Other Visions

Work Your Magic: Waiting for the Call
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.

This last December, I finished up a show at a local community centre where an assortment of different groups held their Christmas parties. As I was packing up, I was approached by a fellow entertainer, a guitar player who had just finished with his set for the party down the hall. He greeted me and told me he had read Highway to Success and had enjoyed it very much. He was hoping Elliott and I could give him a bit of advice.

His question was simple: What do you do when prospective clients don’t get back to you to confirm bookings? I immediately identified with his problem. We’ve all had situations where a prospect says they’re interested in getting booking information and tentatively reserve a date only to never be heard from again. His problem was costly to him as he would lose out on potential shows because he was holding a tentative booking for a phantom client.

I asked him a few questions about the way he normally deals with prospective clients over the phone and quickly identified three common mistakes he made: 1) he didn’t set limitations to a tentative booking; 2) he didn’t schedule a call back with the prospect; and 3) he didn’t follow up with the prospect.

Let’s break it down here and address each mistake properly. We’ve found that many entertainers, eager to close a sale, will make tentative bookings with prospective clients without setting limitations on those bookings. What we mean by not setting limitations is that they allow clients to hold tentative bookings indefinitely. This is bad for business as you may lose out on paying clients who want to hire you for the same time slot but are unable to because of a tentative booking. On the other hand, if you’ve made a promise to hold a date for someone until they can confirm it, it is also bad business to abandon them for another client who wants the same time slot.

By setting limitations on the tentative booking, you can deal with both prospective clients and future clients who want the same time slot in a fair manner. We know some fellow entertainers who do this by holding a tentative booking date for a prospect for a limited time period, say a week. After that week, if the prospect still hasn’t confirmed the booking, the time slot becomes available again. While somewhat effective, we find this method still puts a strain on client relations as it might put too much pressure on a client who is unable to confirm a booking so quickly, or forces a second client to wait too long before finding out if a desired date becomes available. What we suggest instead is the twenty-four hour notice method.

When dealing with prospects who wish to hold a tentative booking date, we inform them that the time slot is reserved for them with the condition that, should another client wish to book at the same time, we offer the prospect a twenty-four hour period to commit to their tentative booking. If they still do not commit after that twenty-four hour period, the time slot then becomes available to the second client. This way, there is less immediate pressure on the first client, and less waiting time for the second client. Everyone is dealt with in a fair manner.

The second mistake addressed earlier was failing to schedule a call back. When dealing with prospects, our musical friend would always give them his booking information, hold a tentative date, then sit around and wait for the client to call him back, not knowing when that would be.

Here’s a little insight in the typical prospect’s state of mind. Most believe that, as an entertainer, you are not a real business person with business deadlines. You don’t deal in the “regular” world, so “regular” rules don’t apply. You’re simply some guy (or girl) who plays around having fun at parties. Don’t be insulted by this statement, it’s simply a lack of understanding on behalf of “regular” people.

Since many prospects don’t see you in business terms, they don’t think to deal with you in business terms. That means there’s no real reason to get back to you anytime soon. It’s up to you to educate them. Of course, you can’t start lecturing your prospects on business etiquette. That’s a sure way to lose their business. What you have to do is steer your prospective client in the right frame of mind by your actions and words.

Upon booking a tentative date with a prospect, we always explain to them our twenty-four hour notice policy (as discussed above). This lets them know we are busy professionals with busy schedules. Next, we always ask the prospect when they think they will be getting back to us. This lets them know that we do expect an answer from them within a reasonable period of time. It also serves to emphasize to them that the onus is now on them to call us back. This is what we mean by scheduling a call back.

Unfortunately, even when people understand and appreciate the fact that you are a professional and should be dealt with in a business manner, they will still often fail to call you back after having made a tentative booking and having promised to call you back by a certain date. It’s simply human nature. It’s frustrating, but that’s the way it often is. This leads us to the third and biggest mistake our guitarist made: he failed to follow-up with the prospect.

Say this out loud: "Following-up is my responsibility!" Say it again. Louder! No matter what is said over the initial phone call between you and a prospect, no matter what promises were made by the prospect to call you back, it is your responsibility to follow up with them. That’s the only way you can be sure you’ll be talking to your prospect again.

Let’s say we’re on the phone with a prospect who made a tentative booking. We’ve just explained our twenty-four hour notice policy, we’ve asked them when they’ll be getting back to us, we then follow up with this statement: “If I don’t hear from you by (call back date), may I call you back the following day?” Then, if they fail to call back, we call them.

Right now, some of you are probably thinking: “Wait a minute! If you ask if you can call them back, then the onus isn’t on them anymore. What gives?” The onus is still on them because they still committed to calling you back, but if they fail to, at least your call back isn’t a surprise. Prospects won’t be able to say things like “Oh geez, I don’t have an answer for you yet. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon.”

To sum it up for all entertainers out there waiting for their prospects to call them back, here are you three basic rules:

1) Always put time restrictions on tentative bookings to avoid tying up your schedule needlessly. We suggest the twenty-four hour rule.

2) Always ask a prospect when they will get back to you.

3) Always, always, follow up with the prospect the day after if they don’t call you back.

With these three rules, you should never be left waiting by the phone again.

Elliott Smith