Quality Brings Quantity

Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that I constantly preach about the customer experience.  The term “customer service” is not strong enough today. Also, customers usually add the word “no” in front of “service”.   Ask your customers what they want for live entertainment and they will always tell you a quality show at affordable prices. This is a key element to selling more tickets.

Look around at any business today.  Companies are coming up with products and services that are marketed as “higher quality”.  I’m not saying they are all producing quality. The ones that are shit will get exposed and will not make it. 

The liquor business today is a perfect example for the demand of quality.  In the old days if you ordered a mixed drink you didn’t care that much what brand was in it.  You were adding mixers.  Today, you ask for the brand.  I read this morning about the demand for 100% blue agave tequila.  In the past most tequila imported into the USA was only 51% blue agave.  Now customers want the good stuff!  Selling the better quality has caused a big increase in tequila sales.

We in the live event & entertainment business can’t continue to produce and market the same old stuff the same old way.  Our customers are looking for new, exciting, and better products from us.

I’m sure some reading this are saying that better quality equals higher prices.  This may be true in many cases but how do we continue to explain higher prices for the same product we have marketed for 25 years? The public understands that prices go up but they want the quality to go with it. If we give them top shelf quality they might just buy.

Learning From Starbucks: Revisited

Back in May 2009 I posted What We Can Learn From Starbucks.  In that post I discussed how Starbucks was having growing pains.  Many customers felt (including myself) they were moving away from what gave them the edge in the coffee market.  Almost a year and a half later they are turning things around.

Starbucks got over their caffeine headache and are now going back to the roots of the business: “the experience”.  People fell for Starbucks in the beginning because of the experience.  We spent $5.00 for a latte and we didn’t care.  We wanted to hear them call out the order with those made up words.  We wanted to see the barista make our drinks in front of us.  As they grew, they continued to raise the price of the drinks but pulled back on the experience and the quality.  All of a sudden they were not special.  McDonald’s now has “fancy” drinks at cheaper prices.  Dunkin Donuts even started messing with their coffee drinks.

Starbucks is making policy changes.  They are now back to requiring the barista to only make one drink at a time.  This helps with quality and enhances the customer experience of seeing their drink get the personal attention we pay for.  Yes, it will cause longer waits.  But Starbucks is betting the customer will appreciate that while shelling out $5.00.

There is a lesson here for all of us in the event & entertainment business.  Why don’t we get back to the core of our business?  Give our customers an escape from the real world for a few hours.  Think back to the days when you were the customer.  Remember what made you want to spend all your money on concerts, sports teams, shows, and events.  If we become the “experience” again our customers will buy.

“Put Yourself In My Shoes”

How many times have you used that phrase or something like it? I tend to use it a lot.  Sadly, it seems I use it more and more these days. What if everyone did business with that phrase in mind?

When you sit down to develop the marketing strategy for a show or event, you need to get into your customers head.  What will they think? How will they perceive my message?  What will make them buy?  You have to put on your customers hat.  Remember, you may not be your own customer.  Just because you think they will see your message, doesn’t mean they will.  For example, if you plan to buy out of home advertising, where are the best locations for your customer to see it? I once had a boss who wanted billboards placed along the route he took.  He said his customers take the same route.  Our marketing research did not gel with his thought process.  We saw no increase in sales. Maybe he just wanted to see his own billboards.

The phrase “put yourself in my shoes” gets used the most when it comes to customer service.  I tend to use it all the time with customer “no” service people on the phone.  When you put your policies and procedures together for the customer experience, do you think about how the customer will deal with it?  If you answer “who gives a crap” then you are not putting yourself in their shoes. Just because it looks good on paper doesn’t make it so. Listening to our customers is what sells.  Next time you want to cut something that will affect your customers experience, put yourself in their shoes.

Eat, Drink, And Be Social

Yesterday I spent the first half of the day at the Eat, Drink, And Be Social marketing event in Cambridge.  Even though this was for the culinary industry, almost everything discussed was of interest to the event & entertainment marketing community. These parallels are why I am re-tooling to market culinary entertainment.

The first panel included two very important chefs here in the Boston area.  Jody Adams and Barbara Lynch are both very successful owner chefs with 30 years each in the biz.  Here are some comments they made that you might find interesting:

1) Service vs. Hospitality – “Hospitality is the whole shebang”.  Service is just going through the motions.  We should all strive for everything plus the extras. 

2) People are more adventurous today – While they we discussing customers and food, this also applies to our industry.  Our customers want to try new experiences.  Let’s give it to them.

3) Tourist dollars – Someone asked if they go after the tourist dollars.  They both said they want everyone’s business.  Don’t you?

The next speaker was Justin Levy who spoke on his social marketing case study.  He is co-owner of an Argentinean steakhouse in Western Mass.  He used social media to help turn around his business.  Here are a few key points:

1) “Listen to your customer” – They read what the customer was saying on the social sites and made changes.

