VO CRM: What Is It & Why You Need One

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What’s a CRM?

You’re working hard; you’re auditioning your butt off; you’re landing some awesome jobs; and you’re smashing those goals… you think.

If you’re not tracking your stats, how do you know how well you’re actually doing? Or where you need to improve? Or if you’ve been paid for that job you did three months ago?

You can track all these things by using a CRM — Customer Relationship Manager.

Stop FEELING your way through your business, and start SEEING your business as it truly is.

Now, there are loads of different sites that offer CRM templates where you just pop your data in and it does all the numbers work for you. If that’s your jam, check out https://voiceoverview.com/ (recommended by the wonderful Marcus Rothenberg), or similiarly Gravy for the Brain includes one with their monthly membership: https://www.gravyforthebrain.com/

However, I’ve got a system that I enjoy — it involves excel spreadsheets and a couple of white boards hanging by my desk — and this is how it works…

What I Track

The first step of my system is tracking all my numbers in an excel spreadsheet called ‘Voice Over CRM’. I currently have separate sheets for:

  • Contacts

  • Audition Conversion

  • Invoices

  • Expenses

  • Rosters/Sites

  • Rates

  • Agents

  • Final Numbers

Contacts

What it says on the box. I’m a very forgetful person, so keeping my VO contacts in one place makes my life easier. I collect the following info:

  • Company/Name of the individual

  • Speciality

    • eg. eLearning, animation, games

  • Contact

    • If it’s a larger company I’ll put the name of the person I’m in contact with

    • Email/platform we’ve interacted on eg. Linked In, Discord, Twitter

  • Location

    • Timezone

  • Website

  • Outreach Method and Date

    • How and when I contacted them

  • Result

    • Did they get back to me?

    • Did I end up working with them?

    • Did they request anything of me?

  • Subsequent Contact

    • Any contact after that initial conversation, dated and brief description

  • Status

    • I record where I’m at with the client eg. job completed: awaiting release; on their roster; said to contact them again in six months etc.

I try to update this every month. Just go through my interactions and add any new information, check who I need to follow up with etc. I don’t get too obsessive about including every tiny interaction or detail, just the important stuff.

Audition Conversions

This, alongside the financial stuff, is the most useful part of my CRM. This is where I track my audition and job rate. I divide it like this:

  • Audition

    • Name of the job: Character(s)

  • Date Submitted

  • Date Auditions Close

  • Platform

    • Where I got the aduition eg. casting director; Twitter; previous employer; referred by x

  • Status

    • I use thsese little tags:

      • GOT IT! :D

      • Rejected :’)

      • Shortlisted

      • Complete: Pending

      • TO BE SUBMITTED

Feel free to colour code your platforms and status tags for extra flair and visibility.

You don’t always get a rejection so I tend to leave them on ‘complete: pending’ for a month or so after the close date, and then assign them ‘Rejected :’)’. However, you may be surprised to hear from the employer months later saying you’ve got the job, so it’s up to you to decide when to change status.

Off to the side I keep counters for how many jobs I’ve landed from each platform, as well as an overall conversion percentage.

If you want, you can break down the role types further to figure out what kind of characters you’re landing. Break it down as small or as big as you like — you do you, boo!

Invoices

Keeping tabs on my invoices is VITAL to my sanity come tax time. It also ensures I know who has and hasn’t paid me. My sheet goes like this:

  • WRITE

    • This column is blank except for where I write ‘WRITE’ next to invoices I haven’t actually written yet. It can be easy to log an invoice here and forget you haven’t actually drawn it up.

  • Job

    • Employer/Job name

  • Invoice Number

  • Cost

    • The total amount in the currency being paid

  • Paid

    • If paid, I write the date it was paid here, making it easy to track on my bank statements, along with the method eg. bank, paypal

    • if unpaid, I write ‘UNPAID’ so it’s clear I’m waiting on it

  • Amount Recieved

    • Most of my jobs are paid in a different currency, so I write how much I actually received in GBP here

BONUS: Off to the side, I write payments from other freelance jobs that are invoiced through a company eg. my supporting artist work.

I also include my on stage/camera invoices in this list for ease of invoice numbers.

Expenses

This is where I log all of my expenses which, once again, keeps me from going insane come tax time. I keep all the digital receipts in a labelled folder in my email (Tax 2021-2022), and then just check them next to each other at the end of the tax year.

I construct this a little differently. I have three tables, each programmed to add the expenses together as their written into the table.

