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Hiring Additional Entertainers/Going Multi Operational – Hiring the Right People

Hiring Additional Entertainers/Going Multi Operational – Hiring the Right People

“Making sure you select the correct people to represent you and take your whole trivia operation into multi venues”

 

Welcome back to the blog and I hope you are having a good day. In this post we are going to look at a theme which we started to look at earlier in the week and that is the idea of expanding your business and going multi operational. What I essentially mean here is that you will be hiring other quiz masters and trivia host to run your event in different venues on the same night. This is only going to happen at the point where you have built up a huge business base and the fact you can only be in one place at one time means if you want to keep the profits coming in and rising, then expanding may be essential.

 

There are lots of factors to take into consideration on this theme and we are indeed going to look at many across the next few weeks on the blog but the big aspect, and most important aspect, of the whole process is choosing the right person to represent you out in the wide world of business. Ultimately, you will have spent thousands of hours and a lot of money on building your reputation and the last thing you want is someone, under your banner, giving you a bad name so the all important task of selecting the right person should come first and foremost.

 

In this post I am going to look at a few areas that I have used as essential criteria when selecting someone to represent my business and hopefully this will help you too.

 

Just to let you know, what I often do is have my guys do a 4 week trial period

 

Additional Entertainers/Going Multi Operational – Hiring the Right People – Experience

Sorry to all of you new hosts out there who may feel a little hard done by about the comment that’s coming up, but I always would suggest going for somebody who has at least 3-4 years behind them. In that respect they will have tried and tested what works, they will be confident on the microphone and they will be into the usual routine of getting to the venues and delivering the quiz. The first few weeks in any new job when you have never done it before are daunting and often mistakes are made, and you, as a business person, don’t want this is reflect badly on you so always go for someone with experience or perhaps even better, someone you have seen perform the trivia hosting.

While I don’t necessarily recommend this, many entertainers do what is called ‘head hunting’.  Go to local venues and watch entertainers perform.  If you feel they would be a great asset to your company then work out a deal for them to work for you.  Perhaps they were unhappy with their current position anyways.  Or they are happy but wished they made more money.  Whatever the reason, very few people are actually truly happy at their jobs.  We are all in it for the money right?  Don’t kid yourself.  Would you be doing what you are doing if there was absolutely no profit?  Certainly not!  Then just like me you are in it for the money.  As such, so are the employees of entertainment companies.  Now, it is better to pay a guy $150 per night and have someone who is experienced and makes you $300 a night than someone who is new and saves you money with $50 per night pay but you lose accounts, or you aren’t gaining new accounts.  Just think a bit about the math there.  More money for more experience means more referrals and accounts.   In the short term you will be out more money, but your bottom line will increase.  So, don’t discount doing some scouting and head hunting without at least thinking about the matter for a bit.

 

Hiring Additional Entertainers/Going Multi Operational – Hiring the Right People – Reliability

This is the first key part I always look for in my entertainers and that is reliability. How can you test this? Several ways….what I do is have an initial interview, then a second interview to hand over materials and then a third meeting to test out they understand the formats etc.

Here are a few things I consider when hiring a new trivia host:

  • Are they punctual for the interviews?  If they are on time to all of these it’s a good sign.
  • Do you get through on the phone?
  • Are they easy to contact?
  • Are they married (married people are MUCH more reliable than single people.  Marriage often times deepens responsibility and settles someone down in life).
  • Do they own their home?  This one is key for me.  If they are renting then chances are they are going to move across the nation to be with an old girlfriend they just rekindled a relationship with online.  If they own a home they have more sense of responsibility.
  • Do they laugh when you joke with them?  Do they joke back?  This is key, especially when looking for someone who you will be training in to be an interactive entertainer.
  • Do they have a good knowledge of music?

 

Consider all these things before jumping in and hiring someone.

 

Hiring Additional Entertainers/Going Multi Operational – Hiring the Right People – Go and Watch Them

I would always suggest this in two regards…

  1. Go and watch the person in action, see them in their local venue, see what they do. You can either tell them you are going or just turn up!
  2. Also, when you first give them the job, if you can possibly have the time (which may not be possible, I understand) go and actually see them perform your quiz.

This is the only true way of gathering your own ideas on if they living up to your high standards! If you fail to go out and see for yourself you lose your right to complain later down the line.

 

Hiring Additional Entertainers/Going Multi Operational – Hiring the Right People – Feedback From the Venue Owner/Customers

This is essential! I have said time and time again on this blog that what you need to be doing is getting as much feedback as you can from all sorts of avenues. When you have set a new trivia host up under your name in a new venue then you need to get feedback. Get it from both the venue owner…are they happy? Is there any aspect of things they don’t like?…and also get some feedback forms completed by the customers. Whatever it is you usually use….Whether than be open forms, rankings etc.

 

Also keep an eye on attendances….have they dropped since the new guy took over?

 

All in all this is such a crucial aspect of your business when going multi operational. If you hire the wrong person it could ruin your business. You need to make as much time as possible for selecting, hiring and choosing the right person to go into the venue you have earned the gig for and make sure the gig is still yours.

 

Thanks for reading again today and if you are at the stage where you are interviewing and recruiting other trivia hosts to join your ranks then very well done, this must mean that you are well on your way to growing your empire. If you can hire friends or people you know that’s the best idea as they won’t let you down but sometimes you have to take a risk and hire an unknown.  But if you go ahead and follow all of the steps I have listed about then you should find yourself having very few problems!

(Note: For those of you just starting out in the wonderful world of trivia hosting, I realize this may not be the best post for you but it gives you some idea of where you can really take your business if you plan and plan well!)

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