Trouble booking travelling SPs? How much notice to give?

[Guest *rb*n C*wb*y]

Hi all,

 

I have some questions regarding trying to book SPs who travel into town.

 

Sometimes they give very little notice that they will be in town, posting an ad on CERB or BP perhaps as little as one day in advance. In these cases, does it really just boil down to sheer luck that you're able to squeeze yourself in (pun unexpectedly intended) to her schedule with such short notice? How successful have you been in contacting the SP, confirming the appointment details, and having the encounter?

 

How about for those SPs who announce their tour with more time to prepare, perhaps several weeks in advance? How soon do you book? How much luck have you had arranging your appointments? What is your reply rate?

 

Since this is a positive board, I don't want to sound like I'm complaining about something, but I am simply having some difficulty trying to contact and finalize appointments with travelling SPs who are both very short notice and give a little more advance warning.

 

Maybe this boils down to my personal style of "pursuit"; with any e-mails I send to anybody in my life, I refuse to send another e-mail until I get one back from the other party in trying not to come across as pushy, or at least waiting until 24 hours has elapsed to gently remind them. Especially with SPs who I might imagine receiving requests and bookings from all directions, I hate bombarding anyone because I myself get bombarded on my work e-mail so I can empathize what a mammoth task it is to juggle dozens or hundreds of e-mails without having the same person nosily poking you before you even have a chance to reply.

 

But should I increase my proactiveness? How much is too much when it comes to trying to arrange encounters?

 

Thanks very much in advance. :)

[roamingguy 300292]

Ask a lady who tours, that you would like to see, when is the next time she will be coming to your city.

When you know her touring schedule, book an encounter with her.

I have run into a case where a lady I want to meet announces her touring dates but not in time enough for me to get to see her. So I proposed to her a date and city to meet in, far enough in advance that she could possibly schedule it. And happily she was agreeable to the proposed date and I will get to meet her

Of course being from smalltown Ontario, I need to schedule my touring dates too, complicating the situation, but if you are willing to work with the ladies' touring schedule, my experience, they will work with you too.

A quick rambling

RG

[Philander39 3705]

Some SP's have mailing lists which you can sign up for which may give you earlier notice of their trip to Ottawa. Usually they mention this on their websites.

 

Another option is to contact the SP or SPs you are interested in seeing and ask them to give you a heads up the next time they decide to come back to Ottawa. I would recommend that you send this message to the SPs who seem to come to Ottawa on a more regular basis since they may have some sort of pre-announcement system already in place.

 

I agree with you on how your email etiquette. I don't like to be pushy via email also. I should say that some SPs don't check their PM's regularly so sending a message to both their emails and PMs may get you an answer faster.

 

Good luck and hopefully the stars align for you and you get to met with the lovely SP you are interested in seeing.

[Phaedrus 209521]

Sometimes they give very little notice that they will be in town, posting an ad on CERB or BP perhaps as little as one day in advance. In these cases, does it really just boil down to sheer luck that you're able to squeeze yourself in (pun unexpectedly intended) to her schedule with such short notice? How successful have you been in contacting the SP, confirming the appointment details, and having the encounter?

 

You can't do much about this. If your willpower is up to it, you can try to keep an "emergency" fund available for such situations, so that at least it's then just a question of finding time, rather than having to worry about the $$$ too.

 

I would have thought that SPs who don't advertize far in advance will also be fine with short-range bookings.

 

How about for those SPs who announce their tour with more time to prepare, perhaps several weeks in advance? How soon do you book? How much luck have you had arranging your appointments? What is your reply rate?

 

For the ladies that announce visits well in advance, I'd say it's never too soon. If she's announced an intent to visit your city then she'll probably be taking bookings; indeed, if she doesn't get enough advance bookings she may well decide that it's not worth coming. She needs to cover her costs and then make a profit, after all. Every firm booking she has lessens the chance of this happening.

 

I've never had an issue booking as far in advance as I've tried, and I've found the ladies that advertize in advance also tend to be very good about replying. Of course, this assumes you follow their instructions for initial contact... not everyone does :)

 

Some SP's have mailing lists which you can sign up for which may give you earlier notice of their trip to Ottawa. Usually they mention this on their websites.

 

Definitely worthwhile, when available. Another thing I'd say is that some traveling SPs are on Twitter and announce visits there, so it's worth following the ones you're interested in.

 

Another option is to contact the SP or SPs you are interested in seeing and ask them to give you a heads up the next time they decide to come back to Ottawa.

 

This is true, and worthwhile, but don't expect miracles. There's a huge difference between an expression of interest from a potential client and a solid booking (and an appointment happening, for that matter; unfortunately Ottawa seems to have a bad reputation for no-shows), and the ladies know this.

[roamingguy 300292]

This is true, and worthwhile, but don't expect miracles. There's a huge difference between an expression of interest from a potential client and a solid booking (and an appointment happening, for that matter; unfortunately Ottawa seems to have a bad reputation for no-shows), and the ladies know this.

 

One way to alleviate the lady's concern of no shows and let her know you are a client who will be a solid booker is to pay the lady a deposit in advance of her touring your city. Also, many ladies require verification/screening. Being open and forthcoming with a lady in providing this information shows the lady amongst other things, you are serious about seeing her, your not going to be a no show.

A quick rambling

RG

[Phaedrus 209521]

One way to alleviate the lady's concern of no shows and let her know you are a client who will be a solid booker is to pay the lady a deposit in advance of her touring your city. Also, many ladies require verification/screening. Being open and forthcoming with a lady in providing this information shows the lady amongst other things, you are serious about seeing her, your not going to be a no show.

A quick rambling

RG

 

True, but this will only really happen once she's decided to visit. I was talking more about the "Hey, I think you're really hot, will you visit my city" mails/PMs/whatever, which I'm sure have a fairly low conversion rate into actual bookings.

[roamingguy 300292]

True, but this will only really happen once she's decided to visit. I was talking more about the "Hey, I think you're really hot, will you visit my city" mails/PMs/whatever, which I'm sure have a fairly low conversion rate into actual bookings.

 

I am not disagreeing with you Phaedrus, actually I do agree with you. But if a gentleman wishes to not be considered the man who not sends the "Hey I think you're really hot, will you visit my city" emails but instead a serious gentleman who contacts a lady because he not only wants her to visit a city, but he will also schedule an encounter when she visits that city, there are proactive things he can do. He would be considered serious, if providing verification/screening information (what man would provide personal information about themselves to a lady if not serious about seeing her) and paying a deposit, likely go from those men who are "tire-kickers" and time wasters list, to a gentleman serious about an encounter. There is a need for serious gentlemen to be somewhat proactive in seeing a lady because of the "tire-kickers" and I'm suggesting two ways to do this

A early morning rambling

RG

[DukeSSk 3430]

I believe some ladies indicate tour dates on their website some time before they start posting ads.

[Meaghan McLeod 179664]

cerb also has a calendar that you can view. Not a lot know about this, but its there! Up at the top in between Members list and New Posts.

 

Always make sure you view her preferred method of contact. I have had clients send an email, when I ask for a phone call. This creates a delay if I'm not online. Not everyone spends all her time online, and just make sure you are using her method of contact.

 

Good luck!