What Do The Clients Want From A Mobile Disco In The 21st Century?

[exbutlinred82 0]

Got to be honest vokf.....didnt think there was too much in my post that others would disagree with.

 

I may be wrong???

[vokf 0]

Got to be honest vokf.....didnt think there was too much in my post that others would disagree with.

 

I may be wrong???

 

I have to disagree there lol

 

Trying to rope everyone into the same boat isn't possible. There will always be those that stand out.

 

 

My own take on the original question is;

-Good quality sound. iPods mean that lots of people now have access to good quality audio. People can notice the difference between distorted sound and the better systems.

Many people have digital surround sound in their homes, and would cringe at an old-fashioned TV with a mono speaker.

That said, most modern equipment provides fairly good quality.

 

-A smart set-up, a few lights, tidy cables and a black cloth to drape over the front of a table, or one of the various Deck Booths/Stands. Anything is better than using a function rooms table with all the cables on show. The same applies to the DJ. Dress at least as best as the guests.... So jeans may be ok for a pub gig, but not for a birthday party.

Years ago, clients would have trusted the set-up was ok. With most DJ's having a website with some kind of pictures, its easy to check out the look of a set-up.

 

-A DJ they are confident in. I get some bookings where some local competition is poor at communicating - they could be superb DJ's but its not getting through to the client. A recent comment I had was "I'm glad we booked you, as the other guy was too casual and we wanted to feel like we had a solid booking" I didn't do anything other than explain my booking procedure and provide my terms and conditions.

 

-Value for money. I'm quoting £250+ for an average adult party, or approx £50/hour. We provide "free" photography, with a CD posted to the client a few days after the party. Feedback is good and potential clients see it as a bonus. I also explain that I prepare in adance for each party (we all do!), but this also adds the feeling that we're offering something extra.

 

 

I think we can only generalise. Some of members target high-end functions, others will take what they can get (I'm in this band!).

This will change how we perceive what our clients want. My local is totally working class, so lots of railway workers and builders.

 

Next month, I'm providing a Disco for the Health Protection Agency (Read: nerdy scientists).

 

Both Discos will be different- I'll perform differently, and both will have different expectations from me...

I think those that stick to 100% weddings can confidently say what the majority of their clients want. Those that do Weddings, Kids Parties, Pub gigs, Adult Parties, Divorce Parties etc etc, have to cater for such a wide variety that its difficult to pin it down.

 

 

So... Agree to disagree :-)

 

Edited June 2, 2009 by vokf

[exbutlinred82 0]

Accept what you say vokf.

 

However at £50 an hour in my domain you would be sat watching your deckbooth in your living room and using your camera for your holidays only.

 

I must have it wrong then....despite working 4 nights this week!!

[Raymilkybarkid 0]

maybe some of us are in the higher end of the market but.... still at the end of the day the price is what the client is prepared to pay for our services. In some parts of the country some club DJ's only earn £100 per night for 5 hours work.

But if you have invested £10k + in equipment you would have to recover your investment so your charges may be higher. If you have a show that takes less than an hour to rig the charge is less. The largest of our shows takes 5-6 hours to rig using 6 people so we have to build this into the price.

 

I can understand where Andy is coming from as he has a Roadshow, at the end of the day he couldn't put it out for £30 per hour.

 

I have been in the industry for 26 years and I was getting £30 per hour in the mid 80's. Just maybe I was lucky.

I wouldn't knock anybody, but the customer is well and truly in the driving seat at the present. One of our large corporate clients has just reduced its whole entertainment / promotion budget by 20% to help save money.

Edited June 2, 2009 by Raymilkybarkid

[vokf 0]

 

We're in different areas, and this isn't full time for me- I'm not working hard mon-fri and some weekends and *then* working hard for a low rate. I enjoy the gigs, but want to earn as much as possible (with as little grief as possible!)

My job is not that stable, so at any time, things can change...

 

If I were doing this full time, I'd be doing the same as you- ie finding the best price that gives the most work.

 

 

[exbutlinred82 0]

maybe some of us are in the higher end of the market but.... still at the end of the day the price is what the client is prepared to pay for our services. In some parts of the country some club DJ's only earn £100 per night for 5 hours work.

