Holding your price is a little like holding your nerve when it comes to quoting your speaking fee

Holding your price is a little like holding your nerve when it comes to quoting your speaking fee.
 
The good news is that with practice it gets a lot easier.
 
David Newman has a wonderful ‘Salt-Pepper-My-Fee exercise”.  You hold up the salt and say ‘this is salt’, then hold up the pepper and say ‘this is pepper’ then you hold up a post-it note with your fee written on it and say ‘my fee is ten thousand pounds’ (or whatever number it is).  You keep repeating it until it’s automatic.  Simple and genius.
 
But there are times when a booker is going to come to you, and they won’t have the figure you have quoted.  Your diary may be looking a little empty and you are tempted to discount.  Don’t.  Hold your price, hold your nerve, or negotiate.  Don’t discount.
 
There’s a difference.  A negotiation is where you leave something out. Persuasion and Influence expert Phil Hesketh asks what the client wants him to leave out of his presentation so he can meet their budget. 
 
Robert Craven has a list of reasons he will negotiate.  They include locations he would like to visit, organisations he would love to speak for, people he’d like to meet (doing this from memory so I hope I have got these right Robert).  What a great idea to have a list, that your entire team can have a copy of so they know when you will be prepared to negotiate.
 
Another route I like to suggest is to have a portfolio of offerings so you can offer a cheaper alternative to deliver your expertise without diluting the value of your keynote.  But why not do all three?
 
And do try out David’s salt and pepper exercise, it really works.  I use phone and notepad when I do it, they happen to be on my desk.  No idea why David has salt and pepper on his desk, there’s probably a story there.