Discounting Fees - How Low Will You Go?

How Low Will You Go?

In today's marketplace, most speakers are willing to negotiate their fees. Some drastically! Speakers who used to hold firm now waver.

It's almost always a mistake. Whether it's for a non profit organization or not, you are not a human charity. When an organization said to a colleague of mine "You understand we're a non profit organization", she replied, "Yes. And you understand I am not."

Some organizations persuade a speaker to knock down their fee to almost nothing and when the speaker is finally on hands and knees, say "Great. We'll send you out a request for proposal and we'll let you know at the end of the month." Well, now we know who's in the driver's seat and it's not you!

How has it come to this? What on earth has happened to this industry?

Speakers love to speak and that makes them vulnerable both to scams promising pie in the sky and also to unpaid or low paid gigs with the tantalizing prospect of possible future gigs. "But we'll get you in front of 500 executives who could hire you." Really? Forgive my scepticism. Occasionally, it's legit. Mostly, it isn't.

It's a meeting planners' job to organize a convention on as tight a budget as possible. It's your job to be aware of the lasting value you bring to your clients and what you bring to the table. It's also your job to stick to your fee.

The time to say yes is when you're just beginning to build your client list. The time to say no is when you have a solid client list and testimonials.

As Dr. Charles Petty so memorably said "I'm a speaker, not a beggar." Stick to your fee. You hurt your reputation and the whole speaking industry when you don't. This market will soon turn around. Organizations will soon understand that when they want the best, they'll have to book ahead and pay at least 50% in advance to hold the date. You do get what you pay for!

In the meantime, bump up your marketing package and preserve your branding and look for bookings in industries and countries that are doing well.

I'd love your feedback on this - have you found a creative way to handle the issue?

Have you caved in and regretted it? Have you said no and regretted it? What have you learned from the process?