READ MY MIND NEGOTIATING GIGS

NEGOTIATING GIGS
READ MY MIND NEGOTIATING GIGS

NEGOTIATING
GIGS
If you perform Mentalism for a living then this is a business - quite
possibly the most important business in your life. I learned a lot from
negotiation specialists and much of what is in this chapter is based
on the ideas of others, but tailored and modified for our line of work.

At some point or another most of us will face one or more of the

following situations:

• An intense desire to get booked for a high profile gig.

• Need the money.

• Concern that you’re not getting as many gigs as your

competition.

• Concern that your price may be too high.

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What is the right thing to do in these situations? Most performers I’ve

spoken to will often lower their price rather than actually negotiate.
When asked, some h ave told me that they are concerned that if they
don’t lower their price they will lose the gig.

I can understand the impulse to ‘not lose the gig’, but I completely
disagree with this mindset. Lowering your prices is a knee jerk
reaction in response to the fear of losing the gig. Negotiation expert
and best-selling author Ed Brodow says it best:

“If you are not prepared to defend your price your clients will lose
respect for you.”

Think about the message you are sending to your prospective client
by quickly dropping your performance fee. They might reasonably
conclude that if they hadn’t negotiated you would have quite happily
charged them extra. Resentment can, and will, start to creep in
should you do business this way.

You MUST be prepared to defend your price. Never forget, you are
providing a unique entertainment service. There are two million
people in the world for every Mentalist; we are a rare breed.

I fully believe that as Mentalists we should command (and expect

to receive) a premium fee for our services. What we do is beyond
the norm. We read people’s minds – how amazing is that! It is very
likely that your prospective client (and their guests) have never seen
anyone do what you do.

Here are some tips that will help you negotiate better prices:
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DON’T SELL YOURSELF SHORT

As a performer you MUST have full confidence in your abilities to
entertain and provide a quality service every time. If you show a lack
of confidence to your clients when discussing your show, they will
legitimately have reservations about booking you.

Ask yourself the following question:

‘Do you believe that your service is worth the price you are
charging?’

I really hope you answered ‘yes’ to that one because if didn’t then
you’ve got some work to do.

SET A FAIR & REASONABLE PRICE

If you hire a builder to extend your house, or a Solicitor to advise you on
a legal matter, they are entitled to fair and reasonable compensation
for their services. As a performer you are entitled to the same. The
question is, how do you define ‘reasonable’?

‘Reasonable Price’ is whatever price you can convince your client

that your services are worth. This figure is relative to the perceived
value of your service. If your clients are happy with your work, they
will see you as a good value service and hire you again. No client will
begrudge you if your price is reasonable relative to the perceived
value of your service.

Take a look at what Magicians and Caricaturists, etc. charge in your

area. You are a rare and arguably more unique service and you should
set your fee with that in mind.
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ACT AS IF…
Ben Affleck played a guy named Jim Young in the 2000 film ‘Boiler
Room’ which is about a group of illegal traders and con men operating
out of a suburban investment firm in NY. In one scene he gives a rather
crude speech to a group of wannabe brokers. The content of his
message stuck with me and can be applied (if we drop the arrogance
and crudeness) when negotiating with your clients:

“There’s an important phrase that we use here, and I think it’s time
that you all learned it. Act as if. You understand what that means?
Act as if you are the fucking President of this firm. Act as if you got
a 9” cock. Okay? Act as if.” – Jim Young

If we remove the profanity and crudeness within the message, it is

somewhat sound advice in certain situations.

Just remember to be polite, friendly and respectful at all times. This

is in no way a message to become rude and arrogant; it is more of a
metaphor and a reminder that you are an excellent entertainer with a
very unique set of skills and worthy of whatever fee you set.

Act as if…

• You are an experienced & professional entertainer who

provides a fantastic service.

• You will add value to the client’s event.

• You are the perfect choice as entertainment for their event.

• Your price is justified and worth every penny.

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• You are grateful to be considered for their event.

• You are one of the most unique and exciting performers they
will see.

• You are the best at what you do.

• You WANT to (but don’t NEED to) provide them with your
services.

DON’T APOLOGISE FOR YOUR FEE

Once you have stated your fee to a potential client, never apologise
for it. If you genuinely believe your fee is reasonable, fair and in line
with perceived value, then you have nothing to apologise for.

JUSTIFYING YOUR FEE

You should always provide a reasonable justification for your fee
when negotiating a gig with a potential client. You want your client to
understand and accept your position. Once they do, you will be able
to successfully complete the deal. One of the best ways to do this is
to focus on the ‘value’ of your entertainment and how it will enhance
the client’s event beyond their expectations.

You must also give your price a sense of legitimacy. Explain to the
client why your price is what it is in relation to the current marketplace.
Your price should be reasonable in comparison to similar services
in the industry, and your clients will have looked at other services.
That’s why I would always recommend you do your homework before
setting your price.
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Ways in which you can do this are asking what other suppliers to
the entertainment industry charge for a comparable service. If they
won’t tell you, and sometimes they won’t, then I certainly wouldn’t
recommend sending an email through their website enquiring for a
quote for your event. (A well-known magician taught me that trick).

The third way to justify your price during negotiation is to simply

explain to your clients that, although you would like to help them out,
you cannot lower your price for one, without lowering your price for
the rest. That just wouldn’t be a fair or honest practice.

BE WILLING TO WALK AWAY FROM A

GIG
You must be prepared to walk away if the deal is not right for you. With
hard work and consistency the gigs will come, but doing the right gig
for the wrong price could create problems in the future.

