Curious…record keeping

[Archangel]

Quote

There are plenty of providers on RM who list but barely have clients or who do any number of other things to keep the lights on. We don’t see the sales side so unlike say Amazon we can’t see a rank in the market. 

The above was from @DWnyc

For escorts primarily: how many of you keep records in a systematic way of hires? If so, what sort of info do you record? How do you keep track? Especially you guys where this is your job…do you do analysis at the end of the month etc. on how things went? What needs tweaking? 

[Jamie21]

I have spreadsheets. You have to keep some records because you need them for accounting purposes and tax returns.

I have kept the records since I started over 6 years ago. I keep the date, duration, location, charge plus any tip, costs I incurred, name of client (the anonymous name they gave me), source where they found me (if they advised me of that) and any relevant info in case they hire again. 

I can also see the patterns of hire and what advertising works etc. 
 

 

[Archangel]

@Jamie21, if you don’t mind sharing, how many clients do you see a month? Are certain days feast and certain days famine? What about times of the day?

I’m curious about the hard data.

At my work, we were concerned that engagement was down last calendar year over the previous year – until we looked at the data. What felt like a negative change was actually a positive change of 3.9%. The data bore that out. If we relied on our impressions though, we would’ve thought engagement was down, not up.

 I think some of that’s important when we talk about escorting as a business, particularly in prices and frequency of hires. Who’s a repeat? How often compared to before? Duration? How many new hires compared to the past? What might be the explanation for that?

This is where my corporate administrative mind starts chugging… 😂 

[DWnyc]

My hypothesis is most providers in the US aren’t as organized as @Jamie21 suggests, probably because the tax issue doesn’t arise and also just generally having a very basic approach to CRM.

And with better record keeping may come better revenues long term, 

Many questions raised by providers here, as well as points about how they interact with clients, positions they take on negotiations etc - wouldn’t make sense in a more strategic operation.

For instance, actual cost of a session to calculate break even and when to raise prices or how much to lower them by and for whom (who is more price sensitive) 

Return on different promotion methods to evaluate what is working and what isn’t 

Why do some clients reengage and others don’t 

And so forth 

[Jamie21]

Data is valuable! Plus I’m kind of nerdy about keeping records. But really my activity isn’t so busy that I need to keep detailed records to know what’s happening. It’s mostly by feel, and then when I look at the records my ‘feeling’ is verified. 

The figures are fairly steady, I saw a drop during the pandemic but it quickly got back to pre pandemic levels. Earlier in the week is busier than later, and earlier in the month busier than the end. Winter is busier than summer. Regular clients make up 70% of the business. 95% are male. 90% are in calls. 

I do the work part time (it’s better that way for me) and mix in some filming and more conventional work. That all had to be highly flexible because there’s no real pattern as to time of day. 

[Archangel]

Wow. I’m surprised that 5% are women…That seems high to me. 

[XIX]

11 hours ago, Jamie21 said:

Data is valuable! Plus I’m kind of nerdy about keeping records. But really my activity isn’t so busy that I need to keep detailed records to know what’s happening. It’s mostly by feel, and then when I look at the records my ‘feeling’ is verified. 

The figures are fairly steady, I saw a drop during the pandemic but it quickly got back to pre pandemic levels. Earlier in the week is busier than later, and earlier in the month busier than the end. Winter is busier than summer. Regular clients make up 70% of the business. 95% are male. 90% are in calls. 

I do the work part time (it’s better that way for me) and mix in some filming and more conventional work. That all had to be highly flexible because there’s no real pattern as to time of day. 

Summer being less busy than Winter doesn't surprise me as that is when a lot of people go on holiday. Earlier in the week does surprise me though, I would have thought Friday Night or even Saturday would in theory would be busy.

 

[DWnyc]

I once freaked out a provider when we were chatting as he was describing how his providing work paid for his travels and he walked me through a recent example and I pointed out from what he described he actually made a considerable loss. 

I also pointed out the lack of logic in one provider’s “I’m not budging” position in a negotiation by taking him through the financial impact on him based on how he laid out his position and why what I was offering was better - and he literally almost burst into tears as he admitted he could see how he had lost maybe thousands of dollars over the years with his approach.

absolutely not saying I was smarter than these guys - just that they had the data themselves (I was using it!) but not collating and managing it for their own benefit 

[Jamie21]

1 hour ago, XIX said:

I would have thought Friday Night or even Saturday would in theory would be busy.

