Speaker’s Secrets = More Value (Part Two)

by Dale Collie

Savvy meeting planners easily increase the impact of meeting budgets by negotiating with professional speakers for free add-ons. They stretch their budget and delight both audience members and their bosses with all of the high -value items that could be very costly.

Part one of “Speaker’s Secrets = More Value” in Success by Association discussed the five-step negotiating process to get many benefits that speakers often don’t reveal.

 

1. Choose high value items to request

2. Find out which of your own resources are of value to speakers

3. Request the high value items you want

4. Counter resistance and negotiate for no extra fees

5. Put it in writing

Many speakers charge extra for each of the high value items listed in column I, but you can get it all for free by offering resources of your own – shown in column II.

High-Value Items to Request

From Speakers 

1. Keynote Plus Breakout Session—2 for 1
2. Pre Program Survey to Members to build enthusiasm for the meeting.
3. Pre Event Articles to boost registrations
4. Pre Event e-Mail series to fill seats
5. Pre Event Phone Interviews with members to boost attendance
6. Press Releases to Local Media —Speaker distributes press releases and agrees to local interviews for your organization
7. Post Event Article summarizing the presentation
8. Post Event TeleSeminars for attendees who want to learn more about the topics
9. CEO Breakfast or Special Meeting
10. Speaker Insurance—Additional program to fill in for absent speakers
11. Networking—Speaker stays on site after the presentation for lunch or evening reception
12. One-on-One—Speaker agrees to do 15-minute 1-on-1 Q&A sessions after the presentation
13. Books for all—Speaker gives at least 100 books; find sponsors for additional books needed.
14. Magazine Subscriptions—Speaker negotiates with publishers for a free 1-year subscription for all attendees
15. Sponsorship—Speaker sponsors a portion of the event, e.g. door prize, travel card, gifts for members
16. Continuing Education—Speaker provides books, handouts, tip sheets
17. NonProfit—Speaker provides fundraiser speech, staff education, or board development program for your favorite charity
18. Travel Expenses—Speaker covers all expenses except the master-account hotel room

Low-Cost High-Value Items to Use in Negotiating with Speakers

 1. Multiple dates—Partner with other chapters or associations to offer multiple engagements
2. Voice or Video Recording of Your Testimonial
3. Attendee Testimonials videoed after the presentation
4. Video of Program—1 or 2 camera shoot of the speaker’s program.
5. Permit Speaker to Sell Products—Allow a one minute pitch about their related products during the presentation
6. Endorse Speaker’s Books—Influential person introduces speaker’s books from the platform
7. Personal Introduction to other organizations and meeting planners
8. Introduction and Referral of speaker to state, regional, and national associations
9. Attendees Introduce and Refer—Attendees agree to introduce and refer speaker with post cards
10. Membership List—allow speaker limited use
11. e-Mail Speaker’s After-Convention Communications to your membership
12. Put Speaker’s Ad in Meeting Program
13. Put Speaker’s Ad in Your Publications
14. Volunteers—Recruit influential volunteers to help with speaker’s back-of-room sales
15. Public Seminar—Allow the speaker use of one of your event rooms to conduct a self-promoted public seminar at your venue; reduced fee for your own members
16. Donation to Charity in the speaker’s name
17. Send the Speaker’s Monthly Newsletter or Tip Sheet to your membership for a specified period of time following the presentation
18. Arrange photographs for all members with the speaker—Print speaker’s contact info on the back

Get a detailed description of each of these items along with the exact questions to ask your speakers as you negotiate your high value items – www.CourageBuilders.com/speakers

Author and speaker Dale Collie uses the leadership skills of US Army Rangers to help key people succeed in tough times. His experience includes a career as a US Army Ranger, Fortune 500 executive, CEO and leader of a wildly successful international charity. E-Mail Dale to get your free e-book “101 Ways to Cut Meeting Costs” Collie@CourageBuilders.com

 http://CourageBuilders.com

Speaker’s Secrets = More Value (Part One)

by Dale Collie

Get more than the keynote the next time you hire a professional speaker—lots more. Make sure you’re getting your money’s worth by asking for no-extra-cost, high-value products such as recordings, books, articles, and travel expenses.

