Other Visions

Work Your Magic: The Repeat Client
By Elliott Smith and Ian Quick

About the Authors from the Authors: Elliott Smith has entertained corporations, television audiences and travelers across Canada, the United States, Europe, the Caribbean and Mexico for over 39 years. A member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and the distinguished Order of Merlin, Elliott has performed his special brand of magic and comedy for two past Prime Ministers of Canada, International Ambassadors, the late Liberace as well as Jay Leno – host of The Tonight show. His interactive magic brings fun and excitement to any event large or small. He is a Master of stage and close-up magic, escapes and mind reading. Today, he continues to perform his own brand of trickery to wider audiences, but now on a whole new level - using his magic to provide team-building and motivational training for some of the largest companies. Elliott performed his successful stage show - ‘Smith & Quick in Mod-Vod’ for a one month run at the Theatre du Casino du Lac-Leamy, at Dark Hall in Regina, for the opening of the new North Grenville Theatre in Kemptville, and as the headline act at Keyano Theatre in Fort McMurray, Alberta. In 2007, Elliott performed a one month tour in Barbados entertaining at the Barbados Hilton, the prestigous Almond Resorts, the Plantation Dinner Club and Limelight Cafe – a new entertainment club to name a few. He is co-author of the internationally acclaimed book, Highway to Success – The Entertainer’s Roadmap to Business (www.happymediumbooks.com) a unique book designed to help performers, entrepreneurs, home-based business (and indeed, anyone who is following their dream) to develop business savvy. According to Mr. Smith "Learning magic tricks teaches people how to focus their minds and train their hands. It teaches patience, dexterity and determination." His book has been sold throughout North America and Europe and last year was published in Indonesia. Elliott was named and chosen as one of 'Ottawa’s Top Fifty' influ ential people by Ottawa Life Magazine in 2003, was inducted into the Order of Merlin by the International Brotherhood of Magicians in 1999 and nominated for Small Business of the year by Ottawa Tourism in 1996.

Ian Quick has been performing magic since 1992 and has quickly climbed the ranks to become one of the country’s premier magicians. Following a brief career as a lawyer, Ian left the law and became a full time entertainer by popular demand. Some of Ian’s larger clients include Chapters, the Bay, Bell, JDS and Ford to name a few. Ian has performed on some of the most prestigious stages including a month long run at the famous Lac Leamy Casino Theatre. Mr. Quick is also a specialist in educational programming and has toured extensively throughout Ontario and Quebec performing educational magic shows for both elementary schools and high schools. Ian’s unique mix of performance and pedagogy has inspired tens of thousands of children to read more, and motivated teenagers to believe they can attain their dream careers. Ian Quick is a founding member of Smith & Quick, a Vaudeville style magic troupe that blends classic comedy and magic with a unique family twist. Ian is co-author of the internationally acclaimed book Highway to Success: The Entertainer’s Roadmap to Business. This book has been recognized as the definitive business guide by the magic industry. Mr. Quick has also been a columnist for the international publication Magic Magazine and now writes for Magic Scene.

The other week I was talking to a friend of mine. He wanted some tips on how to drum up new business. He kept going on about how he needed to get new clients if he were to show profits for the month. I asked him about the strategies he was using and the results he was getting. I then asked him about his existing client base. “What about it?”, he asked.

I was stunned. Here was a talented performer going on about needing new clients while ignoring his old clients. It had never occurred to him that he could go back to the well. He had forgotten one of the staples of business relationships, the repeat client.

Getting new clients is great, but keeping existing clients is even better. Think about it. They’ve already seen what you can do. They’ve been amazed by you before and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They’re already believers, so you don’t have to sell them on your services. They are the ideal client.

It has become standard practice for Elliott and I to look back on our records daily and call up old clients in order to do business with them. One quick look at our call tracking sheets and we know who to call and what kind of services they’re likely to need. Hopefully, you are keeping track of all of your clients and prospective clients through call tracking. If not, start now!

