You want a great way to get bookings faster with less effort? You need an Act Now Offer!
What’s an Act Now Offer?
An Act Now Offer is anything you can add to your proposal that’s only available for a limited period of time. It must be a great benefit to your client and it must expire.
A great example would be a limited time discount. “If you sign this contract within 7 days, I will take 20% off your final bill.”
It creates urgency
You are likely working with clients who are planning months or years in advance. They will take months to make a decision on their vendors if you let them. A limited time offer kickstarts their decision-making process and will get you bookings faster.
It benefits your client
Your Act Now Offer should be a tremendous benefit to your clients. You need to make it a really valuable offer. A substantial discount, a great package price, valuable extras or freebies, any of these work.
Make sure that you are spelling out the value of offer in real money, so they can see it clearly. For example, don’t just say, “I’ll give you a 20% discount if you sign within 7 days.” Say, “I’ll give you a 20% discount, which is a savings of $150, if you sign within 7 days.”
Make it time-limited but reasonable
You have to give your clients a time limit, or the offer won’t help you. But, you can’t make that time limit so strict that they feel pressured. Treat your clients the way you would want to be treated. It feels awful if a salesperson said to you, “This offer is only good today. If you walk away, it’s gone.” Nobody likes that! And, you will get a bunch of people who will sign under pressure and cancel later. At the very least, they will feel like you beat them up and resent you for it.
Give them at least a few days to think it over. You can always try to help them decide at your first meeting, but they won’t feel like you are holding them hostage.
You must stick to it!
Your Act Now Offer is meaningless if you honor it after it expires. You have to stick to your deadline. You can make exceptions if you are feeling kind-hearted or the situation warrants it. But, for the most part, keep your word and do not give them the offer after it expires.
Make it good without hurting your profit
There are many ways to make your offer very enticing without hurting your profits. I personally like to add in extras that I would normally charge for. Most of my clients would go without lighting or wireless microphones if they had to pay for them separately. Those are easy ways to add value without adding much more work.
I also like to put together a big proposal with all of the bells and whistles, and then ask myself, “How much would I be willing to take for this job?” Once I have what I feel is a fair price, I’ll make a custom Act Now Offer based on that and compare it to my full price.
Let’s say I’m working a wedding reception for 4 hours. The bride has requested MC services and a wireless microphone. My hourly rate for weddings is $175, and the microphone is $50, so the normal total would be $750. I would be willing to do that event for $650.
I would make an Act Now Offer that includes my lighting package, which is another $150. The offer is a 4 hour wedding reception plus wireless microphone and lighting, a $900 value, for $650 if you sign in the next 5 days.
The client is saving $100 over my normal price, and getting $250 in extra value total. That’s a win for them, and a win for me if I get the booking.
In Summary…
Your Act Now Offer should be a great incentive to get your client to sign sooner. It needs to have great value, a limited time and not hurt your overall profit. Put together some Act Now Offers for your next few proposals, and let your fellow DJs know in the comments how successful you were.
