Don't make your best clients stand in line for the good tickets!
Miss Elsie Tydings, who had the distinction of purchasing the first ticket sold for a World Series. She was no. 1 in line this morning. Washington, DC, 1924. Library of Congress.

My husband is a big time Beatles collector. Paul has been his favorite of the Fab Four since he was a little kid, and their music spurred him to get into the radio business. So when Paul McCartney added a show nearby, he was salivating. “I’m a member of the Fan Club, so we’ll be able to buy tickets before they go on sale to the public. We’ll have great seats!” he announced confidently.

The Paul McCartney Fan Club site announced the exclusive sale for Friday at 9 a.m. But imagine his shock when he found out from social media sites that the “exclusive” sale for Fan Club members from our area – PAYING Fan Club members – had been thrown in with that of another city and had taken place three days earlier! The fan tickets were all sold out! And nothing on the Fan Club website reflected the change, the sell-out – NOTHING.

He tried to get tickets as they went on sale to the general public, but the only ones that were available were in the nose-bleed section of the arena. And then, in an instant, the show was sold out. Social media was filled with comments from angry fans who opined that the ticket sale was a “cluster-.” And my husband couldn't understand how he – who has been a fan forever, who is a card-carrying Fan Club member, and who had his credit card ready – could not get tickets.

This may be how your top clients in media sales feel sometimes.

• You may not know for a fact who your top clients are. You might be surprised that the advertiser who demands the most may not be the most active and the most loyal. If you don’t know who your top clients are, use your CRM software to pull billing reports and find out. You may find yourself thinking “Maybe I’m Amazed!”
• Communicate more with those top clients. In media sales, we often ignore the long-term client who doesn't take as much work. But we can keep their loyalty by making them as much a part of our business as we are of theirs, and by letting them know what is going on “From Me to You.”
• If there is a sponsorship, a spot in a special show, or a one-shot opportunity, offer it to them first. They have been with you for a long time. They love you because you are part of their business plan. Don’t use the special stuff to lure in other advertisers. Your tried-and-true clients are saying, “Please please me, oh yeah, like I please you.”
• Make them feel special. Keep track of what your contacts like. Take them to lunch, give them the movie tickets. They are the ones who will appreciate it and will pay you back. Give them “All My Loving.”
• People talk, and one bad experience can prompt even your best clients to compare notes. Give them only good experiences to share when they talk among themselves and they’ll say, “Do You Want to Know a Secret?”

“I Want to Tell You,” your best clients are saying. “You Really Got a Hold on Me,” so “Don’t Let Me Down.”

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