It’s counter intuitive. Friday night and Saturday people are out socialising, there’s other stuff to do. Plus those kind of clients (the I’m horny now types) aren’t good clients. I think people book early on the week because they want a treat to start the week. Also if you’re hiring on the ‘down low’ then it’s easier to do that on a weekday daytime at start of week. 

[XIX]

2 minutes ago, Jamie21 said:

It’s counter intuitive. Friday night and Saturday people are out socialising, there’s other stuff to do. Plus those kind of clients (the I’m horny now types) aren’t good clients. I think people book early on the week because they want a treat to start the week. Also if you’re hiring on the ‘down low’ then it’s easier to do that on a weekday daytime at start of week. 

That's a good point which I hadn't considered about Friday and Saturday about socialising and indeed I tend to do a lot of my activities on those days as well. 

I'm surprised people do hire during the weekday daytime though even with WFH. 

[Jamie21]

4 hours ago, XIX said:

That's a good point which I hadn't considered about Friday and Saturday about socialising and indeed I tend to do a lot of my activities on those days as well. 

I'm surprised people do hire during the weekday daytime though even with WFH. 

Weekday daytime is ideal. The wife / partner thinks they’re at work, work thinks they’re at a meeting. WFH doesn’t help me because I’m based in central London. Most London workers commute in from the suburbs. 

[DWnyc]

9 hours ago, Jamie21 said:

It’s counter intuitive. Friday night and Saturday people are out socialising, there’s other stuff to do. Plus those kind of clients (the I’m horny now types) aren’t good clients. I think people book early on the week because they want a treat to start the week. Also if you’re hiring on the ‘down low’ then it’s easier to do that on a weekday daytime at start of week. 

I guess like a restaurant or bar a provider has different ebbs and flows in numbers and different demographics at different times. 

A provider I know next to one of the main commuter stations in and out of the city where I live says his best time is 5-7pm on a weekday before men take the train back to the suburbs. 

[+ DrownedBoy]

11 hours ago, XIX said:

That's a good point which I hadn't considered about Friday and Saturday about socialising and indeed I tend to do a lot of my activities on those days as well. 

I'm surprised people do hire during the weekday daytime though even with WFH. 

Even worse, I've encountered younger providers who decided to "socialize" after they make an appointment,  and think they can casually say "tomorrow " to the client when he's late.

[DWnyc]

2 hours ago, DrownedBoy said:

Even worse, I've encountered younger providers who decided to "socialize" after they make an appointment,  and think they can casually say "tomorrow " to the client when he's late.

And the latest excuse: “sorry … I’m still on set for my only fans project” 

[Simon Suraci]

Like @Jamie21 I’m one of the few more organized and detail oriented of the bunch. Data is my friend. Doesn’t sound at all like an architect, does it?

My appointment system is also a CRM tool and it keeps track of what a client booked, when, how much they paid including tip, and how it changes over time. I can track trends in time of day, week, month, and year. I also keep a spreadsheet of client and appointment data to check against my system and visa-versa. That tracks which payment method they used and what the transaction fees were, if any. That’s particularly helpful for taxes and reconciling my books.

I keep detailed records of client interactions, preferences, conversation topics, and the like to remember things that will help me serve them better and continue conversations even after months have passed. You name it, I collect and maintain data to support my decisions and improve my business.

February and August are my slowest months. February it’s definitely weather plus holiday season credit card bills coming due. Also it’s a slightly shorter month to begin with. August it’s mainly people traveling, but also weather (hot). Some of those travelers are coming to me from elsewhere but the volume is less than the dip in clients who would normally see me that month and are elsewhere.

Friday nights tend to be slower, on average, while Friday afternoons tend to stay booked, especially with same day requests. Weekdays during the day are popular. Sundays and especially Sunday nights are quite popular. Saturday mornings are popular too. Saturday nights are variable, it tends to be more of a certain type of client - typically older single men, often for longer appointments. It’s all variable and there’s no hard rule, just some trends that have emerged over time.

[Jamie21]

5 hours ago, Simon Suraci said:

I keep detailed records of client interactions, preferences, conversation topics, and the like to remember things that will help me serve them better and continue conversations even after months have passed. You name it, I collect and maintain data to support my decisions and improve my business.

