Work FOREVER! (If you've worked in the past!)

There's a lot of time, money and energy invested in trying to capture new clients in the DJ world. There are an endless array of marketing options, seminars, workshops and videos that promise to show you how you can find clients and then sell them on your services. Many of these are fine strategies and well worth your time and investment. Some...well...not so much. However there is one really easy, highly effective and relatively inexpensive way to have future clients find you and enthusiastically book your services.



 So you wanna know what it is?
Your past clients.

Turn past clients into evangelists for your DJ service!

Yep...it's that simple.  There they are.  The folks who are best positioned to help you locate and sell future customers on your service are the folks who have experienced the value that you provide with your services!
Think about it....provided that you made your previous clients extremely happy...there is no one better positioned to promote your services.  Not even YOU!

Testimonials work.  Don't believe me?  Look at the success that WeddingWire.com has achieved in the heretofore completely Knot.com dominated wedding portal world.  What did WeddingWire do differently to come virtually out of nowhere and capture such a massive online market share?  It focused on reviews from real Brides & Grooms.  It allowed couples to read through reviews from other couples who had already taken the leap of faith with a particular vendor and get a glimpse into what their experience was.  The site has become one of the most dominant marketing placements for wedding services currently available.  Now as fantastic as WeddingWire is there's a more direct way to leverage this type of one on one, word of mouth referral power.

Earn it then Ask for it.

The goal is to exceed...not meet...expectations!

Uh huh.  That's how.  I know that appears to be really simple and honestly there is more to it than that.  It actually starts with something really basic but within the reach of every single DJ.  Actually caring about your clients and their events.  I mean genuinely seeking to understand what it is that your clients want from your services and from their event in general.   It starts by making yourself accessible to the client.  Make sure your clients know that you are ready and willing to work with them at every step along the way as they plan their event.  Be certain they have your email, phone numbers and understand that you WANT them to contact you with any thoughts questions or concerns.  THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!  It gives the clients a sense of ease when they know they can get in touch with you when they need to.  Answer emails and phone calls as quickly as you can (obviously you can't take calls during another event or during a meeting but you can get back to the customer and let them know what the delay was)  I find that offering my cell phone number and an invitation to text me is a quick and easy way to answer many of the simple inquiries that my clients will have.  Talk about a positive customer service experience! When you reply to a customers text message in real time...well service like that is rare...you know it from your own experience!

Exceed the expectations!
The easiest way to accomplish this is by asking a ton of questions.  Information is power and it's also the key to over delivering on every single clients expectations.  By having clients identify what they are trying to achieve through their events you can go point by point through ensuring that you do everything necessary in the planning and then during the event to not only meet those expectations but....and this is important...to exceed them.

The 3 "touches"

One strategy to employ at every event is what I call the 3 touches.  Three separate times during every event I locate the client, physically turn them around to get a view of their entire event (you can do this casually by coming along side them and then just pointing to the center of the room) and ask these specific questions..

So how are things going so far? 


Is this how you expected things to be going at this point?


Is there anything different that I could do to make the event better right now? 


Listen carefully to the answers and look for clues in the body language of the client that indicate the level of honesty that they are giving you with their responses.  Often times clients don't want to be insulting or have a desire to avoid potential confrontation during their events even when they are not satisfied with the way things are going.  You need to be aware that a simple "Everythings great" is not enough unless it is accompanied by a relaxed posture, a big smile and a relative ease that says that they have relaxed into enjoying their event.  If the client gives you feedback on ANY aspect of the party that is not to their liking take immediate steps to gain control of that situation and to turn it to the clients expectation.  Sometimes this has more to do with other services that are being provided on behalf of the client.  It could be ANYTHING.  Remember that the whole is always greater than the sum of the individual parts.  If one part is "broken" it can drag all the others down with it.  Find ways to address any situation to help deliver to your client the experience they were seeking for their event.  Do this at the beginning, toward the middle and about an hour before the end of the event.  Rephrase the questions so as not to become "annoying" and  take any steps necessary as indicated by the clients response to not only meet, but again I say, EXCEED their expectations. I also make sure to take anywhere from 1-3 photos at every event of the client having a good time. (We'll use these later so do not skip this step.  It pays huge dividends.  We're not talking spectacular photos...just snapshots...in fact I most often times just use my phone!)

Now that you're certain that you have a clear understanding of what the client wants to achieve and you've taken the time to confirm that you are making that vision a reality you have positioned yourself to leverage their fantastic experience with your DJ services into referrals by taking some very simple but highly effective steps to turning past clients into evangelists for you company.  In the next blog post I'll discuss the strategies employed to get your past clients to bring lots of  future client to your door!  Subscribe to make sure you don't miss this info!