A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed Sally Fitts, the Office Manager of the Stockton Symphony to learn about the role of communication skills in her profession. She informed me that most valuable form of communication in symphony correspondence in the office was personal communication with donors, patrons, and partners.
As Office Manager, Sally Fitts takes phone calls throughout the day, dealing with ticket sales, donations/grants/in-kind contributions, and community outreach endeavors. Sally is the first person that people speak to when they call the Stockton Symphony phone line. For this reason, she must take great care in assisting potential concert attendees, donors, sponsors, local school district affiliates. She must listen carefully to any questions or requests that the caller might have and ask upon them accordingly.
Sally is responsible for directing information to any symphony board or staff member when it is appropriate for their line of work. Emails are sent in these cases, however, Sally believes that personal communication is the most effective in this environment in order to transfer information clearly and quickly.
The Stockton Symphony has a website where people may buy tickets to concerts. Sally is concerned that the internet is taking away from developing personal relationships with the public. Without good personal relationships, it is difficult to guarantee that people will continue to return to symphony concerts. This is why Sally places great importance in being helpful, mindful, and engaged when communicating with people on a personal level.
Conscientious personal communication is important for any symphony organization to work on in order to develop a loyal customer base.
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