You might be able to negotiate lower fees with some speakers, but most speakers maintain fee integrity for credibility with current clients and speaker’s bureaus. The secret you need to know is that your chances of getting added value are much greater than your chances of reducing fees.

Just as you negotiate for other purchases, use this straightforward five-step approach to get more value from speakers. The whole idea is to offer enough to get what you want, and in part two of this article you’ll find a list of items you can ask for as well as a number of items you can offer in your negotiations.

Step 1—Added Value for You—Savvy meeting planners know how to added value instead of paying additional fees when they ask for special services beyond the keynote. Before they even talk with their speaker, they make a list of added services they want. During the negotiations, they simply tell their speaker that they want these special items included in the basic fee (see part 2 of this article for a list of 18 high value items to ask for).

Step 2—Added Value for the Speaker—During preliminary discussions with the speaker, ask questions to find out which of your resources are of value to them, just as they ask you questions about the meeting and your company. Observe the speaker’s level of emotion and enthusiasm to gauge the value of what you can offer if they later resist your requests for added value items.

Step 3—Make the Request—Don’t hesitate in asking that the basic fee include all travel expenses, two presentations for the price of one, or any of the other high value items the speaker can provide. This is a business deal, and savvy speakers know how to put their real costs into their fees. For example, they know their average travel expenses, and they’re probably glad to incorporate this into the fee rather than invoicing you for expenses after the meeting.

Step 4—Overcoming Resistance—Speakers might readily agree to your every request at no extra fee, but you should be ready to counter any resistance with specific resources that you know they find valuable (refer to step 2). For your own benefit, write out your request and negotiating responses before you ask for anything. Practice the conversation with someone before getting on the phone with your speaker. Be ready for objections. Meet with the speaker more than once if you run into resistance and need more time to prioritize your negotiations.

Step 5—Put It in Writing—Avoid future misunderstandings by putting everything in the written agreement, all of the items the speaker agrees to provide as part of the basic fee and all of the resources you’ve offered.

Part two of this article appears in the next issue of Success by Association giving you a list of high-value items to request from speakers and a second list of low-cost, high-value resources you can use in negotiating with speakers.

Author and speaker Dale Collie uses the leadership skills of US Army Rangers to help emerging leaders succeed in tough times. His experience includes a career as a US Army Ranger, Fortune 500 executive, CEO and leader of a wildly successful international charity. E-Mail Dale to get your free e-book “101 Ways to Cut Meeting Costs” Collie@CourageBuilders.com

http://CourageBuilders.com

The Essentials to Remember When Rebranding Your Organization

by Justin G. Roy

Organizational rebranding is a challenging yet ultimately rewarding task. Similar to someone starting an association from scratch, it requires patience, drive and initiative to succeed. When handled properly, however, it can be a fun and invigorating process that will reaffirm your belief in and commitment to the mission of your organization.

The elements involved in rebranding can vary greatly according to the size of your staff and the extent you plan to revamp. Redesigning your logo takes less time than updating your entire message, but having more hands on deck to assist with changes will make any initiative easier to accomplish. Let’s assume that your association needs a full rebranding and possesses limited human resources, as is typical of most organizations. With that in mind, by following these recommendations, you can reach your goal in a focused, efficient manner.

Why You Should Rebrand

Since rebranding takes an extensive pool of physical and personnel resources, it should occur due to dramatic organizational changes. If you plan to change the direction of your organization’s duties, a rebranding is in order. The same applies if you are expanding your service capabilities, venturing into new niches or renaming your organization.

Once you decide to rebrand, inform your employees and target audiences of what is happening and the reason(s) for the change. Update your constituents on the status of activities through your website, social media channels or other forms of mass communication, with a message like “Look for a new, easier-to-read layout of the monthly newsletter soon!” Supporters of your brand will appreciate being informed of your plans ahead of time.

How to Begin

Proactive research remains key to a successful rebranding. Survey your customers about why they enjoy being members of your organization, as well as those individuals who decided against renewing with you, to determine your brand’s strengths and weaknesses. Consider holding focus groups with those who provide services to you, and even talk with prospective clients about your plans. Additionally, examine the demands of the market you serve. These insights will point you to where you need to revise your brand.

