At Non Stop Kids, we get hundreds of people every year telling us that our prices aren’t within their budget. Even though we are very competitively priced, some people will always look for the cheapest option. A lot of the time it’s not private clients that tell us we aren’t within their budget, it’s companies. This includes industries such as pubs, restaurants and shops.
Frequently, we have huge chains that turnover billions of pounds that try to convince us performing for free is a good idea because it’s good exposure for our brand. They feel that if we spend all day entertaining their customers for free, it will be good for our business.
Why Penny Pinching Is Not A Good Idea
The first thing they need to understand is that you can’t spend exposure. Our entertainers can’t tell their landlords that they will pay the rent this month with exposure and expect it to work. For example, if we went into a supermarket such as Tesco and asked them to give me some free meat for a BBQ I was planning, we're fairly certain they would say no. Even if we told them that our friends would be at the BBQ and therefore it’s good exposure for their shop, Tesco still wouldn’t care.
The irony is that what these companies are doing actually affects their brand. By penny pinching, looking for the cheapest option and trying to get free entertainment it actually affects how their business is perceived. Allow us to explain why. On a Bank Holiday Monday, our Director Craig took his family to a local pub restaurant. They were advertising a fun day and thought it would be a fun thing for my kids to do. This pub restaurant is a really nice place to eat. It’s clean, the staff are friendly, the food is great and it looks great. It ticks all the boxes and that is the reason Craig returns so frequently. When the fun day arrived, there was a tiny bouncy castle that couldn’t have for more than five kids on at one time. There was also a DJ who was playing music from a very sub standard music system. Apparently his job was to play high energy party games. In the two hours that passed, he just stood behind his equipment trying to look invisible. There was also a face painter who was without a doubt the worst face painter Craig ever seen. Her performance got to the point Craig's wife (and our Managing Director) Sarah borrowed her face paints to paint their kids faces at which point the face painter begged Sarah to help her. Her equipment was actually a set of face paints she got from a pound land!
Why Is This Relevant?
Whilst at this event, Craig watched with interest as potential customers arrived at this fun day and within ten minutes left. It got to the point Craig overheard one young family say that there has to be something better to do on a Bank Holiday. Over the course of the two hours, he watched several families arrive and leave without ordering anything. Some of these people might never have visited this restaurant before. They will definitely never go back because of how poor the Fun day entertainment was. They will think that the experience they get on a normal day will be the same. However, that's not the case at all. It’s a wonderful place to visit but the damage is already done. That restaurants reputation has been tarnished by the entertainment they booked for their fun day. It would have been better to not have entertainment at all then go down the route that they did. As someone who has worked in the entertainment industry his whole life, Craig knew instantly this was a party on the cheap. Furthermore, he later asked the DJ how much he charges. He told Craig that him and his wife (the face painter) came along and did the whole thing for £80 for five hours. Prior to the fun day, Craig had conversations with pub managers and quoted them. Eventually, he was told they have something a lot cheaper and the results were discussed prior. Booking this £80 entertainer has done more harm than good and many will now steer clear of the place next time they advertise a fun day.
Conclusion
The important point to consider here is that anything you book is an extension of your brand. This venue recently had a multi million pound refurb and yet the same company won’t spend a couple of hundred quid on having decent entertainment that won’t be embarrassment to the venue, the staff and the customers. Our advice to you is next time you book entertainment externally, just remember you get what you pay for. Sometimes saving a few pounds can cost you thousands.
If you would like a no obligation quote to have us at your child’s party, click our banner below and fill in the form and we will get back to you within the hour. Thanks for reading and we look forward to reward to hearing from you.
