Obfuscation.
‘Great word.
It gets to the heart of what I’m trying to say in this blog about confusing the subject at hand by making it obscure or unclear… and why clients hate it.
In the last several months, I’ve become completely reliant on a new browser. VIVALDI. (see my blog introducing Vivaldi here)
Vivaldi just makes my workday online easier…in so many ways.
Until…it didn’t.
Lately, it won’t play YouTube Videos. You know…the ubiquitous currency on which the internet is built these days?
That’s a problem.
So I began searching for a fix…not the REASON it was failing. I just wanted it to work.
…and I found a kindred spirit.
In the midst of some pretty arcane explanations from tech wizards who were waaaaay to comfortable talking about HTML5, hardware acceleration, and H.264 video formats — one respondent on the forum thread said: “…As a normal user, I am not concerned with the techno mumbo jumbo. First and foremost it must WORK!…”
Yes!
When all other browsers effortlessly play a YT video, and Vivaldi WON’T, you’re likely to see a lot of Vivaldi defections. For the time being I’m still using it, but have to keep the new FireFox browser open to play videos. That’ s a hassle.
Voiceover clients hate hassle too.
All this got me to thinking about the obfuscation we sometimes offer up to the client, when all they really want is for your relationship with them to WORK.
- Are your quotes/prices overburned with detail?
- Would a single figure suffice instead of quoting a complicated formula?
- Are your invoices hindered by too much detail?
- Does your client need to know ALL about your audio chain?
- Are your contracts 5-10 pages when ONE will do?
- Do you ask TOO MANY questions?
- Will justifying a deadline delay with superfluous reasons help your cause?
Here’s a good analogy that may resonate:
When you get an audition where the direction is longer than the script…doesn’t that make you think the client doesn’t really know what they want?
KISS baby! Keep It Simple, Stupid!
The client doesn’t need to hear a lot of obfuscation, they just need the reassurance that you’ll get the job done when you say you’ll get it done, and at the quality you promise. Then they’ll pay you the SIMPLE quote you gave them.
CourVO