As we March into Spring (hehe), the development team is hard at work on lots of projects, big and small. We only have a few finalized improvements to tell you about this month, but we’ve got some exciting things on the horizon!
In this product update:
New lead status
In order to make it clearer where you stand with a potential gig, we’ve updated the inbox status to show when your quote has been read by the client.
When you send the quote, it’ll appear as Quote sent. Once the client has seen the email with your quote, it’ll change the status to Quote read.
How serious is the client?
In our Product Update: September 2019, we announced several tests revolving around measuring a client’s interest. Those tests have all been concluded and there are no other planned tests for that feature at this time. Here’s how they turned out:
Pricing estimates
As mentioned in that previous update, we saw a positive outcome when asking planners to tell us where they were at in the booking process. We then tested using that information to show pricing estimates to those that said they were in the planning or research stage. Unfortunately, this led to slightly fewer bookings, which is not a metric we are ever comfortable with seeing a drop in. As a result, we won’t be showing pricing estimates in this context.
Share intention with vendors
We also tested showing vendors how the client answered that “intent to book” question. This test ran for many months because we wanted to reach statistically significant numbers. When we had finally gathered enough data it didn’t really show a positive or negative impact on any metrics.
When this happens, we usually go with the “control” which means that we typically want to keep things how they were before the test. In this case however, we wanted to know how users felt about the change and that’s something we can’t always get from pure data. We ran a survey and polled over 800 members and learned that they do find the information helpful. So we’ve officially concluded the test and will be showing the client’s planning stage on all gig leads within the Event Info going forward.
In the works…
Final calendar improvements
As you know, we’ve been slowly rolling out lots of new calendar features over the last several months. One is almost finished, and that’s general availability. With this feature, you’ll be able to set daily times in which you’re available for gigs. So if you work a 9-to-5 job, you can block leads for events happening at that time. We’ll let you know when this launches.
Another planned improvement is to add the ability to set recurring events by day of the week. This will begin development soon. Of course, there will be other things that we’ll tackle as they come up — bug fixes and small improvements. If you have any specific calendar features you’d like to suggest, please send them our way!
Tests on tests on tests
We’ve said this a lot, and we’ll continue mentioning it in future updates — we are testing all the things! At any given moment we are usually running five or more tests across the site. Some big, many small. We are always making tweaks to see what improves usability and increases activity on the site.
We’ll continue updating you on these tests as they are completed, and share results when it seems noteworthy. As always, if you have any ideas of things you’d like to see us try, email us so we can plug them into our product backlog for further exploration.
A few of Heather’s favorite things
Hi! I’m Heather and I’m the one who writes these lovely little updates for you. I hope you find them helpful and are enjoying getting to know our product and team better. This month I’m going to tell you more about me! I’ve been with GigSalad for over 11 years and I’m currently the Content Manager. And these… are a few of my favorite things.
🎬 Movie: The Sound of Music
📺 TV Shows: Friends (comedy) and One Tree Hill (drama)
⭐ Celebrity: Justin Timberlake
🎸 Singers/Bands: Matt Nathanson and Will Hoge
📘 Author: Kristy Bromberg
😍 Hobby: Reading romance novels
🎲 Board Game: Carcassonne
🍽️ Restaurant/Food: Chipotle… mmmm
✍ Content writing tool: Grammarly (a must-have!)
💙 GigSalad feature: Saved messages
😁 About working at GigSalad: The team. Best co-workers ever!
Heather is the Content Manager and a GigSalad veteran of 15+ years. She loves helping event planners create unforgettable celebrations and talent make a living doing what they love. When not at work, she enjoys reading romance and fantasy books, bingeing TV shows, playing board games, and spending time with friends.
Based on your research, is it better to request a deposit? Are they refundable to the client and have your tea shown that requiring one gets more confirmed bookings?
Thanks Rutiger the Magician
Because clients pay the full amount upfront on GigSalad, that is not data we’ve dug into much. I do think most people expect to pay deposits to secure any sort of service in advance. And in general, making advance payments refundable adds flexibility which is always favorable to clients. But you also need to take care of yourself, which is why most artists make deposits non-refundable – to protect themselves from cancellations for dates they may not be able to find another gig for. I hope that helps, and sorry for the delayed response to your question!
Great explanation on tests and tests on tests :-)
Thank for the good work, Heather!
Great job!
Love all the new tools!
Fun, informative newsletters!
Terrific! Almost transparent updates. When are you ever going to make the buttons for accessing more videos, the audio samples and photos more obvious to potential clients. I’ve been asking that ever since you changed it a couple of years ago. I’ve been asked by potential customers more times than I can count if I have any more video or any audio samples available anywhere online and I have to explain to them yes, on this website, but you have to read the tiny, tiny print underneath the video window to find it. I wonder how many of them just decline my quote right away because they can’t find that info right away. I’ve been making this suggestion for a long time.
It’s an extremely obvious no-brainer and probably a very simple fix. Just make the font LARGER! Thank you.
Hey Tom! We appreciate the feedback. I think the issue sometimes is that clients aren’t actually taking the time to find and look at profiles. They often fill out the quote request form and then wait to hear from vendors without even trying to find the videos. We’ve tested a couple of variations on how media is presented to clients and will continue doing so in the future because we do know how important it is. I’ll be sure your feedback is shared with our product and design team!
I would love to get more leads for my group.
Sorry for the delayed reply! Things have been a bit crazy with the COVID-19 outbreak. The event industry is at a bit of a standstill right now, considering the circumstances. But we are trying to promote virtual events as much as possible! If you’re looking for virtual gigs, or want to prepare for when gigs pick back up in the future, you can join here.
After being in the business for many years, I’m not willing to invest before results, as unreasonable as that sounds, a contract between you folks and me would be results oriented up front. We are very good at what we do and need to expand. I’ll invest. Will you step up on faith?
We do get that, and we’re willing to work with you on a discounted or free membership (if qualified) for you to try it out before investing. Reach out to our Customer Happiness team at help@gigsalad.com if you’d like to explore your options.
It’s tax time and I wondered if you sent us a note with the amount we made in the last year? I looked through my info and found a total amount, but no break down as to year…
Just a thought.
Sorry for this delayed reply! We don’t send out any information for taxes, but you can access your list of payouts through the Payout page in your Inbox. If you need additional help, shoot us an email at help@gigsalad.com.
I have found that I start getting bookings from my regular clients as early as January.
Many of the bookings I receive from gig salad come in way too late in the season after I have booked someone
I would recommend contacting clients who used your site the previous season to see if they would be interested in gig salad helping them find a Santa for the New year months earlier than what they tried before. The early bird catches the worm.
This way we can work with the client in finding a date and time that we as Santas can fit into a schedule
Hey Jim! That’s great feedback! We’ve actually started reaching out earlier and earlier each year. We’ll keep this in mind as we strategize content over the coming months.
Hola Heather!
Love the things you post!!!
Thanks for everything you do!