Determine how you want to implement your rebranding. Some prefer to make the bulk of changes “behind the scenes” and then roll them out simultaneously. Others want to have elements appear in stages, perhaps first in printed material including letterhead and business envelopes and then on the Internet. Plan at the outset how you want this rebranding rollout to occur for an efficient changeover.

What a Rebranding Will Entail

Let everyone involved in rebranding understand that implementing any changes will probably take at least a year, depending upon your organization’s size and the extent of the effort. This long time should encompass the seemingly endless areas of your brand that you will need to address. Consider all the places where your logo appears – email signatures of your staff, business signs and cards, invoices to vendors and so on. Add to that changing your organization’s voicemail, letting search engines and websites of your partners and supporters know they need to put your new branding on their websites, and providing notification to the IRS if you change your name, among other factors, and you have a lengthy to-do list.

To expertly manage these tasks, assign target dates for completion. While it might take just three months to design a new logo, it is more likely to take longer to rebrand your website, particularly if you want to ensure that every page is up to date with your new look and messaging.

It is helpful to use a spreadsheet to prioritize the top three to five items to accomplish each month, depending on your goals. Upon establishing these duties, if you are making these changes in-house, know they will have to occur alongside regular work activities, and allow enough leeway there. You may find it beneficial to enlist a temporary worker or two or an outside firm to help complete tasks on time without taxing your staff.

The Final Element Needed For Success

You must have a leader in place monitoring all the elements involved in your rebranding, someone who knows what goes where and understands what must take place to proceed on time. This person needs to understand that frustration will be normal, since nothing ever follows plans exactly. Additionally, this person needs to schedule some time away from the project to avoid having it engulf them, although for several people, the excitement of the change positively uses their time. With a strong leader at the helm, your rebranding can be finished on time and on budget.

There is a saying that “Without change, there wouldn’t be butterflies.” That is the aim you want from rebranding – to take what you already have and transform it into something more beautiful and appealing. Perhaps the best aspect of a rebranding is that it allows you time to check in with your community and begin conversations with people as you inform them about your planned changes. You will make new connections and ultimately bring more exposure to your organization, which is what you wanted when you began this ultimately satisfying brand revision.

Justin is vice president for communications and marketing for William Peace University, located in the heart of Raleigh, N.C. Exclusively an all-women’s institution for its first 152 years, Peace began offering coeducational evening courses through the William Peace School of Professional Studies in 2009. In 2011, Peace College transitioned to William Peace University and welcomed its first coeducational class to its day program in fall 2012. On average, more than 90 percent of the university’s graduates are placed in jobs or graduate school within one year of graduation.

Get Your Members in Motion

How Trust and Teamwork Increase Membership Involvement
By D. Glen Miller, retired Army Ranger and Bonnie F. Mattick

The Thunderbirds soar in formation dangerously and thrillingly close to one another. Like birds in the sky, six planes fly like birds in the sky, moving in unison – teamwork in motion. The Navy Seals and Army Rangers have similar codes that go something like: “Swim as fast as the slowest swimmer, run as fast as the slowest runner.” The phrase “no one is left behind” is not a slogan, it’s an ethos that defines our military.  In short, the U.S. military personifies teamwork. Their missions are dangerous, crucial and often heroic. They have a level of expertise and trust among their team – they take care of their own and perform spectacular work.

Similarly, association board members are more effective when they’ve built trust and established relationships with each other. Their missions are not life-threatening, but the outcomes may be “heroic” when they survive membership issues or financial crises in the association.  In this article you will see how the complex nature of the work in an association is similar to the precision flying team – the Thunderbirds have the highest level of trust and strong relationships.  These are required qualities for leaders and benefit the members in an association.

Trust is Basic to High Performance and Teamwork

Organizations that exhibit trust have credibility, integrity, reliable leaders and commitment from their members. Associations have a similar situation as the military units, with individuals relying on the performance of others.

In a civilian, business setting, when implementing a mission and vision for your association, you work with your board and various members to help implement the ideas. The programs are designed to meet the needs of the members and require coordination and teamwork. The teamwork improves because:

• Successful business strategies require loyalty and trust for top performance.
• Program planning requires a well-coordinated team with board members and staff that exhibit trust and productivity.
• Military personnel, experienced in teamwork, are able to excel in both performance and productivity.

