Bureaus Can't Sell You If You're Too Cheap
I interviewed Anna Hemmings MBE recently for my Speaking Business Podcast. Six-time world champion, two-time Olympian, Britain's most successful female kayaker. Now a speaker who gets 50% of her work from bureaus.
That last bit didn't happen overnight, and Anna was refreshingly honest about why.
"I think in the beginning I was charging too low a fee. They couldn't make enough commission off of that."
I've lost count of how many times I've heard a version of this story. Speaker undercharges. Speaker wonders why bureaus won't return their calls. Speaker assumes the problem is their topic, their showreel, their lack of a book.
It's rarely any of those things.
It's the fee.
The Maths Bureaus Are Doing
Let's say your fee is £2,000. A bureau takes 25%. That's £500. (Many bureaus work on 20%)
For that £500, the bureau has to find you, pitch you to the client, handle the negotiation, manage the contract, chase the invoice, and deal with any follow-up. They're also carrying the reputational risk of recommending you.
£500 doesn't cover it. Not even close.
Now imagine your fee is £8,000. The bureau's cut is £2,000. Suddenly the economics work. They can invest time in positioning you properly, building a relationship with the client, and selling you with confidence.
This isn't about greed, it's about sustainability. Bureaus are businesses, they need to make the numbers work, just like you do.
When your fee is too low, you're not making yourself more accessible. You're making yourself unbookable, at least through bureaus.
What Changed for Anna
Anna came from elite sport, where the currency is medals, not margins. When she first moved into speaking, she priced herself modestly, she assumed it would open doors.
What changed was her understanding of what bureaus actually need. They're not looking for a bargain, they're looking for a safe, premium choice they can confidently put in front of a client.
When Anna raised her fee, she became that choice, not because she suddenly got better at speaking, she was already excellent, but because she finally looked like someone worth recommending.
She also invested in the other things bureaus care about - professional materials, a clear point of difference, and strong assets. But the fee was the foundation. Without that, the rest didn't matter.
The Uncomfortable Truth About "Accessible" Pricing
I work with speakers all the time who resist raising their fees. They tell me they don't want to price themselves out of opportunities, they're worried clients won't pay more. What they don't realise is that low fees send a signal. To a bureau, a low fee says “this speaker isn't established. This speaker isn't in demand. This speaker might not deliver. Why would I stake my reputation on them?”
To a client, a low fee can say the same thing. We associate price with value. If you're charging £1,500 when everyone else is charging £7,000, the client doesn't think "what a bargain." They think "what's wrong with this one?"
I'm not saying you should pluck a number out of thin air, your fee has to be tied to value you can articulate and back up. But if you've been speaking for years, collecting testimonials, building a body of work — and you're still charging what you charged at the start — you're making it harder for bureaus to work with you, and you aren’t being paid what you’re worth.
What This Means for You
If bureaus aren't calling you back, before you blame your topic or your marketing, look at your fee.
Ask yourself:
- Can a bureau make a reasonable margin on what I'm charging?
- Does my fee position me as a premium choice or a budget option?
- Am I pricing myself to be taken seriously?
Anna Hemmings now gets half her bookings through bureaus. That didn't happen because she got lucky or because she's an Olympian. It happened because she understood what bureaus need and she made herself someone they could sell confidently. And because she’s worth it.
You can do the same, but it starts with the number.
You might be pricing yourself out of the game by pricing yourself too low.
Anna Hemmings MBE is a high performance specialist, leadership coach, and founder of Beyond the Barriers. You can listen to the full conversation on the Speaking Business Podcast.
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