But if you have invested £10k + in equipment you would have to recover your investment so your charges may be higher. If you have a show that takes less than an hour to rig the charge is less. The largest of our shows takes 5-6 hours to rig using 6 people so we have to build this into the price.

 

I can understand where Andy is coming from as he has a Roadshow, at the end of the day he couldn't put it out for £30 per hour.

 

I have been in the industry for 26 years and I was getting £30 per hour in the mid 80's. Just maybe I was lucky.

I wouldn't knock anybody, but the customer is well and truly in the driving seat at the present. One of our large corporate clients has just reduced its whole entertainment / promotion budget by 20% to help save money.

 

Thats a much more realistic take on it Ray.There is Netto and Sainsburys.Sainsburys would be ill advised to look down on Nettos at the moment...who...as you know are doing quite well!!

 

 

I'm up in half hour.....and i'm doing something very similair to Andy.So no banging his head on the wall is going to stop me!!

 

[Raymilkybarkid 0]

Thats a much more realistic take on it Ray.There is Netto and Sainsburys.Sainsburys would be ill advised to look down on Nettos at the moment...who...as you know are doing quite well!!

I'm up in half hour.....and i'm doing something very similair to Andy.So no banging his head on the wall is going to stop me!!

 

 

But to put a bit of spin on this if i was charging £30 per hour as a full timer i would have to work 8 days a week to cover all my costs.

If I was part time this would be good for the holiday fund or car fund.....

[exbutlinred82 0]

But to put a bit of spin on this if i was charging £30 per hour as a full timer i would have to work 8 days a week to cover all my costs.

If I was part time this would be good for the holiday fund or car fund.....

 

 

Lets not get into the Full Time / Part Time row Ray.I have a day time job and get clobbered for two sices of tax.

 

Quite honestly I would be kakking myself now if I was full-time and £50.00 + an hour.

[Raymilkybarkid 0]

Lets not get into the Full Time / Part Time row Ray.I have a day time job and get clobbered for two sices of tax.

 

Quite honestly I would be kakking myself now if I was full-time and £50.00 + an hour.

 

 

I agree there has been so many threads regarding the full time part time divide.

At the end of the day the customer has a choice.

 

You were bang on the money with the Netto and Sainsburys comparison.

[deejaymitch 0]

I have a day time job and get clobbered for two sices of tax.

 

 

I'm in the same boat. I feel your pain brother.

[vokf 0]

Back OT please guys...

 

[Andy Dunn 0]

maybe some of us are in the higher end of the market but.... still at the end of the day the price is what the client is prepared to pay for our services. In some parts of the country some club DJ's only earn £100 per night for 5 hours work.

But if you have invested £10k + in equipment you would have to recover your investment so your charges may be higher. If you have a show that takes less than an hour to rig the charge is less. The largest of our shows takes 5-6 hours to rig using 6 people so we have to build this into the price.

 

I can understand where Andy is coming from as he has a Roadshow, at the end of the day he couldn't put it out for £30 per hour.

 

I have been in the industry for 26 years and I was getting £30 per hour in the mid 80's. Just maybe I was lucky.

I wouldn't knock anybody, but the customer is well and truly in the driving seat at the present. One of our large corporate clients has just reduced its whole entertainment / promotion budget by 20% to help save money.

 

Thank you for putting so eloquently the frustration I was suffering!!!

 

Thats a much more realistic take on it Ray.There is Netto and Sainsburys.Sainsburys would be ill advised to look down on Nettos at the moment...who...as you know are doing quite well!!

I'm up in half hour.....and i'm doing something very similair to Andy.So no banging his head on the wall is going to stop me!!

 

Nothing wrong with Nettos I live next door to one!

 

I have no bones to pick or axes to grind with anyone who charges less than myself,even if they have spent lots of money on their show etc,etc

 

All I was meaning as Ray pointed out is that I would rather work extra shifts elsewhwere and "cherry pick" which jobs I felt were worth my while to do.

 

I understand that some "pro's" don't have this luxury and have to take work even if it is not really at the right rate but thankfully for me especially in the current climate I don't have to.

