When NOT to Over Deliver...

I groaned when I opened the box.

I recently ordered a smoke device from Penguin Magic. The device is designed to be palmed. I was expecting a tiny box in the mail.

Instead, I got a shoebox-sized box in the mail.

“Why did they send it in such a huge box?” I wondered out loud.

After cutting open the box, I had my answer.

Penguin Magic often sends extras in your order if you cross certain financial thresholds.

Put another way, Penguin gives you free stuff if you buy more.

It’s a nice idea in theory.

But I hate it.

The stuff that Penguin insist on sending (you can’t uncheck them in your cart) is always stuff I have zero interest in.

Lately it’s been custom decks.

I couldn’t care less about all of these designer or collectable decks. Not my jam.

Give me a three-dollar deck of Bicycles from the drug store and I’m set.

But today Penguin had another annoying surprise for me: a Houdini jigsaw puzzle.

I hate jigsaw puzzles. I find them boring to do and a waste of time.

Because I don’t like adding to landfills if I can help it, now I’ve got a puzzle I have to re-home.

Penguin’s internal motto must be to overdeliver.

It’s a great idea for all businesses, even magicians, to overdeliver. But in some cases, like with this puzzle, over delivering can hurt more than harm your relationship with your client.

I remember nearly 20 years ago accompanying a friend of mine to a birthday show he was performing.

He performed his 45-minute show on the client’s backyard deck. The show went well.

But in this case, my friend had promised her, as part of the deluxe package, extra magic in the form of close-up material.

It wound up simply making the show too long.

The kids started getting restless. My friend went over his allotted time.

When the birthday mom brought the cake out to be cut, that should have been my friend’s cue to wrap things up.

But when the client asked Ted if he was finished, he laughed nervously and said, “Just a few more tricks.”

My friend was going to finish his set, period. Or, to paraphrase pro wrestlers, “He was going to get his stuff in, brother.”

My opinion? He should have cut bait and soon as the cake made its appearance.

For me, I remember plenty of daycare shows where the little kids were getting restless, so I cut the show short.

Every single time, at least one teacher would thank me for ending when I did.

Read the room!

However, there are times when you can indeed over deliver.

If your show is going on after dinner and your show is the final event at a corporate holiday party (for example) and everyone is hanging on to your every word and joke, then by all means go for an extra few minutes.

I remember an outdoor country club gig I did. I finished my show and accepted the applause.

As I turned to start packing up, several of the adult guests started calling out “Encore! Encore!”

Fortunately, I had one extra effect with me. They got a four-minute encore, and I was done.

Other times you can go a little longer? Going back to birthdays for a moment, if your show finishes up and the pizza hasn’t arrived yet.

The birthday mom whispers, “The food’s late. Can you occupy them for just a few more minutes?”

In this situation, you’re the hero. Do it.

But other times, you’ve got to stick to your time…or even cut it.

Sometimes when doing school assemblies, the teachers get the kids down to the assembly are late.

When this happens, I always ask the teachers when lunch is. Or dismissal if it’s in the afternoon.

Schools have schedules to stick to, so I don’t want to go over my allotted time and mess up their schedules.

But you can over deliver to every client.

How? Simple.

Do a great show. Be easy to work with. For larger groups, bring your own PA system. (Or for EVERY show like my friend Brian does.)

‘Wow’ them with a special trick you didn’t tell them about.

Here’s an example from my own work.

Because I mostly perform school assemblies, clients rarely ask about the tricks. They want to make sure my show focuses on the messages.

In my anti-buying show, my final effect is Chair Suspension.

So when it comes time to float a kid, clients are amazed because they had no idea I was going to overdeliver.

A final way to over deliver? Set design.

Some of my backdrops and banners are so well designed that I’ve had clients ask me before the show if I was working for a larger company or if I had bought a franchise.

When you get those kinds of comments, you know you’re doing something right.

To end this piece, over deliver to your clients in terms of quality of your show.

Over deliver in terms of customer service and ease of working with you.

Over deliver in terms of the ‘Wow’ factor, both in tricks and set design.

But when it comes to time, only over deliver if it makes sense, or if the client asks.

That’s it for this issue.

Have a great week!

--Cris

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