If you don’t know how to create sums in excel, check this out: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/use-autosum-to-sum-numbers-543941e7-e783-44ef-8317-7d1bb85fe706

The tables are labelled:

  • Annual

    • Subscritions that are deducted annually such as my website

  • Monthly

    • Subcriptions that are deducted monthly such as Pro Tools and Source Connect

  • One-Off

    • One-off purchases such as workshops and equipment

Feel free to add your other bills here. It’s a great place to just look at your outgoings and know how much you need to aim to make with your VO to ensure you’re covering the costs.

Rosters & Sites

Everytime I updated a reel or added a credit I had to trek the entire depth and breadth of the internet to find everywhere my profile was. So eventually, I just made a list.

I have profiles on a bunch of sites that I don’t necessarily use, so keeping a list helps me matain a professional consistency across all of them.

I also kep a list of the talent rosters I’ve been confirmed on, since I know how much it annoys casting directors when they open their books and dozens of people ask, ‘am I already on your roster?’. Sometimes you might not hear from them for a while, so it’s worth just keeping that information somewhere for yourself.

You could include that info in contacts, but I prefer to keep it separate for clarity’s sake.

Rates

Once again, this is just information I keep here for consistency. I’ve written out my rates for different types of jobs at different lengths in different currencies, because I was tired of stressing out over quotes.

I’ve broken them up into the following:

  • Non Broadcast/Corporate Internal/Apps

  • Basic Internet Use/Explainer/Non-Promoted Online

  • Indie Games/Animation

    • I have multiple rate tiers for Indie projects due to the vastness of the indie scene

  • IVR

Each is listed in USD, AUD and GBP, and I’ll be working on adding Euros soon.

This way I know I’m keeping consistent across my quotes.

Agents

I have just begun applying for representation in the last week, and this is how I kept track of agencies when I was hunting for theatrical representation:

  • Agent

  • Website

  • Date Applied

    • Remember, you can try again if you haven’t heard from them after 6-12 months, so track this date!

  • Response

    • Date responded, Rejected, Approved, Invited to Meet etc.

  • Notes

    • What kind of agency are they? Boutique? Global?

    • Do they rep someone I know? Can I get a recommendation?

    • Is there a gap in their roster I can fill?

    • Comission rates

    • Overall impression — do I WANT to be represented by them

That notes section is SO important. Always research an agency before applying, and if you keep it written down, you can check back before your final submission to make sure you’re hitting the right beats.

Final Numbers

The most important tab… and mine is curently blank. Yeah, yeah, I know, I’m a hypocrite. I’ve got my graphs programmed and everything, just no numbers yet.

I will get around to filling out the final numbers sheet, but in the meantime…

WHITE BOARDS

I keep all my important numbers on two whiteboards by my desk.

On the first whiteboard, I keep all the final numbers for each month as a reminder of how I’m doing:

  • VA Auditions

  • Acting Auditions

  • VA Jobs

  • Acting Jobs

  • Money (gross)

  • Agency Applications

  • Coaching/Training Sessions

I can then clearly see some intereseting numbers…

For example, more jobs doesn’t always mean more money. And a month filled with auditions may not make much money, but they lead to me doubling or tripling my profits in a couple of months.

It reminds me to play the long game.

My second white board is divided into weekly numbers.

  • Health

    • Exercise

    • Rest

  • Voice Acting

    • Auditions

    • Workouts

    • Workshops

    • Invoices

    • Jobs (Write the specific name of the job)

  • Singing/Acting

    • Auditions

    • Practice

    • Jobs

I simply tick next to each as I complete them. For example, when I do three auditions, I put three ticks next to the word ‘Voice Acting: Auditions’ for that week, and if I then write up two invoices, I put two ticks next to ‘Voice Acting: Invoices’.

I then have goal counters down the bottom that I add to as I go. So I’d add those three auditions to my monthly audition counter goal of 50. (By the way, I’ve never actually hit that target but the aim means I churn out more than I would at a lower goal).

That’s A Lot of Work…

Yep. Like I said, check out automated CRM’s if that’s more your thing, but whatever you do just get one.

The most valuable part of my CRM?

It reminds me I’m doing okay.

It’s so easy to get lost in a slump or despressive episode, and suddenly you start to wonder, ‘was I ever any good?’

My CRM reminds me that ‘yes, I’m good.’ I’ve done awesome things, and I can do them again.

It also indicates when I’ve been overworking. When you’re self-employed, it’s hard to carve out time for yourself — my CRM shows me when I’m due a break.

And if you’re just starting out in VO, do yourself a favour and start your CRM now. You might not have much or any income yet, but boy when you do you’ll be ready for it. It will also grant you valuable insights into your audition process.

Finally, my system might look like a mess to you and you might be thinking, ‘oh but you’re missing this vital stat’, or ‘I don’t care about that stat’… And you know what? That’s great. Show me how it’s done.

Make your CRM. Make it better than mine. Kick my CRM’s butt.

I dare you…