Please Develop A Method Of Direct Client/Actor Communication
Most jobs don't need this, but some do. I have now had 2 rejections in the last month while trying to figure out what the client means in their initial and revision directions. They try to give specific references and examples but can't really nail it down.
One client said in their revision request that they normally work with the actor in studio so they can give direction. This last one was giving suggestions like "James Earl Jones-like cadence" and more energy. Okay, James Earl Jones doing what? Shakespeare? As the coach in "Best of the Best?" As Darth Vader? And James Earl Jones and more energy????
Without being able to communicate directly with the client in any way, it is sometimes impossible to figure out what they are hearing in their heads. Which makes it impossible to give it to them. Especially when they have a time crunch.
And, as in the last case, they even ask us to contact them if we have questions. II had questions. How do I contact them?????? Based on the response time to QC the read and the approval of the revision reward, it is still almost a 12 hour process just to get something to Mr Bunny let alone the additional time to contact the client and receive an answer back.
Please develop something, even if we have to have one of the entourage monitor in real time to ensure no critical information is passed. I realize it is about having tight control and ensuring that the clients stay with Mr Bunny and that Mr Bunny can always get his cut. But that will be at least 2 clients lost for me and Mr Bunny.
Most clients don't need to communicate. Some absolutely need to and there is no current efficient method to do so.
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Hi.
Currently, the project is on hiatus. We have discussed this idea several times and every time we create a prototype of this communication tool and test it, we find user experience issues that truncate the process of finishing the feature. Several questions are still unanswered in regards to how to offer a great user experience while, at the same time, maintaining our user agreements and the policies that work as a basis for our service.
All your comments are well taken into account, and we really appreciate that you take the time to come to us and express what you think about our services. If you have any ideas on how we can overcome this challenge, we would appreciate it a lot.
Amen and amen!!!
Hi Mark
Sorry for taking so long to get here!
In regards to that, I appreciate your feedback a lot. As always, it's very useful to know what you think in order to improve our product. We are currently analyzing the possibility of creating a system to improve on that front but, as you know, that requires a lot of work and thought. However, we will totally let you know once an improvement on that front is being developed.
Thanks again for all your work and support!
Make it easy. Create a "Chat" window between the VO and Support, Support then creates one with the Client. Voila! An instantaneous communication platform between the VO and the Client, with Support there as a moderator to protect VB's interest.
The only issue is that of time zones, and Support could schedule "Chat Sessions" if necessary.
Not difficult. Sometimes the Low-Tech answer is the best, at least until a more automated system can be implemented.
I have asked for this many, many times, and it's nice to see that I'm not alone. I get that allowing us (voice actors) to communicate via email or phone could potentially cut Voice Bunny out of the equation, but communicating inside an application on the VB site could limit that exposure and drastically improve our ability to better understand our clients' needs and serve them better. The end result would be improved and the clients would be happier.
Please, please, please make this possible. I've been doing voice over work for years and this is the only service that doesn't allow me to communicate with the client, and it's like working blindfolded.
-Doug
Well, really, it's kind of insulting to assume that we as talent couldn't find out who the client is on the VAST majority of our projects anyway. I mean, any 12 year old with Google could. We're going to have to mention a brand name, or a company, or a product, or service in the copy. They really can't stop us from contacting the customer. They can ASK us not to contact them. They can threaten our business relationship if we do contact them. But there's really no way to stop the possibility of it. So, why not facilitate it, and come off as magnanimous in doing so... Let Bunny have the "look at how generous we're being!" moment. But to put their foot down and say "NO, You can't do it because I said so!" and worse, to actively make it hard for us... and to try to make themselves the victim by ASSUMING that we'd IMMEDIATELY go behind their backs and cut them out...
Makes me want to say, "Oh Yeah... That's what you think!" in a fit of teenager-ish, rebellion. I don't, because I'm a professional. But it is an active invitation. One day, I just might go all Malcolm Reynolds and say "I am to misbehave."
