It’s a good bet that your repeat customers make you the most money.
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The opinions expressed are mine only. These opinions do not necessarily reflect anybody else’s opinions. I do not own, operate, manage, or represent any band, venue, or company that I talk about, unless explicitly noted.
Want to use this image for something else? Great! Click it for the link to a high-res or resolution-independent version.A CRM is a “Customer Relationship Manager.” It’s software that shows you who your clients are, and what they’ve bought from you. I have a CRM for my audio clients – a very, very simple one that I coded up from scratch in the space of a few hours. Even being so simple, it’s revelatory: 43% of my clients represent 78% of my revenue, and every single one of them is a repeat client. Some of them get very significant discounts due to being longtime, “frequent-flyer” customers that I enjoy working with.
Let me restate that for impact. Less than half of the people I’ve worked with constitute the overwhelming majority of the money I’ve made as an audio-human in the last few years.
Here are the lessons as I see them, in no particular order.
- Basic tracking of who you work with and the business you’ve done with them is very helpful for keeping perspective. You don’t need big data support or lots of features to get started. Simply keep some meaningful records that you can sort and compare easily.
- Avoid being seduced by the concept that a bazillion calls from a bazillion different people will make you the revenue you want. It’s about being called over and over again by the same people.
- Getting called over and over again by the same people sometimes means that your per-show rate has to be negotiable – when multiple shows are definitely on the table, that is. For instance: “There might be more if you give us a break” would have me decline to give a discount, but “We’re going to do 10 of these” would make me consider some options.
- Single-shot, high day-rate calls are often also “big-hassle.” Repeat clients tend to be the high-quality ones that you look forward to seeing.
- If repeat clients are so important, shouldn’t long-term client delight be a top priority for you, above short-term wins? (Hint for audio engineers: When a client or client-related person says, “I never have to worry when you guys show up,” you’re doing something right.)
If you want a fighting chance in this business or any other, I’m betting that landing repeat clients is a crucial ability.