Ok, there’s been some talk in the group about what to do on these calls. I trust you’ve listened to the module again and taken notes that makes sense and will support YOU in taking action.

Here are some practice templates for various markets. If your market isn’t mentioned, then create it! You’ll see what I do and you can draw parallel lines to your specific market. In fact, you should do that for any market (even if it’s listed) just so you get it more deeply into your body and mind.

We’ll go into this more deeply in future homework and webinars. This will all make perfect sense.

Conversational Call Templates
Study the templates below and modify the ones that are closest to the market you want to pursue.

Mandatory
Make sure you have dug in and revealed each market’s core conflicts. These are the things that keep them awake at night. They are often so subtle that they won’t even be able to say them. Your investigative work can lock in our place as a trusted adviser when you speak the words they are thinking/feeling. This is different for every single market, venue, and even client.

Here is the template I find most effective – so far! Modify it to fit your communication style.

“Hi, my name is Barry… maybe… you… can help me out for a minute”

And that’s all I’ll say. (Note the dots… those are intentional pauses).

I’m calling to see if you are grappling with (a couple of their core conflicts)?

Trade Shows
There is a core conflict you can assume for trade show clients:

• They want booth traffic
• They want to take home leads.
• They want to be memorable
• They want a good feeling/experience associated with their brand
• They want to appear as special, or highlighted

There are others and you can learn them by studying the industry for 10-minutes and setting up Google Alerts for specific keywords. Watch the 4-part series on working Trade Shows inside of Get More Corporate Gigs.

Example:
I’m calling to see if you are grappling with how to get huge amounts of traffic to your booth at the upcoming ICON CONFERENCE and who at your company, more than anyone else, wants to bring back a huge list of informed, qualified leads?

Corporate/Association Event – Awards Banquets, General Session Kickoff, After Dinner Shows
For these I want to know all I can before I go in. Who they had last year, who the audience is (relationship to company, international, education level, spouses in the room, income bracket (if possible – we can gather this on our own and use it in approaching them from the side instead of straight on. This is an example of something they’ll never tell us, and it’s on their mind when making a decision.

I’ll use all of this to for my core conflict statements to fill in the template.

Example:
I’m calling to see if you folks are grappling with how to keep 500 middle managers entertained at your awards banquet in Cleveland this year – knowing that they saw the Raspyni Brothers at your event in Cancun last year.

Cruise Ship Agents
These folks are so jaded that you have to give this some special attention. They are flooded with calls/emails/packages that look like the same. For these I recommend a personal recommendation followed by a 3-step product launch, then a phone call.

1. Email introduction between the 3 involved parties (you, agent, person who recommended). Set a time to connect for a phone conversation.
2. Phone conversation – discover all you can. Be the most curious person in the world. What’s working/not working right now with the acts they handle? Who is their star act and what specifically is that act doing that shows so well?
3. Proposal/Offer – What you’ll bring to the table (and remember you’re armed with everything they LOVE in an act – so include how you’ll double down on giving it to them). In this you’ll do a one-page with your video and act description. Keep it tight – they’ll appreciate the professionalism.

They do have some core conflicts I have identified:

• Losing their relationship with the cruise lines
• Being burned by an act with great promo and a sub-par act
• Losing credibility with a cruise line because of unprofessional traits of an entertainer
• Having a hard time reaching acts for last minute availability
• Entertainers that are too picky about where they fly to/from (this is one I learned personally!)

Festivals/Fairs
Another market that is inundated with talent and fixed on the number of spots. This market is a perfect candidate to contact using the core conflict question template above.
Identify a few of their core conflicts – and go deeper than the obvious ones so you stick out and make the calls – a great practice field because there are just so many of them. Get good on the first few (make them smaller ones) and attack the ones you want once you have it natural.

I have identified these core conflicts for this market (and I haven’t worked this market in over 20 years so there are probably a bunch of new ones):

• Working with acts that drink/smoke in public
• Working with acts that are messy (leave a mess on the stage/shared spaces)
• Work with acts that will offend families with language (deeper is ruin their image as a family event)

Example:
I’m calling to see if you folks are grappling with how to keep everyone – from the children that get in for free to the General Manager of the (name of fair/festival) – proud and excited of the entertainment you hire?

Event Producers
Like cruise ship agents, this requires more of a product launch style introduction (3 steps mentioned above). They see a lot of acts and what we are doing will catch them in a new way.

We’ll cover some of this in the Sales Funnel section of Week 3, and go into it deeply in two other modules about working with producers.

We’ll have guest presenters for those modules who books national and international dates in prices ranging from $2,500 to over $100,000. They’ll share exactly what works for based on their long history in this market.

The main point I want you to remember about working with producers is that they NEED you. And they need the creative, honest, and marketing-savvy version of you so they can trust, converse, and hire you.

Review the article in GMCG under Business called Getting Listed on Producer Websites – and know that we are going much deeper LIVE.