Balls in your court, Bunny. Make the right play!
The challenge is that I wrote this last November 2015. I have been requesting it, now, for 2 1/2 years and the most I have heard is "We're working on it. Stay tuned!" And......crickets! My personal belief is that Alex and the crew created this site as the anti-Voice123. This way they keep control of the entire process and the pay. No transparency. Keep us in the dark etc. like happy little mushrooms. But at some point it restricts the way the site can operate and limits the amount of work that is done because clients want more, expect more, but can't quite get it. Sure there's a money back guarantee on their side, but what they also want is a smooth, efficient process. VB is actively imposing roadblocks to that efficiency, and judging by the fall off of work in the last couple of weeks (tied with the normal summer lull) perhaps customers are looking elsewhere.
agree totally!! there are other voice websites where communication is available between client and voice artist, and anonymity is still maintained! It is ridiculous we can't ask for tone and direction in order to save everyone's time! or even a chance to submit a sample to check if our tone is what they're after...so we can adjust as needed before the full record.
Bringing this thread back rather than starting a new one, just to add to the pressing need for this. The irony is that VoiceBunny's defining characteristic is speed, yet by having us go through a middleman to communicate with the client for something as simple as "is this what you meant by your instructions?," every project ends up taking hours or days longer than it could have.
I agree with the need for an in-platform chat program. Even platforms like Fiverr have this feature, so it is definitely possible to achieve. Fiverr polices messages by censoring certain words, phrases, etc. If a seller uses those keywords, the message is flagged and must be reviewed by staff before the client gets to read it. Most of the time though, we are just asking for clarification on instructions before we go ahead with the entire project, making our best guess as to what the client wants.
In addition to that, I'd like to propose that for longer projects, we have the capability to upload just a 10-15 second sample to the client and ask if we're on the right track. This would eliminate the risk of doing an entire hourlong session on a project, only to find that we're not interpreting the client's instructions correctly. Of course in the "real world," I'd just pick up the phone and ask, "is this the voice you want? No? How about this one?" and problem solved. But I understand why we can't do that while working in-platform, so there needs to be an alternative solution. Otherwise, it ends up taking several interactions to get on the same page, and then nobody's happy. It costs the client and the artist extra time. It costs the client extra money to pay for multiple versions. And finally, the unhappy client leaves a low rating for the artist, and the artist's stats suffer.
Finally, it would be great to have a post-project feature that allows the artist to see/hear his or her final work. We constantly need samples for our portfolios and reels, and it would be great to have it built into the platform so that we don't have to go scavenging through the Internet to find our finished projects. Like someone already mentioned, 99% of the time we do know exactly who our clients are because it's mentioned in the copy. So it would be great to give the client an opportunity to upload a file or a link to our final project, so that there's no need to go searching for our work off-platform.
Thank you as always for your consideration - I LOVE working for VoiceBunny, but there are some improvements that I think are definitely worth exploring. :)
Hello Alaina
Thank you so much for taking the time to provide such valuable feedback.
I've let the team know about your comments (and remind them of everyone else's). I believe what's being suggested makes total sense, however, I cannot make any commitment as to when it's going to be developed given that the Product and Engineering team have been working really hard on strengthening our algorithm and paving the way for new platforms to start growing.
Nonetheless, I'd like to clarify a couple of things from your post:
The algorithm does not take into account the star-rating or the comment from a client's review when sorting your samples or sending you project invitations. The system considers other stats (approvals, rejections, expirations, response-time, and, of course, your rates)
Currently, our clients have the option to allow the creation of a sample out of the approved final deliverable, so that you can add that link to your personal portfolio. However, we're working on a way to allow you to choose which samples you'd like to have in your profile, rather than those samples being automatically added for you.
Should you need anything else in particular, please contact us at support@bunnyinc.com. As usual, here to help!
Regards,
Oscar