I agree with Bob about being thankful for every opportunity presented to us. There are so many people out there trying to get work that any time you're asked to audition it is a gift. At least in my mind it is.
Someone brought up the fact that when you interviewed for a job in the corporate world you used to get a thank you letter. Let me shed a little bit of light on that. I used to be a legal secretary at a small law firm and one of my duties was sending out those letters. The attorneys didn't both with it and, since I was the only secretary working for 5 litigators and 1 criinal attorney, those letters were at the bottom of my priority list and often-times didn't get sent out because I just didn't have the time. It had nothing to do with being rude or inconsiderate but more to do with "do I blow a court deadline or spend time on the thank you letters." Meeting that court deadline was just a little more important. That's the bottom line.
As far as follow-ups go, as I stated in my previous post, I believe there's a proper time to do a follow-up and, I believe, e-mail has made it much less disruptive than a phone call would have before e-mail became a regular business practice. If you are one of the horde submitting an audition then, no, it's not appropriate. However, if you have exchanged several e-mails and phone calls regarding a project, then, yes, it is appripriate. You have spent considerable time communicating with the client about a project. E-mail allows the client to respond at their leisure, i.e., when they have time to take a look at and respond to e-mails not related to the project they are currently working on.
As far as follow-ups being part of your marketing plan, yes, it is true that the client knows who you are at that moment for that particular project. However, 5 minutes from now they may totally forget who you are. I once read in a marketing newsletter or book (can't remember exactly where) that it takes 6 or 7 contacts before a prospect remembers who you are. Each time you contact a prospective client you remind them that you are out there. In this business, out of sight out of mind is clearly at work. However, you need to be smart about the contacts. I've spoken to several producers through Women In Film/Chicago who have told me that my quarterly mailings were just about right. Not too often but often-enough for them not to forget that I'm out here and available. I've also been at a workshop where an ad agency producer talked about a
VO who called him every day asking if he had work for her. He was not at all pleased with the frequencey of the phone calls.
You need to be smart about contacting clients. I also believe you need to check in with them on a regular basis just to remind them that you're out there and available. More than likely, unless you have a long-standing relationship with them, they're only going to remember the last person they worked with or the last really great audition they heard. A short note saying you've done this that and the other thing (all related to your
VO business) and can you be of service shouldn't prove to be disruptive. I recently sent a short note to a prospect in California who sent me a nice e-mail after receiving an audition through Voices.com. He didn't respond for several days but when he finally did, it was a very nice e-mail and he didn't seem to have any problem with me contact him.
Didn't Hal Riney sell his agency to some conglomerate within the last year or so?
Arlene Kahn