I was in York on Sunday and was lucky enough to come across Buskival – a festival of busking around the City. As well as being thoroughly entertained by some incredibly talented people, there were some great lessons there for anyone who is responsible for finding, attracting and engaging with customers – there were some real 3D Thinkers there!
So, what were the lessons? Well, here are 5 of them….
1. Be Dramatically And Demonstrable Different! Crowded busy marketplaces, massive choice, lots of things trying to attract our attention, everything quickly on the move – sound familiar? Well, just like in the ‘real world’, it was the acts that ‘dared to be different’ were the ones that stood out – For example, the 10 foot tall army generals and Moaning Lisa, a guy dressed as Mona Lisa who moaned at people as they went past (think you had to be there for that one, but you can see the image to see what I mean!).
2. Choose ‘Em Or Lose ‘Em! Finding the right spot to target and attract people was clearly a factor for success, and it was interesting to watch the acts focus on the people that they wanted to engage as they passed them!
3. It’s All About Engagement! Simply doing the act is clearly not enough – the winners were the ones who worked extremely hard engaging with their audience – having conversations, personalising the experience, and interacting and reacting with individual customers was clearly a key factor for success. The amazing chainsaw juggler Dynamike from Canada had ongoing conversations with lots of people, and got quite a few of them actively involved in his act.
4. Create A Buzz! A key factor for success was getting the customers to shout, cheer and make a noise, and thus attract more inquisitive customers! The ‘delighted’ customers attracted other customers by their cheers – It’s all about the power of ‘word of mouth’!
5. Maximise Relationships! Getting customers to pay a ‘premium price’ is a challenge for many businesses. Getting customers to pay is a challenge for these guys! They actually get rewarded by what their customers are prepared to pay AFTER the event (imagine asking your customers to pay you whatever they thought it was worth it after you’ve delivered). As a result, they do all they can to maximise the opportunity – one of the ways employed by the amazing chainsaw juggler Dynamike was to manage customers expectations and ‘educate’ them about what he thought they should pay and letting them know what had gone into preparing and developing his act. From the amount of money put in his big red and white hat, he seemed to do it very well!
So, what does it all mean for your business? Well, think about the 5 lessons and see how you measure up?
- What’s your ‘Dramatic Difference’?
- Are your marketing efforts focused on attracting the right customers?
- How do you ‘engage’ with your customers?
- What do you do to get them talking about you to others?
- How do you get the best from your customers?
