LET’s OPEN YOUR MIND.
I will be doing a Facebook Live on this topic to answer any questions you have. So write them down as you read this blog and submit them to me using the link below:
The Facebook Live will be announced on my Facebook business page, my Instagram and email newsletter, so stay connected with me using the links below:
Before I get started, by all means, this blog is NOT for you to justify you trying to tell a Staffer how to do their job. This blog is NOT for you to use as a tool to give a Staffer a piece of your mind. This blog is NOT for you to feel like you now know the ends and out of what your Staffer is doing on a day to day basis. This blog is ONLY written to provide a small piece of clarity to your “why“ questions. Are you prepared for this long blog?
NOTE: If I find out that I need to take this post down because people are misusing this information, 🤦🏾♀️ ... just don’t do it. Misusing this blog is only going to hurt yourself and not me. Again, if you have questions about this blog, feel free to message me by using the link listed above or through a private message on my Facebook business page:
www.facebook.com/TheRockstarPromo
WHEW! This was a heavy blog to write. Which is why I will be going Facebook Live on this topic to answer your questions on this manner. I tried to keep this blog light. I want you to understand that I understand your point of point. I want you to feel that I am here to help you gain a better understanding to some things I know. I started out in the industry as a promo and after being on the other side of the fence as a Staffer, I had the opportunity to see why there are some disconnects. I also understand why some disconnects are left as such. Some of the things I blog about in my blog section, I wasn’t permitted to speak on simply because it can get misconstrued as me speaking on behalf of the company. But now that I have decided to be an independent contractor, I have more elbow room to speak on sensitive topics that were always ok to talk about just without being directly connected to another entity. This is why I am able to speak more freely than your other Staffers. So don’t give them the side eye 🙃.
In this blog I want to walk you through a PIECE of my day as a Staffer. Just like when you eat at a buffet and there’s a meat carver present. The meat carver gives you a slice or two of the meat. Thanks what I’m giving you in this blog. This is a slice of what a Staffer does in a day. Mmmk.
Now what I’m going to walk you through is a perfect alignment of all things working as planned. Meaning that in the real world, it doesn’t always go this smoothly. Staffers get assigned events at any given time but there are events we get assigned to well in advance. This example will be a time where assignments were assigned well in advance during a slow season, in a perfect world.
MONDAY
A perfect situation for me is walking into the office on a Monday. Check my assigned events and I go event by event. Others may go by task (for instance, the task may be send out event email notifications. So those who work task by task will do this task for all of their events and then move on to the next task to do for each event). I don’t do that 🤷🏽♀️. Some events can have more progress than others so that method doesn’t work for me. Like I said, I go event by event. I prioritize my events, so I can start working on my first event.
1) Locate all the details I need for this event
2) Request any details I need for this event
3) Compose the event email, if I have all the information I need
4) Send out the event email to the market
5) Post the event in portals or social media or job boards
6) If I know staff members who I think will be a good fit, I reach out to them personally (but that doesn’t mean that they’re available or even want the event). Sometimes I may do this step without even having to send out an event email to the market because I have rapport with good staff members (but if enough folks are not available, then of course I send out the emails, etc.). 7) Repeat these steps for all of my events, event by event. Sometimes this takes all day. I have meetings to attend, interviews I’m probably conducting, a training class, payroll to complete, etc. So depending on how many events I am assigned and the market I am staffing out of, all day is about right. I make Mondays my long days. Mondays I don’t leave the office until all my event emails/notifications are sent out
Keep in mind, I’m getting other emails that need to be answered which I go into some detail later in this blog and have meetings to attend plus reports to submit because you must understand that everything isn’t due on the same due dates. There are many small parts that are consistently running at the same time that must be juggled in too.
