What do you think of something you get for free? How much value do you place on it?
I have been pondering this over the last week.
I spend about 700 hours a year presenting seminars and workshops (14 hours a week on average). This means I see and meet a lot of people and can make a lot of observations about what I have learnt from these trainings.
From time to time, a client will organise me to present training to their community, network or city for free. To pay for the training, they will use funds from somewhere else.
The training organiser will offer free training for many reasons:
1. More people don't show- they havent paid anything so they have nothing to lose. The organisers often lose with excess catering which is "wasted"
2. More people are late to a free training than a training they have paid for. They're less committed to it
3. More people actively plan to leave a free training earlier (many end up staying and telling me how good it was). It is almost as they believed before they came that if "its free so it probably won't be very good".
4. In a free training session, I find more people leave their phones on. Additionally more people will answer their phone and take a call in the middle of a free workshop. They don't value what is free as much as something they have paid to listen.
5. Bizarrely, I get more "rude people" coming to a free workshop than one where they paid. These people are more likely to interrupt, annoy others and sidetrack than in other workshops. I am particularly pleased with the way I and my team handle these situations.
6. I don't often get people arguing with what I say but I can tell you 90% of the times that someone has decided to start an argument with me, it has been at a free workshop. I am not talking questioning or discussing or even disagreeing, I am talking about picking an argument.
7. Finally, I can tell you that my overall evaluation scores are a little lower at the Free workshops I have done. Not dramatically lower. My average rating at a paid workshop is 93%. At a free workshop, it is 91%. The fact there is this consistent difference says something. I know I am not different when I present at these free sessions. It makes no difference to me and I try to give 110% to my presentations. I know my content is the same. The difference is in the expectations of the audience. Have other people found this?
Note to my clients, who I appreciate so much.
One because you are fun to work with and
Two because you have kept me employed. Thank you.
I dont begrudge or regret doing any workshops for you. I however, suggest for the future: If you organise training, and you believe in its value, don’t make it free.
What is your experience?
I have been pondering this over the last week.
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| Me in action! |
From time to time, a client will organise me to present training to their community, network or city for free. To pay for the training, they will use funds from somewhere else.The training organiser will offer free training for many reasons:
- to get more people there
- they were given a grant for the purpose
- its their agency's philosophy to give free training
- they are concerned at the tight economic situation of their community
These are all fair reasons. My reflections of my experiences of what happens when a group offers training for free, has made me question the value of giving training for free.
Here are some observations I have made over the last eight years:
Here are some observations I have made over the last eight years:
1. More people don't show- they havent paid anything so they have nothing to lose. The organisers often lose with excess catering which is "wasted"
2. More people are late to a free training than a training they have paid for. They're less committed to it3. More people actively plan to leave a free training earlier (many end up staying and telling me how good it was). It is almost as they believed before they came that if "its free so it probably won't be very good".
4. In a free training session, I find more people leave their phones on. Additionally more people will answer their phone and take a call in the middle of a free workshop. They don't value what is free as much as something they have paid to listen.
5. Bizarrely, I get more "rude people" coming to a free workshop than one where they paid. These people are more likely to interrupt, annoy others and sidetrack than in other workshops. I am particularly pleased with the way I and my team handle these situations.
6. I don't often get people arguing with what I say but I can tell you 90% of the times that someone has decided to start an argument with me, it has been at a free workshop. I am not talking questioning or discussing or even disagreeing, I am talking about picking an argument.
7. Finally, I can tell you that my overall evaluation scores are a little lower at the Free workshops I have done. Not dramatically lower. My average rating at a paid workshop is 93%. At a free workshop, it is 91%. The fact there is this consistent difference says something. I know I am not different when I present at these free sessions. It makes no difference to me and I try to give 110% to my presentations. I know my content is the same. The difference is in the expectations of the audience. Have other people found this?
Note to my clients, who I appreciate so much.
One because you are fun to work with and
Two because you have kept me employed. Thank you.
I dont begrudge or regret doing any workshops for you. I however, suggest for the future: If you organise training, and you believe in its value, don’t make it free.
What is your experience?
Agree with everything here, Martin -- but you have not made one final, unfortunate connection. What does it imply to those of us in volunteer administration when we must reluctantly conclude that "free is not valued"? Clearly you, as the volunteer presenter, approach the workshop as seriously as you do everything else for which you are paid. But your audience (the recipients of your volunteer contribution and the fellow professionals with whom you partner) somehow just doesn't think of you the same way. To me, this is a deep, unconscious reaction that we in the field need to dissect much more. Maybe if the budgets for volunteer support, the salaries for the leaders of volunteers, and the level of management on which those leaders are placed would require more funds, it would all equate to "paying" for volunteer skills...and end up placing a greater "value" on them. Food for thought.
ReplyDeleteAnd thats the clincher isn't it? I have been dying for someone to make the connection. What does it say when we in the sector don't appreciate "free" stuff? How many not for profits fawn over a consultant or contractor engaged to do a short term job and barely accept the same level of skill offered for free by a "volunteer". Are we just not equipped to handle such gifts (timing is wrong, systems are not structured) or are we valuing them less because its free? Definitely, food for thought. Thanks for the comment.
ReplyDeleteHi Martin
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I provided some training in Melbourne recently for a client who had provided the opportunity for 'free' and our experience (as with previous examples) was the same as you have noted.
We had a discussion about this and (at least I) concluded that it appears we just dont value what we don't pay for.
I wonder just how little someone would have to pay to make this a more valued experience?
Andy Fryar - OzVPM
I could not agree more! For every reason you have said! Even a token, tiny admission amount will screen out people who won't value the workshop because it's free.
ReplyDeleteBut it's not just with volunteer management or other nonprofit training - it's also with just about *anything*: a lot of international development agencies require the local communities they are helping to provide *something* as a way of investing in what's happening - it may be a token payment, it may be providing security, or a meeting place, whatever. And it's for all the same reasons you have just noted: without doing this, people don't show up, they don't value what they are receiving, etc. And I have heard many NGOs and communities in developing countries deride that they got "only" a volunteer to help them in the field, rather than a paid consultant - even though the volunteer may have far more expertise and experience than the short-term consultant.
Sigh...
I totally agree!
ReplyDeleteThankfully #1-#3 have not traditionally applied due to limited space and waiting lists, perhaps creating the illusion of something valued.
Somewhat related is whether presenters should be compensated. For local/regional conferences that charge modest registration fees, I realize that most cannot afford to pay presenters but generally do give free registration and sometimes reimburse for direct expenses. However, at the national conference level, where registration fees are much higher (US and Australia), in order to engage presenters of an overall high-caliber than can be found locally/regionally, I think that national conferences should pay top-notch presenters.
i agree with what you are all saying, one of the ways that we have somewhat conteracted this is by stating in our invitations that the training is costing us much needed money, that way our volunteers are more inclined to respond positively, sometimes it is the language of the invitations that is the kicker, not so much the 'free' cost. Also another problem many organisations have is that it is stated in their volunteer contracts that they will provide free training - so you would have to be careful at to how you would explain the costings, maybe a small catering fee would suffice? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the information stated here. Our experience as a non-profit, providing training in the sector, to staff and volunteers, was the same. To address this issue, we added a $25.00 charge, and yes, some organisations complained, however, some of the issues raised here were addressed. People did arrive on time, they stayed and they turned up. These were major issues before, particularly from groups where they would send six people, taking these spots from others, and then all six would not turn up because it was 'free' and so didn't matter. No one thought about others missing out or the catering or the challenges of group dynamics. With the fee, if they can't make it, someone else comes in their place and they turn up. Now three years later they are used to it.
ReplyDelete