Dear DJ Diary,
Some people are difficult! We had this bride inquire about our services over a month ago for a wedding that was 7 months away (now 6 months away). She seemed nice enough... she wanted me to send her the contract and questionnaire. She also wanted some references. A few weeks passed and she called me to let me know that she had finally contacted the references. I did appreciate her getting back with me, but I was starting to feel 'funny' about the fact that it took her 2 weeks just to call the references. Sometimes we have a 'feeling' about gigs and the people that we work with - good and bad. We have never backed out of a gig after contracts are signed and money is exchanged. I can't even think of a time that we have turned someone away because of this feeling.... until now.
After the second time she contacted me, she told me that she hadn't heard back from 2 of the 3 references and that one that she talked to said, 'they did a good job, but they didn't make any announcements, per the bride's request.' True, but not true. We did a good job! =) But we did make announcements, so that frustrated me. The bride at that wedding didn't want us to announce the cake cutting and her dance with her granddad, but other than that, we announced everything else. This reference was the sister of the bride and the only reason that I gave this potential client her number was because when she initially called, we had just done this wedding and because it was so awesome, I wanted a good report from it. Does that make since? Anyway, I thought that the bride might be on her honeymoon... not important, just giving some background. I was just mad that the reference didn't go as well as I had hoped.
She emailed me about a week ago and asked me to contact her if anyone else contacted us about that date, because (she said) 'we are already working together'. I really don't consider this 'working together', because all she has done is question every aspect of what we do. I understand that people are particular about their weddings and that's fine, but it's insulting when people act this way. I told her that I would let her know if someone else calls about that date. And no one has... which is probably good (for now), because I think that if they had, she would have sent in her stuff. LOL
In her most recent email, she started asking us to change the wording in our contract to suit her needs.... um, no. And then she said:
'After I hear from one more reference, I will send in the contract and deposit. Once you receive the deposit, I would love to see examples of music commonly requested at different points throughout the reception. What do you all wear to the event? I spoke to a few DJ's who wear Tux's. While that's certainly nice, I would not expect that. Formal attire would be good though. Just wondering.' I know that email can be interpreted differently than expected, but this just rubbed me the wrong way. Bonham normally wears a suit for weddings, unless the bride requests otherwise, and I wear black slacks and a nice, dressy shirt.
Also, her wedding is Abilene at a place that we have DJ'd before. It's a great venue and the owners are really nice. When we originally spoke, she wanted to know if we had ever been out there. I told her that we had been there once before. She had wanted references from us of people that we had done at that venue and around the same age-range. Even if you aren't a DJ, are you getting where I'm coming from? We don't' ask people their ages when we DJ their events. And since we have only done 1 gig out there, that limited the amount of references that met her criteria. I did tell her to talk to the venue owner about us, but I guess she never did... I asked her in subsequent email, she didn't say.
This post is a lot longer than I anticipated, so I will try to wrap it up! Basically, when she emailed me to let me know that she was waiting on one more reference, I emailed her back and said:
'I appreciate you getting back in touch with me. Unfortunately, we are not going to be able to proceed with trying to book your wedding. I apologize for any inconvenience and I do wish you the best in finding a DJ that suits your needs for your event.'
I tried to phrase it in a nice way, but I wanted to let her know that we weren't interested in her business.
This is what she sent back:
'I am very disappointed and am not sure I understand. What happened? On Monday you were still planning to proceed and told me you would contact me prior to booking another event. This is very unprofessional and I have spent a lot of time reaching out to the references you provided me.. I would like an explanation please.'
And then I said:
'No one else has called about that day. We strive to be professional and we want all of our clients to be extremely happy, but after much consideration, I just don't feel like we will be the right fit for your reception. I know that you have been doing your research and gathering information, but we also state in our contract that we will hold a date for 2 weeks and we have been holding this date for you for over a month. From past experiences, when we hold a date for this long, people tend to not book, or they cancel before the event and we are left with an open date. Since your wedding is still 6 months away, no money has been exchanged, and no contracts have been signed, I feel like now is the best time to dissolve this relationship.
Again, I do apologize. I am confident that you will be able to find someone to meet your needs and provide you with the service that you desire.'
I am still waiting for a response to the last email. Bonham thinks that she will ask me for more of an explanation. The funny thing is that when people decide not to book us, we don't expect an explanation from them.... we just move on. Most of time, someone will say, 'I found someone cheaper, I'm going with someone else, or my mom already booked someone, etc.' And we leave it at that. I think that it would be unprofessional for us to pry anymore than that. It's such a double-standard when they don't want to book us versus if we don't want to book them. Why is it not okay for us as a business owner for us to turn down business? We aren't obligated to work for someone.
I don't know if you read part of this.... all of this.... or none of this, but thanks for reading. I am just venting. =)
No comments:
Post a Comment