By Laura Schreiber & Voice123’s The Booth
This article is sponsored by Voice123.
You nailed the audition! Your voice is exactly what the client wanted and it’s that project you had a special feeling about. Now comes the difficult part; maintaining successful client communications throughout each stage of the project.
It might seem easy since you already landed the job, but keep in mind that clients need to see value to continue the relationship or work with you again in the future. So when working with clients, whether it’s an audition, a direct booking, a booking from an audition, or a repeat client, you only have one chance to get that first communication right! When they reach out to you, it is up to you as the voice talent, to set the tone for how the communications will go. A warm, friendly, helpful response goes a long way in every scenario and helps to build the foundation for a great talent-client relationship.
Do your best to make them happy every single time!
Common miscommunications when working with clients
Miscommunication issues can take many shapes and forms. Messages can be taken out of context by cultural differences and delays can creep in if both parties are in a different time zone.
I have worked with international clients and had some miscommunication issues, so often the more information that you can spell out at the start of work, the easier it is for everyone.
Worse-case scenarios: A client gets offended, gets the wrong impression, or pulls out of the project. Or a voice actor could jump the gun, miss a deadline, or drop the ball altogether by missing an important project requirement.
How can these negative situations be avoided?
From the first communication with a client, it is best to understand the intentions behind the project. If you can, ask questions about the tone of the project and specifically what they are looking for. Knowing the answers to these and other vital questions in advance of doing the work leads to successful client communications and also confirms that a booking is a booking.
To help you with this, here’s a checklist of vital points that you need to go through beforehand.
- Ask the client if they have a scratch track.
- Ask if they know what music they are going to use. (This helps me understand the tone and the pace of the voice over.)
- Confirm the file format. WAV, MP3, or both?
- Confirm if the client needs raw or edited audio.
- Confirm whom, where and when to invoice.
- Confirm your service agreement, payment, and revisions policy.
A key takeaway for clients, in this case, is to contribute to a faster process by responding in a timely manner, being transparent about project details, and keeping a voice actor in the loop regarding any changes or delays.
How to manage client expectations
In general, all back and forth client communications should be prompt. If you are replying to an audition request, it is to your advantage to submit on the early side. Personally, as soon as I get an audition that looks appealing, I try to submit it. If you can be in the first ten submissions, that is ideal. Sometimes it is hard because of differences in time zones, or the demands of another project, but early submission is the key to getting booked. Once the client hears what they need, they will cast the job. They also would rather work with a talent who is responsive.
When replying to emails, whether for an audition or for a booking, being available makes you easy to work with. If you reply quickly and are transparent in your business practices, you are far more likely to gain a client. Timing matters. If a client has a deadline, you do not want to be the reason why they have to push their deadline. Instead, make it easy for them to get what they need by both responding promptly and submitting promptly.
Make all replies personal so that the client feels heard. Be sure to respond to all of their asks in your email and cover all bases. This also includes your turnaround time, pickup/revision policy, and payment terms.
Do’s and Don’ts for setting the right expectations
- Don’t feel shy or afraid to outline your terms. Clear and transparent client communications benefit everyone.
- Do find out the client’s intentions behind the project. Are they trying to increase sales, or drive more traffic to their website? And what is their target audience?
- Do ask about the tone of the project. Often, the client has a specific sound; a voice in their head that they’re trying to match. Asking for an example such as a celebrity, similar sound, or even one of your samples could point you in the right direction.
But how does this translate into a written message when working with clients? Here are some specific templates that can be copied and tweaked to suit your needs.
Template 1: If you missed a client’s message
Hi, Name,
I am so sorry for the delay!
I had to ________, but I am definitely available now. I always aim for professional and fast communication so I really apologize for this.
If you’d still like to move forward with this, I’m more than happy to make it up to you by adding ____ free revisions instead of _____. And also willing to _________, as a gesture of good faith.
Let me know and once again, sincere apologies.
Check out the full list of free Client Communications Templates here.
To sum things up, successful client communications are all about knowing what to say, how to say it, and when to say it. Don’t leave anything to chance. Prepare your communications ahead of time, follow the right format and tone, and always follow the 3 Ps when working with clients:
Professional, Punctual, and Polite.
But there’s so much more to communicating and working with clients. Read the complete Client Communications Checklist For Voice Actors in Voice123’s Voice Over Guide.
In general, the platform you are on matters! Some pay-to-plays and even many rosters do not allow you direct interaction with the clients. The client belongs to them, not you. Their goal is for the client to come back to their site, to their platform. You, the paying talent, are only a means to that end. Other pay-to-plays, in contrast, let you interact directly with your client. Do your homework and start booking on those sites. Wouldn’t it be great if the next time the client needed you they just came directly to you, and you did not even need to audition? And wouldn’t it be great if that happened over and over with multiple clients? That’s how you build a business!
So let’s go back to this client that you’ve booked on this pay to play for a commercial that you can interact directly with. Let’s say this job comes in on a Saturday and it’s a “Rush” job. Do you actually have anything else going on? Did you really need to re-shuffle your life to accommodate them? To me, if the client is already paying a nice rate, I would rather dazzle them with my super fast turn-around time and ease of availability than nickel and dime them. After all, how does it make you feel when you are charged extra for every little thing by a service provider? Instead, make it easy for the client to get exactly what they need as soon as they need it. Do an awesome job right away. Do you know what will happen if you do your job well and quickly? The client will be happy.
