2 Ways to Earn Client Loyalty

“Uhhhh…I don’t think we ever named it,” I stammered.

“Well, we’re going to name it now,” Steve said breathlessly.

“Okay,” I replied. “How about ‘Tapping into an Unknown Market?’”

“Perfect!” Steve said before running off.

It was a chaotic way to begin my time at East Coast Spirit Sessions. ECSS is a convention devoted to Bizarre magic held every year in Myrtle Beach, SC.

I had approached one of the event’s key organizers, Steve Gibson, months ago about lecturing.

Steve loved my idea – performing at teen post-grad parties – and immediately gave me the green light. When the convention schedule came out, I was originally scheduled to perform on Sunday, the last day of the four-day event.

Thursday morning saw me milling around in the main room, waiting for the first lecture to begin. I listened as Steve tried putting out a fire on the phone. Turns out Thursday’s after-lunch lecturer had some of his props held by customs.

They were a key part of his act. Steve wasn’t sure what to do. He said something about getting another lecturer to swap with him.

I piped up: “I’ll swap places with him.”

Since I was due to go on Sunday, that would give the other performer four days to retool his act.

Everyone was immediately thankful. I became known throughout the convention as ‘the guy who stepped up.’

Actually, I just did it so I could get my lecture out of the way. I was nervous performing in front of this group and preferred to go on earlier.

But volunteering to change places earned me a lot of gratitude. I just wanted to help.

Let’s translate this to performing for Muggles (non-magic folk) as you likely do most of the time.

Most of us perform in venues for people unaccustomed to hosting professional magicians. That means things go wrong.

As a professional, it’s your duty to make the client’s job easier. Here’s an example from a school show I did years ago.

While I was performing, part of the power went out at the school during a bad storm. Right in the middle of my show.

But due to something weird in the building, only half of the power went out in the gym where I was performing.

So I volunteered to move all my stuff (props, table, backdrop, banners, and sound system) to the other side of the gym. Then we had all the kids simply turn around in their seats.

The organizers loved me because I quickly thought of a solution to a problem.

That’s the kind of attitude you should have. Look at a problem and think, “What can I do to help solve this?”

Because you never know what you’ll run into at a gig. Your promised sound system may not materialize. The guy who has the keys and/or knowledge of how to operate the PA system equipment may be out sick the day you arrive to perform.

Yeah, that’s happened to me more times than I care to admit.

What about set-up time? Maybe you show up at a gig - birthday, library, school, corporate – and you don’t have the private set up time you requested.

Kids might be running around the exact area where you’re supposed to set up. Or there might be a buffet line right where you need to set up for that company holiday party.

Aside from looking at opportunities to help your clients, I have two rules I live by whenever I perform professionally.

1—Bring everything I need to perform
2---Keep my setup time as fast as possible

Some thoughts about each…

I’ve lost count of how many times my clients tell me how impressed they are that I bring my own PA system and mic.

“Oh wow,” they gush. “You really are prepared!” They are relieved because it’s one less thing they gotta worry about.

Remember, most of the gigs magicians perform at aren’t used to professional acts. And even if they are, the folks running the event usually have a hundred other things to worry about.

Now, regarding setup time, keeping it as short as possible will help the event organizers too.

Usually, your performing space will be used by folks before and after you.

• At a corporate gig, your performing space might be used as the buffet line. Or the awards ceremony and speech.
• At a school, kids may be eating lunch after your show in your space. Or band practice may be scheduled.
• At a library, you may be asked to perform your show in the stacks, that is, right where the books are. And kids and adults may want to hunt through the books right after your show to get that one special book.
• At a birthday, you may be asked to set up in the same area where kids are running around or playing games.

Having a short set-up time makes the event organizers’ lives infinitely easier.

And that, dear friends, is the most basic, fundamental thing you can ask yourself:

“What can I do to make my client’s job easier?”

To show how far you can go, I’ll tell you another quick story from last week’s convention.

The event organizers had to deal with a lot of headaches at the hotel. There was construction going on and many plans were tossed out the window.

They could not even get into the venue until less than 30 minutes before the first speaker took the stage.

I found myself near one of the doors, watching folks loading in boxes packed with t-shirts, convention schedules, etc.

l jumped in and started carrying boxes in.

I didn’t do it to curry favor with the organizers. I simply did it because it was the right thing to do.

So at your next gig, ask yourself what you can do to help.

Have a great week.

---Cris

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