The Importance of Customer Service

As the event industry continues to feel the effects of this latest economic downturn, it's become increasingly apparent that the traditional thinking regarding what constitutes “good” customer service is no longer relevant.

Now more than ever, customer service must go beyond the surface-level expressions that many companies pass off as customer service, and become an all-encompassing philosophy that guides every action you take in executing your event. It's going beyond simple assistance, and doing whatever is necessary to ensure that a client or guest has an exceptional event experience. It's not simply telling someone where the restroom is located, but walking them there personally, while soliciting their impressions of the event and inquiring what we can do to make it even better. It's firing out a late-night email to a client with an idea that could make their event shine, without solicitation or expectation. It's about rolling up your sleeves and helping a client through their last-minute preparations, regardless of whether it's “in the job description”. Perhaps most importantly, customer service is the simple and sincere expression of gratitude for allowing our organization assist them.

In this industry more than any other, if we fail to impress our clients and guests, then we simply will not remain competitive in the marketplace. After all, there are limits to both programming opportunities and customer dollars, especially in economic times such as these. Beautiful facilities and popular bookings are no longer enough...one must deliver an experience to our clients and guests that cannot be replicated anywhere else.

Man Jumps to Death at California Concert Venue

This past Thursday brought the sad news that a guest at a Swell Season show in Northern California committed suicide during the band's performance. The man apparently gained access to the roof covering the outdoor stage at the Mountain Winery, and jumped 20 feet to his death, landing on stage near the end of the band's set.

As I am not an employee of this venue, nor was I at the concert, I will not speculate as to what the security staffing plan for this event was. Nor how this guest gained entry to a (presumably) inaccessible area. I will say, however, that every professional concert venue places the security of their guests and artists above all other considerations, and the finger-pointing that occurs whenever any of these tragedies strike is both misguided and unproductive. In incidents such as this, a guest who is determined to cause harm to themselves will find a means to achieve those ends, regardless of the precautions we take. However, this incident should serve as a reminder that even the most unexpected of areas can quickly become a point of incident, and should be assessed when building your staffing and operations plans. You may not be able to staff every square inch of your event. However, your assessment may uncover a number of methods to minimize any potential hazards.

Most importantly, we should mourn those affected, then we should learn so as their loss can act as the barrier to future occurrences.

Man jumps to death onto stage at Calif concert  (AP)

Evaluate Seasons, Not Shows

Back when I was selling venue sponsorship packages, we'd perform a ritual before any big pitch or client renewal meeting. The morning of the meeting, we'd place a call to our talent buyer, and proceed to beg, bribe, or otherwise cajole him into giving us an approved list of potential talent that would be performing at our venue that season. This necessity of this dance was to due to scheduling - we were tasked with securing our sponsorships well before we had anything closely resembling a season to work with. Without having a few big names to hang our hat on, it was often impossible to get a sponsor to commit their marketing dollars to us. But if we could dangle a name like "Dave Matthews Band" in front of a marketing director, you'd nearly hook them. After all, THEY loved the band, knew that they sell out virtually every show, and who knows, maybe they'd even get to see the show themselves under the guise of "auditing their program". They'd write the check right there if they could...

Unfortunately, to their own detriment.

Just as I mentioned in a previous post (regarding talent booking), the fascination with the "big name" act can often work counter to your purposes. In sponsorship, this tension is almost exclusively due to money, and who receives it. Most large acts usually have their own roster of "tour" sponsors, which at minimum will have to co-exist with your venue sponsorship. However, with some of the most coveted acts such as the aforementioned Dave Matthews or Jimmy Buffett, your house sponsorship will often be compromised to accommodate the tour sponsor, or in extreme cases deactivated for the event all together. Likewise, you may be struck from venue advertising related to the event, have your signage covered, and your presenting status disregarded This will usually only be the case with competing sponsors (automakers, beverages, etc), but has occurred with all house sponsors at one point or another. After all, why would the artist want to make the sponsors that paid THEM compete with those who haven't, when one line in a contract can simply make that competition "go away" for the night? Most talent buyers worth their salary fight like hell to get such clauses removed from local contracts, but the fact remains that if it comes down to your sponsorship program or the concert, you'll likely be the one home watching re-runs that warm summer evening.

The takeaway is this - when evaluating whether or not to sign on to a venue sponsorship program, you're best bet is to completely drop these "large shows" from your assessment altogether. Look at the core of the season's shows (either as established or through the venue's past history), and look at these large shows as "outliers" to the model. If the core programming fits with your marketing plan, then go for it..the big acts may simply prove to be a cherry on top of a (hopefully) successful sundae. However, if the rest of the season doesn't fit with your marketing direction, don't sign on to a questionable season for the promise of those “big nights” to balance things out. All to often, they shine less brightly than you've imagined, if at all.

