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toys

When You Mis-Quote a VO Client: A Case Study

November 8, 2020 by Laura Schreiber

How Did I Manage to Mis-Quote the Client

Einstein Quote About MistakesFor the first time in my five years as a full time voice over actor I mis-quoted a client. In truth, I was extremely tense about the election results so if I did not make a mistake here I could have made one some where else. A new client found me on LinkedIn for a toy project. I have a tight NDA, but I can say that it’s a toy and right away my voice seemed like the perfect fit for this project.

The first mistake that I made was that I opened the script on my phone. I was in my booth doing an eLearning job. I think we all feel that sense of urgency to reply promptly so that the client doesn’t go to another option, and I had so many screens open in my booth, that it seemed easier at the time to look at this on my phone. The client sent an excel spread sheet. At the top of the spread sheet were four highlighted very short sentences. I looked at the spreadsheet several times, did not see any other content, and each time I checked it was on my phone. It was my understanding that these highlighted lines were the entire script.

To be clear, I am often sent very small scripts in different genres, so this in no way seemed odd. I do a lot of commercial work, and there are a lot of short, 15 second, commercials. Even in eLearning, sometimes I am cast for one short role in a module, so this short script for the toy in no way seemed unusual. When I replied to the client, I was very clear to outline my standard toy rates, my toy revision rates, and what my quote would be for this job given how short the script was. I explained that I would provide two versions and the audio would be in what ever form they needed, fully edited, and ready for use. The client responded that they would be moving forward in the coming days.

How I Realized My Error

Bruce Lee Quote About MistakesWhen the client had their final script, they emailed me an NDA and a contract. Then they emailed me the finalized script which was again an excel spreadsheet. In the email they confirmed the initial rate. To my horror, I realized immediately that I had under-quoted the client significantly. The script was not 4 lines, It was 154 lines. Further, they needed the files split which was also not included in the initial bid. My heart sank. I never want to disappoint a client or to make their job harder. I genuinely thought the job was the first four lines. I am not clear whether or not the client was also questioning if the bid covered the full scope of the project by the way their email was written, but I still had to re-quote. With all the work I had, I would be spending a good deal of time on this and could not do the job for the rate I had initially quoted. I felt, though, like a buffoon.

How did I Decide How to Handle My Mistake

Maya Angelou Quote about MistakesImmediately I messaged my accountability group with whom I speak to all the time, every day. I trust these women more than anyone to lead me in the right direction. When they did not respond within minutes, I called them. Two of them were actually together at that moment, and they helped me draft a thoughtful and sincere email to address my error and revise the quote. It began with “I do apologize but…” I felt awful about doing it but I also could not live with myself if I did not. Interestingly, it was the opinion of two of the others in the group that the error was mine and I should do the job at the lower rate. They pointed out that I risked both losing the client and that if this client knows other clients I risked tarnishing my reputation. I weighed my options and sent the email with the revised quote.

What I would do Differently Next Time

  • I would open the email on my iMac.
  • I would not be in such a rush to reply. The few minutes could save a lot of aggravation later.
  • If I was unclear about the scope of work I would call the client.
  • I would ask more questions before doing the quote.
  • I would give a tiered quote (which I often due) that covers different lengths of work so that I am covered either way.

How it Worked Out

Make Mistakes and Move OnThe client was not pleased when she got the email with the revised quote she had to go back to both her team and to the clients for approval. The next day I heard that they were ready to move forward. I ended up having to call the client. When I downloaded the excel spreadsheet, I had some formatting issues as a Mac user. I called the client and they were extremely helpful. It was actually great to speak with them and have yet another opportunity to apologize and let them know that I genuinely did not intend to make things difficult for them. Our chat went very well and I am extremely thankful to have laid what I hope is the foundation of a good working relationship.

Filed Under: About Me, Client Relationships, Voiceover Tagged With: client, client relationship, commercial, elearning, iMac, iPhone, LinkedIn, mistake, NDA, new client, quote, quoting, rates, revised quote, toy, toys, VO, voice over, voiceover

Tis’ The Season….And I’m Ready

November 7, 2018 by Laura Schreiber

Holiday Cheer Just Pours Out of Me!