TUESDAY
I liked to give at least give 24 hours before I start selecting staff members from the responses back for my event emails. Now again, not all Staffers work through their workload the same the way. This is just how I got through my workload with the tools my hiring company offered. 1) I mark all the staff members I felt met the needs of the event. 2) Checked the availability they listed in their email and then I checked the performance history of each staff member I marked. 3) Drafted out a mock schedule to see where my booking gaps were. 4) Begin to plug in my potential team in the system. 5) Send out my booking emails and if I had time or was under a time constraint, I would call and/or text that staff member so they could look it over and confirm quicker. 6) In the meantime, I would repeat these steps with the next events until I was through all my events. 7) Go back to check who has confirmed my booking emails and update their status in the system. Believe it or not, some people do not end up being available anymore because they didn’t hear back the same day. Others may have a change in their availability after they get the booking confirmation. 8) Check to make sure everyone I send out a booking email to has responded. 9) Reassess if I have any new booking gaps and now reach out to more of the staff members I marked already to see if they can fill what I have yet to book. This is what I call my second wave.
10) Call and/or text the other staff members I’m trying to book so they can look over the email and respond. 11) Repeat with my other events
12) Go back through my second responses because my goal is to get as much booked today as possible.
13) Update the booking statuses in the system.
Keep in mind, I’m still getting other emails and have phone calls to make plus performance reviews to look over because i also have to stay prepared for future events next on my list of assigned events.
WEDNESDAY
1) Check to make sure everyone that has gotten an email from me has responded because sometimes people do after I have clocked out. 2) Update the system. 3) Reassess my booking gaps if I have any left. If I do, I either keep reaching out to more of those who responded to my original email, post on social media again or set up interviews because I have ran through all those who responded who were a good fit for that event. 4) Repeat here steps with all my events. 5) Make a game plan to wrap up my loose ends for each events. Send out the necessary updates and emails in order to get my bookings done.
6) Follow up on company emails.
7) Submit reports.
Keep in mind, I’m getting other emails, reports to submit, bio presentations to put together because some events has more parts to juggle than others.
THURSDAY
1) Pray I have enough responses to fill my bookings because some markets are slow and empty. Now I may have to consider bringing other promos from other nearby markets to book some of my events if I can’t get enough referrals from those I have already booked.
2) Repeat for the rest of my events. 3) Start booking on new events that were on my assigned events list because those events are a certain amount of weeks away regardless to whatever events I have yet to finish booking that I started on that week. 4) Handle any call off-s from promos who think that telling me they can’t make it AFTER I have sent them the final event details of the event they said they were available for. Now I must update the system. Push out an event email for the shifts that staff member claims they cannot work anymore, maybe even post on social media if not try to book the referral they have lined up to be their replacement. Update the client or planner or the event manager. Update
5) Comb back through my prioritized events to tie up loose ends. 6) Revamp my game plan to get my tasks done!
7) Follow up on company emails.
8) Double check all updates are sent out. 9) Submit remaining reports.
Now imagine doing this full schedule and the client decides to increase the head count for their footprint. Or two of your promos rode together and now they have car problems.
NOTE: This is usually when the “Is This Event Booked” inquiries start rolling in, but do you see where the Staffer’s workload has advanced to at this point? Understandably so, asking this question any sooner isn’t the logical thing to do, but see where you inquiry falls on the timeline of a Staffer’s deadlines. For a Staffer to stop, look back at the event that you’re referring to (verses another event someone else emailed about with the same question) means a Staffer would have to go back in to the system and look at the event you’re talking about and so forth. Hopefully, the industry will come up with a systematic way of answering this question across the board. This is one of the pro-s of companies creating portals. However, the con to comp portals is the number of portals you now have to log into to submit for events.
FRIDAY aka Whose Grandma Passed Away Today Day
1) Finish bookings.
2) Start looking through the responses from the emails I sent out about the newest events on my list.
3) Start on next week‘s reports. 4) Find any last minute replacements needed. 5) Take a legit lunch. 6) Send out booking emails for my new events. 7) Call and/or text those staff members to get them to look over the emails you’ve sent and to confirm quickly. 8) Repeat for all my newest events I have. 9) Update the system.
SATURDAY aka Hope No One Calls Off So I Don’t Have To Find Replacement Day 1) Pray I don’t have to clock in to resolve any issues.
2) Hope I can enjoy an event without, for instance, having to help a staff member find parking at their event when they should be calling the event manager who is actually at the event location. 3) Smile if you don’t have to work at an event. 4) Breathe
SUNDAY aka Might Actually Get A Break Day
1) Relax?