Association leaders want members who have a vested interest in the organization and carry out its mission in order to be more profitable.  These organizations and associations benefit from members who have military experience. The veterans have worked in well-coordinated, highly-functioning teams and bring talent and skills that organizations need.

Military veterans have an innate sense of trust.  With this trust, they have a more vested interest in the success of the organization. They quickly build strong relationships with your members, and easily understand your mission and goals.  When your team trusts one another, they perform well and increase their productivity.  The veterans’ talent and ability to perform well as a team, adds to their productivity and customer service needs of most organizations.  They not only learn from their mistakes, they get stronger and improve together because of their experience.

Have you included ‘building trust’ as part of the mission of your association and is it in your core values?  In the book The Decision to Trust by Robert Hurley, he states “everything of value begins with trust and goes nowhere without it.”  Building trust with your staff and members insures loyalty and they are less likely to leave – and more likely to bring in other members.

The leaders of an association do not need military training to be successful.  But knowing that you have a team of individuals on whom you can rely (and stay alive) demonstrates the bonds that are formed and ensures support for your programs.

Resource Box:

D. Glen Miller, retired Army Ranger, Vietnam – currently serves as an adjunct professor at Temple University in the Fox School of Business and is a small business owner. Glen is a Vietnam combat veteran advocating for awareness of veterans needs in a speech “After the Parade.”  He is co-founder of the Veterans Community Network in the Delaware Valley area of Pennsylvania.  (www.veteranscommunitynetwork.org)

Bonnie F. Mattick, M.A. Ed., MBA, writes and speaks for associations and is passionate about helping them increase memberships and build lasting relationships. She is a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA-AZ Board of Directors); the Arizona Society of Association Executives and the Midwest Society of Association Executives. Contact Bonnie at Bonnie@UnforgettableOutcomes.com.

Association Communications Benchmarking Report Released

It’s not easy being a trade or professional association these days. Economic, demographic, technological and socio-political factors are making it tougher than ever to recruit and retain members, to engage them meaningfully across a diverse range of communication platforms, and to find unique membership benefits that aren’t widely available on the web or the
for-profit world.

Our latest research shows that associations of all sizes and industry compositions are communicating more frequently with members and in more ways than ever before—but our comprehensive research confirms they could be doing so much more effectively and efficiently.

For instance, in 2011, our annual Association Communication Benchmarking Report found that 62 percent of association leaders believed their members ignored at least half of the communications pieces they sent to them regularly. In 2012, that number went up to 75 percent of associations. Members of those associations would probably say the “waste” factor is even higher.

Nearly 400 North American association leaders from 90 industries took part in our 2012 research effort.

If nothing else, association communication professionals are adapting to their members’ evolving media consumption patterns. More than five out of six (86%) associations who responded to our survey indicated that they were using social media to reach members. That’s a substantial jump from 68 percent who said so in 2011. Respondents are also using these tools to communicate more frequently. For instance, a typical association is connecting with members, on average, 7.5 times per month via social media and 9.5 times per month via its print and online vehicles. By contrast, associations were connecting just 5.6 times per month via social media in 2011 and 8.3 times per month via print and online.

Based on this increasing volume of member communication, it may be no surprise that respondents overwhelmingly cited “information overload/cutting through the clutter” as their top communications challenge. Not only did information overload remain the No.1 concern, but the number of respondents who cited it jumped substantially—to 81 percent in 2012 from 54 percent in 2012. As was the case in 2011, “communicating member benefits effectively” was the second most frequently cited association communication challenge. However the percentage of respondents who cited this challenge more than doubled to 72 percent in 2012 from 32 percent in 2011. This finding was supported by a big rise in the number of respondents who believed “information about our products, services and resources” was important to members (ranked fourth in importance in 2012, from sixth in 2011).

Another fast-growing communication challenge we detected was “keeping members informed about events and continuing education opportunities. ” The number of association professionals who cited this challenge rose substantially to 52 percent in 2012 from 14 percent in 2011. On the flip side, “maintaining our position as their industry’s No.1 source of information” was only the fifth most frequently cited communication challenge in 2012, dropping two spots from our 2011 survey when it was third.

