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Look Out For You

When you’re working a typical 9-5 office job there’s always a safety net. There’s always (or almost always) someone above you. There’s always someone who will go to bat for you. Someone who will look out for you.

When you’re an entrepreneur, when you’re a voice talent, often, you have none of those things.

  • There’s no guaranteed weekly salary.
  • There’s no one to pass the buck to.
  • There’s no HR department to protect you.
  • There’s no manager to look out for you.

There’s just you. Chief cook and bottle washer.

Look Out For You

I received an email from fellow talent this week. They had quoted a project and come to terms with their new client. When the script was delivered, however, the project turned out to be significantly larger than the client had originally stated. The talent was emailing me to ask how to approach this situation.

I don’t want to quote too high but don’t want to be taken advantage of either.  What do you think is fair?

It’s a great question. One that we’ve all had to address. With no guaranteed income, we never want to say no to a job or do something that could cost us a job. But with no HR department to keep things fair and no manager to look out for us, what’s a talent to do?

Creating a Win-Win

Win-WinThe talent had already recorded a sample of the project and the client was very happy with what they heard. That’s a good thing. A great foundation to negotiate from!

My suggestion to him was to come back to the client with a new quote that the talent considered fair and explain to the client, respectfully, why he was re-quoting the project.

I also told the talent to be prepared to walk away. If the client chose to be unreasonable and not consider the updated quote, it was likely a client he wouldn’t want to work with in the first place.

Ultimately the goal is to get a rate that’s fair for both parties, while delivering a quality voice over that meets the clients needs.

That’s exactly what ended up happening!

Thanks so much for your advice, it worked!  They agreed to increase the budget to match the project without complaint.  I just needed a little advice to give me the strength to ask for what is right.

Stand Up For Yourself

When I received that email from the talent, I was so happy for him. He was respectful with the client, but also stood his ground and in the end everybody wins. The talent gets in the increased rate and the client gets a voice over they’re happy with.

Perfect!

Remember, when you’re in  the voice over game, you’ve got to look out for yourself because nobody else will. Don’t be afraid to stand your ground. Always be polite and respectful. Business is business and more often than not, clients will understand.

Remember, when you’re in  the voice over game, you’ve got to look out for yourself because nobody else will.

Create win-wins and everybody walks away happy!

QUESTION: Have you ever had to take a stand with a client. Did it work out?

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