There is usually a big difference between speaker bureau fees and some entertainment agency fees. In this blog post I’ll go over the good, the bad and the ugly when booking a speaker or entertainer through a speakers bureau / entertainment agency or direct. Should you use a speakers bureau or book direct? You’ll hopefully know the answer to this question by the time you are done reading this.
When booking a motivational speaker or keynote speaker through a reputable speakers bureau there is usually no extra charge to you the client. The speaker gives the bureau a percent of their earnings.
This could range from 10% to 30% or so. Most are in the 20%-30% range. Some have higher commissions. It doesn’t hurt to ask what their commissions are. If they are reputable they should be more than willing to tell you.
If the speaker charges $8,500 if you book them direct you’ll pay the same $8,500 when booking through a reputable speakers bureau. The motivational speaker just gets a check at the end from the speaker bureau with 20%-30% taken off. This pays the speakers bureau for all their hard work and nothing extra comes out of your pocket.
This being said, some speakers want the bureau to add their commission on top of the fee if the speaker won’t do it the normal way. This will now make hiring the speaker through the bureau 10%-30% more. For this 10%-30% more you are having a company search for a speaker for your event, usually schedule travel, etc. It will save you time, but cost you some money. 30% of some of the speaker’s fees can add up to be a lot. On average a lot of the top speakers take the commissions off of their normal fee rather than adding more on top.
For the most part speakers bureaus seem to all stick within the same standards as far as fees go. Entertainment agents usually do business to the beat of their own drummer and it can sometimes hit you in the pocketbook. Over the years I’ve worked with both speakers bureaus and entertainment agents. The speakers bureaus have always been up front with the about what the client’s budget is, but a lot of the entertainment agents aren’t.
A lot of speakers bureaus want to book the speakers they’ve been booking for years. They are a surefire hit and they don’t want to try anyone new. I can totally see why since one bad booking can lose a longtime client. On the other hand there are a lot of wonderful speakers out there that are as good, if not better than their standard go-to speakers.
Entertainment Agents
I’ve dealt with some incredibly wonderful entertainment agents over the years. They were honest, wanted what was best for me and their client and were a pleasure to work with.
There are others that aren’t so nice to work with. Some entertainment agents want to keep the client’s budget secret from the entertainers, see what they are willing to do it for, charge the entertainer a fee (take 10-30% off of their fee) and pocket the rest.
For example, you tell the entertainment agent you have $10,000 in your entertainment budget, they find someone that is willing to do it for $7,500, take 25% off of their paycheck for their agency fee and pocket that and the other $2,500. You get a $7,500 act for $10,000. Sometimes you’ll even get a $1,500 act for your $10,000. They are in it for the money and nothing more. They don’t get many repeat clients.
Some entertainment agents and a few bureaus don’t want the speaker / talent and client to talk before the day of the event. They don’t give out the talent’s phone number, etc. for fear of the person going behind their backs and booking direct. That’s a matter of a business not trusting who they are booking. Do you want to book someone the person booking won’t trust? I sure wouldn’t.
The old saying goes “You get what you pay for.”, but in these situations you don’t get what you pay for. I’ve even heard of agents pocketing $5,000 or more and giving their client a cheap act for a high price. It’s like paying for prime rib and getting a McDonald’s hamburger. There is a difference in quality.
There is a local entertainment agent that charges people close to $200 to just talk to them, check to see if an entertainer is even available for their event and tell how much it will be. If an entertainer isn’t available for your event or way out of your budget, you are out the $200.
If it’s worth $200 to talk to someone then by all means go for it. Some people just have money to burn and he’s willing to take it from you. 🙂
Can you imagine if every business you called to check a price or see if they had a product in stock or an appointment available charged for even $25 to talk to you before you got an answer? I sure can’t. I’d do business elsewhere before dealing with them.
Some entertainment agents want the talent to lower their fees, but aren’t willing to tell them what the client’s budget is or what percentage they are tacking onto it. Sometimes the client is paying 100%+ more for an act and the act is going away with a lot less than they normally charge.
