding out as much as I can about the gig before  I 
> get around to quoting a price. I try and keep control of the  conversation 
> by asking questions like:
>
> What city is the is the gig in? What is the venue? How many attendees?  Is 
> there a theme for the gig? Do I need to bring a sound system? How  many 
> hours? What day/night of the week? Does the band get fed? (if the  gig is 
> during a dinner hour, or it is a wedding) etc., etc., etc.
>
> That we I control where the conversation goes and get a feel for how  to 
> price the gig.
>
> Obviously if it is a private party or wedding in a posh country club,  I 
> quote a higher price ask because those folks usually expect to pay  more 
> and if you charge s pittance, you stand a good chance of being  judged as 
> a lousy band without them ever hearing you. But if it is a  Pizza joint, I 
> would be inclined to charge less. And Saturday nights  are twice as much 
> as weeknights. etc., etc, etc,
>
> Then I handle the price objection is it arises. And if there is a  finite 
> budget that does not met my minimum for the 6 piece band, in  that 
> particular kind of venue, I offer them 3 or four musicians  instead of the 
> 6 piece band..
>
> We rarely lose a gig because of price, and usually get quite a bit  more 
> than competing bands.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
> www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband
>
>
>
>
>
>
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