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trickychaz Special user West Virginia 549 Posts 
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I didn't even realize that I was keeping in contact with my past clients in this way. A future customer asked if she could call some references and I gave her some info. She called them, and that reminded them of my services. One of my past customers sent an e-mail stating that they needed me for another of their events. They wouldn't have thought about me unless my future customer called them for a reference. How cool??
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 22060 Posts
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I guess it would work better than sending them a magic trick that may or may not work.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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Blair Marshall Inner circle Montreal, Canada 3667 Posts
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Had you asked your previous customer for permission to give out their name, and contact information?
Now that this customer has given you a reference will you remove them from your "list" to ensure that they do not become bothered by too many others asking for similar information? Now that they have given you, what I assume is a good reference, what are you going to do to show your appreciation to this customer? (A small gift, a discount coupon for their next show with you, movie tickets, a gas card, a coffee shop gift card?) There are so many options. Just some things to think about. Congrats on getting 2 bookings. Blair
Visit My Facebook Fan Page At
www.Facebook.com/BlairMarshallMontrealMagician www.BlairMarshall.ca www.ShaZzamShow.com www.MontrealMagicien.com |
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trickychaz Special user West Virginia 549 Posts
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Quote:
On 2010-02-02 19:19, Blair Marshall wrote: Permission yes, never thought of removing them from my list...thanks for the tip Quote:
On 2010-02-02 19:12, Dannydoyle wrote: I don't even want to deal with your greatness...it can't be matched so I'll leave it alone! You're the man and you know it all about marketing. |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 22060 Posts
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Yea well I do know enough to at least send them a trick that works. I grant you this should be self explaintory, but...
Quote:
On 2010-02-02 19:19, Blair Marshall wrote: I would assume anyone would first ask permission, but take them off the list? I never would have thought of that part of it. (Mind you this is not the type of marketing I even consider so I am just curious here as to mindset) I mean they have concented to being on his list, and have liked him enough to follow through and give him a 100% thumbs up, (which incidently speaks well of the experience they had with him start to finish) so why take them off? Especially in this case where they were SO happy that THEY need him again. I just wonder why take them off is all? Do people follow through that much on references for one night shows?
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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Skip Way Inner circle 3771 Posts
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Chaz, references are a good way to stay in touch with past and potential repeat clients, but you still need to keep your name fresh and in front of them on a regular basis. I, personally, always call the referral first to confirm that it's alright to give their name and contact info to the new client. Situations change. This refreshes their memory, plants a new thoughtful and courteous image of you in their memory and warms them up for the referral call. The last thing you want is for a client to call a referral and have the referral say something like, "Who? Oh, THAT guy!"
Danny, the majority of my bookings come in through word-of-mouth, so the referral has already happened. For others, I have a list of clients who have agreed to serve as references. To keep these folks from being bombarded by repeat requests, I rotate my references so that they may be called, at best, once or twice a year - if that. As with Blair, I've heard some marketing gurus state that the courteous thing is to use a referral once, thank them with a token gift and remove them from the list to avoid "bothering" them with future calls and, possibly, turning them against you. I believe rotating the referrals and minimizing the number of calls they might receive to one or two a year serves basically the same purpose. I suppose its a judgment call. What do you think?
How you leave others feeling after an Experience with you becomes your Trademark.
