Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Keep Your Appointments





Steve Raybine:


Blog #18:





Keep Your Appointments





The following are case studies involving scheduled appointments: #1) A student literally 'begs' you to arrange an extra lesson so that you can record an accompanimental CD track for his vocal audition at a university, which is scheduled in three days (out-of-town). At the appointed hour, he doesn't show up. #2.) You have some music to drop off for one of your band members, which you need to discuss with him. After you arrange a convenient time for him to be home, you arrive at his house with the music, but he isn't there. #3.) You arrange to call someone at a specific time for a conference call and that person is not available to take your phone call. #4.) You have a business meeting with someone and when you arrive, they are not there--they have forgotten your appointment. Note: in all of the aforementioned situations, there was not an emergency that would have prevented the person from attending the appointment.





The above scenarios are just a few of many examples of scheduled appointments, which are broken by one of the parties. Whether it was unintentional or not really doesn't matter, because the other party or parties have been inconvenienced. Morever, some people think it's acceptable to be late or even very late to a scheduled appointment, which it most certainly is not. So, why do some people not honor their scheduled appointments? Well, with some individuals, it probably is a manifestation of their inability to be organized and to adhere to a strict schedule. These folks will do poorly in the business of music field, or in any business for that matter. Businesses work on schedules, and if you are someone who is unorganized and can't or won't function on a schedule, you won't succeed very long in any business.





Secondly, and most distressing, is that some people simply don't respect other peoples' time. In order to be a successful business person--remember, music is a business, you must have the utmost respect for the time other people allocate to you. Most successful people have complicated and demanding schedules. If that person arranges his or her schedule to meet with you in person or to speak with you on the phone, you should respect and honor that time commitment. If you fail to honor that time allocation, the likelihood of that individual giving up his or her time for you at some future date is slim-to-none! If for some reason you can't make the appointment, you should contact that person at your earliest convenience and cancel the appointment. If you do this, that would be the responsible and professional way to handle the situation.





Throughout the career of any professional musician, he or she will schedule innumerable appointments that must be kept. In my private teaching studio alone, I schedule over 2,500 music lessons each year that I attend. These appointments are important to my students and are essential to my yearly income. Scheduling and keeping your appointments are critical to the long-term success of all musicians.
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