No more ghosting

by Tom.

It may come as a surprise to some of you, but I am still signed up with a number of speaker agencies and bureaux, as well as Pomona. It has always been my intention that we don’t force you to put your leads through us exclusively (or receive them from us). Instead, we want you to choose to do so because we handle them best. I put all my work through Pomona, naturally. But I still get enquiries from other bureaux and am very happy to work with them.

As you’ll know, part of the reason I founded Pomona was because of my frustration at the inconsistent handling of leads by some other agencies. And having spoken to many of my peers then - some of you now - I knew my experience wasn’t unique.

In the last couple of years though, I’ve experienced something new: getting ghosted by a bureau, after they’ve sent me an enquiry.

The sequence goes something like this:

> An agency gets in touch with a potential gig for me.

> I respond with my availability, interest, and relevant experience.

> I NEVER HEAR FROM THE AGENT AGAIN.

This hasn’t just happened once. On multiple occasions over the last year, from at least three different speaker bureaux, I’ve had direct, specific enquiries, and then after responding, never heard from them again in spite of multiple chases. Or if I have heard, it has been months later. I wonder if some of you have experienced the same?

This is deeply frustrating and rude, and a total time sink. It’s unprofessional and it’s not something I ever want you to experience from us. But I also know now from experience how expensive, time-consuming and administratively-challenging managing enquiries can be for agents like us.

This is why our investment in the Pomona Platform is so important to me. Because I don’t see a way that we can - cost-effectively - be as transparent and open as I want us to be, without having the right operating platform.

If we can stick to our roadmap, by 2026 you will be able to see all the leads that we handle for you, where they came from, where they are at, and what actions we have taken to pursue them. There will be no ghosting because you’ll have access to lead status 24/7.

It does mean that we will have nowhere to hide if we underperform in terms of pursuing leads on your behalf. But it also means that you will be able to see how much work goes on behind the scenes in chasing those leads.

Right now, we don’t even have a good system for telling you about opportunities that have come to us and for which we have put you forward. We have to email you to let you know. One email might not sound like a lot but even with just 60 speakers on board, it mounts up.

I’m really excited about the power that transparency can bring, to our efficiency as a business, but more importantly to the relationship we have with you and our ability to continue to grow your trust in us.