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After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
Saw an interesting approach this weekend and figured I would share....
I was sitting in club this past Sat. afternoon; it was fairly quiet due to the holiday weekend. Since my favorite dancer wasn't working that day my visit didn't last very long; however, did a little more people watching than normal.
There were probably 12 dancers and about 10 customers. A couple of the guys were sitting with dancers, so only about 5-7 customers were really approachable.
Anyway, I watched one dancer casually make her way around to each of the customers. Eventually she made her way over to where I was seated. She introduced herself, tried to start a conversation, and I politely mentioned that I normally came into see another dancer. She informed me that my fav. wasn't there, and offered to be her replacement. After I politely declined we continued to have a brief conversation then she excused herself to go work the rest of the floor. However, before she left, she let me know she was going to be up on stage soon, and it would be great if I came up to see her. I replied, "ok" and she responded, "Great, I'll meet you up there."
The next customer she approached happened to be sitting fairly close to me. Again she struck out on the dance offer, but made a similar pitch for him to visit her up on stage.
Eventually when her set was called, she was one of three dancers up on stage, but was the only one who had a line guys waiting for her on that slow afternoon. One after another several of the guys she approached earlier went up to visit her on stage and give her a tip. Then, after her set was done, I noticed three of the guys who declined a dance earlier approached her for one after her set.
So do you guys do this as well? The only times I've been really asked by a dancer to come visit during her set is if I'm sitting with her when her set is called. This was the only time I could remember a dancer using this approach as just part of her normal routine and making the push even after getting declined for a dance.
Anyway, I thought it was a cool approach.
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
My stage is enclosed in the bar so the customer can choose to watch if he wants or not. How far away is the stage from the bar in this club?
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
Silky, you bring up a good point. I guess it only makes sense to use this approach if it's practical. For example in some clubs the dancer just does her thing up on stage performing for the entire club and then does a tip walk at the end. So I guess in that type of club it wouldn't matter.
In my area most of the clubs operate where the dancer might perform for a little while in the middle of the stage, but usually most of the time on stage is spent going from customer to customer collecting tips. Of course this can only happen if there are customers sitting at the tip rail.
At this club, the stage is set out in the middle of the floor surrounded by chairs. In addition this was a contact club, so guys usually don't just park themselves at the tip rail. They tend to only approach when there is a particular dancer they want to tip or else they may find someone they weren't expecting sitting in their lap and asking for a tip.
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
I do this sometimes, usually when a guy says he's not "ready" for a dance yet. I'll say "Okay, well, I'm on stage soon, check me out I'll check back with you after that". Then I'll come back around later and ask if they want to see the show up close and personal ;D A lot of the time it works!
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage se
Quote:
Originally Posted by verfolgung
Eventually when her set was called, she was one of three dancers up on stage, but was the only one who had a line guys waiting for her on that slow afternoon. One after another several of the guys she approached earlier went up to visit her on stage and give her a tip. Then, after her set was done, I noticed three of the guys who declined a dance earlier approached her for one after her set.
You know, I've always wondered how many dances were sold and how many regulars were made by what started with a stage tip.
I've always thought that it was a good idea for a dancer to hustle her stage set. One nice part about it is that it sounds more like an invitation than a hustle. It also helps put a picture in a customer's mind of what they are getting, much like a television advertisement does. When the other dancers aren't doing this, its that much more effective.
Two pieces of advice that I would give a dancer to help distinguish herself.
1. Make sure that you tell each customer your stage name.
2. Wear a colorful outfit that sticks out from the other dancers.
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
Unfortunately, this wouldn't work for me or anyone who works in a club where the stage is more for "show" than actual money-making (on the dancer's behalf). Alot of guys will take up the stage-side front row of seats at my home club's stage and not tip one cent... and they are allowed to do this.
That mixed with the fact that how many times I appear on stage depends on how many dancers are working. The stage sets at my home club are 15 mins long... so it might be AGES before i next get up on stage.. therefore promoting me in re: stage is pointless.
I only promote myself on stage when I am next up on stage. Otherwise, I feel, the patron will forget about me in the time interval between me promoting me in re: stage and when I actually get up there.
As for stage.. I usually do wear something different from the other dancers.
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
This is an interesting approach that I'm gonna try!! I guess it helps that at my club I choose if I want to go on stage or not. If I do stage for the day, I can usually just tell the DJ to put me up next, which he does. There really isn't any order to the girls going on and the stage sets are only 2 songs. In addition to the main stage, there are 4 other stages that I can jump on at anytime and stay on for as long or as little as I want.
Thinking about it now, guess that makes me (and the girls at my club) spoiled, huh? lol :)
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
I'll do that if I know I'm up soon. If I'm going to be up in three hours, I don't bother, and if it's a busy night I might not make it on stage at all. Definitely a good strategy when stage tips matter tho, and if your that perceptive I wonder what other sales tips you've picked up on? ;-)
Lena
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
this girl is a freaking genius i am going to use this shit
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
At my club, stage tips aren't that great. I don't do it for the stage tips, I do it because they're more likely to remember me. I don't do it if I'm not up soon (like Lena said, on a busy night, I could be up only once or twice).
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
Well, I'm glad to see some thought this thread was useful, and I realize no approach is perfect for everyone.
Lena, people watching is one of the best parts of hanging out in a SC. It's especailly cool to see different approaches used by different dancers. It always seems like even if the room is predominately empty there will still be at least one dancer who's banking. If I notice other things worth mentioning, I'll be sure to pass them along. ;)
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage se
Quote:
Originally Posted by verfolgung
Lena, people watching is one of the best parts of hanging out in a SC.
It's also a great way for a customer to pass the time during those 30 minute droughts when it seems nobody wants to come over (including the waitress).
Hmm, that might hint of another sales tip. :thinking:
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
I've done this as long as I've been dancing, for two main reasons. 1) if a guy didn't want a dance from me, asking him to come see me on stage seemed like a less awkward way to end the conversation than just walking away. 2) I was nervous on stage, and not a good dancer -- if customers tipped me it made me look good and gave me something to do up there besisdes walk in tiny circles around the pole.
I still do it, and it works pretty well. If you work at a contact club (like mine) where stage tipping isn't that common, having lots of guys come up to tip you makes you look like you're in demand, therefore somehow "better." I swear, it's true!
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
I have never used this approach but then I think this would be most effective in a slow club or on a slow shift, particularly in a club where stage is not a focus and tipping is not normal. I avoid working slow clubs and slow shifts so this approach is pretty useless for me. Also in clubs where stage isn't a focus, I avoid going on stage and simply concentrate on working the floor.
Gotta applaud the girl though, she was probably new to that club/shift, didn't have regulars and made the best of the situation. I always love to watch a pro work ;)
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Re: After a customer declines a dance, do you still invite them to your next stage set?
I always invite everyone to my stage. And if you dont take your stageshow seriously you will never make money doing privates. Your stageshow is your advertisement, a quick sample of what you have to offer that other dancers do not!
If you let the no's get to you, get out of the business, youll hear alot of no's but if you are nice about it and you show professionalism and are nice about it maybe he will remember that.
Another thing I do is I may ask him if he needs another drink or something and get the cocktailer. We also have comps so I may be able to get him a discount on a chair massage or foot massage (we have licensed cmt's) or maybe a cigar or something.