Perhaps I Need Not Have Worried

by:

Joe Patti

A week or so ago I wondered if a radio ad rep was sabotaging his career at his corporate owned station by spending so much time working with me. I actually emailed him to that effect expressing my appreciation as well as my concern that he not lose his job. He wrote back telling me not to worry.

Today he came to meet with me for a 3rd time in 3 weeks. He has spent close to 6 hours just talking with me now. I feel a little better about his job security for two reasons- 1- He talked money today so he was no longer enshrouded by the aura of unconcerned benevolence and 2- He brought in a sheet from a Post-It self stick easel pad filled with ideas from a brainstorm session.

From the brain storm session I can assume that his company as a stronger customer-service focus than I thought. Ultimately, I think it worked for him. He suggested that I invest twice as much with them this year as last which means I will have to do less print advertising. I was going to anyway, but now it is a necessity since it will eat a big chunk of my marketing budget.

I felt uneasy about this but because of the relationship I have developed with him, I didn’t mind telling him that. However, because I was comfortable telling him that I was uneasy, I felt even more confident that this would be money wisely invested. As the objective part of my brain analyzed this reaction from the subjective part, I realized I was learning a lesson in just how powerful good customer service can be.

Later I got an email from one of my partners saying a group we are presenting in March wanted to know if their CDs could be printed in Hawaii rather than paying the cost to ship them. I called my guy at the radio station, (he is also a local musician so he knows a bit about the publishing side too), and within a fifteen minutes had an answer for me plus an to pass on to the group from a distributor to be their Pacific Rim distributor.

Yeah, I know it is called networking and good customer service, it is probably run of the mill everywhere in the business world. But having worked for non-profits that don’t have a lot of cash to toss around, I have rarely been on the receiving end so I will cherish it while I am getting it.

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Author
Joe Patti

I have been writing Butts in the Seats (BitS) on topics of arts and cultural administration since 2004 (yikes!). Given the ever evolving concerns facing the sector, I have yet to exhaust the available subject matter. In addition to BitS, I am a founding contributor to the ArtsHacker (artshacker.com) website where I focus on topics related to boards, law, governance, policy and practice.

I am also an evangelist for the effort to Build Public Will For Arts and Culture being helmed by Arts Midwest and the Metropolitan Group (details).

My most recent role is as Theater Manager at the Rialto in Loveland, CO.

Among the things I am most proud are having produced an opera in the Hawaiian language and a dance drama about Hawaii's snow goddess Poli'ahu while working as a Theater Manager in Hawaii. Though there are many more highlights than there is space here to list.

Meeting from Afar

Art and Vocation

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