We\u2019ve compiled some effective backup strategies in case you encounter the dreadful experience of losing your voice over client. <\/span><\/p>\n Perhaps you may have seen it coming. But many of us are still caught by surprise by the moment of truth because we subconsciously deny the mishap. Consequently, your first reaction may not be a constructive one. If you feel emotional, don\u2019t do anything precipitate that might further worsen your client relationship moving forward. Getting defensive or arguing heatedly about the decision, especially if they indicate it\u2019s already final, won\u2019t do you any favor. <\/span><\/p>\n Instead, take a breath literally and then pause for a while to reflect. I know it\u2019s easier said than done, but try to calm yourself first because saying anything because anything negative said on the spur of the moment won\u2019t bring your client back. <\/span><\/p>\n Once your initial reaction has subsided, the best initial response when a client says they\u2019re quitting you is to attack them with kindness. <\/span><\/p>\n Thank them for the heads up, tell them you need a little time to think about what they\u2019ve said and promise to call them back later. That delay will allow you time to formulate your response instead of giving a kneejerk reaction.<\/p>\n Now that you have acknowledged your client\u2019s message and let them know you\u2019ll get back to them, you have the chance to speculate on what had happened, and formulate questions that will help you examine not just your performance but figure out your client\u2019s reasons<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n Remember that although it is easy to assume things by instinct, make sure to ask. And do this once you\u2019re calm and able to listen. <\/span><\/p>\n It is also important to not always jump on blaming yourself. It is possible that the problem may neither be you nor the client, but the unwanted circumstances that are nobody\u2019s fault.<\/p>\n So here are the following questions the covers every face of the cube.<\/p>\n Does it have something to do with me?<\/i><\/b> \u2014 <\/i>\u201cThe federal government cut our budget by 50 percent and we have to eliminate all consulting contracts\u201d<\/p>\n Did I run short in communicating with them? \u2014<\/i> <\/b>\u201cSlow replies and difficult to reach.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re taking things in a different direction.\u201d \u2014 What is the new direction? <\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re changing priorities.\u201d \u2014 What are the new priorities?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \u201cNew business realities.\u201d \u2014 What\u2019s the new business realities?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve found a new talent.\u201d <\/span>\u2014 What are the requirements from the new talent?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Didn\u2019t I meet their expectations?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Didn\u2019t I comply with the VO direction?<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n These questions will enable you to determine whether it\u2019s possible to make amends (see below) which could help them hold back with their decision. Too, you will be able to gauge whether there are skills or behaviors you could improve (which will help your business in the future), or this is simply a chance occurrence you have no control over.<\/p>\n With the aforementioned questions, you have now the markers to evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats over the period of contract with your client.<\/p>\n This is the perfect time to reflect back from the time you started your relationship with the client and assess things from your skills, performance, voice over tech stack, communication, to your treatment with the client. This is especially useful if the dilemma is with a long-time client.<\/p>\n What are the common denominators of my successful projects with this client?<\/p>\n How was the communication over the recent projects?<\/p>\n Is my pricing aligned to the market standards?<\/p>\n What is my unique point of difference from the other voice overs in the category?<\/p>\n What went well during the last project<\/p>\n What went wrong during the last project<\/p>\n Is my voice quality not consistent?<\/p>\n Am I able to successfully demonstrate the role?<\/p>\n Am I able to deliver the value they wanted during the project period?<\/p>\n Is my niche valuable to their project?<\/p>\n What sets me apart from other voice actors in the category;<\/p>\n How is this project communicated?<\/p>\n Is this communicated effectively?<\/p>\n What are their standards with their existing\/previous voice actors?<\/p>\n It\u2019s time to get back to the client. Having yourself equipped with your analysis, you\u2019re ready to face them and make your attempt to overcome their decision. The last resort you can go is asking them straightforward, \u201cWhat can I do to retain this contract?\u201d<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n If you discover they feel there\u2019s something you could have done differently — rewrite a report they felt was lacking or apologize to someone you\u2019ve inadvertently offended — go ahead and do so. It\u2019s not so bad to compromise a little than to completely lose it all. You may offer to make amendments that favor them and revise your agreement.<\/p>\n At best, it might cause them to reconsider and retain your contract. At worst, they\u2019ll appreciate the effort and may speak well of you to others — or at least won\u2019t badmouth you as they\u2019ll recognize your sincerity.<\/p>\n Reality check: people come and go. And voice over business is no exception to this. It\u2019s a sad reality that no matter how intimate the relationship we have built with our clients even for years, and no matter how confident we are that they are beyond satisfied with our voice over service<\/a>, things are not certain and we can\u2019t predict the circumstances. But it\u2019s worth the try to negotiate your voice over services, just see to it that there\u2019s no loss in the business transaction. Therefore, while you weigh up the pros of saving a contract, be sure to look past whether or not saving a quitting client is worthwhile.<\/p>\n Have you ever lost a client? How did you try to save them? Share it with us in the comments below!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have you ever lost a VO client? We all know, it\u2019s the moment every voice actor dreads.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[256,36],"tags":[490,112],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3380"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3380"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4776,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3380\/revisions\/4776"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Take a breath while it sinks in<\/b><\/h2>\n
Find out why<\/b><\/h2>\n
Re-assess your performance<\/b><\/h2>\n
Questions to introspect for long-time clients:<\/b><\/h4>\n
Questions to introspect for new clients:<\/b><\/h4>\n
Offer amends and propose a new version of agreement<\/b><\/h2>\n
![\"voice](\"https:\/\/www.thevoicerealm.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/40826-300x214.jpg\")
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