2) “Don’t get hung up on technology, get hung up on what it can do” – Use it as part of your total marketing mix. Don’t let it be your business.

3) “Create a video blog” – Show off your product.  Our customers like to see visuals.

Does all of this sound familiar?

What If The Promotion Is Up In The Air?

I thought this letter from a reader paired perfectly with my last post on crisis PR.  Below is an example of a promotion that goes wrong. 

Dear Joe – 

I had an experience last weekend that I wanted to share with you and your readers.  I think there is a lesson to be learned here.  At last weeks Harvard Square May Fair one of the features, the hot air balloon Big Max, a RE/MAX sponsored event was scheduled at 3:00PM.  The rides were $10 for kids and $20 for adults benefiting a charity.  My family and I went down a little early to get in line and found that the balloon hadn’t yet arrived.  So we waited.  At about 3:00PM the line was forming and the volunteers, all RE/MAX volunteer salespeople, “the balloon team” started to talk about what was to come.  The balloon was not there yet but he would call when he got close for directions.  They talked about the wind and the risk of such a promotion, as 50% of the time it doesn’t work when the wind is too strong. At 3:00PM, the scheduled starting time, the wind was at 8 knots, just fine for flying.  So we waited.  The line grew and at 3:30PM, they decided to take names so that people wouldn’t have to wait. 

At about 3:45PM, still no balloon, no contact from the driver, one member of the balloon team asked my wife.  “Do you think this reflects poorly on RE/MAX?”   She thought about it and answered yes, not just that it was late but that the driver didn’t have directions and the “stuck in traffic” story they gave early on, didn’t seem to be the truth.  “Yes”, she said.  “It was reflecting badly on RE/MAX.” 

At 4:00PM, the call came in; he was close and getting directions from one of the members of the balloon team.  The wind was picking up, but he should be here soon they said.  Finally at 4:30, the team announces, “The balloon is here!  It should take about 10 minutes to set up.” The driver gets out, a meeting takes place and the driver announces “the wind is too strong, 12 knots; we will not be flying today.”   I couldn’t resist a few questions.  I asked, “Was the wind ok for flying when you were scheduled to be here at 3:00PM?” Yes he said but he wasn’t able to get here at 3:00PM. Upon further questioning, based on his schedule, he would never have been able to be there on time.  No apologies for the delay, wasn’t his fault, wasn’t anyone’s fault but they announced, we will be back in October for the Harvard Square Oktoberfest.  Who else lost here?  The people waiting for the ride?  The agents volunteering their time?  RE/MAX?  The charity?  The Harvard Square Business Association who lost one of their feature attractions.  

So the questions I ask:

1.  If you have a 50% chance of failure (due to the wind), is that a risk worth taking?  
2. Should they have had a back-up plan if the plan did fail?
3. Should the poor planning by RE/MAX in scheduling their balloon reflect poorly on the sponsor? 
4. Should the Harvard Square Business Association allow them back in October after disappointing hundreds of families in an otherwise stellar event?  

 David Goldstein

Director of Business and Concept Development

TeamBonding

http://www.teambonding.com

 I would love to hear from other readers on David’s questions.

Beware Of Shrinkage

I am not talking about retail stealing, I’m referring to giving the customer less.

Last night my family and I went to Panera Bread for a quick dinner.  I ordered the half soup & half sandwich.  When our order was ready I looked at my food and noticed my half sandwich looked really small.  In fact I measured it.  It was only two inches long by one inch wide.  The side of bread they gave me was longer.  I brought the plate back to the counter and inquired about it.  The person behind the counter said it was the correct size.  He informed me that they did cut back on portion size.  He further said their food costs were high and they were controlling it.  Gee thanks, I am so glad I was able to help Panera’s bottom line and food cost by accepting a smaller plate of food.  I will give him this, he was brutally honest!

All of us in event & entertainment marketing need to be aware of what our customers think of our product.  When we make changes that affects our customers, they will notice.  Charging the same price or raising your price and then giving less will be noticed.

I believe it is more important then ever to offer our customers at least the same or even a better experience.  Even though our business today is run by only a few large companies our customers still have a choice.  They have the choice to not spend their discretionary dollars with you. 

What do you think your customers think when you:

• Raise your parking price to $40 and then cram cars in so tight that everyone is getting door dings?
• Cut back on staffing and then customers wait in lines for everything?
• Raise your ticket price and the act gives less then a 90 minute performance?
• Charge $7.00 for popcorn that is stale because you made it two days before?

Anything that affects your customers experience should never be compromised unless you are okay with fewer customers.

A Customer Always Has A Choice

The customer always has a choice.  They have the choice to spend their money with you, somewhere else, or not at all. 

When you first plan your event you should be thinking this.  The date, show time, and price will go into your customer’s decision.  What is your competition for this event?  This will also give your customer a choice.  What can you do to swing the customer your way?

When you are buying media for your event, remember you are the customer.  You always have a choice too.  In fact you have even more choices today then even before.  If you don’t like the deal the potential media partner is offering, you have the choice to walk.  One of the first things I learned when I went into this business was you can buy around anyone and anything.  Don’t ever think you have to buy certain media!

