In any successful business, you need to qualify people to hire you. You can’t expect to do business with anyone and everyone so you need to be clear about who you want to perform for and once you’re clear on this first aspect then you can start qualifying people.
Your first step is to determine who you want to perform for because this lays the foundation for everything to follow. If you want to do kid parties then you will qualify people in a different way than if you want to do corporate events. You must understand your target audience and how they buy. Write down exactly who you want to perform for in the types of events you want to do. If you’re not clear on this first step than everything to follow has no purpose.
1. Get them to raise their hand
Do things that make people want to do business with you. You never know who you’re performing for so your job is to find out. But while performing, there are so many people in the audience that you can’t ask all of them if they have an event coming up and what they do for a living. The first step is to get them to come to you.
Whether you’re performing for group of three, 10, or 500, you need to get them to come to you. You must learn to do things like talking about the shows you do while performing which will make them ask you what kind of shows you perform. When they show interest in what you do then this is your first sign that they might be a qualified prospect.
There are many things a person can do to show interest in you. They can ask you for business card, ask you what kind of shows you do, ask you how much you charge, etc. but the first step to qualifying anyone is to get them to come to you.
Always focus on doing things that make people want to do business with you. Imagine you’re performing close-up in a restaurant and before performing a trick you tell them that you do this at all your shows and it freaks people out. You keep talking about how you do stuff at your shows and it builds curiosity. If they have any interest then they will ask you about the shows you do. Once they ask, you now have permission to talk about the corporate events that you perform at.
When you do things that build curiosity and get people to raise their hands you are doing what I call… performing like a businessman. I’m writing a book on restaurant work and there is a lot more information on how to perform like a businessman which gets people to come to you rather than you having to go to them. It is too much information to talk about right here with the basics is that you always must do things that get people to want to do business with you.
2. Commitment
Once they show interest you must get commitment. A lot of people will tell you they’re going to call you and hire you for an event but they never do. Magicians can’t figure out why people keep asking them how much they charge and then say they will give them a call and it never happens.
You never get the call because you haven’t finished qualifying the person and they’re not committed to you. Just because someone asks you for your card doesn’t mean they’re going to hire you. And just because someone says they’re going to hire you...doesn’t mean they’re going to hire you. When someone ask you for your business card you are in the beginning stages of qualification. They have shown interest in you and you must determine if they’re fit to do business with you.
When someone ask you for your business card or shows any kind of interest you must get some kind of commitment from them. Once they have your business card, tell them to send you a business card today or tomorrow about their event. Let them know that you book several months in advance and you get several e-mails a day so they have to remind you of their event so you can see if you’re available.
Now you will be a will to tell if they’re serious or not. If they’re serious, they will send you an e-mail today or tomorrow. If they’re not serious then you won’t get any information from them whatsoever. There are times when they won’t send you an e-mail but they will still hire you in the long run. This is something you have no control over so it is something you shouldn't worry about. People who send you an e-mail are more serious than people who wait.
Just getting them to send an e-mail isn’t the only type of commitment you can receive. If someone ask you for business card or how much you charge then you always need to find out how serious they are. You can tell them that if they’re serious about hiring you then they need to write down their information on the back of the card and you will send a form tomorrow for them to fill out about the event. If they hesitate or do anything except write their information on back of this business card then they are not that serious.
Understand, people who are serious about hiring you take action. People who are just curious about what you do and have no intention of hiring you will only inquire about what you do. They will ask you questions about how long you’ve been performing and about what got you into magic but they won’t take specific actions that move towards the goal of hiring you for an event.
Eventually, you will start to see patterns from the people who hire you and the people who can’t hire you. Sometimes people want to have you out for an event but you’re not in their budget and these are people you don’t want to do business with. In business, you must not cater to everyone. You must learn to focus and through this focus you will book gigs.
The key to qualifying people is to know who you want to perform for and to figure out if the people in front of you live up to that standard.
3. Tips
So how should you treat tips? I’m Jewish, and I never turn down money
.... If you understand the concept of getting people committed and invested in you then you will realize that people who tipped you are more likely to hire you. Some magicians don’t accept tips because they think it will be less likely that the person giving them the tip will hire them.
People who tip you obviously like what you do enough to give you money. If they like you enough to give you money then your odds of being hired for an event increase. If someone doesn’t like what you do then they’re not going to pay you.
Treat tips as another qualification process. When you get tipped, they are showing interest in you. But not everyone who tips will hire you because they’re only giving you feedback on that specific performance. A tip is not a sign that they’re going to hire you for an event but it is a sign that they’re more likely to hire you.
In restaurants, your goal is not to get a big tip. Your goal is to get the bookings. You will find that people who hire you or the people who have tipped you in the restaurant. So treat tips as a sign of qualification.
