“There’s a point where a DJ needs to become a business person and not just perform for fun.”
How many times have you heard, “Would you like fries with that?” Or, “You can add on early boarding for just $30 extra?” Or even, “For an extra $125, you can upgrade to a junior suite?”
Clearly the “Upsell Culture” is a huge part of our everyday process of capitalism. Everywhere you turn, businesses are trying to turn a transaction into something bigger than what you originally intended.
Heck, try to get into a checkout line at the store and you are herded through a rope system that forces you to walk past shelf after shelf of candy and drinks along with a slew of things you don’t need! And, you end up adding stuff to your final purchases!
This culture of upselling is a part of everyday business life. But why do DJs not participate in this concept of exploitation of your additional services for added revenue? Let me take you back 20 years ago and how I was doing business…
If I went to a DJ convention and saw some cool laser lighting, I would buy it... not for my customers, but for me! It could be TV monitors or confetti blasters or neon signs, etc… if it made me go, “Wow,” I wanted it, mainly because it impressed me. I never stopped to think about how it would impact the customers. And then the gear would sit on a shelf and hardly get used.
Other DJs in my market would simply include the lighting or photo booth or even extra sound equipment and never charge a penny for it. They would say, “I’ll throw this in for free.” So, tell me… how do you make money when you are giving things away for free?
The all-inclusive one–price package was all the rage and more times than not I would be working extremely hard and not getting paid extra for my effort. It was a business cycle that kept repeating, as I would invest thousands into gear that didn’t return the investment. ROI was not in my vocabulary. Clearly, I wasn’t asking my clients if they would like to Super–Size for an additional fee.
Eventually, I started to look at gear sitting on my shelves getting covered by dust and saying to myself, “This may not have been a wise investment.” Why would anyone in their right mind want to spend three hours to set up moving heads, trussing, TVs and lasers for a school dance where the budget is not even equivalent to one single piece of the lighting gear? At this pace, it would take forever to pay off the investments made.
This is when the business person in me overruled the DJ in me. I was no longer willing to buy the toys that impressed me and, instead, I would only purchase things for the business that would be desirable to my customer base… and would return on investment… and not just pay themselves off, but far exceed the purchase price in return sales. It became very logical to end the all-inclusive model and begin charging for each individual service or effect. This way the customer gets exactly what they want and are willing to pay for.
“There’s a point where a DJ needs to become a business person and not just perform for fun.”
Now today my package and rate brochure reflects this concept with several primary packages and then a menu of a la carte add–ons. The customer can mix and match to get what they want and what may fit their budget. This also allows for a popular sales gimmick of bundle–pricing where you can offer a discount of some sorts for bundling and adding a certain amount of services together. The more the customer contracts with us, the more they can potentially save! By giving the customer a perception of value, they will add on more! “Would you like the mega-size of soda for only $1 more?”
Do not confuse bundle discounting with free! I have never been an advocate for giving away your services and time for free!
“Nothing of value is ever free!”
And the customer will not see value in something they don’t invest in. With that said, the modern consumer lovesa deal, and a true deal can be achieved by getting the customer to buy more in the process. Think about it…They spend more money on you and your services, but feel like they are walking away with a deal! That’s a win-win for sure. But this can only be achieved by charging for all the add-on pieces and assigning value to the individual parts and not offering a one price for everything.
By the way, this absolutely applies to your time! I know of DJs who offer one rate for all-day service. Unlimited time for one rate? Yikes! This just does not make good business sense whatsoever and you are setting yourself up for the customer taking advantage.
I feel the same way towards a one-price service featuring DJ and lighting and photo booth. You can actually end up losing a booking if the customer does not want the additional services. Give one rate for your DJ services and then offer the other pieces as add–ons. You also give yourself the ability to make more money by charging separately for the services vs. the all-inclusive model.
Then there is perception. A smaller price looks better than a bigger price. Case in point, it looks better to charge $750 for the DJ, $850 for photo booth and $250 for lighting, as compared to an all-inclusive price of $1,850. They both are the same price, but, to the consumer, the lower individual rate feels better than the one large rate.
Don’t believe me? Then why do businesses charge $39.99? Why not just charge $40? That one penny made you look at the number differently and that goes into the psychological element of the Upsell Culture. You’ll never look at a Big Mac Meal quite the same way again.
Since 1984, Mike Fernino has run Music In Motion Entertainment in Seymour, Conn., and since 2008, he has run the Facebook Group, DJ Idea Sharing.