Talent Tip - The See-Saw Rule

Deciding what talent to book for your event involves a number of considerations. You must determine whether the act's performance is to be the primary focus of your event, or if they're simply providing entertainment for a larger production. The popularity of any chosen act must be considered as well, both in terms of their ability to attract an audience and how much they will require in performance fees. Above all, you must consider your intended audience and what will appeal to their tastes. For event producers who rarely work in the music realm, balancing all these considerations can become overwhelming, and our natural inclination to secure the “biggest” act we can afford is all too tempting. After all, instinct and outside observation seems to show that the bigger the act, the larger or happier the audience, therefore the bigger the profit.

What if I were to tell you that you could make a larger profit producing an event with an 1980's metal band (say, Poison), than you could with U2 or the Dave Matthews Band? This is due primarily to what I refer to as the “See-Saw Rule”.

The “See-Saw Rule” states that to achieve the greatest potential profit for your event, you need to strike a careful balance between an artist's ability to draw a crowd, and their required performance fee. If you book someone who's gotten too large and/ or buzz-worthy, then the amount of money you'll need to lay out for their services will reduce your event's profitability. Conversely, if you choose your talent based primarily on price, the chances of securing an act that will draw an audience large enough to turn a profit are reduced as well. Ideally, you should “balance the see-saw” and seek out talent that is popular ENOUGH to draw a good crowd, but still have reasonable performance guarantees. These are usually acts just on the cusp of making it big, acts who have been around the block but are past their peak popularity, and oldies acts who haven't had a hit in years, but still perform fairly regularly and have a dedicated fan base.

This concept explains why you see dozens of classic rock acts on the road every summer. If you're like most people, you undoubtedly chuckle to yourself when you see their show advertisements, and wonder how it is that they're still out after all these years (The Rolling Stones being the obvious exception). From the promoter's perspective, however, it's a sound business decision to book these acts - even though they're (well) passed their prime, the performance fee's they command are usually quite reasonable, and there's still enough audience demand for their act that most events remain profitable. Unlike many high-ticket shows with more “popular” acts, where the promoter often struggles to sell out a show simply to make the artists guarantee.

There are exceptions to the "See Saw Rule". If your research indicates that the food and beverage numbers on an artist's past shows have been spectacular, you can likely afford to pay more for them, as you'd recoup the additional costs through your F&B take. Likewise, If the artist is part of a larger festival with additional revenue opportunities, you have flexibility in either direction, but more opportunity to take creative booking risks.

Finally, if the artist is merely providing entertainment for the event (and their inclusion has little impact on either ticket sales or marketing), reasonable performance fees should be a high priority. Your cash reserves are better spent on items/activities that will have lasting resonance with your audience, not “background noise”.

Five Event Staff Positions You May Not Know You Need

All to often, we as event managers take a “one-size-fits-all” approach to staffing our one-off events. For example, we know we'll need someone in charge of our security, our ticketing, and our concessions, so we simply scale these departments to the size of the event, and move on to other matters. However, by taking this approach, we not only frequently overpay for unnecessary staff, but overlook key operational areas that saddle us with extra work due to this inattention. Below are five event positions that you may not have considered when producing one-off events, along with some proposed responsibilities, why you should consider developing this position, and what to look for when selecting them.

Delivery Manager

Primary Responsibilities: The delivery manager is a ground-level position that assumes primary responsibility for all load-in/out vehicle traffic, as well as any and all deliveries for your event. They will direct delivery vehicle traffic, sign for orders, coordinate unloading, and ensure that the appropriate parties are notified of their delivery.

Why You Need One: Without proper delivery and vehicle coordination, your event can become a headache before it even begins. Think dozens of trucks jockeying for position, irate delivery drivers, lost orders, and general backstage mayhem. This is especially true with events that have a short (usually same-day) build schedule. Without a dedicated person charged with coordinating these activities, you could easily spend the bulk of your time dealing with load-in issues, to the detriment of your primary event-management responsibilities.

What to Look For: It's important that your delivery manager not only be extremely organized, but is strong enough not to be easily pushed around by the drivers they're working with. After all, most drivers have other deliveries to make, and don't take kindly to being told to wait their turn. Similarly, make sure they are even-tempered, polite, and have no problems communicating with a variety of personalities.

Guest Service Manager

Primary Responsibilities: The Guest Service Manager will be your primary go-to for resolving most customer-related issues. These may include lost tickets/items/children, performance and/or crowd related concerns, and general complaints of all types.

