S.T.E.P.S!
Simple Techniques Equipping Personal Success!
“Making the Call”
Written by: Sheree’ Spoltore’
President, Global Songwriters Connection
This is a GSC FREE SERVICE article! I trust this information will equip YOU for your first industry call! If you like what you are reading, please become a member to see more.
1. Be prepared to take notes! What is happening on the other end of the phone at the industry office! Most music industry offices are processing hundreds of calls a day. You can set yourself apart by being brief, being short and specific with your need or question and being prepared to take note of the information provided. Industry professional in any business simply do not have the time to wait for you find a pen or paper or other means of taking a note. The company you called may actually provide you with a referral and most often to a company like GSC.
Try to catch the NAME of the person who answers the phone and use that name during your conversation. Don’t we all appreciate the professional who calls us by name? The person answering the phone is more than a facilitator of your request and a receptionist; they are usually the hub of the company, “in the know” and connected to what is happening in all departments. Today’s receptionist may be tomorrow’s Vice President of that same company. Respect and kindness make all the difference for both you and the person on the end of the phone.
2. Be brief, starting with your introduction of yourself. Do you have your elevator speech prepared? Don’t know what an elevator speech is? Here is the Wikipedia definition;
An elevator pitch, elevator speech, or elevator statement is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a person, profession, product, service, organization or event and its value proposition. The name “Elevator Pitch” reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes.
I know you have been waiting all your life to finally connect with someone and tell them your amazing story. You will get the chance to tell your story! However, the receptionist at XYZ company doesn’t have the time to hear about how you started singing when you were three years old even though that is important information for when you do make an industry connection.
Some of you reading this may be fearless! Perhaps, you may make sales calls every day in your business and are well trained in this process. It is interesting to note, however, that many business professionals also feel a bit of butterflies and forget their professional training when it comes to applying this skill-set to themselves and their music. For the creator, music is not like any other business. It is a matter of the heart.
Some of you may feel very nervous about that first call and many subsequent calls. When you are prepared, you will speak with more confidence! So may we suggest that you prepare a brief introduction of yourself and include these points.
1. Introduce yourself in less than a minute.
2. Practice saying it with genuine feeling and tone.
3. Provide your name
4. Where you are from
5. Identify whether you are an artist, a songwriter, a lyricist, etc
6. Be specific with your need.
Below are a couple of examples for you.
”Hi my name is Sheree’ Spoltore’ and I am a songwriter from Arkansas. I’ve been writing for years but I am just getting officially started in the music business and was wondering what you would suggest as a first step for me?”
Or
“Hi my name is Lou Spoltore’ and I am a successful indie artist from Philadelphia, doing about 50 to 60 gigs a year, and I wondered if you could direct me to someone or a company that might could help me take my career to the next level?”
GSC serves songwriters of all genres and we would love to be your first call! Our number is 615-732-8832.
3. Be specific with your questions! Huge general question like “How do I become a star?” or “How do I sell my song?” A songwriter, who is new to the industry will frequently say, “I just wrote my first song and was wondering if you could get ‘fill in the blank superstar artist name’ to sing my song for me?”
These types of questions, usually instantly identify you to an industry person as a beginner in the business. Now everyone who has ever been a success in this industry was a beginner at some point! However, at GSC we can expedite your progress in your process by positioning you to succeed with information like this article, or our videos, or mentoring connections.
Be ready with a question like “My name is John Smith. I am a beginning songwriter from Kansas, and I want to be a successful songwriter. How would you recommend that I get started?” State your goal. Usually, when people are made aware of a specific need they like to try to help. You might say “Hi my name is Jane Smith, and I have been writing songs for years as a hobby, but now that I am retired I am really wanting focus on my songwriting and see if I can create some success with my writing.” Or “learn more about how songs get to the radio.” Or “learn how publishing or licensing a song works.”
4. Research the company you are calling via internet and you will often find the name of the person who can answer your questions and can ask for them by name. It is important to know what a company does, what they can do for you and more importantly what they can’t do for you! Knowledge and information gives you confidence! The only difference between you and someone who has been working in the music industry for five years is experience and information.
At GSC we assess where you are in the development process and assist you every step of the way towards your goals with knowledge and information. There are a lot of different music companies, music services companies and you can’t always tell by the name exactly what service a company may provide.
It is also important to understand the different music industry roles and what responsibilities fall under those roles. The responsibilities of an industry professional will tell you how that industry pro can help you.
Get prepared before you call by looking up the company you are interested in on line, read the bio of the person you may be speaking with, and getting an understanding of how that company and that person can assist you. Trust me, they will be impressed that you have done your homework and that you know and understand what they do for a living on a daily basis. We are so glad that you found GSC!
5. Keep a daily records of who you connected with. In the music industry, professionals are often moving from company to company as consolidations, buy outs, and growth take place. You may actually talk with someone who make work at two or three different companies during the relationship development process.
Validation! It is also a great record to look over at the end of the year as each call represents growth and progress. This record keeping is a great learning tool and networking tool for you and before you realize it, you will know the names of industry professionals in companies all over the world. What great validation that you are making progress in your process!