While it seems like every year the tinsel and ornaments come out at the mall earlier and earlier, the moment they appear they bring a huge smile to my face! This weekend I was at out local mall, the Mall at Short Hills, with my daughter Emma and my nice Emilia and I saw THE MOST PRECIOUS sign with two dachshunds wearing Santa hats. Apparently there is a night at the mall to bring your dog to sit on Santa’s lap! But, as a long time professional voiceover actor with years of experience, I do not need the tinsel and Christmas trees to let me know that the holidays are approaching! Those holiday spots start pouring in pretty early in October and typically go through December and really keep me on my toes! I love being the voice of holiday cheer and this is my season of Joy!

The Warm Greeting

One of the most fun parts of the season is all of the holiday telephony work that I voice! From on hold messages to holiday greetings, starting with Thanksgiving, and running through Christmas and New Years most of my regular clients change their greetings. There is a practical purpose that they need to alert their clients to the changed hours. But there is also a clear tone of holiday spirit! These scripts are all written with warmth, well-wishes, and often humor. The good spirit that comes through is a true delight. I enjoy the opportunity to bring personality and pure joy to these telephony spots. For those of us who do a lot of corporate IVR, this is the most fun time of the year as a professional voiceover actor. From Whole Foods Market to Coast Business Supply, I work with all sorts of companies to spread holiday cheer to their clients when they call. This is also a great chance to let clients know of holiday promotions that they companies have going on, so these messages have an added layer of importance. I have even had the opportunity to voice the outgoing messages for the companies that hire me to do the telephony work, and I can’t think of a bigger holiday treat than that!

The Holiday Retail Spot

In my years in voiceover, most of my work has been commercial work. From TV to radio, I love the retail read, and we all know that Black Friday is they day of days for retail! Last year I was shocked and delighted to learn that Black Friday has made its way across the pond to Europe and I even had a radio spot in French for Black Friday! Now with the addition of Cyber Monday, there is yet another opportunity for retail spots. Holiday commercial voiceover opportunities are certainly abundant this time of year, and delivering the voice of holiday cheer is something that I look forward to all year! Whether it is 15 or 30 second spot or a tag, the commercial voiceover holiday read is an opportunity to add sparkle and joy during this happy season.

Toys

It would be hard to think of the holidays and not associate toys with the season in some way. As a child, I loved both the “Kiddy City” and the “Toys r Us” commercials and was so excited for them. Growing up in Philadelphia, we had many holiday traditions actually. We would take the train to Center City. There, we would go see the lights show at Lord N’ Taylor. They had a Christmas Wonderland set up and we would look at all of the toys. There as a tiny train that went around the ceiling for little kids and my sister and I loved it! Those were the days when you never went home with something and kids only got toys on holidays and birthdays, so everything seemed so special and so luxurious. I think being so enamored with the amazing set up had an impact on me that shapes my voice work every day, It feels like just yesterday I was there with Julie, walking hand in hand, and we were mesmerized. That joy never left me.

Now I have the amazing opportunity to actually voice toys when I do character work. I often work with companies that create the prototypes. Because of non disclosure agreements, I cannot disclose the toys, but I can say that I have voiced toys that are on the shelves of a Target near you! Knowing that these toys will go home and be loved and become part of someone’s childhood memories means the world to me and I am so delighted for this special voiceover work.

Holiday Traditions

We have a lot of holiday traditions in my family! Most of them involve food. Every year we make holiday cookies with my mom and sister and the kids and we decorate them. We make latkes and we light candles. We sing lots of songs. We spend a lot of time together and we eat. A lot. But being with my family around the holidays makes me so so happy, and it is that happiness that I bring to every single holiday spot that I voice.

Filed Under: Telephony, Voiceover Tagged With: Christmas Cheer, holiday commercials, Joyous voice, toys, Voice of holiday spirit, voiceover, voices for toys, working mom

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