IS IT TIME FOR A CHANGE?

A few days ago, I had a meeting with my management team, ACM Talent. One of the things we discussed was the inevitable change that is coming from many TV and Movie production agencies and studios that will use the pandemic recovery to make significant changes in their promotional strategies. It may be one of the positive changes for us voice actors coming out of the last 18 months.

That should be no surprise. As the economy seems to be improving, and as businesses are ramping up, there are a lot of questions being asked:

How do we dovetail our changes with the changing marketplace?

Is now the right time to make business changes, and how do we do that?

When and what will be normal?

Do our customers want us to be what we were, or do they want us to be different?

Is now the time to redefine ourselves?

A friend of mine who runs a small chain of clothing stores said it this way: “Our clothing lines and styles change almost every month. But one of the things that was becoming quite clear even before 2020 was that we weren’t changing and adapting with our industry. Maybe we’ve been handed a great time and reason to change.”

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it dozens of times: “Now is the time for us to assess and reassess who we are and how we need to do things.”

The one thing this worldwide pandemic has done is it has forced us, as businesses, to take stock of our companies, our methodologies, and our strategies. How do we evaluate our weaknesses and our strengths?  How do we cull the deadwood and energize a new and dynamic “us”?

Any time is a good time to assess and consider change.  But now is the right time to change!

“New” is sometimes an awkward word in the business lingo. It certainly suggests change. But it also suggests doing away with the previous way of doing things. But does it need to mean changing everything? Why does “new” have to mean that the previous was wrong? 

“New” can also mean making the old better. It can also mean solidly building on the foundation of who we are. “New” can mean improved.

It also suggests new energy. New confidence. New creativity. New vision. New expectations. New strategies. Even new goals.

I have a client who called me this past week and explained their changes this way: “We liked who we were, but we want to love who we are. We need your voice to remind our clients of how good we were, but to make sure our new clients know how great we are now.”

So, your company is going through a change.  Maybe one that has been forced on you because of the present-day circumstances. Maybe one that was due a long time ago. But the great thing about healthy change is that not only are you and your company different, but so are your new and old clients and customers.

Embrace the change. Welcome the new. Hold on to what is great. Anticipate who and what you will be. But along with all of that, expect the new generation of customers and clients who have been looking for the new you.

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Dan Hurst is a voice talent working out of his own professional studio hidden on a lake somewhere in Missouri. He spends his days in a lonely, dark booth talking to himself, although he is known to surface if there is food or sports involved. As a voice talent, he's voiced everything from perfume to plastics; from treadmills to trucks; and from TV network promos to movie trailers. You've heard him on late night TV saying, “But wait!”, and when you were on-hold waiting...and waiting. You may have even heard him hosting your eLearning web-training for your company. You wondered who that voice was. Now you know. Check out his work at www.DanHurst.com.