Why More Companies Are Choosing Business Voice Talent
August 15, 2008
From our research, here are the main reasons we’ve discovered why so many business are incorporating voice-overs as a part of their marketing strategy.
Top 5 Reasons Companies Choose Voice Talent to Represent Their Businesses
1. Increased reach into the global community
2. Improved sales and conversion rates with the use of audio
3. Consistent communication with prospective clients or existing customers
4. Positioned and recognized as a market leader
5. Achieved higher levels of customer satisfaction
If you’ve ever hired a professional voice talent to provide audio recordings for your business, share your experience below.
Why did you decide to work with a pro? Let us know!
Stephanie
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Business Voice-overs and Your Company
August 14, 2008
Welcome to the “Business Voice Talent” blog, your premiere destination and proverbial ear to the ground regarding the use of voice-overs in the business world.
Everyday, we’ll discuss how voice-overs impact customer behavior, purchasing patterns, and loyalty to products and organizations.
We’ll also talk about what’s in, what’s out, and of course, the next BIG thing for business voice-overs and how YOU can take advantage of this crucial information.
Since this is one of the first posts of many, you are welcome to send me any ideas that you may have for this blog and what you would like to see covered.
How To Set Up a Voice Over Business
As leaders in the voice-over marketplace, we’re well equipped to answer your questions about voice-overs and business voice talent, so don’t be shy 
Looking forward to speaking with you!
Cheers,
Stephanie
Voicemail for Businesses using Business Voice Talent
August 13, 2008
Voicemail… the last link in the telephone voice recording chain. Organizations have been known to have general mailboxes, and separate voice mailboxes for employees and management.
A voicemail prompt invites your customers to leave a message so that you can get back to them during regular business hours.
Voicemail is helpful to have because it act as a personal secretary, recording your customers name, phone number and the reason why they called. With this information, you can follow up with an interested person and meet their needs appropriately.
Here’s an example of a General Voicemail Script:
Thank you for calling XYZ Company. We are unable to take your call at this time. Please leave a detailed message including your name, phone number, and the reason you called and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. Looking forward to serving you!
Here’s an example of a Personal Voicemail Script:
Thank you for calling the office of Jane Doe, Principal of Groversfield Elementary. I am on the other line or am presently out of the office. Please leave your contact details, and I’ll return your call as soon as I get back. Thank you, and have a nice day.
To recap, a professional telephone system consists of:
If you are looking to find the ideal voice to represent your business and make a good first impression for your organization, post your job requirements at Voices.com.
Best wishes,
Stephanie
Booked an Online Training Course through Voices.com
August 12, 2008
Boost your Business with Voices.com
It can become your “goto” source now for all of your voice-over needs. You don’t need to make 20 calls now to get what you need!
See our example below:
Michael Schrengohst of izonemedia agreed to answer a few questions about his experience at Voices.com and how he’s used the service to find, select and hire talent.
Recently Michael completed a couple of projects at Voices.com and most recently hired Lora Cain . Read more on Michael’s hiring experience.
How has Voices.com helped you with your project needs?
In the past I would need to call at least 3 agencies and a couple of audio studios to produce even the simplest voice-over. Now I post a job at Voices.com and within a few hours I have many talented voice-over artists to choose from.
How did you select the talent?
I always post jobs and I have not used the search engine to contact talent directly. After posting a job and reviewing responses, I will contact the talent to go over specific words or pacing.
The best reason to use Voices.com is that most of the talents will submit demos from your submitted scripts. I then use these samples to show my client.
I ended up hiring Lora Cain for this spot. I have used Lora Cain in the past before Voices.com was ever a reality to me. To find her on Voices.com was a pleasant surprise. Lora is true professional and produces great results!
What challenges did you face using the Voices.com system to find talent?
I have no problem using the SurePay system. Sometimes the talent themselves have been confused about how the system works. From the quotes to the process of uploading and getting paid needs some clarification for the voice-over artists using the system.
How would you describe your overall experience with the site?
It is fast and easy and I can easily preview hundreds of files from my desktop.
I have been in the business over 25 years – so I know what I need. Sometimes my clients are new to the business of producing media, so anything I can do to expedite their decision making process, all the better.
I typically have 7-10 projects happening at the same time. I don’t have a staff like I once did. I cannot take the time any longer to drive across town and sit down at a recording studio for hours. With Voices.com it is all at my desktop and I can upload files for client approval within minutes.
Until next time,
Stephanie
Talking Websites using Voice-overs for Business
August 11, 2008
Have you ever considered including voice-overs on your website? Here are two options that you can look into so far as a virtual representative is concerned:
* A talking character, similar to those created by Oddcast, developer of SitePal
* A simple voice-over without an interactive character
These virtual company representatives can be programmed to interact or speak to your visitors. The communication could occur at specific time intervals or as a results of user navigation.
For example, a voice-over could welcome visitors on a landing page, or could be enabled to speak when an icon or a link is hovered upon. Try our services of voice-overs on your website!
Many sites that use voice-overs on their site give visitors the option to turn the audio on or off, depending on their preference.