 

One final thing though I still cannot understand how people seem to think that their audiences have not kept up with the evolution of the quality of sound,and cannot tell the difference between "excellent" and "good enough" sound.....................They can and do hear the differnce!!!!!!

[exbutlinred82 0]

All I can say then is after 200 weddings and 350 birthdays hundreds of Karaoke and Quiz nights no-one has ever commented on the quality of my sound.....the volume yes.....as I sometimes have it a bit loud.

 

 

I have used Skytec speakers and Pro-Sound amplifiers....not one single complaint..... It would decimate me if they did.I'd ditch everything and buy some of them Mackies and that.....Until then i'm gonna be lean and mean!!

 

 

 

 

[disco4hire 1]

All I can say then is after 200 weddings and 350 birthdays hundreds of Karaoke and Quiz nights no-one has ever commented on the quality of my sound.....the volume yes.....as I sometimes have it a bit loud. I have used Skytec speakers and Pro-Sound amplifiers....not one single complaint..... It would decimate me if they did.I'd ditch everything and buy some of them Mackies and that.....Until then i'm gonna be lean and mean!!

 

That pretty much mirrors my experience when I returned to the industry, not a single complaint, and then I went and bought some professional standard kit, and the situation changed, people actually started making comments to my face. Thankfully they are all favourable, the 18 - 21 year olds are the most vociferous, and the general theme of their comments is how close to a nightclubby type sound we bring to their parties. It's very common for our clients to make comment at our events, in my experience they do notice the difference, and they are prepared to pay for it. IMO it's a mistake to read too much into the fact no complaints are being received, us Brits are notorious for not complaining, it's not quite the thing to do.

Owning pro kit doesn't make you a high earning popular DJ, but I don't know of any high earning popular DJ who runs a 'Maplins special' set up.

Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not having a go at anyone in particular, just expressing my opinion.

Edited June 3, 2009 by disco4hire

[deejaymitch 0]

I think we've touched on an important point. Obviously if you are getting negative feedback about sound quality, you need to do something. But if you are getting no coments about it at all, is that good enough? For many it will be, and that is all well and good. But I, like others, was shocked at how much positive feedback I got when I started using a better PA (and it's not an big brand name, but the quality is exceptional).

 

But, of course, not all types of audience will notice this.

Edited June 3, 2009 by deejaymitch

[exbutlinred82 0]

Thankfully they are all favourable, the 18 - 21 year olds are the most vociferous, and the general theme of their comments is how close to a nightclubby type sound we bring to their parties.

 

 

 

Not sure my customers want the nightclubby sound/experience at my functions.Have you ever seen people in their 50's 60's AND 70's on Ecstasy??LOL

 

It's not broken.....I ain't gonna fix it!!

[Bouncy Dancefloor 0]

I think they want..... Value....I average out about £30.00 an hour.

 

please dont take this personally, but this isnt value, its cheap. Nothing against the service you provide, but if i was earning £30 an hour, id have to get a daytime job. At those prices, im not surprised you are busy

 

i cant imagine getting £120 on a Saturday night for anything. I get £100 for a 2 hour kids party on a saturday afternoon and i still go on to do a wedding/birthday etc for £200 at night. I offer concessions for midweek work, but on those primetime evenings, you have to maximise your earnings

 

to answer the original post, the clients want value and peace of mind

[exbutlinred82 0]

but if i was earning £30 an hour, id have to get a daytime job. At those prices, im not surprised you are busy

 

 

 

 

 

There is nothing wrong with having a daytime job as well??I work 30 hours a week Flexi.....Guaranteed income.I think I've died and gone to heaven. Well respected in my daytime job and able to offer a fantastic value service in the evenings and weekends.

 

Yeah...I get tired!!A sort of lovely self satisfied tired....content in the knowledge that at 51 i'm living life to the full .....I still play football as well...by the way!!

[McCardle 1]

to answer the original post, the clients want value and peace of mind

 

And the challenge has been identified, and the biggest variant and piece of the jigsaw is in place. Namely, that our customers are human beings . People are not told or moulded into what budgets to have and what to pay, they are more than capable of forming that for themselves and are also often based on external factors which are non of our business and beyond our control.

