Cheques and Post

[DanceSoundsDisco]

I find it hard to justify how you can charge a 7% administration fee for taking a cheque? I can understand people adding it to card payments to cover the costs involved.

And I would personally rather not take cash on the evening and stand the chance of loosing it yourself whilst loading the van etc...

I can semi-understand there are costs with taking a cheque. For me, its about 1hr of my time+fuel (not much)+parking (£0.60).
During this time, I'm not working hard- simply driving into Borehamwood town, finding a parking space and walking to the bank, so £10-£20 fee *could* be justified - if you consider the time involved for me.
If I were full-time, then I could nip to the bank here in Waltham Cross/Cheshunt, and its only a few mins.
Other alternatives are posting (ugh!) the cheque.

On a typical £300 gig, this is £21. It would be interesting if this fee was mentioned during the quoting stage?

I also don't like carrying around cash. I've got outgoings on my business account, and don't like taking cash, as again.. its 1hr to put the cash into the bank :-(
I need a job in a high street, not a business park! lol

[Danno13]

No, it's the chairman of NADJ - don't think you could get much further from being a cowboy!! Does seem a strange term though, but then again cheques are slowly being phased out, so wonder how long it will be until this is commonplace.

[ProJock]

No, it's the chairman of NADJ - don't think you could get much further from being a cowboy!! Does seem a strange term though, but then again cheques are slowly being phased out, so wonder how long it will be until this is commonplace.

You joke surely ?

[bcspromo]

No, it's the chairman of NADJ - don't think you could get much further from being a cowboy!! Does seem a strange term though, but then again cheques are slowly being phased out, so wonder how long it will be until this is commonplace.

So what does this say for the chairman of the NADJ?

No I am not saying he is a cowboy, but to charge extra for a cheque is a bit too much, the banks have already gone back on the phasing out cheques, and they will not be stopped. (My sister works for a bank, and the banks make alot of money out of business processing cheques, more than they do on electronic transfers) Unfortunalty in business cheques will always be needed from time to time.

But surely anyone should be taking more than £10 - £30 deposit? This doesnt even cover your costs if the booking gets cancelled? And if im honest to me says "cheap DJ"... Lets be fair about it we have plenty of djs in my area going out for cheap money, particular in the pubs/clubs and in some cases the £50 minimum deposit I take, would be 1/2 there fees!!! (Fortunalty they are not effecting the wedding market at the moment, although they are starting to creap into the normally better venues!!!)

This is an organisation that states "Overall, the DJ profession does need to up their game to achieve a level of professionalism that inspires confidence in prospective clients"

And it appears the chairman needs to do so himself.

I was an NADJ member for 2 years, and whilst not against the principles and ideas behind the NADJ, I have to say it further supports my personal feelings for not been a member.

[Danno13]

Obviously I can't answer on his behalf, but you're making a heck of a lot of assumptions there. I'm guessing that the £10-30 is the commission and the DJ picks up the rest. It's down to him how he runs his business and he's hardly being deceptive about it as he's publishing the terms on his website.

[bcspromo]

Yes you are correct it is down to him how he runs his business. And if he is making money at a £10-30 deposit, then he obvioulsy what we call in the area, a pile them high agency - Cheap work and lots of it.

And yes we have plenty of them like that around here (names I wont mention, but know a few). But I do know personally from one of them, he makes £50 a booking. And I think if anyone is honest about it, by the time you have processed the paper work, delt with the customer paid for advertising etc.... £50 would barley cover your costs.

But my point is does this set a good example for the chariman of an association that is wanting to drive the industry forward?

Personally I would love to see the industry improve, and the cheaper end of the market charge more so that all can make something out of the industry.

[Pro DJ]

I agree with Mike. I've noticed this year, people asking to settle the balance in cash on the night. Cheque deposits remain easy for people.

[A & M Events]

Yes you are correct it is down to him how he runs his business. And if he is making money at a £10-30 deposit, then he obvioulsy what we call in the area, a pile them high agency - Cheap work and lots of it.

And yes we have plenty of them like that around here (names I wont mention, but know a few). But I do know personally from one of them, he makes £50 a booking. And I think if anyone is honest about it, by the time you have processed the paper work, delt with the customer paid for advertising etc.... £50 would barley cover your costs.

But my point is does this set a good example for the chariman of an association that is wanting to drive the industry forward?

Personally I would love to see the industry improve, and the cheaper end of the market charge more so that all can make something out of the industry.

I think you and I are singing from a very similar hymn sheet. Much the same reason why I too chose not to renew my NADJ membership. This is maybe just another example why I haven't changed my mind and for the forseable I won't be considering being a member again. That doesn't mean there aren't some good eggs around who are doing good things.

But as this was my thread I have been prompted out of my cave and orange coloured surroundings. It's absolutely rediculous to add on a percentage fee (whether you make it absolutely clear that you are doing so or not) to cover the cost of you chosen banking options. The options you choose to use are there to encourage booking and develope your business. We are all at different stages in our business development and should choose to use options which provide us as individuals with the best options. But surely it's not rocket science to realise that it's better to swallow the cost within your pricing structure than to make customers pay a penelty for choosing to use a particular payment method. For many cheque or cash is about the only option for accepting payment, but I would suggest that maybe it's time to start considering how much longer you will be able to do that. It's also interesting to consider the options that clients feel comfortable using and whether those comfort zones will have an impact on the people they choose to use. That was one of the driving reasons for adding the streamline processing terminal we now have and I would suggest that around 50% of our clients now choose to use this method (even though they are given an unbiased option of all our payment methods). It also provides us with something that maybe other businesses locally to us don't have and it encourages booking with us.

[Mark Davies]

This is an organisation that states "Overall, the DJ profession does need to up their game to achieve a level of professionalism that inspires confidence in prospective clients"

I was an NADJ member for 2 years, and whilst not against the principles and ideas behind the NADJ, I have to say it further supports my personal feelings for not been a member.

This is a little out of context as the website being referred to is redundant and if you look at the index page it states this making any reference pointless. I am also a member of the FSB and that was simply a badge collecting exercise as I rarely use any of its services as I have negotiated better deals elsewhere.

The cheque issue is still here, my boys were back in the country this week and I sent them to the dentist with a blank cheque as I needed to use my cards and they refused the payment because they are no longer accepted.

My local servicing garage now only accepts bank transfer, cash or cards and to be honest paying in cheques is a pain and something I will be phasing out this year along with anything that requires posting. 99.9% of my business will be electronic by the end of the year and as it is pretty much that way already it will make zero difference to the way I do business.



The NADJ issue is a bit different and it is the usual “what’s in it for me” thing and if you actually turn around and ask the perpetrator what they actually want and what they are prepared to do to make this happen you usually get the answer “I pay £50.00 and want everything done for me”.

Well the world isn’t like that and if you look at most FSB members they only ever join to get a cheap something and probably never get involved with local FSB branches or breakfast meetings, most members don’t even know they happen.

Looking at that from a brass tacks perspective then unless it lines their pockets the member is simply buying discounts and the badge that goes with it and if that is all they want from it then perhaps the word customer would be a better term rather than member.

Unfortunately there are very few people in the DJ industry that will get off their backsides and try to make a difference and those that do are faced with apathy or wagging fingers. This year has seen a sharp increase in local NADJ social groups and I personally get a lot from my regional one but this does take effort and something I enjoy.

I personally prefer to work with NADJ members rather than NADJ customers, but that is just me and to be honest it is better populated with members rather than customers. The strength of any association lies within its membership and the NADJ has never been stronger but it has taken a huge amount of commitment from just a few people.

If you feel you can make a difference then I would be delighted to hear from you.