[Dixielandjazz] Quoting a price for services over the phone

Sat Jan 7 16:30:40 PST 2012

In the battle of cheap there's ALWAYS someone CHEAPER.  Count on it.
Larry
StL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dixiejazzdata" <dixiejazzdata at aol.com>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2012 2:46 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Quoting a price for services over the phone


>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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