Where in the world am I today?: Guangzhou, China

The purpose of any efforts in marketing are obviously to keep one working. Be it through the use of mailings, cold calling, researching new clients, a web site, t-shirts or other promotional merchandise the result should always be to establish a positive relationship with the client who is going to hire you to do the job. This relationship is easily as important as delivering an awesome performance and if the care and feeding of a client is successful it will likely mean a lot of repeat bookings.

This was driven home to me with the client I’m currently working for, the Canadian Tourism Commission, and more specifically the regional director for China and Japan. My first opportunity to work for this client came back in the Spring of 2007 and this latest contract that I currently find myself on is my sixth in the space of a couple of years.

Prior to my first visit to China for a tourism trade show I don’t really think that the CTC was aware of how effective my show style was going to be. That first contract presented a number of interesting challenges including a delayed flight out of Vancouver. I eventually arrived at the hotel in China (having flown all night and driven about two hours) at about 6:00 am. A mere two hours later I was needed to board the tour bus with the other delegates from Canada and head to the convention centre where the trade show was talking place. That whole day I was running on fumes and it’s some sort of miracle that I actually made it through to the end of the day, but in spite of being exhausted I performed with enthusiasm and joy and really connected with all of the audiences that I had the opportunity to play for.

What I didn’t specifically realize at the time though was the fact that as important as it was to perform for and connect with the crowds at the convention hall, the person I really needed to focus my attention on was the director of the CTC in China. Connecting with him and make him laugh was the key to being invited back. Over the course of the next few contracts I started to understand further that the fact that he liked me, the person, was likely more important than the fact that I was able to deliver a quality performance in a variety of venues.

I think, because I started my career as a street performer, my primary focus has always been on the relationship I develop with my audience. The ability to shift focus slightly tapping into the energy that makes my audience/performer relationships work and delivering a similar fun and playful experience with the clients that hire me has meant that I get invited back to work with these clients again and again. Not only do they know that I’m going to deliver when I walk on stage, they also know that they’re going to have fun with me when I walk off the stage as well.

I remember sitting down for lunch with a client that had hired me a number of times for a contract in Japan. We were joined for lunch by a fellow performer friend of mine who was in town visiting me. Over the course of the lunch conversation my friend pointed out the fact that other performers, himself included, spoke Japanese better than I could. He then suggested that although my skills are good, there are lots of other performers with good skills. I don’t think my friend was trying to put me down, he was just trying to wrap his head around the question he eventually got to which was this –

“So, I’m curious… Why is it that you hire Dave so much?”

The response really resonated with me…

“Oh,” says my boss. “That’s easy. We hire Dave back because we like him.”

Having a good show and good promo will get you the job the first time, being like-able and developing a great relationship with clients will keep that door open and lead to a long term relationship.

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 13th, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.