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Yesterday was busy here at Mike Danata's Magic Studio with the Bank Holiday Sale. It was nice to see some new customers, & some old faces as well (well you know what I mean, not "Old" but "Regular" customers!) Because I run the business on my own, it can get difficult sometimes, especially when there are several people in the shop at the SAME time. You know the sort of thing, I'm serving one customer, & another one comes in, mid way. MOST people don't mind waiting their turn (there's only one of me to go round after all!). I am VERY AWARE when someone comes in & are waiting to be served, so EVEN if I am in the middle of serving someone else, I will ALWAYS ask the other person (just come in) if they know what they want, & perhaps I can serve them quickly etc, to get them on their way if they are in a rush.

I would like to think that if I was visiting a Magic Shop, & just wanted a couple of packs of cards or something, that I wouldn't have to stand there for half an hour, whilst the person behind the counter teaches someone a "Secret Move" with regard to a trick just purchased , or whatever. I do feel, that as well as Selling magic, I can be helpful to people in all areas, offering advice & assistance with regard to anything magical (I don't know EVERYTHING, but I have been around a long time now, so I do know quite a bit!).

ALL of my "Walk In Customers" also know that if the phone rings, I will try & get rid of the caller as quickly as possible to get back to them, (after all they have gone out of their way to visit, so I try to give them a little priority over the caller on the phone!)

Please understand however that this does NOT mean, that I have NO RESPECT for the caller on the phone, because nothing could be further from the truth! To survive in a small "Niche market" business, like this, I need all the business I can get, & truthfully appreciate wherever it comes from, be it the Internet Sales from the website, people visiting, or telephone orders. If I am busy with customers in store, & someone calls via the phone, then I will often offer to call them back in a few minutes, which of course I will do, if the customer on the phone wishes to place "A Quick Order" then of course I will quickly take the order, if however I can see that it's going to be a longer conversation, because of the nature of the inquiry, then I will offer to call them back, to ensure that they get my undivided attention. I think this is fair to everyone, I TRY to be FAIR, my birth sign is Libra (sign of the scales) symbolic of Balance/ fairness/ justice etc........... from time to time my "Balance" tips!!!!

O.K. the scenario:

I'm serving some new customers, chatting & demonstrating. someone else comes in, I ask if they know what they want, perhaps I can serve them quickly to save them waiting, they want "ADVICE" (which I am more than happy to give, it costs nothing but MY TIME). I'm wondering if it's a quick piece of advice that I can give, to satisfy them, so I enquire as to what it's about (now putting my other customers "ON HOLD"). I realise, that it's something that I need time to think about & they have put me on the spot, I do throw some immediate suggestions at them, & got a response back, something like "Oh that's good I didn't think of that", other things I suggested were not so helpful, as they had already thought of them!! Anyway I said something like "Let me think for a minute" & went back to my other customers who were here before them . Anyway the person who wanted the advice said he would come back & LEFT. He did come back maybe 10 - 15 minutes later, & I was still with the other people. Anyway, now feeling under pressure by him, because he has come back, I suggested that maybe, I could have helped him via email or phone, & that I needed to get back to my "Customers" I admit that perhaps I placed a little emphasis on the word "Customers" my Libra "Scales" were beginning to tip a little!

The person in question, seemed annoyed at my comment about "getting back to my customers" & pointed out, that any suggestions I came up with, if he didn't have the props, he would be purchasing from me (to suggest that he was ALSO a possible customer, as long as I came up with the ideas for him!). Anyway after he mentioned a little forcefully (abruptly being too strong a word) that he had plenty of money, he left, because I think I had annoyed him, which was NOT my intention.......

Some days, please understand, we make NO SALES at all, but only have people coming in for FREE ADVICE (which I really don't mind at all) but today was my Sale Day, so I was busier than normal) ....................

Now dear reader of this post, what do YOU think?

How would you have reacted?

Should I charge for "Advice" (this is a joke by the way!!!!)

I place a very strong emphasis on "Customer Service" & continually wonder if I am doing things the right way, what would YOU have done? did I handle this in the proper way? Your comments would be appreciated.................