Always do things that get people to want to do business with you… this concept is more important than doing things that get people to want to tip you.
Your first step is to determine who you want to perform for because this lays the foundation for everything to follow. If you want to do kid parties then you will qualify people in a different way than if you want to do corporate events. You must understand your target audience and how they buy. Write down exactly who you want to perform for in the types of events you want to do. If you’re not clear on this first step than everything to follow has no purpose.
1. Get them to raise their hand
Do things that make people want to do business with you. You never know who you’re performing for so your job is to find out. But while performing, there are so many people in the audience that you can’t ask all of them if they have an event coming up and what they do for a living. The first step is to get them to come to you.
Whether you’re performing for group of three, 10, or 500, you need to get them to come to you. You must learn to do things like talking about the shows you do while performing which will make them ask you what kind of shows you perform. When they show interest in what you do then this is your first sign that they might be a qualified prospect.
There are many things a person can do to show interest in you. They can ask you for business card, ask you what kind of shows you do, ask you how much you charge, etc. but the first step to qualifying anyone is to get them to come to you.
Always focus on doing things that make people want to do business with you. Imagine you’re performing close-up in a restaurant and before performing a trick you tell them that you do this at all your shows and it freaks people out. You keep talking about how you do stuff at your shows and it builds curiosity. If they have any interest then they will ask you about the shows you do. Once they ask, you now have permission to talk about the corporate events that you perform at.
When you do things that build curiosity and get people to raise their hands you are doing what I call… performing like a businessman. I’m writing a book on restaurant work and there is a lot more information on how to perform like a businessman which gets people to come to you rather than you having to go to them. It is too much information to talk about right here with the basics is that you always must do things that get people to want to do business with you.
2. Commitment
Once they show interest you must get commitment. A lot of people will tell you they’re going to call you and hire you for an event but they never do. Magicians can’t figure out why people keep asking them how much they charge and then say they will give them a call and it never happens.
You never get the call because you haven’t finished qualifying the person and they’re not committed to you. Just because someone asks you for your card doesn’t mean they’re going to hire you. And just because someone says they’re going to hire you...doesn’t mean they’re going to hire you. When someone ask you for your business card you are in the beginning stages of qualification. They have shown interest in you and you must determine if they’re fit to do business with you.
When someone ask you for your business card or shows any kind of interest you must get some kind of commitment from them. Once they have your business card, tell them to send you a business card today or tomorrow about their event. Let them know that you book several months in advance and you get several e-mails a day so they have to remind you of their event so you can see if you’re available.
Now you will be a will to tell if they’re serious or not. If they’re serious, they will send you an e-mail today or tomorrow. If they’re not serious then you won’t get any information from them whatsoever. There are times when they won’t send you an e-mail but they will still hire you in the long run. This is something you have no control over so it is something you shouldn't worry about. People who send you an e-mail are more serious than people who wait.
Just getting them to send an e-mail isn’t the only type of commitment you can receive. If someone ask you for business card or how much you charge then you always need to find out how serious they are. You can tell them that if they’re serious about hiring you then they need to write down their information on the back of the card and you will send a form tomorrow for them to fill out about the event. If they hesitate or do anything except write their information on back of this business card then they are not that serious.
Understand, people who are serious about hiring you take action. People who are just curious about what you do and have no intention of hiring you will only inquire about what you do. They will ask you questions about how long you’ve been performing and about what got you into magic but they won’t take specific actions that move towards the goal of hiring you for an event.
Eventually, you will start to see patterns from the people who hire you and the people who can’t hire you. Sometimes people want to have you out for an event but you’re not in their budget and these are people you don’t want to do business with. In business, you must not cater to everyone. You must learn to focus and through this focus you will book gigs.
The key to qualifying people is to know who you want to perform for and to figure out if the people in front of you live up to that standard.
3. Tips
So how should you treat tips? I’m Jewish, and I never turn down money
.... If you understand the concept of getting people committed and invested in you then you will realize that people who tipped you are more likely to hire you. Some magicians don’t accept tips because they think it will be less likely that the person giving them the tip will hire them.People who tip you obviously like what you do enough to give you money. If they like you enough to give you money then your odds of being hired for an event increase. If someone doesn’t like what you do then they’re not going to pay you.
Treat tips as another qualification process. When you get tipped, they are showing interest in you. But not everyone who tips will hire you because they’re only giving you feedback on that specific performance. A tip is not a sign that they’re going to hire you for an event but it is a sign that they’re more likely to hire you.
In restaurants, your goal is not to get a big tip. Your goal is to get the bookings. You will find that people who hire you or the people who have tipped you in the restaurant. So treat tips as a sign of qualification.
Always do things that get people to want to do business with you… this concept is more important than doing things that get people to want to tip you.