Perhaps a sign of the times, two-thirds of respondents said “informal member feedback” (social media, email, website etc.) is a tool they use to assess their key member communication challenges. Informal member feedback was cited more frequently than traditional means such as member surveys, staff assessments and feedback from board members and executive committees.

Unfortunately, staffing of association communication teams does not seem to be keeping pace with the increased volume of association communication efforts. As was the case in 2011, less than half of associations (48%) have more than one full-time staff member assigned to their publishing/content creation teams. In fact, the average number of full-time communication staff at North American associations declined slightly to 2.5 in 2012 from 2.7 in 2011. This trend was consistent among small, medium and large associations.

So how do associations learn to communicate more effectively with their time-pressed, media-saturated, ROI-focused members, and do so as frequently and conveniently as their increasingly mobile members demand? How do they deliver unique and compelling content and professional development resources that members can’t find elsewhere? How do they customize their offerings to appeal to more sub-groups? How do they measure their progress with meaningful metrics and how can they integrate their diverse communication programs to improve the member experience and non-dues revenue opportunities?

That’s the impetus for this report, prepared by Naylor LLC. and the Association Adviser. For the full report, CLICK HERE. 

Protect Your Equipment to Run an Efficient Business

By Stephen F. Galloway, CEO, ESP/SurgeX

Face it – we tend to take reliability in our infrastructure for granted, particularly our power supplies. We assume that electricity will be supplied to our business 24/7 without interruptions.

Unfortunately, that is rarely the case in reality. Power problems can and will occur for a variety of reasons. This can be especially frustrating for associations that rely on electrical equipment for their day-to-day operations, and that is a substantial amount. Office equipment accounts for well over 20 percent of all commercial energy consumption – and that is not counting the electricity used for lighting, heating/cooling, and other areas at offices.

Our dependence on the reliability of energy at our workplaces can lull us into a false complacency. When electrical problems do arrive, they can drastically impact how effectively we can serve our partners and clients and can ultimately result in a loss of business. Thankfully, there are some convenient steps you can take to prevent this scenario from occurring.

Avoid power anomalies

Accounting for some of the biggest electrical problems are power anomalies – hazards that negatively impact electrical equipment. Here are a few leading types you will want protection against: 

• Lightning strikes – While most buildings are effectively grounded to handle these severe incidences, lightning strikes present a very large risk to businesses. These electrical surges travel long distances along power lines and can severely damage electronic equipment.
• Internal and external surges – It is estimated that 80% of surges come from within a building’s infrastructure. These surges are brief bursts of energy caused by a sudden change in the electrical conditions of a circuit, and they can happen anytime. Among the many sources of these surges are computers, printers, copiers, and fax machines. Business Week estimates that power surges cost $26 billion a year in lost time, equipment repair, and replacement costs.
• Faulty wiring – This is a leading cause of fires in commercial buildings, according to the National Fire Protection Association. You may have a wiring problem on your hands if lights are dimming, systems slow down when appliances are activated, or fuses blow and circuit breakers trip frequently.
• Electromagnetic interference – These include natural and manmade sources of disruptions, which range from radio, TV, and satellite transmissions to emissions from hospitals, railroads, and mass transit systems. Many new devices and new technologies are operating at lower power levels and higher frequencies that make them susceptible to the effects of electromagnetic interference, thus putting your organization risk as you modernize your office.

Fortunately, there is industrial-grade protection equipment available to safeguard your devices from all of these power disruptions. By employing adequate power protection technology and diagnostic software, service-based associations can protect equipment from the disruption and downtime caused by power anomalies.

Pre-diagnose power related service calls

No one enjoys having to call a technician, electrician, or the power company and wait for a representative to show up on site. The situation adds insult to injury when the problem could have been discovered and resolved without having to spend the time and money for assistance from the service worker.

By using microprocessor intelligence and diagnostics tools that review potential power related service problems in advance, you can avoid this hassle. Making this investment ahead of time is a good long-term strategy to protect your equipment and any difficulties that may emerge in the future.

Perform plug load management

The US Energy Industry Administration indicates that annual growth of plugged-in devices, also known as “plug load energy,” continues to rise even while offices have made marked improvements in efficiency with their lighting and heating/cooling systems.

