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Mystical Matthew Elite user 468 Posts |
We've all had "those" clients. The ones that make insane demands, try to weasel out of paying, are rude and obnoxious, or hold our props hostage... (Looking down the forum at another thread...)
As business owners, there's a million places online for that "one-in-a-thousand-client-from-hell" to blast us. I won't list them all out, but pretty much any place a client can leave a review is fair game. The problem is they can say whatever the heck they want. For the most part it's legal, and proving slander / libel is an uphill battle that I don't think any of us really have the time / money / resources to fight. It's the business equivalent of breaking out out the windows and spray painting someone's house, but you can't fix it with a trip to Home Depot. ...And even if they don't leave a scathing review these customers still cost us our time, money, and sanity. Once one of us encounters them, why should the rest of us have to go through the same thing? It would be nice to create a "watch list database" for entertainment service providers. It would be available to people like magicians, clowns, vents, DJ's, and anyone else in a similar industry. When we encounter someone like this (and anyone who does this for a living does) we'd put their name, information, and a brief summary of what happened in the database. As we book gigs we'd do a quick run of each persons info in the database to see if anything comes up. This would take all of three seconds. If it did, we could see what happened and then make the decision ourselves if we wanted to proceed. I'm not calling this a "blacklist" on purpose. That has negative connotations to it. Ideally customers would never know this exists. It certainly should never be used to threaten them. It's just a tool entertainers could use to avoid potential problems. Just a thought. I'm not sure I have the time or resources to code this up, but I could definitely see value in it. I know we're all competition on some level, but something like this would mutually benefit all of us. What are your thoughts? |
Benji Bruce Special user 930 Posts |
I think if we run a business then it is our job to know which clients we want to work for and which ones we don't.
We should have our own set of rules in place that "flag" us on who we're dealing with. Every entertainer should know who he wants to perform for and who he doesn't Ex: If a client isn't willing to pay 50% deposit fee then don't they can't book the gig....or if a client is haggling over price then cut them as a client because in the future they will be more of a burden. I don't see a need for a database because it is our fault if we deal with the wrong clients...not theirs. |
dearwiseone Inner circle Portland, OR 1143 Posts |
Matthew,
I like it, it's a great idea. Something that comprehensive is going to be a huge project, but if it ever got up and running it could be a good resource for service providers such as ourselves. There are some details we'd have to work out, like the practicality of running a search of each name you book, etc., but it's a good idea! Kevin |
Mystical Matthew Elite user 468 Posts |
I agree Benji... To an extent. I use deposits and filter out a lot of crap via screening.
I had an experience recently... I'm not going to air my dirty laundry on the Café. Suffice it to say this woman seemed completely sane until the gig day. Pre-screening works... I agree... But it's not 100%. I'm sure everyone who does this enough has the experience of "that one person" who got through the filter. I've talked to a number of people who are full-time pro's and they all have horror stories. What I'm talking about is for the 0.001% who you could go years before running into, but creates a huge mess when you do... |
Benji Bruce Special user 930 Posts |
Is it worth it to spend your time on that 0.001% ?
I'm not saying that it doesn't happen. I'm saying that instead of focusing your time on the small percentage of people who screw you, focus your time on the people you like working with. (I'm a firm believer in the 80/20 Principle) |
dearwiseone Inner circle Portland, OR 1143 Posts |
Good call guys. I guess if you have other measures in place for minimizing the frequency with which this happens, a database may not be necessary or worth it.
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Mystical Matthew Elite user 468 Posts |
Perhaps. You're probably right. The whole concept would be dependent on people actually using it.
I was wavering on whether building it would be worth my trouble or not. If the general consensus is "meh... I don't run into it enough to bother" then I have many other projects that really need my attention! ;-) |
TomBoleware Inner circle Hattiesburg, Ms 3163 Posts |
Surely someone would sue you for having their name on the list.
Win or lose, it's not cheap going to court. But an upset Mom could force you there. I say, don't let it get to you, and just enjoy such a low, low, very low, rate of unsatisfied customers. Tom
The Daycare Magician Book
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/amazekids/the-daycare-magician/ My Blog - https://boleware.blogspot.com/ |
danfreed Inner circle West Chester PA 1354 Posts |
You also have to watch out for sleazy competitors pretending to be clients and leaving bad feedback online. It happens.
Dan Freed
AKA The Amazing Spaghetti https://www.magiciandanfreed.com/birthday-party-magician-for-kids http://thecaricatureartist.com http://danieljayfreed.com |
Leland Inner circle St Louis 1180 Posts |
Great idea but it does have its problems to solve before moving ahead.
Like Tom said if 1 mom sees her name on that list a phone call will surely follow then you will find yourself in deep water. Is it worth it? How do we get around that? Like I said great idea but...?
Life of Magic!
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Close.Up.Dave Inner circle Behind you! 2956 Posts |
This seemed like a relevant blog post for this thread.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/......FaceBook One has to realize though, there are two big ways (but not the only ways) that this could happen. 1. A person is psycho and does everything they can to make your life hell. That's just how they are. 2. Its one of those situations where no matter what you do, things are constantly going wrong. It happens to the best of us. A reasonable person will be understanding in situation 2. They may write a bad review, but could be wise enough to know when things simply go wrong and mention that in the post. The psychotic person in 1 probably goes out of their way to make people's lives hell. Once they're done with you, they move on to the next. They could be so wrapped up in their own misery that they don't even have time to write bad reviews because their life is so clouded in negativity with everyone they meet. I've met plenty of people like that in life, and I truly feel sorry for them. Sometimes people also bring their own life's problems into the situation too and take it out on the service they are using (dinner was bad and they were late to the show, so they didn't even feel like they could enjoy it). If you're good at what you do, the positive reviews will outweigh the negatives. I've seen some bad reviews for Steve Cohen's Chamber magic on a popular website, but they were way outnumbered to the positive ones. |
Howie Diddot Inner circle San Francisco & Los Angeles California 3288 Posts |
You can call it the Better Client Bureau
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Decomposed Eternal Order High Desert 12059 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-10-26 01:57, danfreed wrote: Boy that would get my blood boiling!
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theinternetguru Elite user I hacked the Café but I still only have 426 Posts |
Yeah I did that for some guy named Candini and I feel bad about it now.
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