Profitable Performances Newsletter
June 2006
#1 -Big Tip for Bad Phone calls:
Do you ever have a phone call with a prospect that just didn't go the way that you wanted it to?
I just had a bad experience on the phone with a prospect:
I returned a message that was left the day before, and they had already booked another magician for a birthday party. So, out of curiosity, I asked who it was. Well she refused to tell me. She wouldn't say why, but she concluded by saying, "We're not switching!" and she hung up on me. She was rude and it made me angry. But I decided to see what I could learn from it. And here's what I came up with:
I wrote a phone script for that type of call: when you've called too late and they have someone else. I concluded that she didn't want to tell me who she hired out of fear: She presumed that I was going to tell her that she made a bad choice and that the other performer is lousy, etc.
So here's how I'm going to handle it from now on. And you may want to consider this approach too: When the prospect says "We've hired someone else." My response: "Oh that's great! I'll bet you feel great having that part of the party all planned, don't you?" [WAIT FOR RESPONSE]
"Because kids love magic, don't they?" [WAIT FOR RESPONSE]
"Do you know what else they love? Balloon animals... I sure hope that the person you called does balloon animals too. Does he?" (notice that I purposefully did not use the word 'hired' in this sentence because I want to try to change their commitment, at least verbally.)If the prospect says, "No" or "I don't know":
"Well you should find out for sure about that. Because I know that there are some magicians that charge close to what I do, and they don't even provide balloons. And for some kids, the balloon animals are the most popular part of the show for them because they can play with them after the magician leaves." Then, depending on the response, I may be able to suggest that "if they don't really have a contract from this person yet" that they should at least, examine other options.
If the prospect says, " Yes."
"Well that's great! You've got the magic and balloons. Now all you need to do is send out the invitations right? Did you know that you can put your child's face on an actual postage stamp? Then you can use that stamp on your birthday party invitations!" [WAIT FOR RESPONSE]
"I have a free report called 'Great Birthday Ideas and Resources'. You can download it from my website at BobMillerMagic.com. "
Now, even though I may not have booked the show, I'm helping the prospect anyway. They are going to feel good about that. The result is that they may reconsider who they've hired, or they may think of me next year. But I've also motivated them to look at my website. And, to get the free report, I could have them enter their email address to get it sent to them. So, then I've got their email to also do an email reminder next year. (Of course, I put all of this info into MagicBase, so that next year, their name pops up and reminds me to contact them.)
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Performing:
"Be Prepared." It's the Boy Scout motto. And it should be your motto too. I'm really glad that it is my motto, especially after today...
I was hired for a (small) city event. The organizer told me that they would have a sound system for me. OK fine. When I was packing for the show, I decided to pack my small sound system- just in case. Well, as soon as I arrived at the venue (an hour early) I knew that they were not going to have a sound system ready. It was obviously an amatuer "Sound Guy." Junk was everywhere. As it turned out, by the time I had my show set (with my own sound system) there were still not completely set with theirs.
So, I had come prepared and it saved the event for me and for them. Just think what a disaster it would have been if I had just trusted what the woman had told me. Always be over-prepared - that's my new motto.
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Marketing Tips: A SPECIAL REPEAT BECAUSE IT'S SO IMPORTANT
I have a special gift for you: A free report called "Seven Business Growth Lessons from Starbucks". This report is based on an interview of Howard Schultz the CEO of Starbucks. It was broadcast on the show Made in America on CNBC in April. I analyzed what Schultz said and distilled his message to 7 important points. This report is only available at the ProPerformers club at www.ProfitablePerformances.com. You can have free access to this password protected site.
1. Go to www.ProfitablePerformances.com
2. Click on the ProPerformers Club link. This will take you to the Club entrance.
3.
Enter this at the request: User Id: success Password: seeker
4. Download what you want from the club. There is also a Birthday Info card in Word format that you can have. I tell how to use it in the MagicBase tips section of this newsletter.
MagicBase News:
- Coming soon: MagicBase Affiliate program...
MagicBase Tip: Back-up your files.
This fits right in with the "Be Prepared" lesson from above. You should always, always make back-up copies of your MagicBase files. There have been so many times when we've received Tech Support calls that go something like this: "My computer crashed and I lost all of my customer records..."
(Just for the record: MagicBase is programmed with the industry standard Filemaker program. It is solid! It doesn't cause the computer crashes.
Who knows what causes Windows to crash?)
There are two ways to back-up your MagicBase files.
How to do it:
1. Whenever you click the "The End" button on MagicBase, the pop-up window gives you the option of selecting 'Backup'. If you select it, then there will be a slight delay while MagicBase duplicates all the main MagicBase files. These files are saved in a folder called 'Backups' in your main MagicBase folder. If you ever need to use the backup files, then just copy all the files from the 'Backups' folder into the main 'MagicBase' folder. It will completely erase the files and replace them with the backup files.
OR
2. Here is what I do: I don't even use the back-up button in MagicBase. I just duplicate the entire 'MagicBase' main folder with everything in it. Then I burn this duplicate folder to a CD in case of a big computer crash.
BY THE WAY: Never shut off MagicBase by clicking on the close 'X' in the window. Never shut off MagicBase by clicking Control-Q (or Command-Q). Only close MagicBase by clicking on the 'The End' button. That will maintain all of your data integrity.
If you're looking for more detailed lessons on using MagicBase, then subscribe
to the MagicBase Power eCourse.
CLICK HERE to subscribe.
