First published 16 September 2019 on Your Best Year Starts Here with Nigel Risner.
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Nigel promised at the end of the last episode that he'd sort our schedules out in 12 minutes. He started with the afternoon a week he keeps blocked out as busy, and I had to remind him we'd covered that before. His answer was that he's got better at it. He's now put his fees up for those busy slots, so if someone wants him to give one up, they pay for it. He also went to the cinema on a Thursday afternoon and said it felt like bunking off school.
From there it turned into an episode about fees. Someone in a group asked what would happen if you added 10% to everything you charge. Then someone asked about 20%, and Nigel admitted he didn't think he was worth 20% more.
Then came the auction. A commercial client he'd spoken for that afternoon held one in the evening, and a friend talked him into putting up three hours of his time with no minimum price. He was worried the bidding would stop at 12 quid. It started at six and a half thousand pounds and finished at twelve and a half thousand. His fee for the talk earlier that day was slightly less than half that.
I went off on a tangent about the only three ways to grow revenue. Small rises on each add up to something close to doubling the business, without needing twice as many customers. So Nigel asked if I'd put my own fee up 10% next time someone asked, and did an impression of me going "uh, uh, uh, what's your budget?" Back in 1997 he spent two and a half weeks practising his fee in the mirror. The first time he said the new number, the client said no problem. He asked what would have been a problem. Thirty percent more, apparently.
My bit was that the fee is rarely the real issue. If people can see what they're getting for it, nobody minds. And Nigel won't have a plastic cup of water on stage. At one recent event they gave him a can of Diet Coke with his full name printed on it.
My notes from this one
- Keep one afternoon a week blocked out as busy, and charge more if someone wants it.
- If your clients wouldn't pay 10% more, look hard at what you're giving them.
- Nervous about putting your fee up? Add something to what you do first, so you believe the new number yourself.
- Practise saying your fee out loud before anyone asks you for it.
So if you're anxious about increasing fees, increase the value.
Neil Martin
A friend of mine says the best thing you can do for the poor is not be one of them.
Nigel Risner