As an aside, if you don’t know what call tracking is, picture a grid sheet that lists all of your incoming calls during a day, including contact information and types of shows these clients or prospects are looking for. Whether or not you close a sale with these people, their information should remain on your call tracking sheet.

Now that you have a call tracking sheet, use it as a tool to drum up repeat business. We always consult our previous year’s calls and use those as leads for current bookings.

Let’s use a concrete example. Imagine your call tracking sheet from last year at this date. You have seven calls listed. Of those seven, you had closed two deals. You have two repeat clients and five hot prospects. Right off the bat, you might feel hesitant about the five prospects. You’re probably thinking, “They didn’t hire me last year, so they probably won’t want me this year either?” Wrong! There are many reasons why people didn’t book you the first time. Perhaps it was a scheduling conflict, perhaps it was a budget issue. The point is that you don’t know why they didn’t hire you last year, but you do know that they were interested enough in your services to warrant a call. If they were interested once, they can be interested again.

Firstly, call the repeat clients. Call them and discuss how pleasant their event was last year and inquire as to whether they plan to hold another event this year. Offer them your new show to entice them. If you don’t have a new show, don’t worry about it. If you’re good, people will want to see your show again and again. Either way, they’ll remember you and be open to doing repeat business with you. Don’t be discouraged if they don’t book you though. Their situations may have changed. They may not be holding an event this year, or they may want to try a different type of entertainment. It doesn’t mean they didn’t like you the first time. It just means that the situation is different this year. Whether you get booked or not, you’ve kept the lines of communication open with your client, and will be able to draw on them again the following year.

While you do have these clients on the phone, feel free to ask them for referrals. Just because they don’t need your services at this time doesn’t mean they don’t know someone else who might. Don’t forget that they have already seen your act and can vouch for it. They know how good you are and how well your show would fit in with some of the events their colleagues might be hosting. This is an easy source of new prospects. It pays to ask.

After your repeat clients, call your hot prospects. They have to be treated slightly different. They never saw your act, so you might have to work a little harder at making your sale. Let them know that you were going over your records and saw that they had inquired about your services the previous year. Ask them if they’re still holding an event this year. From there on, offer your services the way you usually do. If they’re still not buying this year, ask for a referral. They may know someone who might be interested. If you want to keep repeat clients satisfied but don’t get booked because they are looking for something different this year, consider making alliances (no we’re not playing "Survivor"). If you have some trusted peers (be they other magicians, jugglers, comics,…) work out an agent deal with them where you can offer their services to your repeat clients for a small handling fee. That way, you still handle all the client dealings, you provide them with quality entertainment and you keep them satisfied. You can call upon them year after year and offer them all sorts of entertainment (of course, always offer your show first.) On the flipside, your peers can also book you out to their repeat clients. You are essentially creating a small network between peers. Keep in mind, however, that your peer’s clients remain his clients just as your clients remain your own. That’s what agency is all about.

One last quick source of repeat business is hotel and conference centre liaisons. These are the people who often put parties together for their clients. You can draw on them to get you bookings to whatever events they may be hosting again and again. Make sure to keep in touch with these people on a regular basis so you stay foremost in their thoughts.You’ll find that, statistically, repeat clients and hot prospects are more likely to hire you than a stranger contacted through cold calling. That means more paying shows with less marketing effort. That’s a really good return on your investment. Why pay thousands of dollars in marketing and advertising when you can drum up some business strictly by keeping good records and making some phone calls?

Just this morning, before writing this column, I called up my friend and asked him if he’d followed up with any repeat clients and hot prospects. He’d booked four shows simply by calling old clients. He told me he hadn’t been using call tracking sheets before but was doing it now. Unfortunately, that meant no hot prospects for this year. Luckily, he did keep records of his past performances. From there, he’d looked up previous clients and made some calls. He now has new bookings from old clients, and is planning to follow up with all of them through the course of the year. His only regret is not having
thought of it sooner.

Just remember, the best clients are regular clients.

Elliott Smith