In the course of your email discourse, try to start getting to know your client. You can start with the basics: ask them how they are and share a tidbit about your day or your week. If you live in a different region, chats about the weather can actually be riveting. I happen to be a working mom, so I love bringing that into the fold.
Every job matters. Clients have a choice when casting and we are lucky to book what we book. An attitude of gratitude goes a long way. At the very least, send a hand-written thank you card. If you have an international client, send a virtual card. Let them know that you appreciate their business and act as if you are part of their team, because you are! Wish them well when presenting the finished audio, and mention your next collaboration. And in thanks. Sometimes, for larger projects, a thank you gift is appropriate. From agents to project managers to video producers to creative directors, it depends who you are working with and what the project was, but I have sent gifts ranging from Starbucks gift cards to chocolate to giant containers of popcorn.
Make sure to maintain a relationship with your clients! You already know they like you, they already cast you once! So, don’t lose contact. Sometimes newsletters are great for reminding them that you are still available. More personal quarterly check-ins are, however, extremely important. You can share a tid-bit of wrk that might be relevant to them as well. You can check out their social media and new content and engage and comment on it. It’s really important to be genuine and actually have something to say, but it’s also important to simple stay top of mind. Your voice many not be perfect for every project, but you don’t want to miss out on a casting simply because the client has forgotten that you exist. Be present. Engage. Be the talent they are thrilled to hear from.
But do I really Need it…
When I started my voice over business years ago I had headshots done for my website. While a long time ago people used to say that voice actors did not need to show their face, as the VO industry has continued to evolve and we, as talents, now have to bring in the bulk of our own work, it is on us to run our business like a business. If we want our clients to connect with us, having current pictures is a must. So, about a year back, I was presenting at an online eLearning conference and I was super excited. When they asked for my head shot, I became for cognizant of the fact that the photo no longer resembled me. I was thinner, my hair was shorter, I always wear glasses… the list went on. I decided to take new photos and update them. While my old headshots had been done by a professional, I took the new ones in my booth with an iphone. I loved them and was thrilled.
Having studio dogs is a luxury. As a working mom, I have blogged about this before, but I never knew if I would be able to have children. When I was 22 and I got my first Cavalier King Charles Spaniel of blessed memory, I was not sure if this fur baby would be my only child. While I have been blessed with human children too, they never changed the status of my dogs, who have meant the world to me. My dogs have been there for me and by my side on my best and worst days. For my greatest celebrations and for my worst sorrow. I believe that Barclay, Violet, and Daisy understand and connect with me in a unique and special way, and having them in my life is as much a dream come true as my professional voice over career is. I very much view having these precious fur babies by my side in my home studio as a luxury. Everything about my career, from my studio set up to being able to be present for my children is icing on the cake to being able to live the dream of life as a full-time voiceover actor. If you are thinking of getting a studio dog, I urge you to move forward without hesitation. If you are thinking about it, let me share the traits that have made my dogs ideal to be in the studio daily and give you some
Violet has always been a wonderful studio dog. Violet is a Blenheim cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Her temperament is calm, quiet, and she is eager to please. She rarely barks and sleeps a lot. Despite her angelic personality, there are several challenges to having this love muffing in the booth. When Violet sleeps, she often snores. Despite her tiny size of only 15 lbs, her snore sounds like a local train coming through town. The next challenge is that Violet, who was bred to be a lap dog, very much wants to sit on my lap. While she will sometimes settle down and snuggle with her sister, she will more often beg to be on my lap. Imagine that I am doing a long form narration or eLearning project and she is on my lab. If she exhales or shakes and her collar rattles, the mic will pic this up. While Violet is pretty close to being perfect, there are some hiccups sometimes and as human as she seems she still has no idea that I am doing actual work or that she can interrupt it.
About four years ago my world was rocked when Dani States created her amazing tool Voiceoverview. It’s a business tracker with a CRM component. At the time of its inception, Dani was then partners with my dear friend Joe Davis who everyone knows from Voice Actor Websites. That’s how I first heard of it. So, before I go into Voiceoverview’s amazing features and why you should sign up today, I should tell you a few other details.
One of the features I was super excited to learn about was the ability to duplicate a job! I had no idea that if you have another booking with the same client you can do this! Wow, my mind was blown. We talked about favorite features including integration with WavesApp for invoicing, allowing for seamless invoicing and tracking of payments. Dani said that Fresh Books and Quick Books are coming soon! We talked about the year to date and past year comparisons. We also talked about the top ten client feature. Not only can you see you work with your top 10 clients during this year and in years past, but when you click on it you can get a ranked list of all of your clients from all time! We also talked about the reports feature. As a user, you can run reports on any data: contacts, jobs, expenses. You can then export and extract the data. Lastly, we spent some time talking about job reminders settings, and as I go through me notes I realize that I need to log in and reset my own! These job reminders can be set to off, 30 days, 60 days, or 90 days. The features are remarkable and were created by a voice actor for voice actors.
Dani said she is far more motivated since she has this in place. She also has a goal of doing at least 100 auditions per month to continue to bring in new clients, and it helps her track that ratio. She also said that the invoicing feature has been huge for her. I can tell you that Voiceoverview has been a game changer for me too. I am not guessing and as my business trends shift, I understand why and where it is going. It helps me make informed choices about my marketing strategy as well.