Last week I was on LinkedIn and I sent an invitation to a potential client. The invite was accepted. A few days later I got this form letter from someone who works for the new connection:
I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I’m xxxxx xxxxx, the new Senior Sales Manager with xxxx xxxxxxxx. Also, I wanted to personally thank you for connecting with our CEO, xxxxx xxxxxxxx on Linkedin. We truly value and appreciate your connection. I’m hoping to learn more about your training and development department and how our two organizations might align this year. I would love to jump on a quick call with you and get your opinion on how we could make your employees training and development experience better (and to see if it would make sense for us to work together). Are you available for a quick call tomorrow or Friday? Thank you and I look forward to connecting with you.
This is how I replied:
Thank you for writing. As a freelance ELearning narrator I have neither a training/development department nor employees. Visiting my website or my LinkedIn profile would have made that readily apparent. Is it possible this message was sent in error?
No response.
Sure, my response may have been a bit snippy. I think it’s fair considering I got a form letter from someone who obviously sent it out on reflex without doing a smidgen of research on the potential client, being me. That means they don’t care about me, just about how much money they can extract. At least that’s how this thoughtless, canned form letter made me feel.
When I read the email, it made me think of all the voice seekers out there who get Zod-only-knows how many messages from voice talents looking for work. My guess is that some agents, casting directors, managers, ad agencies, and big-name production companies get hundreds if not thousands of them every week.
TIP OF THE WEEK
When you send any kind of correspondence to any voice seeker, whether it’s a potential or existing client, make sure they know it’s from you the person, not you the hopeful and possibly desperate voice talent using a fishnet of an impersonal form letter. They know who you are (a voice talent looking for bookings) and why you’re writing (to remind them you’re still alive) so you don’t need to tap-dance around that. Speak plainly like one human being to another. Let your personality as well as your brand shine through. Make it a message they’ll be glad to see and file away so they can get on with their lives.
HAPPY HAPPYS
Happy Chocolate-Covered Peanuts Day and Floral Design Day!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
From my village to yours; this is Tom Dheere, The H is Silent, but I’m Not.
Tom Dheere is a 20-year veteran of the voice over industry who has narrated thousands of projects for clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a coach at Edge Studio, voiceover business consultant known as the Voice Over Strategist, and is currently producing the comic book “Agent 1.22”.