President & CEO – K&M Productions
Misconceptions About Booking Speakers Direct & Saving Money
Recently a client came to us in a panic. With just 4 days remaining before their event, they were informed by their conference “opener” that they had to cancel their appearance due to health-related issues. The client’s panic was understandable since several thousand people were to be in attendance for this highly publicized conference and as this speaker was a very high profile, well-known personality there was a huge buzz generated by their attendance and participation.
Naturally curious we asked whether the bureau they’d worked with had offered to find them a suitable replacement and that was when the client informed us that they had actually booked the speaker directly through their web site. Their rationale was “this is the way we’ve always done it” when booking conference speakers as they’d assumed it was more cost-effective than dealing with a reputable bureau to facilitate the booking arrangements. Except that their assumption was incorrect and now they found themselves in the lurch.
Ironically the speaker they had booked was also listed on our website. After discussing all of the speaker criterion with the client, we knew precisely who the perfect replacement speaker was and we actually would have recommended this person to them had they come to us initially.
We worked very fast. (Remember the phenomenal levels of service and support we’re known for?) Within an hour following the initial phone call, we’d made contact with the speaker who fortunately was available; sent video and all pertinent information to the client; had the speaker immediately contact the client and discuss the presentation content; and the client signed off on this speaker. The best part? A lot less money than what the client was prepared to pay for their cancelled headliner and a bureau (us) saved the day at no additional cost to them. Suffice to say, the client was ecstatic!
As a result of this situation, the client came away with a much deeper appreciation of why event planners and conference organizers should work with a reputable bureau when booking speakers (or any other shows or other headline entertainment programs) and learned several valuable lessons.
Lesson #1
There is no financial advantage to the client in booking a speaker direct.
The speaker’s fee in nearly all cases is identical to what a client would be quoted by the bureau representing them. This is what is known in the industry as “fee integrity” and is standard practice so that the speakers are not competing directly against those bureaus that are representing and promoting them.
Lesson #2
Popular speakers are very busy people.
They do have their own websites and often provide additional and sometimes more extensive promotional information, however they are constantly engaged with ongoing speaking presentations; traveling to and from conferences; writing and/or promoting their latest publications, blogs and web site updates; as well as developing new topics, presentation content and promotional videos. They are of course always happy to speak to the clients regarding personalization aspects of their presentation and to ensure that their messages are spot on and relevant to the target audience … but they prefer to leave the business end of things including contracts, logistics, support requests and coordination to the bureaus representing them. That is why they pay them a commission from their fee as it allows them to focus on the creative and increase their own productivity.
Lesson #3
A Speaker is NOT a Speakers Bureau.
In the event of a last minute cancellation by the speaker, they are not obligated to help you secure a comparable replacement which can send your stress levels soaring as our client discovered. A bureau such as K&M Productions along with the extensive resources and contacts we maintain, is always there for you from the beginning until the completion of the event and beyond. Part of our job is in providing exemplary customer service and support – all at NO additional cost to you. We efficiently, expeditiously deal with and resolve this sort of an emergency before it becomes your career catastrophe. And for an identical cost to what you would have paid to the speaker going direct, you should think of K&M Productions as your “speaker insurance policy” for your next conference or corporate event.
Incidentally … The replacement speaker we booked for this client received a standing ovation at the end of the presentation and numerous compliments from the event organizers.
Happy Holidays & All the Best in 2012!