17
Attracting the Client: Record, Film, and Television Companies
Once you've got your program together for the marketing and promotion of your facility, you can concentrate on the nuances of attracting the busy clients who require the services that your studio niche provides in your market area. The key here is to understand the difference between the overall image of your facility, discussed in the preceding chapter, and the subtleties of attracting a specific client from a specific genre of music entertainment to your studio.
For some studios just starting out in the music recording business, the record companies represent the “client.” To others it is the film or television company, or the local radio station. To be successful, you have to deal with them, because they pay the bills, in almost every case, for the artists and producers/engineers who make the choice to record in your studio. It requires a multitude of skills and diplomacy to forge and maintain a relationship with these decision makers, who have their hands on the purse strings and maintain veto power over whether their creative personnel will work with you or with another studio. So, the first lesson to learn is that you have two clients, not one. You must satisfy both the entity (Columbia Records as an example) and the producer and/or audio engineer (and sometimes the creative artist, as well) to get the gig. I'll bet you never thought it would be this difficult, requiring such a large amount of time just to book a session.
If you ask a record label A&R exec or an A&R administration person to describe the process that makes him or her feel comfortable with your studio, inevitably you will hear “reputation.” By that they mean they have learned to trust you to charge a fair price for the service you perform and to do it on time, on budget, and up to their technical standards—or to let them know the reason why, before there is a problem. This will put your studio on their “approved” list, along with your competition for a particular budget level of project. The project administrator should become your best friend, because he is the one who knows what the rest of the client chain of people are thinking and doing. Why? Because all of the invoices go through the administrator's hands, from all vendor sources for the project. He or she then knows how much has already been spent, where and by whom, and how much is left to finish the project. By acquiring this information you can quickly discover whether or not it makes good business sense to get your facility involved, or whether it is too late. Find out if the potential new client is already committed to some other facility and therefore not worth your effort or time to acquire the project.
There are certain basic axioms that almost always apply to acquiring clients:
1. You have the right equipment that works all of the time within spec and have the right people available to quickly fix it if, God forbid, it should stop. Nothing sours a client, particularly a visual client (film or television), faster than late starts, breakdowns, or inadequate tech maintenance. Very little makes them happier than to compare your studio's sound with a tape from another much more expensive studio and decide that your studio “sounds better.” That makes you a hero.
2. You must know how to help them juggle all of the egos involved in making their music better in the arena of your studio. The performing artist, the corporate client or artist manager, the producer/engineer, and the A&R person who is the project manager for the record label—all must be kept happy or you will definitely hear about it. The all-important project administrator or film/television production company gives you your purchase order and processes the necessary approvals of your invoices so that you will/may get paid. You learn quickly to keep all of these people happy, or you don't get the next project. Soon afterwards, there will be no projects.
3. You must never spend their money without their permission, if you want to get paid or expect them to give you a purchase order ever again. The session participants will always want “stuff” to make them feel more comfortable, or a special piece of gear (which you don't own and have to rent) in the middle of the night when there is no project administrator to give you authorization. If you fall into this trap, you will lose a great deal of money. Only you can decide whether to give them what they want, as most of the time you will be the person paying for it—because there was no preapproval from the client.
4. The atmosphere of your studio and the attitude of your staff will go a long way to cover up any small mistakes. The client is there to make his music, and if he does it better, faster, and for less money than with your competitor down the street, you win. This is particularly true with visual clients, who are always on a tight money and time budget. Your time efficiency with them scores on the same level as the efficiency of your equipment. This is still a word-of-mouth business, and a lower price than the competition is only one important factor that will be considered.
The key, once you get the business in the door, is the comfort level of the creative people. Why else do studios have games, Jacuzzis, pretty receptionists, and free food and drink? A comfortable client makes better music. An uptight client makes no music at all. Your studio is judged by myriad occurrences that cause good or bad music to be made. How much “trouble” the client had in your studio is the measure of whether you won or lost. Remember, clients are never at fault, whether they truly are or not. “The client is always right”—a key axiom of successful creative businesses. The important question in your mind should be whether the artist/producer/engineer/A&R people or visual supervisors want to come back to your facility for their next project. Will they tell other people who do what they do that they had a successful experience at your studio? Your future profitability depends upon it.
Once you have established your reputation, the social interaction of maintaining the relationship with the client begins. If they don't know who you are or the quality of the recorded audio that emanates from your studio, there is very little you can do except give the time away. As Rose Mann-Cherney, the president of today's Record Plant and the rarely disputed queen of the “happy bookers” says, “If you don't hang out and keep calling them until you get them into your rooms, they aren't going to make their music with you. It's like having a baby. You want people who care about you around all the time until it's born—then it's all yours! You must maintain the balance between the creative and the business side of your studio; you have to have them both together all of the time, or the client will go to your competitor.” That attitude has made her one of the most influential executives in the recording studio business.
Forge ahead and maintain your momentum. You have to do it your own way, but some of the best maxims are derived from plain common sense. Hang out—at clubs, concerts, and music industry association events. Go anyplace you can meet and greet the clients you seek. This does not have to cost a lot of money. That comes later, after the personalities you have attracted and won feel that you owe them something. Mail your literature and any PR you can get to them, so that they become familiar with your studio's name. Meet and greet. Follow your phone call or mailer with a short visit, or another phone call if you aren't located near them, to introduce yourself and to ask their project's decision-making representative if there is any way in which you can improve the services your studio is providing. They want to see and speak to the person with whom they are dealing, and learn about any news or changes regarding what is going on in the professional audio facility world. It is your job to provide that information to them on a regular and continuing basis.
One of the most important reasons you are in the studio business is that you believe your facility can provide better music and other audio elements, and do what you do better than the others in your market. You need a special niche to attract the client. You will see that emphasized throughout this book.
Getting your reputation together and maintaining the relationships you make with your client companies through reliable, caring service and your personal interaction with them will be the factors they will demand before they allow you to make their music. Your best tool with your client list is to get their attention and keep it, by e-mail, phone, and fax. We are in a communication business. It is an “every day give me an update” world in which we live. Today is what matters. Tomorrow is not here yet, and yesterday is history.