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Clients Seek Low-Ball Quotes?
Respond With These Questions ...  By Terry Daniel Voice Actor & Coach Like it or not, we are living in the era of Craigslist. Someone will mow your lawn for $20. A photographer will shoot your wedding for $100, and so-called voice talents will record a 10-page narration for $50. This is the world we are living in. Every profession deals with low-ball inquiries from clients. YOU CAN DO SOMETHING You don’t have to like it, but there are some things you can do about it. I used to get upset when clients would call me up for a quote and then come back to me, telling me they found someone else that can do it for less. Now, I just ask them a few questions: 1. How important is your business to you? 2. What is your marketing objective with this script? 3. How important is it that you have professional audio quality? 4. Is this person who can do it for less a professional voice talent? 5. Can I provide a sample to you first before you decide? 6. What is holding you back from wanting to pay my requested rate? 7. If I throw in a free voicemail message for your business, will you hire me for this rate? 8. Would you like to hear some samples of work that I've done that is similar to your content? 9. Did you know that 50% of the rate I am asking for is allocated toward my studio expenses? 10. Do you have Toto's first album? (I always throw that in for fun.) IT'S JUST ONE FACTOR While cost is a factor in any business decision, it should not be the number one objective when hiring voice over talent. Cost is not the only consideration when you decide to make a purchase. Take car shopping, for example. Do you look for the lowest price tag or the car that will best fit your needs? WHAT MEETS YOUR NEEDS? The same holds true with a well-versed and seasoned voice talent. No matter how hard you try, many will still take the less expensive route, only to be dissatisfied with the quality of the talent and eventually hire a more experienced talent to record the voice over. In my career, I have had several of these clients come back to me after originally going elsewhere for a cheaper rate. GET WHAT THEY PAY FOR Thankfully, there are a lot of wonderful clients out there who understand that in order to move product, they will need to hire a professional and pay them what they deserve. When clients hire so-called VO talents for $20, it shows you what they think of their own business. The cost should not be a factor, as the end product will result in exactly what you are looking for. ABOUT TERRY ... Terry Daniel has been in voice overs for more than 20 years, today specializing in technical and medical narration. He volunteers his services for ASPCA - the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and is managing partner and creative director for the Voice Over Club, a voice over training organization. Voice Over Club: www.voiceoverclub.com
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My favorite (true!) example: A guy asked me to price some custom cabinets to be built and installed. I quoted him about $3000.
He said, "My nephew said he could do the job for $1500."
"Maybe you should hire your nephew."
"Well, my nephew is very irresponsible, and I don't want him in my house."!
I do agree with you about voice talents accepting low-ball jobs. It does hurt the industry. Another reason I am hoping some of these tips will help. It's too easy to just say okay or even walk away. Take the time to negotiate.
All over the world, the same goods and services have different price tags based on the economic status of a particular nation. In India, the 2010 GPD per capita was $1,477. In the USA it was $47,184. Needless to say, $50 has a very different value in India. I'm not sure how open Indian clients would be toTerry's questions.
Secondly, Terry assumes we're able to have direct contact with the client. That's often not the case. Most lowball offers come to me via US or Canada-based online job boards. Those sites explicitly forbid direct contact with a client. Forget Terry's list.
Third: I don't blame a Chinese company for trying to get voice talent at the lowest price possible. They're probably working for a US-based firm that has outsourced certain activities because labor is cheap. After all, we all want our Black Friday bargains, so we're driving that demand for cheap products and services.
At the end of the day, I am troubled by three things:
- North American or European clients that are trying to make us work for rates that would be only be acceptable in countries like India;
- Voice casting sites that enable those clients to set these bargain basement rates;
- Voice-over 'colleagues' that willingly devalue our business by accepting jobs at these rates.
In my opinion, those are the practices that are truly questionable!
Thank you, Terry, for the question list (and the article too, of course).
It saddens me that the big bucks in this business seem to be increasingly going to those establishing themselves as coaches and churning out VO talent that will make 101 mistakes.
Maybe there should be (and maybe there is, I haven't looked into this) some accreditation for VO coaches within the industry that ensures responsibility to the new talent and to others already working in the business?
The initial rate that a certain client proposed to me for a recent job was, while not terribly low, a little too low for me. So I asked a few of the questions that Terry asked and offered to do their phone message system for free. And it worked!
It also taught me a rather valuable lesson that I didn't think about before. Before, when a client suggested a rate that was too low, I simply replied...
"I'm thrilled that you considered me, but I'm afraid I can't voice this job for any rate below $_______."
And that would (more or less) be it. Prior to Terry's suggestions, though, I never really explained to the client just *why* I couldn't work below that rate. I just said that I couldn't. It never occurred to me to tell them certain things that I took for granted. For example, that half of my fees go towards maintaining my studio. That's true, and it has been for a while. But I never thought to tell the client that.
So never flat-out refuse a potential client's offer if you think their initial suggestion is too low. Explain to them (politely, of course) why their suggested rate is too low, ask them a few of Terry's questions, and offer to do their phone message system for free. I can tell you from firsthand experience that it does, in fact, work.
Thanks Terry!
Dave Wallace