Why You Need One: 95% of the time, most guests can be made to feel better about their situation simply by having an understanding person there to listen to their complaints. And although as event managers we'd love to listen to every one of our guest's complaints (ahem), our job simply doesn't allow for it. By offering them a live, caring person with the authority to resolve most their concerns, you not only limit the number of post-show issues you need to resolve, but your “empathy” for their plight will hopefully spread a bit of positive PR cheer for future events

What to Look For: Look for someone who is friendly, open, and above all PATIENT. However, make sure whoever you place in this position isn't too quick to claim “responsibility” for customer complaints when dealing with customers. Understanding and agreeing with a complaint are two distinct actions, and they should be able to do the former without resorting to the latter. This can become especially important when a complaint has the potential of bringing future litigation (such as minor injuries, fights, etc). Former and future teachers and lawyers are especially suited for this position for obvious reasons.

Maintenance Technician

Primary Responsibilities: On-call repairs of any and all event-related items, including seating, electrical equipment, tents, fences, vehicles, and just about anything else you can possibly think of. And many more you wont until they break.

Why You Need One: Of all the positions on this list, I would argue that your maintenance technician is by far the most important. The reasons are numerous...immediate response time, lower repair costs than outsourcing, and most importantly, seamless resolution of damage to event-related infrastructure. I speak from experience when I say that a great maintenance technician is priceless...when the forklift won't work, you have three broken chairs in need of repair, and you can't seem to open gate two, you'll understand what I'm saying.

What to Look For: Unlike most other positions on this list, you're not NECESSARILY looking for Mr. Personality here...although they should be at least pleasant when dealing with the general public. Strong and varied mechanical aptitude is key, and I would look for a broad range of experience as opposed to specific credentialing and/or experience. Contact your local venues or community college for recommendations, or seek out and interview local handymen for the position. The interview is important...they must understand the event environment and the importance of a timely response.

IT/Technology Manager

Primary Responsibilities: On-site setup and repair of technology-related equipment, including internet and telephone networks, audio/video systems, and radio communications equipment. With the right person, you may be able to combine this position with your on-site maintenance technician (although this is not recommended as explained below)

Why You Need One: Although some of us can hack our way through setting up a printer or getting our computer up on a wireless network, there are still a number of people who are generally clueless of technology beyond turning on the power. With the ever-increasing reliance on technology in all aspects of the event environment, a network outage, offline printer, or phone system collapse can be catastrophic to your operation. By having a dedicated person acting as your technology manager, you can ensure that any issues encountered on-site are handled quickly and correctly. If your maintenance technician is skilled in these areas, it is possible to combine the two positions to save on operating costs. Keep in mind, however, that technology repairs often involve a good deal of troubleshooting to identify the issue. Tying up your maintenance technician could potentially leave many “real world” issues unattended.

What to Look For: Personally, I wouldn't contract with an outside IT provider unless your on-site system is quite extensive, or has a number of specialized technologies rarely encountered in the everyday world. If you have a designated IT person at your office, them I would bring them in for your event...not only will they be familiar with a number of your staff, they'll have likely worked with the technology before (your company computers, routers, etc). If you're an independent entity (or have no such person in the office), I would ask for personnel recommendations from your preferred contractors or people within your professional network. Often times, they'll be able to direct you to a young gun in their office that can fix anything, and is likely familiar with the idiosyncrasies of the event environment.

Assistant Event Manager *

*or a I like to affectionately refer to them, a “mini-me”

Primary Responsibilities: In a nutshell, the AEM will act as your surrogate in those situations you're unable to attend to. These mostly involve addressing situations that, although important and requiring higher-level direction, can be time consuming and/or distracting from your big-picture responsibilities.

Why You Need One: If your budget allows, you should consider an dedicated AEM for two primary reasons. First, it is virtually impossible to be everywhere at once...the ability to have someone handle lower-level situations in your place can be a godsend. Secondly, there's no better means of bringing up the next generation of event managers than having them shadow you, and granting them authority to make decisions in your place.

What to Look For: The primary qualification for an AEM is simple – do you work well with them, and do you trust them to make decisions in your absence? Given that, the criteria is highly subjective, and depends primarily on the event manager's judgment. As a rule, however, you'll want someone who is ambitious, organized, creative, a great communicator, and exudes that elusive quality that makes everyone recognize them as a leader. Basically (as the nickname implies), you want to find another “you”.

In terms of locating such a person, I would advise against placing an advertisement, unless the position is of a long-term nature. Rather, I would cast your eye internally, and locate someone who best fulfills your personal qualifications. Word of advice...don't limit yourself by current position or department. I've seen office managers make great assistants, as well as accountants and sales-people. Who knows, you may swing them in a direction they never knew was open to them.

This list is certainly not extensive...feel free to leave a comment and list any others I may have missed.