The Magic Phrase that Pays

There is a small two-word phrase that carries much force. The utterance of these words could make you a hero in a child’s’ eyes. Saying these words to big macho men could melt their hearts. If you said this to your mom, she’d smile, knowing that she taught you well. Telling this phrase to your clients will let them know you appreciate their business.

Imagine a scenario where you work hard to get the business of a recognized client. You establish a professional relationship, and find that working with them is nothing short of amazing. They appreciate your creativeness and suggestions, then give you glowing praise for your finished audio. You work hard throughout the process and get paid exactly what you quoted.

You then move on to your next conquests. You’re feeling good about the growth your client list has experienced. You notice, however, that your business is not really growing much. Your revenue compared to last year is the same. No growth. Hmmm… You worked hard to get new clients, but what happened after project completion?

Did you forget about those clients you worked so hard to get? Did you say the magic phrase that pays? You know, Thank You! That’s right, THANK YOU. Most people like to be thanked, and your clients are people. Showing your gratitude for doing business with them will help keep you in mind for their next project.

There are a number of ways to say thank you. The easiest is to send a note card with a short, handwritten message telling your client how much you appreciated being hired to do the voiceover or narration for their project. Easy. It doesn’t have to be huge, one or two sentences will get your message across.

If writer’s block is getting in the way of sending a thank you card, check out any of the following four sites for inspiration.

Thank You Note Examples & Note Writing Tips

The Letter Barn\Thank You Letters

Thank You Notes

Thank You Note Samples

A thank you card could be one of the first follow-ups you make with your client after completing a project. I recommend sending it about a week after they’ve received final audio.

Another way to express thanks is a note of appreciation to clients for their interest and consideration in using your voice in their projects. Maybe send this four to six months later, either e-mail or traditional USPO mail. Keep them thinking of you. Stamp out client neglect.

Thank you for reading my post. I appreciate it. The magic phrase is Thank You! Help spread the phrase.

© 2014 J. Christopher Dunn

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Other posts you might find interesting:

Your Next Client Could be a Return Call Away

The Delicious Taste of Frog

Are You Available?

The Delicious Taste of Frog

In a previous post, I detailed a method on how to work through the items in your e-mail inbox. If you missed it, the link below will take you to the article.

Your Inbox Needs a Timeout!

After spending time in your inbox, identify the one item you need to do today no matter what, and do it. This could be your most important or most difficult task. A project you need to finish.

Doing the most difficult thing in the morning will make the rest of your day breeze by with what seems like less effort. “Eat That Frog!” is the title of self-help guru Brian Tracy’s book, which details the strategy of taking care of the most important task before tackling the rest of your day.

Difficult could have multiple meanings. The task could be difficult because of complexity. On the other hand, a task that you don’t want to do and dread even the thought of, could be another meaning. Important tasks have a level of stress attached to them and with that, could become a difficult task to start. Whatever the hesitation, this is the thing you want to work on first. Maybe, think of it like when you were a youngster and were told that you had to eat your veggies before you could enjoy your dessert. Make sense?

My time for eating the frog is right after I finish processing my e-mail. I take 30-minutes and do everything I can to complete the task. Depending on how much of the task is left, and if completion is not necessary on the same day, I’ll do as much as I can and work on it again the following day. Some frogs are bigger than others.

My frogs will look different from yours but here are a few I swallowed this past week.

• Monday – Followup phone call to slow paying client
• Tuesday – Cold call to prospective client from a major corporation
• Wednesday – Pay studio bills
• Thursday – Compile business performance data for the month
• Friday – migrate archived work from the past 4-years to a new backup drive

Fortunately, these were on the small side and none hopped over to the following day. Each of them, however, had me feeling anxious and wanting to postpone the task.

Imagine completing that nasty list item first thing in the morning and how relaxed and less stressed you’ll feel the rest of the day. Your mind will be free to contemplate other, more enjoyable parts of your day. You’ll feel like a big helium balloon has lifted your creative spirit to a new height.

There are going to be things you just don’t want to do on any given day. Like these tasks, eating a frog doesn’t sound like much fun. Of course, the alternative is to ignore the frogs until they’ve managed to multiply and take over your life with their incessant croaking. You’re much better off to eat the frog before that happens.

© 2014 J. Christopher Dunn
Photo by bethcoll

Other posts you might find interesting:

Your Next Client Could be a Return Call Away

Five Ways to be Remembered by Your Clients

Are You Available?