I would go round the bend owning a magic shop and would be rude to all and sundry. But I don't think I am alone. It has not escaped my notice over many, many years that people that sell fun are usually grumpy, rude and miserable. Not Mike of course but I expect he is a good actor. Virtually all magic dealers all over the world are rude, abrupt, irritable etc; I am sure that I would be like that too. My favourite was Alan Alan who was the worst of the lot. Ironically I think he became the richest so perhaps there is a moral to the tale.

The reason of course is that the customers can drive you up the wall. I know a particularly irritable magic dealer in Toronto who always bottles up his real feelings and has to put up a pretence of loving his customers all day. Keeping up the act has made him a nervous wreck. Not me. If I had a magic shop there would be no pretence from me. I would be like Alan Alan snarling at everyone all day. Oddly enough in my case I think it would increase business for various reasons.

Alas magic attracts the biggest misfits under the sun and having them in the shop all day can drive a dealer bonkers. I swear the place becomes like a psychiatric ward. Time wasters galore who not only never spend any money but stop you diving into other people's pockets to relieve them of theirs. Dealers have to find their own individual ways of getting rid of them. Old Murray used to mumble, "I'm going to make a cup of tea now" and retreat into the back of the shop never to be seen again hoping you would be gone by the time he had finished his tea. If he even made a cup of tea that is.

Ken Brooke would use an opposite technique. He would make THEM a cup of tea and say "enjoy it. I'm going in the back. I have work to do"
Alan Alan would snarl at them, "Have you come in for shelter?" Betty Davenport would frighten them away just by being Betty Davenport!

It is far easier for a svengali pitchman like me. I can just tell them to clear off because not only don't I want their repeat business I never want to see them again. We pitchmen do not attend courses on good customer relations as it would actually be bad for business. I often say to people once they hand me their money. "OK, you can clear off now! I've got your money!" They actually laugh and think I'm joking not realising I mean every word I say.

Here is an example of the way I work. Note the expression of the poor child who has just learned a harsh lesson in life. I have often thought that I am providing a great service to humanity by disappointing children and preparing them for the tough road ahead. I should really be given a government commendation for it. And probably an award from the Academy of Magical Arts for protecting the secrets of magic. I am very proud indeed that very few of my customers have ever figured out how to do the tricks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCkXktFnUtw

Love it!!!! Please can I have permission to post the whole of your reply on my Facebook page OR would you post it? My Face book page, with this particular thread on is at: https://www.facebook.com/mike.danata & you are actually correct, I AM NOT grumpy (far from it) most of the time!

I watched your video, Umn not sure about that!! There is a moral there somewhere (not sure where!). I too sell the Twisty Worm, BUT I supply with Internet links to the teaching/handling of the trick. (I DO want my customers to come back!!). I first saw the worm demmed at a market years ago, & every kid wanted one, the parents (to shut the kids up!) all bought for them, then the kids opened them up, & the screaming started all over again!!!!! (They expected the worm to "Come to life" on it's own!) it was sad to watch, & the disappointment on the kids faces, & ON THE PARENTS FACES (for forking out the money to keep the kids quiet in the first place!) I am not Rich (never will be) because I am TOO HONEST, for me it's not "All about the money" (though it does help!!!) ...........................

The old adage that The Customer Is King still holds true but bear in mind that customers can also be a right pain in the butt - and not just in Magic shops
either! Modern thinking tends towards getting everything instantly, no waiting, same day delivery, grab yours while they're hot and so on. It all breeds impatience and lack of mutual respect. A colleague of mine phoned yesterday afternoon to have a moan as he'd ordered something form Amazon on Friday night and it still hadn't arrived. I pointed out that it was a holiday weekend, Monday was a public holiday and therefore probably not a working day for delivery purposes. He still wasn't happy - miserable devil!

I have no idea what the answer is other than to grin and bear it as long as they're spending money and thus supporting the shop/enterprise. If they aren't doing so then those who are spending deserve to take priority to a great extent. If you can cheerfully welcome and acknowledge later customers at the same time as serving current ones then you're multitasking far more than many other shops where the 'assistant' is obviously ticking off the minutes until their break/lunch/quitting time!

