Factors that determine what you should offer the celebrity endorser.

Quite frankly this is where you become the detective. It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there will always be optimal situations which will be in your favor. If you understand how to sift through the details and perform a little self-analysis, you can quickly, accurately, and cost effectively determine a pricing range. One thing that we have steadfastly learned over the years is that when a celebrity endorser says "Well I usually make x for an hour or two", that is just their way of trying to establish a fee albeit on the high side. An individual not accustomed to dealing with celebrity endorsers might say that's fine…do not ever say that. Never commit to a dollar figure right out of the gate. All things are negotiable. Following are a few examples of some of the things that we have done that will give you insight into your negotiating prowess.

Horror Story: Many years ago we had paid for a very famous celebrity endorser to appear in Richmond, Virginia. The terms of the deal were spelled out clearly and all monies had been paid in advance. This particular deal was with one of the most famous baseball players of all time. We agreed to and paid for a three-hour signing. When we picked up the individual at the Richmond airport we should have known we were going to have a rough day. Five minutes into the ride our celebrity endorser told us he had upgraded to first class and that we owed him an additional five or six hundred dollars. We told the celebrity endorser that according to the contract (which we had in our hot little hands) that he needed prior approval before we would pay for such an upgrade. He then said if we wanted his services we would need to cut him a check on the spot for the increase in fare. Rather than ruin our show (hundred's of people were already in line waiting to see him) we wrote out the check…it was a Sunday. We later found out that he flew for free.

Once we were at the fairgrounds we treated him like royalty. When it came time for him to do his thing (sign autographs) we escorted him through the now close to 1,000 people who had pre-paid for an autograph and sat him at his signing booth. We had him under contract for three hours and with a little luck we would get through everyone…until our celebrity endorser decided to make it a social event. It's great to interact with the customer but not on our dime. When the three hours were up the line was still about 300 people long. We were then informed that he was on overtime. Overtime meant to him that the price of every signature just went up by $15 each at our cost. Naturally we were in a very tough position…we had pre-sold the tickets…hundreds of people were still in line…and we could not afford to ruin our reputation. We were cornered. We could only agree to the demands although it was not in our best interest. It was then amazing to see this remarkable transformation. From slow motion to the fastest signer we had ever seen. Why not, we had just been robbed of another $15 per item. We gave him a check for the difference escorted him out of the building and left him standing on the curb…our limo was suddenly out of service and wished him well. Bright and early Monday morning before the banks were even open in California we put stop payments on both checks. The company had some irate calls but they were always much to busy to take the call.

Another true but not so degrading story comes to mind. We had worked out another signing deal with a pretty well known ex-baseball player to sign baseballs for one of our clients. The client needed five hundred balls but only had a budget of $3,000, which we knew was the going price of the athlete for one hour. There was no way he could sign, even under normal conditions, five hundred baseballs in one hour. Our dilemma was how we could satisfy both the client and the athlete. We wanted to make this deal work for more than a few reasons. Our solution was to build a special ball holder that was eight feet long. We were able to line up the balls all with the sweet spot showing and all the athlete did was sit on a rolling chair and go down the line signing. Each ball was perfect as none of the balls were ever touched. As soon as he was done with one row we had another one ready. In record time he signed all five hundred balls. We had a satisfied customer and a happy athlete. He even took us out to dinner.

Yet another situation dealt with a famous home run hitter. We had secured a super large signing for him. He needed $50,000 for something he was doing. He also wanted an average of $25 per signature. We were at an impasse as our client wanted the items but didn't want to pay $25 per item. The athlete wanted $50,000 and no less. Our solution was to renegotiate the deal so that everyone got what they wanted. It meant a lot more work on the athletes part but in the end he received his $50,000. The customer ended up with five thousand signed items, which he quickly sold for a nice profit, and the athlete received the money he needed although it was a lot more work than he anticipated. In the long run it was a win-win for all parties.

We had another client request for an athlete to do a signing at a truck show. Price was a consideration but we discovered that the athlete loved big trucks and wasn't that interested in the money. All he wanted was an all expense paid trip to the show. The company worked out a deal with the athlete to sign for a couple of hours and do a general meet-and-greet. The athlete loved the show so much he spent the entire day at the booth for nothing. He is now working out a deal with the company to attend the trade shows just so he can have something to do. In this case all they are paying are his expenses. He likes the show so much he is doing it for free. As you can see, we really found the right celebrity endorser for the right company!

As you have seen, working out the right compensation plan requires some creativity. Always start low and listen to what the celebrity endorser really wants out of the deal. Maybe it's a product that they use and will trade time for the product. Whatever the deal, you must probe, asking specific questions that can uncover the real reasons the celebrity endorser is interested in your offer. Often it is something other than money they seek, although as we mentioned above, they do "love the color green."

Our experiences over the last 16 years have resulted in many, deals for us. In the early years we closed a ton of deals just on a handshake. Those days are long gone, however, occasionally with our well-known celebrity endorsers, we only need a handshake as a guarantee of performance. We do not recommend that you do this with anyone unless you have a proven long-term track record with that person. It's a deal set up to go awry, if you rely on just a handshake.

In summary we recommend the following when negotiating your best deal:

• Always start low

• Identify the real needs of the celebrity endorser

• Determine what your needs are

• Try to make contact without using an agen t • Keep them busy and you win

• Always have alternative ways of generating revenue from the celebrity endorser

• Shop around and don't settle for the first person you contact

• Don't seem anxious

• See how busy they are and what other deals they might have in the pipeline

• Timing can be everything…for example, approach ex-baseball players when baseball is not in season. They all slow down dramatically in the winter.

• Define an outline for the celebrity endorser exactly what you expect of them

• Have more things lined up for them to do if things are going slow…keep them busy

• Appear to be only lukewarm on the prospects of a deal

After all, it's your company's money and product. Always make sure you establish who is in charge…because you are the boss.

Copyright © Ron Tyler 2007