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Growing Glowing Relationships

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Relationships rely on loyalty, communication and constant effort. That is why I maintain an unwavering relationship with Benjamin Franklin. When I nurture my relationship with Benjamin, he takes care of my family and me.

Relationships like these are the cornerstone of our boutique industry. Concert lighting is a niche market that feels big when you look at it from the inside but appears miniscule when viewed from the outside. We cannot apply the same tools and techniques from other industries to our unique profession. Google, Amazon and Walmart tactics cannot benefit our bottom line the same way that a few drinks at Center Bar would. Just because Jon-Bon-Gaga-Timberfake rented a hundred thousand dollars worth of gear this year does not mean that anyone can expect him to rent a hundred-and-twenty-thousand the next year. Time after time, spreadsheets filled with expectations will disillusion even the most optimistic sales person. The best tool that we have in our business is our personality, our relationships and ourselves. Please allow me a thousand-or-so words to remind ourselves of the most precious relationships that we currently have going for us.

‡‡         Vendor Relationships

Successful lighting vendors know better than anyone about the power of relationships. The relationship that they make today may turn into the life-long client next year. It is their job to make, solidify and maintain relationships for their company. However, we all know that the relationships that they make, they keep. I know several clients who have gladly switched from one vendor to another just because their favorite rep transferred from one company to another. Maintain contact with your vendors. Reach out if you are in their town or vice versa. Take a tour of the shop even if you have already seen it. Go to lunch whenever possible. You may not be looking for gear today, but you will be, and when you do, that relationship will be more useful than you currently recognize. If you are the fifth electrician on the tour and the lighting director invites you out for drinks on the vendor, you should go. You may be the low man on the totem pole today, but in ten years, you will need to know the name of that vendor and they will need to know yours. If nothing else, it’s free drinks. Benjamin Franklin prefers when I drink for free.

Accept the dinner offers. Go to dinner with your local vendors whenever your spouse is away. More inside information is shared at vendor dinners than the entirety of all of the trade magazines in the world. (Except PLSN, of course.) Real relationships are forged over the dinner table. More industry-advancing relationships have matured in hotel lobbies, boutique bistros and uber chic gastro-pubs than the floors of all the trade shows that Reno ever hosted. Your vendor has a budget for dinners. The accountants will always balk at the dinner expenses at first, but when the orders keep rolling in from their dinner guests, the dinner expenses just wash away. They have to eat, you have to eat, and we might as well eat together and talk about how we can help each other out. If nothing else, it’s free food. Benjamin Franklin prefers when I eat for free.

‡‡         Client Relationships

Maintain client relationships by whatever means possible. Your clients are the difference between sitting around the house and sitting front of house. I love sitting around the house, but my bank account prefers that I sit front of house. Your clients will forget you if you don’t remind them often about your skills, your abilities and your availability. I get embarrassed when I have been sitting home for a few days and I have to email some of my best clients that I am available for a month or two. However, I do it. I try not to come off desperate but I also don’t want to sound too cocky. I take the time to remind them that I did a good job for them before and I would be willing to do it again.

Timely, efficient communication should be a priority with your clients. Of course, communication with a single client should not unreasonably encroach on your personal time or negatively affect your productivity. However, being available demonstrates that your client’s project and satisfaction are important to you. In addition to timely and thorough communication, it’s also important to make your clients feel comfortable being open and honest with you. They should feel that their ideas and concerns are taken seriously. Benjamin Franklin appreciates consistent client relationships.

‡‡         Home Relationships

Never underestimate the importance of your relationships outside of work. A well maintained home relationship would last longer and be infinitely more fulfilling than any professional relationship. Without a home relationship, your professional relationship will leave you wanting more. Your hard work will put food in your Frigidaire but leave your heart craving contentment. Catering doesn’t serve contentment. Remember to video chat your significant other whenever you can. Remind them that you are thinking of them when you are away. Talk to your kids from wherever you are. Listen to them no matter how hard it is to concentrate on their rambling stories about the brown dog during recess that licked them through the fence yesterday. Talk to your parents. Call your parents more than once a year. They’re probably doing just fine, but it’s good to check up just because. Invite them to the shows that you can and explain why you don’t have time to visit them when you are in town and can’t sneak away for even a lunch when you are busy. Benjamin Franklin understands that you need a family to be a complete person.

‡‡         Phone Relationships

It would be naïve not to mention that we have a relationship with our smartphones. The majority of us are freelance professionals who need to respond to questions and offers immediately if not sooner. We need to be readily accessible and willing to drop menial tasks in order to respond to text support calls at all hours. We spend more time on our smartphones than we care to. We do it because we know that if we aren’t the first ones to respond to a job offer, we may lose that gig in a heartbeat. Finding a balanced relationship with technology and our physical surroundings requires perseverance on and off the clock. Putting the phone away during long programming sessions can be beneficial. We also need to be able to pick up our phones for that last second text to figure out a macro that would otherwise take us two hours to figure out. Benjamin understands.

‡‡         Growing and Glowing

Most of the information in this article is self-evident, but easily forgotten. In the end, relationships are the only things that matter. The more often we acknowledge our need for secure relationships, the more often we will make the time to cultivate solid accords. Forgetting to make relationships a top priority happens when we start to believe that we can do everything on our own. I am as guilty of this as any. Benjamin laughs at me every time I start to think I can do anything without him.