Some will offer the client way more than the act that do and not tell the entertainer about it. I remember one agent told a friend he was hired to do close-up magic and when he got to the event the client said they were told he would be doing large illusions. It made the magician and the agent look bad and the client was angry. Make sure you have everything in writing before you pay a dime.
Just like in all businesses, there are some out there that are wonderful to deal with and others that are just out there to take you for a ride.
Pros and Cons
There are some wonderful entertainment agents and speakers bureaus out there. I’ve dealt with some horrible entertainment agents that I won’t deal with anymore. They were only out to pocket a ton of money and mess over their talent and clients. Luckily I’ve dealt with a lot more reputable speakers bureaus and decent entertainment agents over the last 20 years of my career.
A good speakers bureau will take their client by the hand and guide them in the right direction. They will take care of travel, go over the things the speaker will need for their presentations. They will let the client and speaker talk before the event so they can go over key points they want the speaker to go over during their presentation, what to avoid talking about, etc. This is way better than having the speaker arrive the day of the presentation clueless about what’s going on.
I deal with speakers bureaus that even have their own travel department. Their person in charge of travel will call me after I sign their agreement and go over travel options, book the travel and make sure everything is fine. They go above and beyond to earn their commission that I’m paying them. Others just book me at the event and leave the travel and everything else to me. I wouldn’t have landed that booking without their advertising so I’m OK with it.
There are some speakers and entertainers that are great at what they do, but horrible at the business end of things. When you deal with them direct if could be more stress than it’s worth. That’s where a speakers bureau or entertainment agency would come in hand, especially if they’ve dealt with this person before. The speakers bureau or entertainment agency will get everything in writing for you and hopefully everything will work out right.
There are some speakers bureaus or entertainment agents that will push certain speakers or acts over others because the speaker / entertainer offers them a higher commission to fill up dates. They want to book this person because they are able to pocket more of the money. It’s like any other business wanting to sell a product they make the most money off of.
When you are dealing with a true professional motivational speaker / keynote speaker or entertainer booking direct might be a good option. You’ll get to speak with them one on one, figure out travel details and have a nice working relationship with them before they arrive. Depending on their fee agreement with their speakers bureau or agent it could save you a lot of money, too.
If you don’t want the time to find a great speaker or entertainer and want to delegate that job to someone outside of your company, dealing with a reputable speakers bureau or entertainment agency might be the best bet for you.
In either case be sure to ask for and watching video testimonials your speaker or entertainer has from past clients. Make sure you are getting someone you think if a good fit and not just someone the agent is making the most money off of.
When you are out to eat the waitstaff usually suggests someone of the most expensive things on the menu. Why? They are getting 20% of that price right in their pocket. Some speakers bureaus and agents might skip over great speakers and entertainment at a lower cost to pitch a higher priced act / speaker to you go they can pocket 20%-30% of the higher fee. It’s the same deal as the waiter or waitress. Would you rather pocket 20% of $2,000 or $20,000?
Do your homework and decide what speaker fits in your budget and is a good fit for your event. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about commissions, see client testimonials, etc.
I’ve asked a few of the top motivational speakers I know what percentage of their bookings are coming from speakers bureaus and most say only around 20% or less. They said over the past few years their clients seem to want to deal with them directly, cut out the middleman / woman and have more of a one on one working relationship with them.
All the speakers also agreed that they don’t mind working with speakers bureaus and it makes it a bit easier on them since they don’t have to deal with scheduling travel, agreements, etc.
So in the long run it’s up to you whether or not you book through a speakers bureau, entertainment agency or direct. They all can have their pros and cons. When dealing with a top speakers bureau you might find more pros than cons for your large events. They can book the speakers, entertainers and other things for your event and save you time. Do your homework and decide for yourself. Just know that speaker bureau fees can vary.
If you’d like to book me direct for your upcoming sales conference, awards banquet, company party or any other event, let me know. Click here to contact me. I’ll be able to work with you one on one and get everything confirmed in a hurry. If you are already dealing with a reputable speakers bureau or entertainment agency and want to book me through them, that’s fine with me, too. Either way you do it, I look forward to working with you.