Here in Europe (although I’m in the UK and we like to think we’re not in Europe of course…😉) that kind of data policy would mean you need to be compliant with data protection regulations. There’s all sorts of rules about what you can collect, why, how you store it and use it and what safeguards you have over it. In Germany basically it’s impossible to collect any kind of data! 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by Jamie21

[Archangel]

10 hours ago, Simon Suraci said:

I keep detailed records of client interactions, preferences, conversation topics, and the like to remember things that will help me serve them better and continue conversations even after months have passed. You name it, I collect and maintain data to support my decisions and improve my business.

I applaud you. I feel like a lot of escorts aren’t invested enough to actually remember this stuff for the duration of a weekend while with me, let alone create a formal record of it!

[DWnyc]

With the different legal status of the hobby in Europe - I wonder if the management consulting firms have descended on the industry yet for best practices recommendations! Would be an interesting analysis from McKinsey or Deloitte!

Or maybe @Jamie21 and @Simon Suraci can start a new advisory business based on their expertise! (In data management, that is🤗) 

 

[Jamie21]

5 minutes ago, DWnyc said:

With the different legal status of the hobby in Europe - I wonder if the management consulting firms have descended on the industry yet for best practices recommendations! Would be an interesting analysis from McKinsey or Deloitte!

Or maybe @Jamie21 and @Simon Suraci can start a new advisory business based on their expertise! (In data management, that is🤗) 

 

Yes! I’d love McKinsey to come in and tell me how to run my business.

I’m looking forward to having a smooth talking snake oil salesman…sorry ‘partner’ present me with a 40 slide PowerPoint deck that has been produced by their overworked graduates using slides adapted from their last client (hey they might even leave their name on one of the slides).

I’d love to see them take things that I intrinsically know and re-tell them to me as if they’re new concepts for me by using fancy graphics, models and buzz words like ‘pivot’, ‘key stakeholders’, ‘agile’ and ‘channel’ so they can charge me an exorbitant fee. 

Then if I try to implement their recommendations I’ll have to watch my business fail because as everyone knows consultants consult because they can’t do real work.

 

 

 

[+ DrownedBoy]

1 hour ago, Jamie21 said:

Yes! I’d love McKinsey to come in and tell me how to run my business.

I’m looking forward to having a smooth talking snake oil salesman…sorry ‘partner’ present me with a 40 slide PowerPoint deck that has been produced by their overworked graduates using slides adapted from their last client (hey they might even leave their name on one of the slides).

I’d love to see them take things that I intrinsically know and re-tell them to me as if they’re new concepts for me by using fancy graphics, models and buzz words like ‘pivot’, ‘key stakeholders’, ‘agile’ and ‘channel’ so they can charge me an exorbitant fee. 

Then if I try to implement their recommendations I’ll have to watch my business fail because as everyone knows consultants consult because they can’t do real work.

 

 

 

They'll just make an app with "surge pricing. " 

[DWnyc]

2 hours ago, Jamie21 said:

Yes! I’d love McKinsey to come in and tell me how to run my business.

I’m looking forward to having a smooth talking snake oil salesman…sorry ‘partner’ present me with a 40 slide PowerPoint deck that has been produced by their overworked graduates using slides adapted from their last client (hey they might even leave their name on one of the slides).

I’d love to see them take things that I intrinsically know and re-tell them to me as if they’re new concepts for me by using fancy graphics, models and buzz words like ‘pivot’, ‘key stakeholders’, ‘agile’ and ‘channel’ so they can charge me an exorbitant fee. 

Then if I try to implement their recommendations I’ll have to watch my business fail because as everyone knows consultants consult because they can’t do real work.

 

 

 

Those poor 21 year olds just out of college and overworked at their consulting firms … and having to understand your business model thoroughly, trying out all the products and services before they can put together their analysis … 

[XIX]

I'm curious to know what the best months are for hiring? 

[Colton]

There is an app for record keeping - Bigger Blacker Book (in iOS App Store)

[Jamie21]

2 hours ago, DrownedBoy said:

They'll just make an app with "surge pricing. " 

Now there’s an idea!  I am part of the gig economy. Working anytime with zero job security and having my pants pulled down all the time.

[Archangel]

Fascinating. 

“Gig” suggests organized to me. Do sex workers, including escorts/whores, explicitly participate in the (un)official alliance of “giggers?”