Customology:  the art and science of how to find, keep and grow your customers.

Michael Caine (the actor) told Michael Parkinson that his acting coach told him that rehearsals were the performance, and that the actual filming or being on stage on was the relaxation after the performance.   And that is how it is with business.

Rehearsals are where all the work gets done to ensure a relaxed Opening Night and season.  Tepid rehearsals, tepid results.

With this in mind, I believe we can split our businesses into two:  Back Stage and Front of House.  Both have separate disciplines but when combined, produce magic – showtime!... and delighted customers!

So, let’s start with Back Stage:

The Back Stage is the engine room to your business.  It requires you to get serious about your upcoming performance.  Here are some things it entails:

Backstage (aka Operations)

Business Plan:    Think of it as your Script.   A map giving you direction as to the various scenes, the content of each scene , the role you play, other actors and bit players.  It clearly outlines your story and, step by step, you move towards the finale...

Policies, Procedures +Promises:  The stuff you and all the players have to know.  Your rates of pay, your entitlements, Occupational Health + Safety standards, the way you are to relate to your audience – all of these (and much more) are covered in your 3Ps.

Legislative Requirements:  You must understand any legislative requirements, laws or rules that you are required to abide by.  These should be listed, summarised and put into action as lack of knowledge is not considered a defence.

Technology:  A necessity in today’s business world.   It lessens the load and is a tool that saves you time and money.  Ensure you utilise technology to your benefit and that you don’t become a slave to it.  Whether its Telephones, Computers, PDA’s, Point of Sale, Accounting Software, or the other eleventy eight types of technology – you need it.   And, you need to know how to utilise ALL of it.  No point in having brilliant technology if you don’t know how to use it.  

Skills:  Whether they be Negotiation Skills, Communication Skills, Marketing Know How, Sales Skills, Technical Skills, Accounting, Visual Merchandising, etc. etc.  – if you need them, make sure you’ve got them.    Enrol in courses, seminars and training programs.

Human Resources:  No point having the best show in town if you don’t have the necessary actors to perform it.  Ensure you get the right people with the right values and work ethic.   People who want to represent what you have to offer in a professional manner.

The Bridge

Some tasks bridge both the Back Stage area and the Front of House.   Usually the bridge works this way:   the planning and preparation is part of the Back Stage discipline;  the implementation and results become part of the Front of House.

Some of these bridging areas are HR, Marketing, Visual Merchandising + Display, Website.

Let’s take Marketing as an example:

The Back Stage disciplines require a Marketing Plan and Marketing Calendar to be produced whereby you decide on strategies and tactics  to let the audience know that you exist!   The preparation of these along with your various advertisements, promotions, flyers, business cards, letterheads, signage, ticketing, logos, etc all fall within your Back Stage Department.

However, once your strategies and tactics are implemented and out on show – it very fast becomes part of the Front of House, attracting your audience (or not, as the case may be...)

However, once your audience opens your door and enters (or hits your website, or makes contact with you) this is when the Front of House comes to the fore.   It’s about the ‘feel’, the ‘vibe’ people get; the atmosphere, the excitement (or not), the goods or services on display, price points, effectiveness of staff to translate interest into sales.

Always remember that:

1. To attract more customers you must MARKET;
2. To increase your average sale to each customer you must SELL;
3. To have customers return more often you must offer SERVICE.

And you can’t get them out of order.

What if:

You have brilliant marketing but dismal sales and service?

You are a fabulous salesperson but are dismal at marketing?

You have brilliant service but dismal sales?

The measurement of how successful you’ve been with your strategies, once again  becomes part of your Back Stage.  And so it goes.  The show must go on, tweaking and improving as it goes!  And the customer judges it all as CUSTOMER SERVICE, nothing more, nothing less.

Debra Templar


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