Playing To Your Audience – A Lesson From An Enterprising English Busker

It was summer in London and the World Cup was in full swing. As we entered the tube station, I heard a busker strumming Oasis on his guitar down the hall. He extended the intro, and started singing the first verse -

Today is gonna be the day
That they’re gonna throw it back to you
By now you should’ve somehow
Realized what you gotta do
I don’t believe that anybody
Feels the way I do about you now
- Oasis – Wonderwall from (What’s the Story) Morning Glory

We tossed in 50 pence and kept walking. After we passed and he finished the verse, he went silent for 15 seconds. We were down the hall and almost to our platform when I heard him start strumming again. I assumed he was going to continue the song – but he didn’t. Instead, he began singing the opening verse again - Today is gonna be the day that they’re gonna throw it back to you…

He Doesn’t Know The Lyrics?

We couldn’t believe it. Surely he knew the lyrics? While it is possible he didn’t, the quality of his singing, guitar playing and unmistakably being in England all suggested our busker should be familiar with the song. If he knew the full song, why not play it all the way through – why repeat the verse?

The answer I believe is this: Playing the first verse over and over again was more profitable than playing the full song. Many people know the beginning of Wonderwall, and he probably discovered that tourists tipped more often when they recognized the song in the brief few seconds as they walked by. By the time he finished the verse, most of his “paying customers” were no longer listening anyway. In that case, there was no sense in continuing on to play the rest of the song: the tippers weren’t sticking around for the rest of it, and newcomers were less likely to recognize it if they walked by in the middle. Thus, per customer, the introduction and first verse likely provided the most value to his clientele – and thus were the most profitable.

It was brilliant – and I believe there’s a lesson here for all of us. Rather than playing the full song for his entertainment, he played the most recognizable portions to please his audience. Sometimes we forget who our audience is, and end up neglecting them and only doing what we desire. I can think of a few examples where I am guilty of this myself.

Setting Up A Website – Based On What I Want

I recently volunteered to create a WordPress based site for a non-profit group I work with. While adding some features they requested, I encountered a show-stopping issue. I researched the problem and discovered it was specific to the version of the software I was on – and there was a simple workaround, a hack that would fix it. (Before I go any further, I’d like you to notice in this story the decisions I make, and whose desires I consider)

When I found this workaround, I was unhappy with it. I prefer to avoid workarounds and hacks. I like my software to be clean, well organized, and well written.

I read that the issue was fixed in the next version, and beta users were reporting it had been resolved. I didn’t want to use beta software either though, so, rather than using either solution (hacking in the workaround, or try the beta) – I wanted to wait until WordPress released their upgrade, expected within a week or two. It took much longer to be released than I anticipated, and when it was finally released, everything went smoothly and I set the site up for them – 2 months late.

[reddit-me]

Do you think they cared that we had done things the way I wanted? It’s possible – it’s true they may have made the same decisions I made at each point along the way. It’s also possible that some users faced with this situation, given a choice, would opt to hack it in or take their chances on the beta for the immediate solution. Notice how I only thought in terms of what I desired – and completely forgot about my audience when making my decisions. For two months while we waited, the group’s planning and communications were affected due to decisions I made based on my desires – and not theirs.

The Lesson – Remember Your Customer/Audience

While I think the busker in London exemplifies this point, I should also note this is the third principle Dale Carnegie covers in How To Win Friends and Influence People. The whole chapter is great, but this quote perhaps sums it up best

“If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as your own.”
- Henry Ford, as quoted on page 37 in How To Win Friends and Influence People

Do you have examples of instances where you made a decision to proactively please your customers/audience? Or perhaps an example of where you forgot to – and ended up dealing with the consequences?

(By the way, this is a wonderful acoustic version of Wonderwall I found on YouTube.)

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