6 Reasons to hire an Entertainment Consultant:
Consultants are being brought in to help companies around the world providing expertise in the field they know.
Presently there are many entertainment agencies throughout the UK, but very few can offer expertise having gained experience from being a performer, a venue owner and an agent. Even then if they have all areas of experience, have they got the business acumen and strategies to develop and consult venues and companies to improve standards, increase the amount of customers coming through the doors to watch live shows, increase profits, create memorable experiences for customers, devise new “up selling” ideas and ensure that processes can be set in place to ensure that customer experiences are equally as good as the last, every single time?
Times are changing and consumers expect a lot more for their money. You can’t just book any act that sends an email to your venue looking for a gig and expect it to be a busy night when you put a poster up in the loo saying “dynamic female vocalist performing here.”
We are on a quest to provide expertise, knowledge and ideas to create exciting customer experiences and outstanding live entertainment to holiday parks, casinos, hotels and resorts to make venues and live performance events stand out again, with a purpose for the venue/client hosting the event, eg. to make a profit, build a name, attract new customers.
So to get you started, here are 6 reasons why you should hire an Entertainment Consultant.
#1 Expertise – An Entertainment Consultant will have the skills and expertise that your own staff may lack.
For example, have you been booking live entertainment for a while? Is it attracting customers? Is it increasing profits? If it’s not, then what is going wrong?
Hire an entertainment consultant to assess why the live entertainment at your venue is not creating a good impression, making social nights busy and increasing profits.
You may well book your entertainment with a well-established entertainment agency, but unless they asses your venue, demographic and your business and unless they have vast experience, it can be pointless letting them decide on which live entertainment will suit your venue.
Many entertainment agencies can recommend suitable live entertainment to suit your venue and budget, but by hiring an entertainment consultant risks can be reduced, because there is less “guess work”. They are not guessing which entertainment will suit. They make factual assessments, they work alongside you and your staff, they assess your customers and demographic, your venue and budget and make judgements based on these facts.
An entertainment consultant will be able to devise a suitable package of entertainment ideas and marketing strategies that will increase footfall and revenue in your venue. Don’t guess, don’t leave it to trial and error and then earn a bad reputation for having rubbish entertainment. Get it right first time.
#2 Identify Issues
Sometimes employees are too close to a problem to recognise them. That’s where a non-biased consultant will come in and assess where processes may be going wrong. They will then be able to provide you with a fresh, objective or viewpoint and strategies that will deliver results and make improvements. They will bring an analytical approach to resolve issues and lead the way forward. These issues may not only surround “live entertainment,” but the issues could be surrounds the over all experience from the moment your customer arrives, to how they obtain their drinks, to the fluidity of the event overall. Its similar to a “Mystery Shopper” experience, but suited to the world of entertainment and experiences.
After initial assessments are made, a consultant will provide you with a proven step by step report of processes to enable success with the project at hand. This methodology will be built and created through their experiences, facts and knowledge. Thus saving you time trialling various techniques and methods which may or may not work and of course normal daily operations within the company can continue.
#3 To Implement Change
No one likes change, especially not when it makes a person look like they have not been capable of fulfilling their duties. So when a change is needed, a consultant can implement changes without worrying about the “corporate culture,” employee morale, or other issues that tend to elicit high emotions. The suggested changes will of course be assessed and vetted by management/owners and the best practises for training and implementation of the new procedures would be put in place.
#4 To Teach
An entertainment consultant has specialist skills and knowledge to teach, motivate and develop entertainment strategies, marketing strategies, customer services skills and overall customer experiences. An entertainment consultant will be aware and on trend with developments in the industry, which can be passed on to you and your employees.
#5 Time
Time is always a critical factor. Who in your company has the time to make assessments, gather analytics and implement new developments and strategies? Many senior members of staff already have their days full with important tasks and by implementing another project could be detrimental to daily business functions. An Entertainment Consultant would be dedicated solely to this project and without interuption will be able to take on the full role of improving and developing the areas required.
#6 To assist with a venue Launch
Start off on the right foot. Don’t second guess entertainment. Don’t second guess what your customers want to experience, know it! Perfect strategies and implement procedures across the board that will work for your venue(s). As the great Michael Gerber says “If your thinking is sloppy, your business will be sloppy. If you are disorganised, your business will be disorganised. If you are greedy, your employees will be greedy, giving you less and less of themselves and always asking for more.”
You never need to worry about company secrets or information being leaked. A professional entertainment consultant, like other professional industry consultants subscribes to a code of ethics and has a prepared confidentiality agreement which is treated as if in force.
For more information, pricing and how we can help you improve footfall, create entertainment experiences that make a valuable impression contact Paula Bolton FEAA at Franklin-James Entertainment Consultancy on 01494 682800 or email info@franklin-james.co.uk