Bloggers are also now able to add SitePals to their blogs, employing the same, easy-to-use technology that webmasters enjoy when adding SitePals to their websites. With many avatars to choose from and customizable characters, the possibilities for your company are endless.
Have you used voice-overs on your website?
Have a great monday,
Stephanie
Messaging for Business, and your On-hold Clients…
August 8, 2008
Since this week draws to a close a little earlier than usual, we’ll enjoy two posts today!
First up, we’ll discuss the importance of on-hold messaging / on-hold marketing for your company telephone system.
What do your customers hear when they come through your Interactive Voice Response (IVR) or when they are transferred to a different department? and they’re On-hold!
If the answer is silence, nothing at all, or passive “elevator” music, we need to assess how effectively you are marketing to and supporting your customers while they wait in queue to speak with a real person. and they’re On-hold!
The opportunity to reach out to your customers is now!
They are a captive audience, and are eager to hear what you can do for them. While they are waiting, which for some business could be upwards of 10 minutes or longer, you need to keep their interest, keep them happy, and most importantly, retain their call to avoid losing them and their confidence before you can even meet their needs. and they’re On-hold!
By making good use of your on-hold messaging, you will be able to:
* keep your callers interested
* increase satisfaction levels regarding their experience with your company
* introduce new products or services for potential cross sells
* provide additional information about your company in a friendly manner
* instill trust and assurance that you’ll be with them shortly
* retain your callers while on-hold
* save money by retaining the caller, eliminating the need for them to call again
To really capitalize on your on-hold messaging, alternate courtesy messages with marketing messages.
Here’s a sample of a brief On-hold Script.
On-hold Messaging Script:
Courtesy Message:
Thank you for calling Extreme Sports Gear and Mountain Bikes. We’re glad that you called and appreciate your business. In respect of your time, a customer service representative will take your call shortly so that you can get back to the great outdoors.
** Music in between messages for 30 seconds or so appropriate to your listening audience **
Marketing Message:
Are you at our website right now? If so, click on the “Special Offer” advertisement on our home page to take advantage of our Online Summer Sale! Anything listed on our website is 25% off if purchased online. Get in the groove of Summer early and save!
Depending on the average time that your customers are on-hold, your on-hold script length will vary.
For an average system where customers are on-hold for 1-3 minutes, it’s wise to have at least 2 courtesy messages and 2 marketing messages, each message timing out to precisely 30 seconds (:30).
Music should play in between the messages for 30 seconds (:30) This will result in 2 minutes of voice-over and 2 minutes of uninterrupted music play, giving you total of 4 minutes of on-hold messaging.
For systems supporting callers on-hold longer than 4-5 minutes at a time, make sure that your material is kept fresh for your audience, with at least 4 different courtesy messages and 4 different marketing messages.
To accompany the voice-over, music is often used as a secondary track in a voice-over recording. Music can vary throughout or remain true to a theme. and they’re On-hold!
Music should reflect your business and your customer base. If you’re servicing an extreme sports crowd, the music might reflect that culture and encompass a touch of rock, soft punk, or alternative music genres.
Still looking for the perfect voice?
Best regards,
Stephanie
Would you Hire A Voice Talent? Apple Did
August 7, 2008
You may have heard about the latest trend to use celebrity voice-overs in broadcast commercial advertisements.
Back in January, Apple and Intel unleashed a new advertising campaign and employed the voice talents of Hollywood film star, Kiefer Sutherland, a native of Toronto, Canada.
I don’t know how much Kiefer’s voice-over cost Apple, but it surely was more expensive than if they had hired a relatively unknown professional voice talent with a similar voice type.
Kiefer’s celebrity status combined with an embraceable, toasty warm, (and very trustworthy) voice, has landed him voice work with Ford, Verizon, and a voice-over in the Japanese market for the Calorie Mate nutrition bar.
Has your company ever hired a celebrity voice to promote a product or service?
Even if it was a local celebrity, was it obvious to your customers who the voice talent was and did it have any influence on their doing business with your company?
Thanks,
Stephanie
Why Choose Business Voice Talent?
August 6, 2008
Why do so many people around the world decide to work with Voices.com?
Find out what drives the team at Voices.com to strive for excellence in customer service and also learn about how you can do the same for your customers.
Voices.com is different from other providers.
Since we started our business in 2000, we have held firm to the belief that supporting our customers is as important as supporting the technology we provide to them.
If you consistently follow that simple recipe, you’ll discover that it is a distinction that will change the way you do business every day.
At Voices.com, we are driven by what we call Customer Care.
What does that mean?
Customer Care is the implementation of our unconditional commitment to doing whatever it takes to make our customers successful and happy.
Customer Care starts with our people and filters through our systems, processes and every aspect of our web-service. All of this translates into consistently providing you, our customers, with the peace of mind, confidence, delivery and success you’ve always wished for.
Our unyielding commitment to doing whatever it takes has earned us the business and trust of companies of all kinds and sizes.
Companies like Jaguar, Skechers, Huggies, Bell, Disney, Audible.com, Carnival Cruise Lines and thousands of others have had the Voices.com experience.
We look forward to serving you.
Stephanie