Magicians are like "Kids" when it comes to waiting for their "Toys" to arrive, I know, because I'm one!!!

Actually I think the customer is always WRONG! But you have to be a pitchman to realise why. Incidentally I feel like spewing up when I use that dreadful American word "Pitchman" when the British word GRAFTER is the more appropriate one. After all we invented the grafting/pitching business in the first place. Ripping off the public in the way they deserve has always been part of our national heritage. Here is an exhibition of us all at work. It has been produced by Messrs Colin Clark and Trevor Pinch two sociology professors who wrote a most brilliant book on the subject called "The Hard Sell". Anyway here it is. My life passed before me as I watched it.

http://www.marketpitching.com/

With regard to magic dealers growling at the customers my favourite incident was when I was a witness to Harry Stanley trying to sell the famous Vernon Book of Magic (which he of course had published) to a young customer who was thumbing through it. Harry said, "Very good book that. Of course you know I brought Vernon over to this country" Alas the young magician said the wrong thing. "They say that Vernon is showing his age nowadays" At that time Vernon would have been in his early seventies I imagine. That was too much for Harry and in the true tradition of magic dealers all over the world he snorted with great irritation at this dreadful impertinence, "If you don't mind me saying so, young man, you are showing YOUR age with a stupid remark like that. That man has more knowledge about magic in his little finger than you will ever have in your whole body for the rest of your life" He continued to berate the impertinent young pup to my great sadistic amusement until the poor chap scarpered down the stairs of the magic studion into Frith Street never to return. Harry turned to me and snarled "I can't stand these morons".

Yes indeed. Harry was truly qualified to be a magic dealer. I still remember an amateur magician saying to me "Harry hates amateur magicians and far prefers the professionals because he himself comes from a showbusiness background. What he fails to realise is that it is the amateurs who spend the money"

On the other hand I do know of a well respected magic dealer once saying to me "I can't bear the professional magicians who come in here. All they do is brag about themselves and never spend any money".

Yes. By all means post what you want on your facebook page. The aforementioned Murray once advised me, "Talk about me good-talk about me bad-it doesn't matter as long as you talk about me"

And while we are at it here is another clip of me at work. You can hear me talking this time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxwujHN0 ... 3&index=63

Thanks Mark, I'd already pasted a link to this page from my Face Book Page & your post anyway, I thought no secrets are given away so what the hell!! You are amusing.............

I started my career off working for International Magic decades ago. I am delighted that they are still around. Ron MacMillan was one of the few dealers that was not miserable to his customers. Mind you he rarely had the opportunity to be since he spent all day in the pub round the corner while his family ran the place! I do remember he had a big sign up in the shop in the early days saying, "FIGHT POVERTY-BUY HERE!" I liked that a lot!

mark lewis wrote:I started my career off working for International Magic decades ago. I am delighted that they are still around. Ron MacMillan was one of the few dealers that was not miserable to his customers. Mind you he rarely had the opportunity to be since he spent all day in the pub round the corner while his family ran the place! I do remember he had a big sign up in the shop in the early days saying, "FIGHT POVERTY-BUY HERE!" I liked that a lot!

I used to travel up from Bournemouth to London on the train, to visit the Magic Shops, International being one of them. When I got to the Studio in Leather Lane there was nearly always a sign on the door saying "In The Pub across the road", then you had to wait usually for Ron & Martin (if my memory serves me right) to finish their pints before they'd come across and open up!!

Geoff at Repro, was mostly in the pub up the road as well, I think I must be the only Magic Dealer that doesn't drink!

danata wrote: I think I must be the only Magic Dealer that doesn't drink!

No worries Mike, there are plenty of others who imbibe your share as well as their own (and that of several others...)!

I don't drink either but if I had a magic shop I would probably be driven to it by the customers. I do remember Tony Corinda sniffing down his nose at me saying, "what do you mean, you don't drink?" Of course he used to imbibe in vast quantities himself. He was another magic dealer and he wasn't always a bag of fun either.

No. If you sell fun there is a tendency not to have any yourself. And it applies not just to magic. People who sell jokes and tricks (as in minor tricks for the public) are as miserable as sin too. Two of the most miserable people I ever met sold jokes and tricks.

