2012, The Year of the Fickle Customer
The phone rings and at the other end is an inquisitive customer excited to hear about my entertainment services. They laugh, listen, excepting all information given, and in many cases book right on the spot. There are those who seek more information and discuss it over with their spouse before making a decision.
Great news, they are going to hire me for the party and want a contract. Thirty minutes later, the contract is done; the date is added to my Google Calendar, the client’s data has been compiled and entered into Act, and all the other fun office administrative work is complete. I click send and the contract is on its way.
In years past, I would not think about the gig until a day or two before the party. But, this year is the year of the fickle customer. I’ve been receiving a high percentage of calls and emails canceling booked events, and it is not just me. Other entertainers and Agents are having the same thing happen. Booking than canceling days later seems to be a pattern for this year.
I could get mad at the client for canceling, but that is a waste of good energy. I can play the blame game and say it’s the economy. Heck, I can even blame myself that I didn’t send enough information to seal the deal. But, I’ve chosen to do none of these. This is the business part of entertaining, I need to focus my energy on past clients, seeking out new clients, and don’t waste my time on worrying if the next call is going to be a fickle customer. I’ve already declared it’s the year of the fickle customers, so let’s accept and move on.
Once I have a customer committed to an engagement, the hard work is done. However, once the hard work is done, I certainly don’t want to see them cancel and walk away. It’s sort of like a hotel that has rooms unfilled at 9:00 pm, and someone walks in and offers to take a room for the night at a reduced price. The hotel would rather get something for the room rather than see the night pass without any revenue from the room. Similarly, if the customer decides to cancel, I will try and offer them a ‘special’ to keep the business. These days, people are watching their cash outlays very carefully, and if I’m willing to be flexible, I can get something rather than nothing. My overall prices don’t change, but I am flexible enough to hand out special deals when needed. After all, in many cases I give away balloon sculptures to get business, so it’s not like the discount concept is unusual. Just a thought.