Or maybe even TikTok budgets.
When a potential client starts the conversation by asking me what my rates are, it’s a bit of a tricky question.
I mean…how much does a house cost?
There’s not one simple answer to that. A $150k house looks a lot different than a $1.5M house. What kind of house are you looking for? Which one can you afford?
Same thing applies with audio production.
You can record the “same audio” for $100 or $10,000. But not only will the quality of the finished audio be different, the session length, studio costs, mixing and editing costs, number of assets, cutdowns, and usage terms for when, where and for how long the voice actor’s performance is licensed will be different.
Videographers, producers, and creative directors know that the balance between a client’s expectations and what can be delivered is a tricky one.
Managing Client Expectations
The sky’s never the limit with the client’s budget. Just their dreams.
It’s the era we live in. Advertising campaigns are no longer confined to television and radio.
Clients increasingly want:
- More deliverables
- Faster turnaround
- Multiple versions
- Additional revisions
Included.
This creates pressure on every production decision. A savvy producer constantly has to manage expectations while protecting budgets and schedules and demand often exceeds available resources.
I know from experience that if I let the project add-ons grow uncontrollably I risk my quality control and my profit margins.
And my mental health.
What I’m hearing from studio owners and video producers is the challenge they’re facing is being able to fulfill the jobs they’re getting consistently and profitably. Satisfying the client but also not burning your team out at the same time.
What can a producer do when the client wants more than their budget realistically buys?
Be honest
Not being up-front about your costs and concerns will only be worse for everyone in the long run.
The client will not have gotten the best bang for their buck. Your profit will get chipped away by overruns, your team will become overworked, timelines will crumble, resentment will build on both sides, until the client relationship itself starts to fall apart.
If the client balks at paying for more work, it does not matter how nice they are, that is not a long-term recipe for success. After seven years in the voiceover business I can tell you that not having informed the client of my fee structure from the start, or not having held steady to it once I did inform them, was just the first step along the road of good intentions.
And we all know where that road leads.
When the client asks for something extra, simply say, no problem, but this is out-of-scope work and will require an additional cost.
You don’t need to stop working, unless they ask you to because they need to go get budget approval, if you have a good relationship and trust them. Just tack the extra line item onto the invoice and keep truckin’.
This is why contracts matter, folks. They protect me, you and the end client.
Yes, the end client too. From accidentally receiving an invoice for all that overage like they’ve just gotten back from an overseas holiday and had forgotten to turn their data roaming off.
I think we all understand how that feels.
But talking about money feels icky!
Ok, freelance folks, I hear you.
I felt the same way.
But it is something you will have to learn to get comfortable with because working for free or at a loss is even ickier. You are running a business and out-of-scope work is not uncommon in video and audio production, because needs change. You have to be able to act as well as react when this happens.
People expect to pay for extras.
If you were in a restaurant and decided to order dessert at the end of your meal, you’d be charged for it, even if you hadn’t planned on ordering dessert at the beginning of the meal and mentioned nothing of the sort to the waiter then. You would be expected to pay for that dessert, even if you eat there every week and the wait staff adores you.
And even if you’re busting your self-imposed $100 dining out budget.
Price the option they want, but also for the budget they’ve got.
Maybe they’ll be happy with less. Maybe they can find a little more money to spend for the things they really want. Either way, they will be satisfied and you won’t feel used.
Think of it as a partnership and not how you can get the most money out of your client. Your goal is to deliver them what they want at a price point that’s also fair to you.
When the client’s stated budget doesn’t match what I’d normally charge for their ask, I’ll usually create two estimates:
- Here’s the best solution I can come up with that falls within your expected budget. This cuts down on what you asked for, but hits your budget needs.
- Here’s the price for the scope you outlined, even if it totally blows your budget.
Both of those estimates should include a detailed breakdown of what the deliverables, session time, editing time and other costs.
Don’t just tell them their budget isn’t enough.
Show them what their budget buys.
Giving them the two options also allows you to explain the drawbacks of the lowest one as well as explain the value-add of the higher one. You can even offer a middle option that you would professionally recommend if you’re worried that anything less will leave them unsatisfied with the final result.
There are going to be two types of clients.
Those who want you to work within a set budget… And those who want you to provide a quote.
At some point you’ll be offered a fee that you shouldn’t accept, and you need to know what that is.
