In my area, there are at least 12 sound companies within 25 miles of varying sizes who compete for gigs of various sizes, all of which I would do if possible. Wondering what others are dealing with.
The real question is...how do I go about gaining clients? I have no idea about 75% of the events that even go on. How do I get leads, etc. I admit I don't have the sales gene, and cannot promise what I can't deliver. Most buyers seem clueless about any quality concerns.
almost 30 this year and i have been in it about 3 to 4 years now. this worked for me maybe it will work for you.
I have no idea what market you work in but is "almost 30 this year" really working?
John, I find that a lot of buyers these days don't care a lot about quality. They care about price and convenience. If you can show up with a pulse and still breathing and provide satisfactory results without any fuss then that is what a lot of customers want. Others want you to hold their hand through the entire planning process to make third lives easier and provide them with a sense of confidence. If you can do that then you will grow your business over time.
The real question is...how do I go about gaining clients? I have no idea about 75% of the events that even go on. How do I get leads, etc. I admit I don't have the sales gene, and cannot promise what I can't deliver. Most buyers seem clueless about any quality concerns.
It's always helped me that I personally go to the shows and setup my own rig and "glad-hand" the people in charge, they like the fact that someone who is actually in charge is on hand. I know on the larger scale this is not possible but some of my competition rarely attends their own shows, opting to send out a crew that appears to the client as only concerned with "getting done and getting paid." As much as we hate to admit it, most people understand little about equipment brands or sound quality, it's the "personal" and "business practices" end of the business that brings home the bacon in many cases.
Word of mouth is the most powerful advertising you can have. People that organize events tend to know other people that organize events, and if you do a good job, they will recommend you. It's best to go after NEW events, or events that are quickly outgrowing their existing providers. You can build a solid reputation from that. If you decide to go after events that existing companies are working, you will burn your internal bridges in the business pretty quickly. Plus, if you can take those events away, that means they are quick to switch providers, so next year, someone else may get the job instead of you.
My business pays for itself with about 12 regular jobs per year. Some years I do more than that, but sometimes not. When I do more, I can buy more toys for me.
Exactly!It really is all about service and relationships. I hate to admit it but we still don't even have a website. Almost all of our clients have come from referrals and repeat business and we work pretty much every week during the festival season. Clients that hire us know that the entertainment part of the show is handled. They are free to devote their time to other aspects of the event. I personally am available to all the bands, artists, road managers, etc. well before the event and make sure stage plots, equipment riders, and such are all handled. We always have at least one engineer designated as stage manager as well to make sure the changeovers and other things like performance times go smoothly. It is much more than just bringing out a nice sound system and an engineer to run it, it is about making the entertainment part of the event happen.
To clarify my position here. I am having a real hard time with a few companies who agree to do public city events, sponsored by a local BID organization and they do it for no profit or even enough to cover expenses by my calculations. I think the motivation is to take all the gigs so orhers can't have them, which has gone on around here for decades. I am a little tiffed at the municipality for knowingly playing along and basically putting on events where local restaurants and bars make a windfall profit on a weekday and the sound companies work for nothing. We are also businesses based in the city. As usual, if at least the production was stellar I could justify it from the audience perspective but obviously that is not the case and I am at a loss to understand the short or long term benefit of this arrangement. I was asked last week to provide at the last minute for a 2 day city event, and after making arrangements and getting labor agreements from people was informed that my conservative bid was almost double one of the other companies who got involved after the fact. Frustrating.
I have learned some amazing things from my competition through the years:
1. Go ahead and poach bands and gigs from your competition by either drastically underbidding the cost/equipment or by promising to buy new equipment you don't have. When you get the new band/gig, post pictures of them using the competition equipment on stage on your own website. When you buy that shiny new equipment and can't figure out how to use it, you call always call the competition for help.
2. If you make at least one weekend van trip a year, advertise yourself as experienced in touring. If you make two van trips a year, then you can consider yourself "specializing" in touring.
3. Make sure you have a schedule of events on your website. Make sure everything music related is listed. If you are sitting at the bar while the house guy mixes your friends band, list it. If your band gets an opening slot for someone people have heard of, list your band and the headliner on your schedule. Working as a backstage volunteer at a festival where the only thing tech related you touch is your cell phone, list that too. Hell, nothing else going on so you buy a ticket to an act you really like, list that as well. (Be sure to take lots of pictures from the viewpoint of the people actually doing the work).
4. Don't forget the sales aspect. Make sure you keep a running list of all your broken gear so you can sell it to those bars who stuff is in even worse shape. Make sure your company logo is on all that stuff, so we know who is providing the monitors with blown HF, boom mic stands with booms that don't lock in position, intermittant cables, effects units that are missing half the buttons
ACP88's (in general),
and mics that have been dropped so many times the ball looks like a taco.
Thats some for now, I will probably think of some more things later.