And of course I sell fun too. There is nobody more miserable than a svengali pitchman. Look at me and Don Driver for example. He snarls at waitresses and I snarl at magicians.

No. If you want fun don't sell it at any cost.

With one exception (my own fault) Alan Alan was always quite friendly to me. Maybe he had mellowed with age, Mark (or maybe it's because I went in, bought stuff and didn't hang around?). The exception was me blurting out a force method in front of people I had assumed were magicians, but who were probably just hangers on (I was only a teenager at the time).

Mike, I don't think you did anything wrong at the time. Had you known the detailed nature of the query and the purchasing intentions of the disgruntled would-be customer, you could perhaps have handled it differently, but hindsight is 20/20 vision!

From his point of view, he had money to spend, went away for a good chunk of time (15 minutes or so) and probably expected a bit more help after that time. From the way you phrased your original post, I think you suspect that you made an assumption that he was just after free advice; you really couldn't have known that he was up for splashing some cash. Maybe you could have given him an estimate for how much longer you'd be, but really there wasn't much else you could reasonably have done.

Part-Timer wrote:With one exception (my own fault) Alan Alan was always quite friendly to me. Maybe he had mellowed with age, Mark (or maybe it's because I went in, bought stuff and didn't hang around?). The exception was me blurting out a force method in front of people I had assumed were magicians, but who were probably just hangers on (I was only a teenager at the time).

Mike, I don't think you did anything wrong at the time. Had you known the detailed nature of the query and the purchasing intentions of the disgruntled would-be customer, you could perhaps have handled it differently, but hindsight is 20/20 vision!

From his point of view, he had money to spend, went away for a good chunk of time (15 minutes or so) and probably expected a bit more help after that time. From the way you phrased your original post, I think you suspect that you made an assumption that he was just after free advice; you really couldn't have known that he was up for splashing some cash. Maybe you could have given him an estimate for how much longer you'd be, but really there wasn't much else you could reasonably have done.

No I knew he would probably spend, that was not the issue as far I was concerned. If a tramp came in to spend £1.00 & arrived BEFORE someone else who (even if I knew) was going to spend £100, I would still not put the priority to the other customer. The main point that I am making is that I am more than happy to help, but he could have emailed or phoned the enquiry, given me more time to think about it, & allow me to respond in MY OWN TIME. When I asked him if he knew what he wanted, so I could perhaps serve him quickly in front of the other customers, he actually said "No I've only really come for advice" that was what he SAID & NOT what I assumed!

If he had waited until I was completely free (instead of me trying to have TWO conversations at the same time) he would have had my TOTAL UNDIVIDED ATTENTION.

Apart from meeting dealers at Blackpool, Mikes is the only magic shop I have ever been in to. I am no longer allowed to go in if my wife is left in the car outside. This is for two reasons. The first is that I lose all sense of time in the shop. Anyone who has been in to the magic cave of Mikes will know that chat and demonstrations are all part of the fun. The second reason I am not allowed in alone is that I always get what I want there but also always come away with a few things I didn't know I wanted until Mike showed them to me!

To me Mike, I find it impossible to think that anyone could get uptight about you or your service. I have worked in customer facing positions for the past 20 years and I know that the customer is the guy who pays the wages. But sometimes, just sometimes the customer can be a pain in the neck.

Remembering the old adage that "the customer is always right, even when he is totally wrong" can be tough when you are facing something that is patently unreasonable.

danata wrote:No I knew he would probably spend, that was not the issue as far I was concerned. If a tramp came in to spend £1.00 & arrived BEFORE someone else who (even if I knew) was going to spend £100, I would still not put the priority to the other customer.

I didn't actually say that you should have given him priority, Mike, just that the only other thing I could think you could possibly have done was perhaps have given him an idea of how much longer he'd have to wait. You asked him to come back in a bit, he did and you still weren't free. However, as he came in wanting a detailed talk about different options then really he should have waited.

When I asked him if he knew what he wanted, so I could perhaps serve him quickly in front of the other customers, he actually said "No I've only really come for advice" that was what he SAID & NOT what I assumed!

In that case maybe his parting shot wasn't actually true.