WHY DO STAFFERS KEEP POSTING THE SAME EVENTS EVEN THOUGH I ALREADY APPLIED.
The client has changed their mind and has increased staff members.
Someone backed out of their booking. Someone got moved to another event. Someone got blackballed due to something they did at a previous event that occurred before their next booking (but happened after they were booked for the next booking). Read that again. Not enough people with a certain skillset responded (including you).
Someone changed their availability.
The staffer doesn’t want you. The client doesn’t want you (because believe it or not, the Staffer isn’t the one selecting who gets the booking this time)
The budget got extended to include a few extras staff members.
AND MORE!
HERE’S THE THING... That original event email that was sent out is considered COLD by now and so are the responses that pour asking for the booking (whether or not they are or not). A Staffer doesn’t have time to go back through what’s considered COLD email responses trying to figure out who is probably still available at this point. So it’s easier to just resend out the emails, post again on social media and job boards.
👉🏽WHAT SHOULD YOU DO: apply/respond again. Don’t assume so much of what is going on, on a Staffer’s end. You don’t know what’s going on. You may think you do, kinda maybeeeeeeeeeeeeee not. This is apart of how this industry works. Sometimes the event was booked but something changed or switched up.
WHY CAN’T STAFFERS JUST TELL ME IF THE EVENT IS BOOKED OR NOT.
Sometimes... it’s not booked yet. But stopping to answer this question every time an email like this comes in would be TIME CONSUMING. And in my opinion, this question can be asked too quickly. I just sent the email 2 days ago. That event isn’t the only event that I am booking for. I have to get the ball rolling and wait for responses so I can see where I am at in booking the event. Imagine having a boss that has already given you multiple deadlines to meet and then you get multiple emails from outside people asking is it booked yet. Do you see how that can be triggering. Then some of y’all will jump on social media with the quickness dogging the Staffer and the company. Now the Staffer gets wind of your rant on social media and now have to STOP what they’re doing to address the damage you are trying to do and guess what ... you get bLaCkLiSt from that company. You must know when to pick your fights and where your power lies.
Yes, it’s true that things like this is apart of the job, but this job already comes with enough pressure. But I will address it later in a Facebook Live as I mentioned at the beginning of this blog. Bottomline, we all know that Staffers get allot of emails per day. Literally hundreds of emails/notifications everyday and these alone are the responses to event emails and submissions. Now let’s include the amount of COMPANY emails a Staffer is getting especially the ones from your boss, let’s include emails a Staffer is getting from promos asking questions about the events they were booked for (even though the information was in the email they were already sent), add in emails inquiring about paychecks, emails about change of address, emails with questions about their attire, let’s not forget about the emails a Staffer gets with information the Staffer requested from another department, let’s not fail to mention the emails you get about payroll reports, including emails a Staffer gets about a promo not being able to work their activation so now you have to find their replacement, emails from event managers/team leads, emails from other departments requesting information from you(the Staffer), emails of clarification, emails of reports being sent to you, emails about team member performances that need addressing, emails of a last minute event that was added to your assignment, and so forth. Please tell me where should a Staffer prioritize your email asking if the event is booked yet? 🙃🤓🧐 Now do you see how these ”is the event booked yet” are being left unanswered sometimes. Do you see why some Staffers don’t accept private messages on social media? They already have enough emails to track. Do you now see why other Staffers don’t respond to comment you leave on their event posts? In my experience, it has always been better to funnel all communications through the least amount of avenues as possible anyway.
Another thing, some experiential marketing companies are understaffed with overworked Staffers so the load is heavy on Staffers. There were times, on occasion, where I was able to get back to promos who would email asking if the event was booked or not. But doing this can easily backfire because then promos begin to act as if this is normal. Then they begin expecting it and throw a fit if the Staffer doesn’t get back to you just because the Staffer was able to do so the last time. And then here come the Facebook statuses bashing the company. Or you respond back and then the promo ask more questions. Now you can’t be rude and ghost the conversation because then it gets screenshot and put on social media 😳🤯🤭😬🤦🏾♀️.