If you act as if you ‘need’ the gig, the client will sense this and they will
gain the advantage. The willingness to be able to walk away comes
from having other options. Certain dates on the calendar will be in
high demand. For example, if you work weddings then Saturdays from
June to August will be the most popular dates. More often than not,
you will have several clients requiring those dates. You don’t need to
accept a lower price because other clients will want you on the same
date and will be happy to pay your full price. If you can communicate
this to your client without being too brazen then you will always
maintain the edge.

Upon acceptance that your Mentalism career doesn’t hinge on one

particular gig, you will be able to exude confidence during negotiation.
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Clients will sense your confidence, and that can only be good for you
during any type of negotiation.

WHEN TO NEGOTIATE AND BE

FLEXIBLE
Having said all that, there are times when you should be flexible with
your pricing. You may consider lowering your price if it is in the best
interest of your business goals. For an important client who you want
to impress, or a fantastic publicity opportunity that comes with doing
the gig, lowering your price to get that specific gig might be beneficial.

I recently took a cut in my fee because of the high profile guests who
would be in attendance. I told the client that I would offer accept their
lower proposal under the following circumstances:

• The videographer at the event would film me performing for

these guests.

• I get a free copy of the footage for use as promotional

material.

• I could request and use testimonials from their guests.

The drop in fee was minimal, but I received some great video footage,
and a fantastic opportunity to showcase my services to some very
high profile individuals. The subsequent bookings I received as a
result of that one gig vastly outweighed the slight drop in price.

You may consider to accepting a lower fee if the client makes a

commitment to book you for multiple events. For example, if a
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company were to hire you for four specific events over the next year
then it is clearly worth offering them a discount rather than risk losing
out to a competitor.

COMMON CLIENT TACTICS

Clients use some basic tactics to try and bring your price down.
Knowing what those tactics are allows you to plan your responses in
advance when you encounter them.

THE SCREW FACE

Named after the expression some clients will pull when given your
price: “How much!!” which is typically followed up with a shaking of
the head or a similar animated reaction.

What do you do? What do you say?

Do nothing; say nothing. Just look at them with a straight face.

Remember the power of silence mentioned in Banachek’s

Psychological Subtleties 1? Well, here’s an unorthodox situation in
which this will apply.

The client wants to extract a response from you. When you don’t take
the bait, they have nothing to go on. After a few moments, calmly
repeat your price and begin to justify that price as discussed in the
‘Justifying Your Prices’ section.

THE ‘DEL BOY’

Named because of the ‘wheeler-dealer’ clients who get their kicks
from making the cheapest deal possible. When dealing with these
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types of clients you will typically hear common clichéd expressions,

such as:

“I can get that much cheaper.”

“You’ve got to do better than that.”

“I can get (insert name of another act) for that.”

“What’s your BEST price?”

Take the emphasis off the price and focus on the value that your act
would bring to their event. You want to get the client to admit that
they would like to specifically bring in YOUR act to their event.

Once this has been established then the price is only a technicality. If
the client really wants YOU then THEY will find a way to bring YOU in.

Another approach is to dangle the proverbial carrot in front of them.

Offer a reduced rate for this particular event, but only if they hire you
for additional events. If they agree to this, then make sure you get
them to agree to the additional events at the same time. For example,
have the paperwork state that the terms and conditions of the
booking are dependent on multiple bookings. Insist that the deposits
for ALL those future bookings are paid up.

THE ‘POOR ME’ CLIENT

These types of clients are usually small businesses or private
individuals. They will tell you that they have a very small or limited
budget (which may or may not be true). There are many who are
just trying to lower the price of everything. When dealing with these
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types of clients, don’t budge on your prices. Stand your ground and
call their bluff. From experience it is often the clients who have the
deepest pockets that try to get everything done at a discounted rate.

My lowest paid gig last year was for a client who I later found out
earned £100k a week! I offered a reduced rate because a friend who
knew the client asked if I could do her a favour. Needless to say when
I found out who I was performing for I was bitterly disappointed
with my friend for not being upfront and straight with me. When I
confronted her about it she told me that she was under pressure
from the client to get things as ‘cheap as possible’ because the client
didn’t like feeling ‘ripped off’.

I can understand that wealthy individuals in the spotlight often get

exploited because it is well known that they earn a lot of money.
However, when I lower my price to help someone out, only to be told
that the client was negotiating through her to every supplier was a
new experience for me. It is one I will never repeat.

If the client says that their budget won’t cover your fee then ask them
if there are any other areas they can pull the money from to bolster
their entertainment budget. The budget they speak of might only be
one budget from many others available to them.

CLIENT SATISFACTION – DON’T LEAVE

THEM FEELING COLD
One of the most important points to remember when negotiating
with clients is to always leave them feeling satisfied after your
negotiations.
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If you have accepted a lower price to secure the gig then the client
will already be satisfied to a degree. They wanted your services and
they have them at a discounted cost. They will be happy to have you.

Satisfying a client when they were unable to negotiate a lower price

for your services can be a little trickier.

Firstly, help them understand and accept your price by providing

them with reasonable justification. Remember this phrase from
earlier: What can YOUR entertainment bring to THEIR event?

Secondly, be a good listener. Regardless of whether you have secured

the gig or not, the client may have some concerns or issues regarding
your price. Allow them to get these concerns ‘out in the open’. They
will feel much better for it, especially if you show understanding and
patience with them.

Finally, you should always strive to make your client believe and feel
confident that they have made the right decision by booking you. Sell
your strengths and believe in yourself as a first class professional
entertainer. Their guests at the event will be thoroughly entertained
by one of the most unique performers they will have ever seen.