Magic Youth Raleigh - RaleighMagicClub.org |
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Blair Marshall Inner circle Montreal, Canada 3667 Posts
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Danny,
Skip has pretty well summed up the thought of removing them from the reference/contact list. Rotating names would work for me also, but I would still consider "gifting" if their referral resulted in a gig. I am not referring now to a testimonial page etc. but where you actually give out names and contact info., and folks call them. Where it can be bothersome.... Smaller events, corporate Christmas, family shows, event markets where there is a volume of inquiries I usually do not give out reference names, or contact info. I use strictly my testimonials. That being said if a major hotel chain was considering me for a long term contract (ie. a Sunday brunch) I would certainly not hesitate to give out a (pre-approved)contact name in a similar market. Danny, I believe you work in a very different market as some of us as you indicate, but as an example, if you will agree that I have a very high closing rate on phone inquiries (which I do not believe I have) I would have received close to 200 phone inquiries for shows this past December alone. No, not all of them asked for references, but if even 10% did, that would be 20 phone calls going into my previous customers. I think that would be a bother to some. So I don't make the offer of a reference name. Also, if you did not get the gig, for whatever reason, you would not know who, and if, the potential client even called them. It would also add another layer of "busy-ness" to my business Blair
Visit My Facebook Fan Page At
www.Facebook.com/BlairMarshallMontrealMagician www.BlairMarshall.ca www.ShaZzamShow.com www.MontrealMagicien.com |
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Ed_Millis Inner circle Yuma, AZ 2292 Posts
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I have heard of including several of your business cards with your thank-you card, with each card having a unique number on it. If someone calls and books a show off that card (verified by giving you the number), you send the original person some money or a gift card or such. Only up to a certain amount, though - say, three cards included for a total return of maybe 10% or 15% of your show charges.
Does this sound like a good idea? Or is it better just to rely on the word of mouth? Ed |
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Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7605 Posts
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Ed -
I personally have not rewarded referrals. Although I have called to thank for referrals. - Donald
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 22060 Posts
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Blair yea I work in a totally different market. This is indeed why I was asking as I was curious.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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Skip Way Inner circle 3771 Posts
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Quote:
On 2010-02-03 11:19, Ed_Millis wrote: Personally, I never include ANY business material with my thank you cards. I want my Thank Yous to be genuine and personal. Just my style. I do send $5 and $10 lottery scratch-off cards with my invoices to business clients as a fun instant-gratification gift, however. Now, adding referral cards to a promo or gift pack - heck yeah! In fact, I ran across this company a while back and have recommended their cards to several of my cross-promotion partner businesses. I've considered including them in my Mommy Packs but have yet to do so. I'm waffling on the idea. http://www.ripcard.com/ The Ripcard is a business referral card perforated down the center. The business owner fills in the current client's name & contact info (for his contact database) on the "Earn" half. Ideally, I would leave a set of cards with the fill-in section blank and use my printer to fill in the client info from my client database as I'd include these with my Mommy Packs. The client gets the "Refer" half with your contact information to give to someone else. Both halves have a matching ID number. When the new client books and uses the referral number, the business owner can track who referred them and pay whatever incentive is offered. Ripcards run around $200 for 1000 postcard size cards. I think it's a novel idea that would probably boost word-of-mouth promotion. What do ya'll think?
How you leave others feeling after an Experience with you becomes your Trademark.
Magic Youth Raleigh - RaleighMagicClub.org |
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Blair Marshall Inner circle Montreal, Canada 3667 Posts
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As my thank-you card goes right out after the event I feel no need to include my business card. That being said, I left plenty of them at the event with them.
Blair
Visit My Facebook Fan Page At
www.Facebook.com/BlairMarshallMontrealMagician www.BlairMarshall.ca www.ShaZzamShow.com www.MontrealMagicien.com |
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Magic Enhancer Inner circle Robert Haas 1805 Posts
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Thanks for the link Skip- that's' worth looking into. I have a 'Performance Evaluation' I send to all my clients after my shows. The first page is basic info and a scale rating system (1 to 5). The second page is question and answer format. I save the 2nd page and collect them all to show to future clients.
I have spaces for the client to circle if they mind if a potential customer e-mails them for a referral, etc. It's very in depth but only takes the client about 5 minutes to fill out. I'd be interested in exchanging client feedback forms with performers if they're interested. This is an invaluable tool for any performer and is a great way to gather testimonials. When sending it out to them, please inlcude a stamped envelope for them to mail it back to you. Make it easy for them. Robert Haas
Robert Haas
Magic Enhancer Quality magic products for the working professional. www.MagicEnhancer.com |
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Skip Way Inner circle 3771 Posts
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Robert, I've been using an online system through Constant Contact for a while now and I find that I get a better return rate: A few minutes at the computer versus finding a pen, writing, sealing, mailing, losing forms and so on. Have you considered that?
