It was suggested to me that I simply invite them to other gigs we're doing so they can see how we work and the results we provide. The invitations will be to both soundchecks and shows.
Hi Dave, We do that all the time, costs little and can pay off big.
Regards, John
Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread, I really appreciate it!
The rest of the story-- I decided not to go the low-ball route at all.
I bid each show correctly, and got outbid on the early shows by folks with mismatched mains and orange power cords.....
I continued to invite them to my other shows and submitted very detailed bids.
I'm not completely sure of all the reasons, but I finally got a show. We'll see what happens.