Interview! with Travis Sanford - former Tour Manager for CeCe Winans

This week I interviewed Travis Sanford. Travis is the former Tour Manager for Cece Winans, a very popular Gospel singer. He worked for Ms. Winans for over 10 years and was responsible for all aspects of her tours, both nationally as well as internationally. Travis negotiated contracts with promoters, venues, and musicians and staff joining the tour. He is currently a supervisor in the Claims department at Progressive Insurance and much of his daily responsibilities still include negotiation.

With the music industry in mind, Travis advised that dirty tricks are constant. He advised that his role as Tour Manager was to recognize when dirty tricks were in play and minimize the number that were able to slip through into contracts and agreements. In his experience, people will try to push in any way to see if they can get by. He recommended addressing them, albeit respectfully, and working to move past them.

Travis separates the people from the problem by keeping focused on the end goal. He advised that he always understands and tries to make sure other parties understand that it’s never personal. For him, it’s either you can meet this need or you cannot. He felt that being open with the other party and letting them know that very concept is what has helped him navigate the industry successfully over the years.

Finally, Travis is very aware of the concept of mutual benefit and understands that it is almost always necessary to look for it in order to successfully negotiate deals. He considers the things he has control over and can change if necessary and also considers those things that he has no control over and that must happen in order to move forward with a deal or contract. He advised that starting with the lowest possible concession and then moving in increments towards the other party’s goal helps to demonstrate that you are trying to work with the other party and it encourages them to work with you as well.

Overall, Travis identified preparation and communication as the most important factors in a successful negotiation. Knowing objective criteria, asking questions, addressing dirty tricks and negativity, has helped him manage and negotiate hundreds of performances over the years. I found an article that mentions him during a tour in South Africa that may attest to his success. “The whole international team, under the tour management of Travis Sanford, was ‘great to work with and very professional in their approach, making it much easier to get the job done.’ said Theo van As - Gearhouse Project Manager.” It was a joy to interview Travis and definitely an affirmation of the usefulness of the concepts that have been learned in this course thus far.