Do you evaluate your performances as a mobile DJ?

Do you evaluate your mobile DJ business?

Most importantly, do you ask your clients to evaluate your services?

As mobile DJs, evaluation is essential to improving what we do and growing our DJ businesses. I suspect that most of us already carry out some form of evaluation; after all, it’s human nature. If something works well, we keep doing it. If something fails, we change it, or scrap it altogether. However, formal evaluation, especially from the perspective of our clients, is important if we want to move forward and improve what we do.

Ultimately, I expect most of us want to increase the amount of money we make each year. Whether that be by increasing the number of bookings we take or by raising our fees per booking, both help to achieve the end goal. However, we’re not going to be able to charge more or book more events if we don’t improve what we do. And, before we can work on improving, we need to work out what needs to change, and the only way to do that is through formal evaluation.

Unless you do something really bad, customers won’t tell you what you’re doing wrong until you ask them. You may think you’re doing a great job, but there could be some aspect of your performance or service that is preventing your customers from wholeheartedly recommending you to their friends and family, and the only way to find out is by asking for a genuine, detailed evaluation.


So how do we do that?

We need to understand the service we offer through the eyes of our clients. If we get a clear picture of what our clients want we will have a greater understanding of what we need to do to improve.

One valuable way of doing this is to ask for feedback after each event. I've always asked for generic feedback and a reference for my website. However this rarely generated any useful insight other than the typical "did a good job" style references.

However, a few years ago I started using an online survey to ask more specific questions. I cover various elements of my service and allow clients the option of a free text box at the end to write about anything else that I haven't already asked about. The areas that I cover include:

• Sound system - volume and quality
• Lights
• Choice of music
• Online request system (ease of use etc.)

For each one I have a Liked / Neutral / Disliked option selection and then a free text box to allow for any comments they may have. This way you can find out what your customers think and use that information to help you make informed decisions about what you may need to change.


Getting to know your potential customers

If you want to attract more customers it's important to think about what is likely to appeal to them. Try to think from their perspective as a party organizer, not from yours as a DJ.

For weddings, I find that most bookings are made by the bride who is planning their perfect day and wants everything to be of high standards (usually regardless of their budget!). So, if you want to attract more brides to book you, having a piecemeal website full of images of pub events is unlikely to appeal to them.

I’ve noticed that many DJs either use a lot of images of their rigs on their website or only generic dancing pics. However, I find that most clients want a mixture of both; they want to know how your equipment will look at their event and that you can fill a dancefloor.

Another observation I’ve made is that many DJs put a lot of effort into lighting without first finding out if it’s a priority for their clients. While I admire a good lighting rig that's been programmed in sync with the music, I think that most people just want flashing lights on the dancefloor. I was recently at a party where the DJ had created a special light show for Uptown Funk, which really impressed me. But when I mentioned it to my wife later she said that she hadn't noticed anything different!

Too often, as DJs, we spend our time perfecting the way we work from our viewpoint - and I’m as guilty as anyone else. It’s time we start to look at ourselves through the eyes of our clients to truly understand what it is we need to do to meet their expectations.

If you don't already ask for feedback then I'd recommend doing so after your next gig. Sometimes it can be surprising what you learn!