RANT: Pokey Speakers... are you one of
them?
Meeting planners have told
me that their biggest headache with speakers they want to
book is the slowness with which speakers respond with
information. This has always seemed like self-defeating
behavior to me. When I'm asked to speak I will work all
that day, if necessary, to get any requested info to a
meeting planner by 4-5 PM that day. Or if I receive the
request late in the day I will work late into the night, if
necessary, so that the requested info is on the meeting
planners desktop by morning. I respect money and several
thousand dollars is nothing to sneeze at. So I will do what
it takes to be the most professional speaker I can be.
Not so, it seems, with other speakers. If you didn't know
this about me already:
I test clients and speakers to see if they are made of the
Right Stuff. When I started a bureau
and then an agency, I accepted a few speakers with no
listing fee. Perhaps 50% never sent me their information
for me to post. And 9 out of 10 of the remaining speakers
took months to send me anything... but usually only enough
to fill a half-page. (Two full pages is normal for my web
sites.)
If I were a speaker who wanted to be profiled on
CommissionFreeSpeakers.com I would send everything
requested within 24 hours.... even if I didn't have the $99
to pay for the listing. I'd be thinking... "OK, what if
Andrea receives a request for a speaking engagement that I
would be perfect for? If she doesn't have any info on file
about me, she can't recommend me. If I get what I have to
her now.... she will see that I'm a go-getter."
But sadly, when a meeting planner asks me how fast a
speaker responds to requests I have to refer to my notes
and tell the truth. If a speaker is pokey (as in slow-poke)
with me, they will be pokey with meeting planners too...
and that's not good for business, your
business.
So do yourself a favor. Learn to respond faster. I'm not
going to be your mother and nag you. You're an adult and
capable of motivating yourself. And if you're not feeling
motivated, then please don't bill yourself as a
motivational speaker!
Feel free to post your comment on the feedback page.
Andrea