How you leave others feeling after an Experience with you becomes your Trademark.
Magic Youth Raleigh - RaleighMagicClub.org |
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trickychaz Special user West Virginia 549 Posts
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Hey guys,
Thanks for the awesome info! I have been meaning to set up an evaluation form to include with my thank you card. I have a couple of questions. 1. Do you find a handwritten note on your letterhead to be more effective than a thank you card? 2. What would be some good questions to include on the evaluation card? I will be using post card size already stamped. |
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Magic Enhancer Inner circle Robert Haas 1805 Posts
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Skip,
I do have an account with Constant Contact. I've never done it for Feedback froms though, how does it work for you? I think I might prefer they write it so I can scan it in and put it on the web site or give it to potential clients. It may be more 'believable' with their hand-writing on it, etc. What do you think? Am I looking into it too much? Robert Haas Posted: Feb 3, 2010 2:19pm Chaz, I send out a thank you card with my logo on it separate then my Evaluation Form. It's a simple THANK YOU card. No contact info or business cards inside. I want it to be personalized, so I hand write it. If it's for a company or corportion, I will send it on letterhead and scan and e-mail a copy of it and ask that they forward it throughout the company. By doing it this way, of course, will be on letterhead with contact info in case someone wanted to hire me. I prefer to make it as personal as possible when dealing with the individual people. Typically, the following morning after the event I mail out the Thank You card/letter. Roughly 2 days later, I send out the Evaluation Form. My Thank you card sometimes will alert them that a feedback evaluation is coming. Of course, many performers will argue that you're 'clogging' their inbox. I disagree. I think it's more important to show your customer service than worrying about being 'annoying' Of course, don't overdo it. When sending the Thank You card, it's a nice gesture to include a 'thank you gift.' I particularly like Blair's recommendations of movie tickets, etc. Lotto tickets work as well. This is unexpected and they will remember you. If you're a busy performer, you can get a 'bulk discount' of movie tickets if you order one for every week of the year. As for the Evaluation Form, some of the questions are: (1) Please rate on scale 1 to 5 for each of the following: Punctuality, appearance, customer service, performance and value (2) IMprovements (things we can improve upon) (3) Referrals (4) May we show your comments to potential clients? May we have them e-mail you ? May we quote you in advertising literature? Of course, there's more, but that should give you a head start. I hope this helps you! Robert Haas
Robert Haas
Magic Enhancer Quality magic products for the working professional. www.MagicEnhancer.com |
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trickychaz Special user West Virginia 549 Posts
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Quote:
On 2010-02-03 14:19, Magic Enhancer wrote: Thanks Robert...the purpose of my evaluation card is to learn more about my customers, gather good testimonials and improvement...so your info does help. Sincerely, Charles Watson |
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Skip Way Inner circle 3771 Posts
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Quote:
On 2010-02-03 14:10, Magic Enhancer wrote: Nah, not overthinking it. Different strokes and all that. I use the survey service to send a single link to my post-show survey. They fill it out online and click send. This works for me and some people, like me, are just more comfortable keyboarding than writing longhand. I can see where your method might work better for you, though. I was just offering another option to consider. 
How you leave others feeling after an Experience with you becomes your Trademark.
Magic Youth Raleigh - RaleighMagicClub.org |
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Magic Enhancer Inner circle Robert Haas 1805 Posts
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I appreciate it Skip. That's why I love the Café. Always can pick up something new and learn from each other and share our success with others.
Robert Haas
Robert Haas
Magic Enhancer Quality magic products for the working professional. www.MagicEnhancer.com |
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Chris LaBarge Regular user Upstate New York 134 Posts
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I use an online feedback form and get a very good return rate...if you already have a e-mail marketing program it is easy to set up and try...if your don't, try using google docs...it works very well.
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Posted: Feb 3, 2010 12:00 am 
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