How to say, No.
April 9th, 2014Maybe a better title for this post would be, “How NOT to say, ‘No!'”. I have seen a lot of entertainers post to Facebook and other social media websites their frustration over customers who ask them to volunteer their services for an event or offer a discount from their normal prices. Usually, these posts are followed by various ways they could respond to the request. More often that not, I find the possible responses to be a poor choice. Although you may not want to accept their request, you should NOT use the contact as a way to slam the door in their face. People have a way of remembering the bad taste their contact with you left more than a simple, No. Show respect to your customers.
You may think you are being funny, but your potential customer may see it differently. It is NOT rude for someone to ask a business to donate a product or service to their event. Why should you be rude in your response? Many businesses are more than happy to donate to a good cause. It is a way to give back to the community and get some positive publicity. Local businesses will donate money to have their name listed at school events like a band performance or play. They will put their name on the back of a team jersey so the kids can have nice uniforms. They will donate food and water to marathons. They will donate prizes for auctions. But, heaven forbid they try to contact a balloon twister or face painter and invite them to the event. Entertainers with an attitude and who lack good judgement will often insult the caller for having the nerve to ask them to do an event for free or “exposure.”
Balloon Twister at a Festival
Even if I have no intention of supporting the request, I feel the best response is a polite response. But, if the date is open in my calendar, I will see if there is a way to make the event work for me.
An important factor for me when considering offering a discount or donating my services is the location of the event. Is the event in an area close to my home and a place that I want to do more events? Most of the people at the event will likely be local to that area. They are the people I will reach and be giving my business card. If the event is 100 miles away, that means more people 100 miles away will call to see if I can come to their events. I would much rather do events close to home and it means getting more events close to home.
Another thing I try to find out is if they have hired other entertainers to be at their event. If they have hired a band, DJ, magician, etc. to attend their event, I know they have an entertainment budget. I don’t want to work for free when other entertainers are being paid, but if nobody is being paid, I am open to donating my services.
If they can’t pay me, it doesn’t always mean that I can’t get paid by someone… Festivals often have food vendors and other people selling stuff. If the organization doesn’t have the funds to pay for the face painter, maybe face painting can be offered for a fee. Can I put out a tip jar to help pay for my time and materials? If I am donating $500 worth of face painting time to their event, would they list me as an official event sponsor along side the other organizations they thank on their website, advertising, and t-shirts?
Whatever happens, at the end of the conversation, if I decide to do their event or not, I try my best to be polite during the entire conversation. I want to end on a positive note and leave the door open for their calling me again in the future. That is much better than finding out later they told all of their friends what a jerk I had been.