Deliver on your promises!
So many people don’t do this and it constantly amazes me. Failing to deliver or indeed show up on time is the one thing that will kill your business stone dead – no matter how good you are. Your word is THE most valuable currency you have. Give it lightly and no one will take you seriously. You must use it with care, treat it with the utmost respect and live up to it. Your word and your bond will say more about you and your brand than any advertising campaign ever could.
Deliver On Promises – Protect Your Brand
Successful voiceover artists always manage the client’s expectations. So in order to be successful as a voice talent, you need to get good at this. Establishing a clear channel of communication between you and your client is one of the most important things you can do. So when you are commissioned to produce some work, you should first establish:
- When the client needs it.
- How the client wants to receive it.
- The audio format the client requires.
- Direction on how they want you to perform the piece.
- A clear brief from the client about the audience who will be listening to your work.
I think it is a good idea to have a stack of Pro-forma order sheets with all these items on one page. You can then record all the details in one place. This can be scanned and emailed to the client after you have received the purchase order. Doing this not only reinforces your professionalism and the solidity of your brand but most importantly, it inspires confidence in you. This gives the client a warm feeling that YOU are one less thing they have to worry about. Once you have gone through all this, you should give the client a delivery date and time.
Personally, I have always made it my business to:
under promise, OVER DELIVER!
I always deliver early.
If you keep channels of communication open throughout the project then you should as a matter of course, be updating your client with any issues that you encounter or any deviation to the delivery plan. That way you can resolve problems as soon as they come up and make sure that you get your work to them faster.
It’s an obvious point, but email or telephone calls are the best way to achieve this and you mustn’t be scared of them. Instant communication is an incredible thing and you should never take it for granted. Always use it to keep your client informed. No client has ever been annoyed by being too well informed. Vagueness and uncertainty are what destroy professional relationships. You should always inform your client if you think you will miss the deadline.
Deliver From Audition To Paycheck
Even if you are auditioning, it is important to be quick for any given project. There may be hundreds of auditionees, so it’s in your best interests to deliver your audition material as fast as you can, in order to be in the top 10 on that pile. Casters want to find the perfect fit for each project as soon as possible, so the quicker you come to their attention, the quicker they can find that perfect voice.
So, look after your clients and manage their expectations carefully. Keep open the channels of communication and always under promise and over deliver. Your clients will love you for it and sing about your reputation to others.
Do you have a pro-forma template already created as a resource for GFTB members? And you are recommending that I fill out the form and send it to the client for confirmation, not sending the blank form to the client to fill out, correct? Because it seems that’s creating more work for them that they won’t want to do.
We are working on incorporating this form into our new and improved CRM tool. You should fill it in and return to them as confirmation of what they have ordered