Yes, it sucks not being told if the event is booked but in the corporate world, when you apply for a corporate position, are you just as upset when they don’t get back to you about not getting an interview (let alone the job itself). 🧐 I’m just saying. Do you send corporate companies emails about how you should have gotten the interview let alone the job🧐. I’m just saying. Some of you are saying to yourself that you do. But the point is, the promo world seems to be harsher in this regard. Yet, I understand that you’re only asking if the event is booked or not because you don’t want to double book or go for another event and end up getting a booking email after all. I understand knowing if the event is booked helps you navigate your next move but... this is how the cookie crumbles in this industry from time to time. Hopefully, it will change. But it’s the norm for right now.
👉🏽WHAT SHOULD YOU DO: Understand the general rule that events take a day up to a week to become fully booked on average if the market is strong. So if you haven’t heard anything after a few days on average, then it’s safe to say that more than likely it is booked unless the event needs a large head count. Therefore, I will say that it’s ok to respond back to event emails that may be a few days old because it might not be completely booked yet. I will also say, don’t take it personal. Find more events to submit to. Cast a wider net.
SO MY STAFFER CAN BE ON SOCIAL MEDIA MAKING CUTE POSTS & WHATNOT, BUT CAN’T ANSWER MY EMAIL THOUGH.
Let’s get this hard to swallow pill out the way... Staffers are not your personal assistant. Staffers are not getting paid by you. It could literally and actually be their day off. Staffers are not on the clock 24 hours of the day. Staffers have office hours even though they may vary, but office hours they do have. Let go of the entitlement so you can see clearer. Even if you see a Staffer posting about events on social media or sending out emails, they may be working on the clock but if it’s after normal business hours that doesn’t mean they are available for the public. Staffers are HUMAN. We get the heat for things that doesn’t even have anything to do with us, but we’re your logical point of contact. Butttttttttttt you feeling some kind of way about when you think you shoulda gotten a response isn’t the way to go. Your deadlines are not the Staffers deadlines. You, as a staff member, get to set more of your own rules. The Staffer is following someone else’s rules.
👉🏽WHAT YOU SHOULD DO: Don’t feel entitled or ignored, be patient. Don’t assume they saw the email when you sent it because some work email accounts gives you a feature that allows you to pause any new incoming mail from entering your email inbox so you’re not distracted or overwhelmed with notifications. Some staffers have auto-filters which is why they give a certain subject line to use when submitting for events. So those emails don’t hit their inbox, instead it’s filtered into a folder so they are centralize for the Staffer to check in due time. Sometimes the Staffer isn’t on their email screen🤷🏽♀️. The event or matter you’re emailing about isn’t priority on their workload at the moment. There are multiple reasons why you haven’t gotten answered yet. Be patient. However, if you have a legit inquiry and haven’t heard back in a few business days, follow up on the email.
Also, understand that a Staffer’s social media isn’t the proper channel to inquire about business related matters. True story, I made a “It’s My Birthday” post on Facebook and a promo commented on that post, “Hey can you let me know what date my paycheck is suppose to be cut if it hasn’t already”. To be blunt, that’s rude. It’s unprofessional. Although I honest don’t feel the promo meant any harm, but it’s inappropriate and off topic. PLUS, I can’t forward her Facebook comment to the payroll department to get her the answer. Now imagine someone who feels entitled to an answer commenting on a Staffer’s social media. Yikes!
IN CONCLUSION:
This example is during a slow season and the workload is allot. Imagine the heavy seasons when there are numerous auto shows, or trade shows or month long festivals, etc. that a Staffer is booking for. I know you love what you do and so do Staffers🥰! There are many reasons why things happen the way they do and crazy enough, it could be a different reason every time it happens. It can be frustrating on both ends. Another thing to keep mind even with all of this, some Staffers are more than just Staffers. Some Staffers are also the footprint planner for the client. Other Staffers are also the event manager for certain events from time to time. Not all Staffers are just sitting at their desk, that’s why you can’t reach some of them on their office phone. Some Staffers are not in the same time zone as you. And so forth.
Nonetheless, these are things to consider. Yes, some Staffers are better than others but some staff members are better than others, too💁🏽♀️.
KEEP SHINING!!!
Comments