It’s why I have a rate card for session minimums and rates for non-broadcast work, and I also have the GVAA rate guideto help me quote broadcast rates, especially with multi-platform campaigns.
To run a successful business you need to understand your own worth.
Make sure your estimate has separate line items for everything. If you are offering a bulk discount or something similar, make sure it gets explicitly noted too.
Bundling everything into one flat price risks you undercharging for the bigger jobs (and puts you in a tough position if there’s scope creep) or leaves the client feeling overcharged for smaller jobs. Either way, they don’t have a clear picture of what they are actually paying for.
And you can always introduce perks and freebies as a gesture of goodwill. I always include two free revision rounds with my self-directed sessions because I know scripts sometimes have errors and omissions, or no one has heard the brand video narration text spoken aloud until they heard my recording and that middle paragraph that’s just one very long run-on sentence now feels clunky and awkward.
Just make sure those freebies are line items too.
When a client pushes back on the numbers, don’t panic. A client who counters within touching distance of your number can be negotiated with and a reasonable compromise can be found.
Who is responsible for the downward budget trend?
Them?
Us?
Both?!?
Downward price pressure is happening throughout the production ecosystem.
Even small businesses want global reach. So many of them want to compete with the big guys (a legit desire BTW) by reaching out on all the platforms so the money seems to be going to the media buy and not in producing quality content to put in those spots.
Content can now be created by the clients with a prompt. The budget shift to AI is real. But the deeper problem is cheap tools are being oversold to clients as equivalent to the real McCoy.
So, let’s help them!
Because the client who actually understands what the work costs understands the value they are getting for their money, so explain:
- How long this project will take you to deliver.
- How many revisions and script changes are included.
- How much is the recording session and how much is usage.
- What is the breakdown by geographic region and platform.
Communicate you need X amount of time to deliver the desired quality of work.
AI can change production economics, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for skilled people, quality control, editing, judgment, or realistic timelines.
And that sometimes just hiring someone to shoot the video, or hiring a voice actor to read the script, is faster and easier anyway.
Know Who to Call
For instance, booking a voice actor directly saves time and money. It also allows for greater flexibility and faster response time when changes or additions crop up.
When the creative direction has shifted but the deadline is still tight there isn’t time to reach out to a casting director or post on a casting site to find a narration voice. There isn’t time to research portfolios or interview people. You need someone you can trust. Yesterday.
Thankfully, after years of working alongside good people you can build a list of contacts so you know exactly who to call when it matters.
I did this just the other day while on a discovery call with a potential client. They needed a producer to run the project I would potentially be the voice on, and they had a tight schedule.
I told them exactly who they should contact.
And if they go with her I know she will crush.
Sometimes you gotta move fast. The fastest part of production isn’t making the call. It’s already knowing who to make it to.
Having an existing relationship with a contact list of trusted and vetted freelancers means you can present the client with a quality budget-friendly option.
Not every project needs to search the entire continent like they are the Prince looking for the one foot that fits the slipper. The right person for the job can be much closer to home, already in your contacts.
Less searching for you, fewer moving parts for the client, and one more thing off your plate.
Ultimately, success is measured by client satisfaction.
And Repeat business. Budget adherence. Production efficiency. Profit margins…and Reduced stress.
On the first call. In the first meetings. We need to listen more than we speak.
The client expresses their desires, but we need to understand those needs hidden there in between the words. Figuring out what they actually need, not just what they say they want is a skill producers, creative directors, voice talent, all freelancers have to develop so that both sides are getting a good deal.
For a price everyone is happy with.
Value over price. Efficiency over billed hours. Client satisfaction over number of assets delivered.
A client once offered me $75 to narrate an internal training video.
He had cold-contacted me so presumably he’d found my website or LinkedIn profile and could see that I was a full-time professional voice actor.
I replied that my fee for the job was $350 and that included editing and two rounds of pickups.
He replied that I was asking more than he was even getting from his clients, so couldn’t I lower my rate?
I wanted to be nice, so I said that since it was a small company, and if they were willing to handle the cleanup and editing themselves, I could do it for my minimum fee of $250.
He ended up going somewhere else.
And I didn’t end up doing a job below cost.
Not all opportunities are your opportunities.
Some clients honestly don’t need professional voiceover or production services, and that’s perfectly okay.
