How gig leads work

There are two ways that you might receive leads on GigSalad:

1. Directly from event planners when they find your profile
2. From GigSalad, when the event planner submits a general request or asks for additional quotes

All leads are potential gig opportunities, but you might want to adjust your sales tactics depending on how the lead was sent to you.

Leads directly from the event planner

When event planners come to GigSalad, they search for what they need, browse the profiles near them, and then choose the one(s) they want to contact. When they click the button to contact you for a free quote, that lead will go directly to you. These leads will be identified with a direct lead tag in your inbox and on the lead itself.

Favorites

Being contacted directly does not necessarily mean you were the only one who received that lead. As event planners browse the site, they may add multiple profiles to their "favorites." Once they are ready to make contact, they can send their request to all their favorites at once. This is still considered a direct lead because they chose you specifically.

Even if the client didn't include you in a favorites list, it's possible that the event planner has contacted several other people or plans to. They may also have GigSalad send their request to more providers (see below). It's good to remember this and respond as quickly as possible to beat the competition.

Want to know more about your competition? If you are a paid member, you can view lead insights, such as how many members have responded and sent quotes or whether you were the only person contacted. If you have a free listing, upgrade now to access this extra feature!

Leads from GigSalad

Secondary leads are sent directly to you from GigSalad rather than the event planner. GigSalad only distributes leads at the event planner's request. They do this one of 2 ways: 

General request

Instead of contacting providers directly, the event planner may skip the search and send a general quote request. This means they will submit all of their event information and what category they are looking for, and GigSalad will send their request to the most appropriate profiles for them.

Contact others

When an event planner contacts someone directly, they will be asked if they'd like to get quotes from similar GigSalad professionals. 

One option will always be selected by default, which is determined by your membership level and/or booking activity. For all free members and paid members who haven't booked a gig through the GigSalad platform in the last 60 days, the "Yes, up to 5 additional quotes" will be selected by default. For paid members who have booked at least one gig in the last 60 days, "Not at this time" will be selected by default. Regardless of the default, the event planner can change it to the best option for them.

The absence of the direct lead tag will identify leads from GigSalad. If you don't see the direct lead tag (referenced earlier in the article), you'll know it's a secondary lead. While this does give you some idea of the client's interest, secondary leads should still be treated with the same attention and urgency as direct leads. The direct contact may not be available or interested in the gig, or they didn't contact anyone directly and just submitted the general request. Jump on each lead quickly to increase your chances of booking the gig!

Pro tip: If a lead was not sent to you directly, you should always assume that the client does not know who you are. Try attaching photos or linking to a video in your quote or message to sell your services better. Save yourself time by creating message and quote templates in advance with your media already included.

Distributing leads

When the event planner sends a general request or chooses to have their direct request sent to additional providers, GigSalad uses an algorithm that sorts options using various factors and criteria to find the most appropriate results. Similar to the search results on the site's front end, category match and proximity to the event location are the highest priority.

In addition, several other factors play a part in distribution that are not used in normal search result placement. Booking gigs (especially recent) and regularly reading and responding quickly to leads will increase your chances of getting these indirect leads. Other things that play a smaller role but are still considered are the number of other requests you've received for that same event date, how complete your PromoKit is, and your star rating. Using these various criteria, our system algorithmically chooses the best 5-10 profiles to send the lead to.