You may associate plug load with all that is needed to operate computers at work stations. Actually, the proliferation of laptops and iPads has reduced the problems in these areas. The biggest difficulties with plug load in modern offices occur in the server closet, the common kitchen appliances, and the copiers and printers.

To combat this problem, monitor these areas and take action. Servers can be consolidated, and kitchen appliances and office imaging equipment can have schedules implemented to turn all but the most critical departmental devices off after hours and on weekends. Look for innovative plug load energy management equipment to help with cutting back operations on these devices during downtime. Besides saving you money on energy costs, this practice prevents power anomalies during off-hour periods from impacting your work during business hours.

Take action now

For equipment protection to be most effective, you need to audit every device in your office and determine what upgrades or replacements are essential to keep normal operations functioning. As energy costs keep going up – and time is always money – you will find that investing in such changes will reap huge dividends in the long term.

Be proactive and protect your equipment so you can serve your partners and customers with as little disruption as possible. It will help your image, keep your employees and clients happy, and put you ahead of the competition.

Stephen F. Galloway is the CEO of ESP/SurgeX, whose technology has been entrusted by business leaders worldwide for more than 25 years to protect critical electronic systems and improve productivity and profitability.

Win Fair and Square – Taking No Ethical Shortcuts

Is Your Organization Right Side Up or Upside Down
Don’t Take Ethical Shortcuts

By Sandy Costa

In space, gravity provides no instinctual frame of reference and ones own body cannot tell whether it is upside down or right side up. As a result, there is no ‘upside down’. The typical internal compass that we use to determine where we are in the world just doesn’t work.

In the early 1960s, President Kennedy challenged the country to land a man on the moon and safely return him to earth. The Apollo 11 mission was America’s first attempt at a successful moon landing. While Michael Collins circled the moon in the Apollo capsule, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the surface in a landing craft. When the landing craft separated from the Apollo capsule, Collins said, “You guys are upside down,” to which Armstrong responded, “Well, someone is upside down!”

This brief dialogue between Collins and Armstrong illustrates why it is important for both individuals and organizations to have a strong internal moral compass which can determine whether your organization is right side up or upside down.

Integrity in the Workplace

If an association’s culture lacks a strong moral underpinning, there is usually no way for members to judge what is right and wrong. But, when a sense of integrity permeates the group decisions can be made based on what is right and wrong. Values such as honesty, trustworthiness and hard work should be known, understood and rewarded by all without question.

If a sense of integrity is missing within an organization’s conduct, it will take its toll on everyone. Employees may find themselves out of bounds and possibly reprimanded without truly understanding why. When there are no clear guidelines or expectations, they won’t know where they went wrong. In a culture that lacks the compass of clearly expressed and modeled behavior, people can easily lose their moral bearings.

Problem Areas

In a typical scenario, one or two association leaders may take actions they personally find perfectly acceptable. But these actions may be morally questionable. Others in the association see that happening and also start practicing situational ethics. Decisions are soon not being made in an atmosphere of clear right and wrong.

Other problems may occur when leadership gives little thought to how their decisions affect others. Leaders may think that exercising thoughtful foresight takes too much time, too much feedback and slows down the process.  And as we all know, time is money. It will become more important to get things done quickly and not necessarily to do them correctly. Corners will be cut. It soon will become the norm to say: “To obtain my goals, any action I take is acceptable.” The traditional Golden Rule is sent to communications and changed to: “The one with the most gold wins.”

 

 

 

Honest Competition

Working in honest competition makes all projects more enjoyable because everyone knows and follows the same rules. The fun comes from honing skills, preparing more deeply and carefully, then going out and performing at peak ability.

Associations need to invest in creating a culture built on a foundation of truth and honesty. Few things feel as good as taking actions aligned with our highest thoughts and the best of human nature. Human intellect needs the freedom to make mistakes, and it only has that freedom when we stock our conscience with right-thinking ethical lessons of conduct that we can take for granted—like gravity.

Every association needs smart leaders who know how to be right side up.

Costa is the popular author of the bestselling business and self-mastery book, Humanity at Work. He is a former Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Glaxo and former President and COO at Quintiles Transnational Corporation.  He is well known as a beloved leader and speaker with a message that offers true help and steps for better business and relationships as well as lasting prosperity. To find out more, log on to www.sandycosta.com