 

And being able to fulfil the criteria of what is both value and peace of mind to every single client who contacts you or sends an enquiry is as tricky as putting lipstick on a pig. There are millions of people out there each with their own opinions and values and ideals of what constitutes a good deal and a fair price. After all, one persons 'value' is potentially another persons 'rip off', and you have no way of knowing which side of the fence your quote will fall until you tell them the price, and they either book you or disappear, never to return.

 

Only when a business has a price which sits well with everybody who contacts them, and who converts 100% of every enquiry which they receive into profitable work can they really say that they have the ideal price and have cracked the value:peace of mind ratio!. But I doubt that any business in any marketplace can say that smile icon

Edited June 5, 2009 by McCardle

[spinner 0]

Not sure my customers want the nightclubby sound/experience at my functions.Have you ever seen people in their 50's 60's AND 70's on Ecstasy??LOL

 

 

 

Aren't they more likely to be using coke and weed?

[D.X 0]

I took a booking last week and the client hasn't even rang me yet. She asked for a price via email, I gave it to her and she just said send me a booking form. I could turn up with anything for all she knows. I have very few pictures on my site and no comprehensive list of equipment.

 

On the flipside, another client rang me last month and wanted detailed lists of everything I use. Might set up an Equipment page in the future. I know how popular they are with some DJs

 

Not sure my customers want the nightclubby sound/experience at my functions.Have you ever seen people in their 50's 60's AND 70's on Ecstasy??LOL

 

As an ex raver, yes. And they love it just as much as us younguns

Edited August 31, 2009 by D.X

[MintyDave 0]

 

 

On the flipside, another client rang me last month and wanted detailed lists of everything I use. Might set up an Equipment page in the future. I know how popular they are with some DJs

 

hope you have everything insured - you never know........or is it a genuine client which you have a booking with.

 

we all love to see what everybody else is using!!! not that im nosey

[Dukesy 0]

hope you have everything insured - you never know........

 

Yep. Why DJ's should insure their equipment against damage / loss: Link

 

[spinner 0]

This probably fits in the "What Do Clients Want..........." category.

 

A while ago I had an enquiry for a wedding in December. The date was free so I sent a brochure. A week later I received an e-mail with 2 questions. The first one (which had already been answered in the brochure)

was "will you check the venue to ensure you use the right equipment?"

 

Obviously, the answer was "yes".

 

The second one was "can you give us a list of music you would play, apart from anything we request in advance?"

 

My answer to that was more complicated. I explained that I don't necessarily play the same stuff each week, not least because crowds differ and what could go down well one week could clear the floor the next. I then gave examples where particular genres had been very successful all evening (because of the crowd). In addition I mentioned that I try to play something for everybody, flexibility is the key and to decide in advance what will be played (unless there is prior knowledge that it will be well received) is a likely recipe for disaster.

 

The enquirers responded (eventually) saying a flexible DJ is precisely what they want and booked.

 

So, in this case at least, the answer is flexiblity!

Edited July 24, 2010 by spinner

[UKHero 0]

This probably fits in the "What Do Clients Want..........." category.

 

A while ago I had an enquiry for a wedding in December. The date was free so I sent a brochure. A week later I received an e-mail with 2 questions. The first one (which had already been answered in the brochure)

was "will you check the venue to ensure you use the right equipment?"

 

Obviously, the answer was "yes".

 

The second one was "can you give us a list of music you would play, apart from anything we request in advance?"

 

My answer to that was more complicated. I explained that I don't necessarily play the same stuff each week, not least because crowds differ and what could go down well one week could clear the floor the next. I then gave examples where particular genres had been very successful all evening (because of the crowd). In addition I mentioned that I try to play something for everybody, flexibility is the key and to decide in advance what will be played (unless there is prior knowledge that it will be well received) is a likely recipe for disaster.

 

The enquirers responded (eventually) saying a flexible DJ is precisely what they want and booked.

 

So, in this case at least, the answer is flexiblity!

 

I had pretty much the same thing this week in an email. Replied much the same as you Steve and I also landed the gig so yes flexibility is one factor.

 

Nik