Booking a small-scale tour

Persuading a promoter to book a company and persuading a potential audience member to buy a ticket are very different tasks. Companies need to give promoters very different information about their work. They also need to get their message across in a very different way.

Some promoters make programming decisions a year in advance. Others only need three or four months' notice, depending on when their season or festival brochure deadlines are. Even when they make final decisions quite late, many promoters start to shortlist companies for particular dates long before. Companies who begin the process of booking a tour well in advance get more bookings.

Focus your limited resources on the promoters who are most likely to book your tour.

Step 1

identify which aspects of your company and the tour are likely to appeal to promoters eg regular tours to allow audience development, good marketing backup, a production that will attract young people. Write down reasons for booking your production not just facts. What aspects make you different from other companies working in the same scale and artform?

Step 2

decide which promoters you are going to concentrate on. To do this you will need to consider a number of factors:

• do your funders specify a minimum number of dates in a particular region, or require you to perform in more than one region?
• do you have technical requirements which may stop you touring to some venues?
• does your company have audience development or artistic objectives which focus on particular types of promoter?
• what scale of venue is appropriate for your company and this particular tour? Can your company afford to tour to venues at a great distance from your home base?
• where do competing companies tour to? You may want to follow in their footsteps as their promoters are likely to be developing audiences for the artform. You may prefer to fill in the gaps

you will need to collect the following information about all your potential promoters to help you prioritise:

• current programming policy
• future programming plans
• technical specifications
• existing audiences
• staff levels
• the effectiveness of their marketing

You can get most of this information by consulting theatre directories and websites. The arts councils and local authorities may also have venue directories that cover the regions you are interested in.

Step 3

organise similar promoters into groups and prioritise the groups according to how likely they are to respond to your approach:

• promoters who book you regularly
• promoters who book you occasionally
• promoters who book similar companies
• promoters who book companies from other artforms but with similar audience development aims to your own
• venues and festivals which have similar audiences to you

Step 4

decide which of the benefits you have identified are most important to each of your target groups of promoters

Step 5

set up a system to keep track of your progress with each of the promoters you contact

Step 6

decide what you need to communicate to each target group. In addition to the reasons that will persuade them to consider booking your company, promoters also need some more descriptive information about what you have to offer. Look at the level of understanding each target group has of your artform and how much they know about your company. Promoters also need some basic facts:

• cost of the production per performance
• available dates
• technical requirements
• marketing support available
• education work available

make sure your contact name, address and telephone number is prominent

Step 7

decide the most effective method of getting your message across. Most promoters get hundreds of mailings from companies each year. You have just a few seconds to get their attention so whatever method you use, it will need to have impact. Tried and tested methods of communication include:

• printed brochures from single colour to full colour, from A3 folded sheets to stapled booklets. These are relatively expensive both to produce and cannot be updated without reprinting
• information sheets photocopied onto good quality paper or thin card offer a cheaper and more flexible option. Individual sheets can be easily updated. Colour photocopying is an inexpensive way of reproducing colour images
• folders give an impression of quality
• some companies produce highly creative, unusual but inexpensive information packs inspired by the content of their productions
• videos are expensive to produce but give promoters a clear idea of your company's production style. Poor quality videos, however, can deter some promoters

Step 8

send out your mailing

all these communication methods should be accompanied by a personalised letter. Make sure that you address each promoter by name, and emphasise the particular reason for booking you that they will be most persuaded by

Step 9

• follow up your mailing. Telephone the promoter ten days to three weeks after your mailing. Aim to get the promoter to pencil in a booking for a particular date or choice of dates
• be prepared for the promoter not to remember receiving your information. You may have to send another information pack
• if the promoter is unavailable, find out when is the best time to contact them
• when you get hold of the promoter, ensure that they have time for a conversation. If not, identify a better time to call
• plan what you are going to say first - you need to engage them in conversation so you want a strong opening line
• have a list of the reasons why they should book the company and the production to hand so that you have facts to respond to any worries the promoter may have
• be prepared to talk authoritatively about audiences for the artform and your company
• you are trying to develop a frank dialogue with the promoter so use the call to collect additional information about their programme, audiences and interests
• keep the tone light and friendly but professional
• don't be pushy - you are less likely to get a booking if you irritate the promoter
• ask the promoter to give you an honest indication of their level of interest
• if they say they are not interested, do not call back. Instead, keep in touch by sending them information about the tour once you have booked it, and, later, any good reviews you might get and an invitation to see the work

Step 10

• confirming interest. The promoter is likely to ask you to call back in a few weeks when the structure of their season is taking shape. Ensure that you follow this up as they are unlikely to call you
• a pencil booking is likely to change as both you and the promoter juggle dates until you both have your tour or season in a workable shape. You must now confirm the pencil booking as soon as possible. Some promoters refer to 'light pencils' and 'heavy pencils' at this stage. Check at regular intervals to see how their season is progressing and to establish when you might be able to transform your date into a firm booking. Some promoters offer a pencil booking simply to get you to leave them alone. This is counterproductive as you will waste time chasing it up. Encourage promoters to be frank with you
• exchange contracts to make the firm booking legally binding at least four months before the date of the performance