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AVOID GETTING
WEBBED
Determining When
'Low-Tech' Is Best!
Speakers
bureaus, like much of the corporate world, have made the leap to the
Internet, with robust websites that tout some of today's hottest
technology.
These sites often are enticing. Offering video clips of various speakers
along with comprehensive forms that help meeting planners narrow their
search by entering price, topic, and other variables. Of course, searches
on websites can be conducted any time of the day, any day of the week And
planners can get more information about speakers with one or two clicks
without having to wait for information to arrive via snail mail. So what's
the downside?
A bureau’s website alone cannot provide quality service, objective
consultation, or in-depth knowledge of each speaker. It cannot give you
tailored answers to your specific questions regarding speakers. And it
cannot create a proven, trusting partnership with planners, something that
is a vital component of any important event.
“The value of a speakers bureau has always been building relationships
with speakers and with clients, and then leveraging those relationships to
match needs,” said Edwin L. Griffin, Jr. CAE, president and CEO of
Meeting Professionals International, speaking at a recent MPI chapter
meeting in Hartford, CT. "Even with today’s advanced technology,
speakers and planners are going to have a need for meaningful service from
professional bureaus.”
The service provided by a good speakers bureau should begin long before
any names of speakers are even considered. The pre-planning consultation
is key for a bureau to truly understand the objectives, agenda, and scope
of each meeting or conference. From there, the bureau also needs to garner
a better understanding of the audience and the particular likes and
dislikes of the executives involved in the meeting.
For planners who have other roles and responsibilities within an
organization, this is where a speakers bureau can add real value, saving
the planner hours of staring at a flickering screen trying to match
speaker “qualities” with their budgets, and then still not having all
the answers. Instead, a bureau will steer the planner toward speaker
recommendations that are on-target for the overall goals of the meeting
– important factors beyond budget and scheduling availability.
Additionally, the pre-planning process clarifies expectations among
executives and other internal audiences, and frustration for everyone
during the rest of the preparation process.
Once the bureau completes the pre-planning phase with the client, it is
ready to conduct speaker research and make qualified recommendations. The
speakers bureau will use it’s expertise in determining the style,
capability, tone, and attitude of today’s professional speakers to find
the right fit for the client’s needs.
In addition to having intimate knowledge of speakers’ subject matter,
bureaus should he able to recommend other “out-of-the-box” ways to
maximize or tailor the role of speakers. For instance, many speakers also
are exceptional MC’s and may be willing to take on that additional
role during a meeting or event. Or a motivational speaker may be willing
to lead a group exercise during a different part of the meeting. These
types of enhancements may not he something a planner would initially
consider, but they may be the very things that make a good event even more
memorable.
A meeting planner should always take the integrity of the bureau into
consideration before using its services. It is very easy to recommend
popular speakers as appropriate for any event, since the name of the
speaker alone may impress the planner and attendees, but this may not best
serve the true needs and objectives of the meeting. Additionally, some
bureaus may be tempted to hold hack an honest opinion of a speaker’s
capability if they are focused only on the size of the speaker’s fee.
This is where integrity is key.
You can determine the quality of a speakers bureau by its willingness to
invest time upfront to understand your issues, concerns, and goals
with each meeting. An ethical bureau is more interested in building
long-term relationships for ongoing future business, with both the
speakers and the planners. Speakers want to trust the bureau they work
with that it will find appropriate opportunities for them. And the
planners want to trust that the bureau will provide relevant speakers who
really connect with the audience.
This type of trust cannot be built through an impersonal scan of a
website.
“The Internet sometimes conjures a ‘bargain hunting’ mentality among
online shoppers.” Griffin said. “While this may be advantageous for
families trying to plan vacations, it really isn’t a good approach for
professionals trying to coordinate a high-quality sales meeting. Planners
traditionally have relied on the expertise of a wide variety of vendors,
from AV specialists to resort representatives to speakers bureaus. The
dawn of the Internet age shouldn’t affect the value of those
relationships.”
And, speakers’ fees typically do not change, regardless of how they are
booked through a bureau or any other means. So, in the case of speakers,
the Internet does not offer any pricing advantage. In the long run, time
and money will be saved when properly utilizing a professional speakers
bureau. Since bureaus do the legwork to develop targeted lists of
speakers, planners don’t need to spend time considering inappropriate
speakers. The bureau provides reasons why their recommendations are good
choices, and it provides for the planner relevant materials about each
speaker.
It is important to know that the information a bureau can provide may not
be available on the Internet. On a website, you’re at the mercy of what
the Webmaster deems “worthy” of actually being posted. At the same
time, the right information may be there, but the planner may need to
invest a lot of time trying to locate it.
Most speakers bureaus offer websites that essentially assume the
pre-planning work is complete and the client knows exactly what he or she
needs in a speaker. However, there are no checks and balances on these
sites to determine if this is the case. A planner, with the help of a
bureau, should focus on the pre-planning process before looking at the
specifics of any speaker. Once that is determined, the Internet can be a
good place to conduct auxiliary research.
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