Listen up, DJs!
Whether you like it or not, you are in sales!
Yeah, you heard that right. You are in sales. But not the scummy, greasy, used-car sales stereotype that you are thinking about. I’m talking about modern sales. In fact, it probably shouldn’t even be called sales. It’s more like “finding what people want and giving it to them.”
And, here’s the great news. If you can pack a dance floor, you already know how to do it. You can read people’s body language and the way that they react to a song that you play. Then, you keep testing and adjusting until you have the whole place jumping up and down screaming for more. You just have to take those same skills and apply them in a different way.
What you need to realize is that you have a basic sales cycle for all of your events. It goes a little something like this.
You get the word out to people through advertising, marketing, social media, word-of-mouth, your website, your grandma, whatever. That’s step #1: Prospecting.
You get some people who are looking to hire a DJ. You talk to them about what they want. That’s step #2: Identifying Needs.
Once you know what they want, you can show them what you can do to help them get it. That’s step #3: Presenting Solutions. FYI, I usually take this away and follow up with a proposal later.
Those people may give you reasons why they don’t want to sign a contract with you, and you’ll need to work to satisfy their concerns. That’s step #4: Overcoming Objections.
You and the client come to an agreement about price, date, services included and sign a contract. That’s sometimes called Closing, but I feel it’s better to call step #5: Making Arrangements.
Then, you actually do what you said you would do. You show up on time and rock it out as the best DJ ever! That’s step #6: Delivery.
But wait, there’s more! If you’re really going all the way with the sales cycle, your final step is to follow up after the event. That’s step #7: Testimonials and Referrals. Now, a testimonial is not just a review. It’s a story that tells the before and after of your client in such a way that prospects can’t help but call you. Think about all those weight loss and exercise ads you’ve seen before with the before and after photos. That’s what will motivate someone to call.
If you want to make more money as a DJ, you need to know how many people are going through each step of your sales cycle. Until you have those numbers, you’ll have no idea where your leaks are. You may have a ton of people hearing about you, but nobody’s calling you. Or maybe your talking to a bunch of people, but nobody’s hiring you.
So, what are good numbers at each step?
At the Prospecting stage, it depends on your method, but typically things like websites and ads are doing great if they are getting 5-10% of the people to call you. On the high end, direct referrals should get you on the phone with between half and all of those people referred.
Once you talk to someone, you are doing well to convert 30% of the clients you send proposals to, but you should strive to convert 40-50%.
You should be getting Testimonials from as many people as you can. I’ll admit I’m the weakest here, but do as I say, not as I do. And, from that testimonial gathering, you’ll naturally see about 50% of the people give you a referral.
The Sales section of my blog is dedicated to how to improve each step of this process. Start with tracking your sales metrics TODAY! Once you know where you are, you can figure out where you are weak and begin to improve a little bit each day. If you get just a few percent better on each stage every month, you will see an explosion in your income!
