Disc Jockey News Subscription is valid thru date above on the label FEBRUARY 2017 • Issue #148 The Monthly Disc Jockey Newspaper $25.00 for 12 issues PAGE 2 • Disc Jockey News • FEBRUARY 2017 The Leads You Generate Investments Pay Off By Mike Walter By Tamara Sims It’s late January as I sit down to write about what they already think of you. 2017 is well on its way, and last nology, it takes less that 10 minutes for this article, and we are knee-deep in Someone in their inner-circle said good year’s investment in PhDJ continues to an applicant to find out what your com- selling season. It’s the usual cycle here things about you. That’s a very positive pay off. In last month’s article, I prom- pany has to offer. If someone cannot in the North East. It’s cold and dreary, first step. It doesn’t mean the sale is in ised to share what I learned as a pupil invest 10 minutes of their time before so not a lot of events take place, but we the bag, but it means before you begin, during day two of PhDJ. Here we go! the interview, will they really be worth are inundated you’re already a leg-up. It behooves you The first quarter of the year is the your investment? Ask them why they with incom- to ask more questions about the referral. perfect time would like to work for your company. ing leads and “What exactly did you friend say about to seek new Have them share their hopes, dreams in full-on us?” is a great way to explore this type of talent, so and past experiences with you. Do they selling mode. lead and get them talking about you and of course have any long-term goals? Do they see We are meet- sharing what they already know. It’ll my intelli- themselves in a different career path ing with a lot also give you an insight into why they gent friend five years from now? And don’t dis- of couples, called. If you hear that “you throw a and front- count their body language, eye contact showcasing great party” it tells you something differ- page partner and facial expressions. This generation every week- ent than if you hear that “you were very Mike Walter is easy to read, as they typically do not end and gen- nice.” Both are compliments, to be sure, began Day hold back their feelings. erally trying but they also tell you where you need to two by dis- Another important thing to observe to fill our start filling in the blanks for this client. cussing one during the interview: Can they keep calendars for The last type of lead I want to discuss of his favor- their phone out of sight or are they con- 2017 and be- in this article is our favorite kind. It’s ite topics: stantly fidgeting, looking at their phone yond. the client who responds to “How did Millennials. or, even worse, responding to text mes- So with a keen focus on sales, this you hear about us?” with “We saw you To be honest, I had never heard of the sages? If they have the ability to en- month I want to discuss the different at a wedding!” Think about what that word “millennials” until I attended a gage during the interview and not be types of leads we generate and how our answer already infers. They like you. seminar by Mike many years ago. This distracted by technology, this is a very approach to each one differs. Right? They must! They wouldn’t be time he put a very important spin on the good sign. You must look for the clues. I’ll begin with the most passive lead. calling if they thought you were terrible. topic by focusing on hiring and inter- Remember, a bad hire is worse than no When we ask the all-important ques- Heck, they wouldn’t even be contacting viewing this very complex generation. hire. tion, “How did you hear about us?” you if they thought you were mediocre. Our company recently surveyed our The second half of our morning was and the response is “We saw your ad in They must have liked you, so you are off own millennial employees and we were spent learning from various wedding ___” or “a Google search,” we know we to the best start you can be. These are the very surprised that money was not the vendors in Raleigh, with a panel that have to start from scratch and explain sales where it’s safe to say it’s yours to number one motivation factor when se- Joe Bunn put together. Profession- everything and anything we can do for lose and the only way this client doesn’t lecting a job. Flexibility, time off and als included photographers, catering this person. The natural assumption is book you is if you blow them out of positive reinforcement were most im- managers, venue managers and wed- that this type of client will decide based the water with price or if you somehow portant. Mike focused on all of these ding planners, and we were given the solely on price, but I reject that. Just be- screw up the sale. (Don’t call them back characteristics and how to incorporate opportunity to ask questions and learn cause someone didn’t come to us from when you promised you would or some- them when preparing interview ques- how to become better vendor partners. a more qualified source, doesn’t mean thing equally unprofessional.) tions. Teamwork was a common theme dur- they don’t value entertainment. It just I meet with my two full-time sales Ask open-ended questions so they ing the panel. Making each other look means they found us and we can as- people every week and we look over can express themselves. Did they take good and not throwing another vendor sume, plenty of other companies, so it’s our leads and discuss strategies for ap- the time to research your company? under the bus should be a significant time to start relationship-building. Mike Walter continued on page 6 Let’s be honest, with today’s tech- Tamara Sims continued on page 6 The biggest way to do this, of course, is to start asking questions and finding out what this client’s vision is for their event. There’s the old adage that we have one mouth and two ears and we February 2017 should use them accordingly. I believe in that, and I love discovering the vi- sions of a new couple and seeing if Elite In This Issue: Entertainment will be a good fit. And I’m also aware when it comes time to proving we are the right company to Page 2: Mike Walter Page 8: Ruthie Flaa work with. When it comes to a passive lead like Page 2: Tamara Sims Page 9: Keith KoKoruz I’ve described, we better have lots of ammunition. Online reviews? We have Page 4: Brian S. Redd Page 10: Joe Bunn plenty of them, and we’ve broken them down by specific entertainer so clients Page 4: Mitch Taylor Page 11: Mike Lenstra can read up on the one or two MCs they are considering. Video footage? We Page 5: Jason Spencer Page 12: Dave Ternier have plenty of that as well. In fact, we do our best to show each client a video Page 5: Jake Palmer Page 14: Top 30 Charts from the location they’ve chosen for their event. Pictures? We have those as well. It helps that we have affiliated Page 5: Kristin Cole Page 14: Different Spin companies that shoot video and photog- raphy so we are constantly updating our Page 6: Ron Ruth Page 15: Recurrent Hits promotional material. Showcases? We do them all year long, but especially in Page 7: Jeremy Brech Page 15: Harvey Mackay this busy selling season. We are out there almost showcasing every weekend, so if a client wants to see us in person, they have the opportunity. I believe if you www.discjockeynews.com Deadlines: Advertisement deadlines are the Photos: Photos can be submitted to the Disc 29442 120th St. 20th of the month. The publication is distrib- Jockey News via email. Photos must be in want to sell to a client who has never Grey Eagle, MN 56336 seen you at an event, or even gotten a uted on the 1st of every month. jpg format with a minimum of 1500 pixels Phone: 320-285-2323 (300 dpi at 5 inches wide) for publication. word-of-mouth referral about you, these Published by The Disc Jockey News Subscriptions: Subscriptions to the Disc are the tools you need to be successful. Editor/Educational Production Manager: Jockey News are $25.00/year for US ad- Disc Jockey News is published monthly by Speaking of word-of-mouth, that’s John Young dresses. 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