This article is 100% written by a human (Alan, actually). We don’t use AI at Surreal.

‍

DJ booking software can be a powerful ally and bolster your business, but it needs to be used intelligently and for the correct purpose. Being intentional about your use of software will ensure you set yourself up for success.

‍

Having worked with over 100 agencies across the world, we've seen every type of booking process imaginable. We’ve collaborated with these agencies to perfect the role that software should play.

‍

We thought it was about time we shared our thinking in this space and gave a little more detail on why we have built software for DJ booking agencies.

‍

Firstly, booking DJs isn’t just juggling an excel spreadsheet.

It’s a lot more than that. You know it, and we know it too. Across all the agencies we work with we’ve seen common tasks, these tasks are;

‍

1. Understand the venue and their brief
2. Source new DJs
3. Match-make DJs to venues (based on the brief)
4. Collate availabilities
5. Book venue schedules
6. Communicate with venues & provide schedules
7. Collect entertainer assets
8. Invoice the venue
9. Manage payments to DJs
10. Communicate with your venues
11. Manage changes
12. Manage finances
13. Source new venues
14. Build new business formats and offerings
15. Consult your clients on new entertainment formats
16. Expand geographically

‍

Other agencies have tasks outside of the above that usually sit in ‘on-the-business’.

‍

The two buckets of tasks - In-the-business and on-the-business.

‍

Being acutely aware of the difference between these two groups of work is the first step in understanding how to implement DJ booking software, but also identifying your growth opportunities.

‍

What is in-the-business work?

‍

Working inside the business, your day to day work. The 1s and 2s of your job. These are the tasks that must be done to keep the business moving, they are essential. They are often administrative in nature and can often be repetitive.

‍

Tasks can include, collating availabilities, managing schedules, handling finances.

What is on-the-business work?

‍

Working outside the business, these are your ‘zoom-out’ tasks. These are often tasks that focus on new opportunities, business growth and new clients.

‍

Tasks can include, sourcing new clients, developing new entertainment formats, expanding geographically or into new entertainment verticals.

What is the perfect balance?

‍

Majority of DJ agencies spend 80%+ on in-the-business tasks. On paper, this makes a lot of sense as that is your bread and butter, that is what you do.

‍

However, if you’re serious about business growth, you should be trying as hard as possible to spend majority of your time ‘on-the-business’.

‍

Ideally you want a 50/50 split. Some of the best operators we have worked with have a 20/80 split - 20% in-the-business, 80% on-the-business.

‍

The Role Of Software

‍

We’re of the opinion that software should be utilised as much as possible for your in-the-business workload.

‍

Software should reduce the amount of time spent in-the-business, thus increasing the amount of available time on-the-business.

‍

The best operators we know have majority of their in-the-business work either fully automated or streamlined to a perfect process. They then spend majority of their brainpower and effort on the business.

‍

Key Software Features and Workflows

‍

Now time for the shameless plug. Yes we definitely wrote this article to highlight the importance of DJ booking software, but we did it because we are staunch believers in the power of it.

‍

At Surreal, we’ve built a system, engineered to reduce your time spent on in-the-business work. We’re spent hundreds of hours working with DJ agencies with that key goal in mind.

‍

Here are a few key features from Surreal, that every good DJ booking software should have.

‍

1. Store your roster in a central Entertainer CRM - This keeps your roster/rota, centralised and trackable. New entertainers can be added in when discovered.
2. Collate all entertainer assets and details - The CRM should collate images, bios, social handles, key contact and finance details to pass onto venues and to performa administrative functions.
3. Automate entertainer availabilities - Instead of manually collecting entertainer availabilities, a good piece of booking software should do this whilst you sleep. Your entertainers add their availability and you can use this to cross reference when you book.
4. Quick booking system - A streamlined method to create bookings and send offers out to entertainers. They should be able to accept the offers or decline. This should be able to done in bulk.
5. Event briefs or worksheets - Each booking should be able to have a worksheet attached to brief them on further detail, removing the need for back and forth phone calls and texts.
6. Entertainer calendar and gig reminders - Entertainers should have their bookings centralised in one calendar, gig reminders should let them know about their gig before they go live.
7. Automated marketing for venues - The best systems will have marketing built in for your venues - automated gig guides and QR codes. You should be able to give this to your venues to market without the effort.
8. Payment adjustments - Things can change on the night of the gig. You should be able to adjust the gigs after the fact to reflect what happened on the night. Insuring accurate payment.
9. Automated entertainer invoicing - Entertainers can be slow with invoices, the invoices can often be incorrect. This can cause major problems. The system should automate this invoice creation for entertainers.
10. Consolidated invoicing - Venues shouldn’t received a single invoice per performance, they should receive one. This invoice should also be automatically sent to the venue.
11. Automated payments - Once the venue pays that consolidated invoice, payments should be automated to every entertainer, agent commissions should be paid as well.
12. Payment statuses - Progress statuses should be live through the entire invoicing and payment process, venues, agents and entertainers need to be fully aware.
13. Record keeping - All entertainment and associated payments should be kept in one spot for future referencing and collation for tax time.
14. Compliance with local laws - Laws change all the time, a good piece of software will stay ahead of this for you and ensure you are fully tax and super compliant.

‍

Yep there is a lot to Surreal. We’re proud of how much we’ve been able to innovate the space. We’ve even helped an agency in NZ expand nationally.

‍

Want to test Surreal in a soundcheck?

‍

If you’re sick and tired of mountains of admin and are thinking about bringing software into your business or if you’re using something right now that isn’t quite right, then we’d love to talk to you.

‍

We can show you the ins and outs of the system and answer any questions you have.

‍

Feel free to book a time here or sign up and you can learn more about Surreal here.

‍

‍