We all want repeat business from our customers.  The overall experience you give them at the event will ultimately decide if they choose to come back. We are in the discretionary dollar business.  The customer gets to choose where to spend these dollars.  If you are going to ask them to spend big dollars for a ticket, then make it worth it.  There is nothing worse then a customer leaving your event feeling like they didn’t get their money’s worth. 

The choices you make will help decide your customer’s choice to buy the ticket.

Are You Tweeting?

You know that I believe in Twitter as a marketing and business tool.  In case you don’t believe me, check out the article in today’s Boston Globe how companies are using Twitter to market and talk back to their customers.

OK, Time To Start Moving Tickets

The weather is not the only thing that is finally changing for the better.  The economy seems to be on the rebound too.  Now is the time for our industry to bounce back.

I am by no means an economist nor do I play one on TV. But my gut tells me we are on the other side of this recession.  Entertainment may be the first to feel a recession, but entertainment is also the first to get out.  That means we need to be marketing at full steam now. 

If you are currently planning marketing for the upcoming year, you need to jump in with both feet.  Don’t hold back!  Take advantage of every opportunity to promote your show or event. It is ok to spend marketing dollars again.  But spend it in the right places.  As a marketer, you know what works and doesn’t work.  Every market and every event is different.  Make it a marketing match.  Everybody picks on newspapers.  But if it works for you, then use them!  If TV is really expensive in your market and you don’t see the return at the box office, don’t buy it. Do what works, not what someone else thinks might work.  This is an opportunity to get back to thinking and planning instead of just reacting.

If you are currently out of work, call all your contacts again now.  As our business comes back, so will the jobs.  I know that jobs opportunities are opening up.  Get your name back out there!

For our customers, lets give them a good experience from start to finish.  From buying the tickets, to parking, to the experience inside the venue.  A good experience will sell more tickets.  Make ticket prices affordable.  This might include more package options. 

We need to re-build our fans and ticket buyers.  We need to offer them a good value.  We now have a new chance to build new and exciting opportunities for our customers and ourselves.

Becareful Where You Snip

All of us have gone through budget cutting.  Nobody like budget cuts but in this world it has become a necessary (and unnecessary) evil.  There are three areas that should never be cut: 

1. Anything that affects the product
2. Anything that affects the customer
3. Marketing

I am sure all the bean counters out there are reading this and saying “but we don’t have a choice, every department needs to cut”.  Cutting budget to any of the above three things will hurt incoming revenue.  The live event & entertainment world has already seen huge deeps in ticket revenue.  When you cut budget to any of the above you are just increasing the collateral damage.

Our customers and fans are used to our product.  If anything, they expect us to offer even better product.  If they notice you are decreasing the product in any way, you are ruining the business.  If you don’t have the money to increase the product, then it is better to maintain status quo until you have the budget.

Anything that affects the customer experience in a negative way is detrimental to your business.  Just like the product, the customer expects a certain type of service. Take away the good experience and you take away the customer. 

For some reason bean counters always look to marketing first to make budget cuts.  Why do they do this?  One reason is the attitude that some business people have of marketing.  How many of you have heard “sales brings in the money and marketing spends it”? If you cut money to marketing, you are letting less people know about your product.  If less people know, fewer tickets will be sold.  The alternative is to leave the marketing budget alone and figure out how to obtain even more exposure with the same budget.

If you trim too close or in the wrong places it can really hurt!

Wow, It’s Been 30 Years!

30 years ago today I was witness to the greatest sporting event in history.  This was the day the USA Hockey Team beat Russia at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid. A few days later they went on to beat Finland for the Gold.  I was 16 years old, living in Lake Placid, and living a two week period that I remember today like it was today. Being around those Olympic Games was most likely a big reason I went into event and entertainment marketing.

Last night as I watched team USA beat Canada in hockey, all the memories came back.  Of course today’s hockey can never be same.  Today’s international teams are made up of NHL professionals.  But the excitement of the game was really fun to watch on TV.  Personally, I think NBC screwed up last night putting the hockey game on MSNBC.  Here is a network that is trying hard to get its ratings up and they put the game on cable?  Local NBC affiliates should be pissed.   Don’t get me wrong, it was good for ice dancing to get primetime coverage but… 

The Customer Experience Gets Olympic Press

Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that I preach about creating a good experience at all events.  If you market a sports team then you know you can’t control what happens on the ice, court, or field.  You want the fan to have a great experience win or lose.  The Olympic organizers know this and they have taken a page out of major & minor league sports teams.  This morning on the Today Show, there was a video piece on Cameron Hughes.  He was hired to create fan excitement at all of the Olympic hockey games.  He pretends to be a fan in the stands and gets the crowd fired up during time outs.  Cameron is no stranger to this.  He now makes a living doing this for sports teams in both the US and Canada.  I can’t say it enough, you are selling the experience!