Think for a
moment about what the greatest enemy is to the process of helping people come
to a decision that’s truly good for them. What is it that jumps in and brings
presentations that were previously sailing smoothly along to a screeching halt?
You may think it’s the financial aspects of your offering. Perhaps you think it’s
the prospective client’s inability to make a decision.
Well, if you
think any of those things, you are right. But, with selling being what it is —
a bottom line business — let’s dig deeper and find the bottom line of what lies
between you and your ‘future client’ coming to an agreement.
If you look at
all the enemies to the sale that you and your associates can come up with,
you’ll find they have a common denominator. That common denominator is a thing
called FEAR. Fear is the greatest enemy you’ll ever encounter as a music
services professional. This includes your fear, the potential client’s fear, market
and trend fears and so on.
What do A&Rs
fear? We fear saying or doing things that may halt a potential sale. Hopefully,
you’ll learn to recognize and conquer that fear through continued education,
practice, drill and rehearsal of strategies and tactics that will keep you
ahead of the pack.
A tough part of
our jobs as A&Rs is in helping others understand and overcome their own
fears so we can earn the opportunity to help them make decisions. Fear is what
builds that wall of resistance we so often run into. We must master the skills
to either climb over or break through those walls. When you recognize your
potential artists’ fears as barriers to giving them excellent service, you are
then ready to learn how to dismantle walls, one brick at a time, thus gaining
their confidence and trust.
Your
#1 goal is to get them to like you and trust you
by
serving them with warmth and empathy.
The first step in accomplishing this is to
show them you understand and offer reassurance and a bit of education.
Here are some
other common, normal and potentially paralyzing fears that many people face in
decision-making situations and what you should do about them.
1. Your
prospective client is initially afraid of you. This is simply because you are in
the BIZ. I think you’ll agree with me that most people do not generally accept A&Rs
with open arms. Even if you are going to help someone you already know — a
friend or acquaintance or even a relative — when you get down to business,
certain fears will arise. It’s bound to happen in 99% of your presentations.
(I’ll give you a 1% non-fear situation with your parents or grandparents,
simply because in most cases they’ll believe in you and trust you no matter
what role you play with them.)
What do you do
about the others?
Accept it. There
are some people who are going to be afraid of you just as there are patients
who are panic-stricken when they have appointments with doctors or dentists.
What you need to do to conquer the ‘A&R’ fear is to master the skill of
putting people at ease. Learn to use a relaxed manner and tone of voice. Use
rapport-setting comments and questions that show them you are interested in the
people who are making the decisions, not just in doing business.
2. They have a fear of making a mistake.
We’ve all made decisions we’ve later regretted. When you are the A&R, your
prospective client must recognize you as an expert. You know this distribution business.
You should have knowledge about aspects of our product that they haven’t even
considered. To help people overcome the fear of making a mistake, you need to
lay out all the details they require in an easy-to-understand manner. Once they
gain confidence in their new-found knowledge, making a decision will be easy.
3. They fear
being lied to. Face it. The music business profession is still suffering from
the antics of those less-than-scrupulous folks who used to be known to say
anything to ‘close the deal.’ This is
where your literature, testimonial letters and referrals come in. People are
more likely to believe the written word than the spoken word. So let them read
the good news about our company for themselves. Let them see how happy the artist
you currently serve as clients are.
4. They’re afraid
of owing money. Most people have a tremendous fear of debt. Covering the
financial details very carefully is critical. Take as much time as they need to
comprehend what they’re agreeing to. Ask them questions to assure you and them
that they do understand the benefits and risks (if any) of the particular music
service arrangement you’re recommending. Your next move would be to re-iterate
everything you will do for them so they aren’t overwhelmed by the details.
5. Many people
are afraid of losing face. Have you ever made a poor decision that was big
enough that most of your friends and family members knew about it? If you have, you know exactly what I mean
here. If not, believe me when I say it can be totally demeaning and embarrassing.
Often a situation like that makes you feel like a child again — insecure and
powerless.
For that reason,
many potential clients will stall making the decision to own our product or
service. Knowing that this could be a challenge, your primary goal should be to
help them feel secure with you. Let them know they are not relinquishing total
power to you. You are simply acting on their behalf, performing a service they
need to have done.
6. They are
afraid of the unknown. A lack of understanding is a reasonable cause for
delaying any transaction. If our company has national name recognition, that
should help eliminate some of this fear. I suggest you work with your fellow
representatives, independent labels and artist to earn a great local
reputation. It will save you a lot of time over the years. Selling music
distribution services is little more than a matter of educating people on the
benefits of doing business with you. Once you educate them, they will feel
confident they are making a wise decision.
Some of A&R’s
most common fears may seem irrational to you, but remember, you are an
educated, professional expert. You have eliminated the unknown from being a
potential fear through your own education and personal experience in the
business. You have already been involved in more transactions in your career
than the average artist will be in his or her entire lifetime (unless they join
the ranks of A&R professionals themselves.)
7. Your
decision-makers may have had bad past experience with a music biz manager or
with a product like ours. Have they ever made a decision like this before? If not, it’ll be like going back to
kindergarten for the teacher in you. You’ll have to bring them up to speed on
exactly what to expect to receive in exchange for their hard-earned money
before you can expect them to make a decision.
If they have made
a decision like this before, what kind of experience was it for them? You need
to ask the proper questions to get those answers. If they hesitate to tell you,
you may assume it was a bad past experience and you’ll have to overcome a lot
more fear than if they’ve never been involved in this type of purchase before.
8. Their fear may
be based on third-party information. Someone they admire or respect may have
given them some advice that holds them back from making a decision. That
third-party will mentally stand between you and them until you convince or
persuade them that you can help them more than that person because you are the
expert. You’ll have to work hard to earn their trust. You may even have to enlist
the aid of some of your past happy clients as references.
You
must be prepared to do whatever it takes
to
replace any fears they may have
with
confidence in the decision they’re making
and
in the service you will provide.
No one wants to
handle a transaction in which the client may be dissatisfied with the result.
Believe me, there will be cases where the grief you will get from that client
won’t be worth the fee you’ll earn. It doesn’t happen often, but you must go into
every presentation with a very curious interest in the who, what, when, where
and why of the situation. When you’ve satisfied yourself that this decision is
in their best interest, then it’s your duty as an expert in the music industry
to convince them that this decision is truly good for them.
PMG offers innovative marketing strategies to successful Artists,
Managers, and independent labels who count on us to provide responsive,
personal service and strategic brand management. Ultimately, our goal is to
establish long-lasting relationships built on integrity and mutual trust as we
help guide our clients along the path toward commercial well-being.
