Stats? What for? They don't work!

Ron Reid · **Voice Talent** Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 98

Since I haven't been getting any audition/proposals since 6/25/08...
...And after emailing v123 and getting the same ol' run around.

I decided to check my stats page. Here is what it said:

Since Jun 25, 2008 you have submitted 10 auditions and proposals.

During this same time period, all Voice123 Premium Subscribers that also speak English - Australian / NZ, English - British, English - North American, English - South African OR English - Other have submitted an average of 1.49 auditions and proposals (approx.)

As such, during the same period of time, you have submitted 571.14% more auditions and proposals than other Premium Subscribers that also speak English - Australian / NZ, English - British, English - North American, English - South African OR English - Other.

So...Just for kicks I decided to go to my Voice Details Page and change the languages to something I CANNOT SPEAK

NOW let's see what my stats are:

Since Jun 25, 2008 you have submitted 10 auditions and proposals.

During this same time period, all Voice123 Premium Subscribers that also speak Icelandic, Marathi, Punjabi OR Tamil have submitted an average of 4.60 auditions and proposals (approx.)

As such, during the same period of time, you have submitted 117.39% more auditions and proposals than other Premium Subscribers that also speak Icelandic, Marathi, Punjabi OR Tamil.

Do you really expect me to believe that there are enough Premium Subscribers on V123 that speak these languages so that Smartcast comes up with this stat for me?

This tells me that it's not about comparison to others in your group.
It's about how many YOU DO in a particular time frame!

If you do more than smartcast thinks you should, (even though it sent them to you in the 1st place) You will be excluded until someone at V123 gets around to hitting the refresh button!!!

Greg Houser · **Voice Talent** Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 174

Ron,

here's my question for you. Have you had a lot of private leads through the V123 system?

Because otherwise, it sounds like their system is dinging you for auditions and proposals which you've not actually participated in.

Though that so many folks are paying to not receive auditions thanks to the system is quite amusing to me.

But I have a sick sense of humor.

Ron Reid · **Voice Talent** Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 98

Greg.

Nope. I can count on one hand the number of private invites I have received from V123.

That being said, I must mention that I have a very comfortable cushion of repeat clientel in my rolodex. Clients accquired over 25 years from sources other than V123. I am not hurting for work.
So this affords me the opportunity to be a squeeky wheel with V123.
Why remain a premium subscriber if I don't need the work you ask?

Because when I started with V123 there was no smartcast.
Every lead was sent to everybody. And because of my particular situation, I was able to audition for TON'S of them, and I got about a 1 in 30 percentage.

Then people started complaining (in this forum mind you...go back and look) about how it wasn't fair that:
1. They had a day time job and couldn't respond to the leads before they closed.
2. It seemed like only a small percentage of the auditions were opened, and only the ones from those who responded the quickest.
3. Paranoia quickly set in as some believed that the game was somehow rigged so that only a select few of the, "Good Voices" got all the gigs.

In short, these concerns along with many others, came down the pike and raised a big stink during a time when Alex and the gang actually ran this forum. It scared them to death!

So the powers that be over at V123 stopped responding to this forum and promised something bigger and better for everyone!

And like a surgeon performing open heart surgery for a hangnail...
...Here came Smartcast!

The only problem was, this "surgeon" turned out to be Joseph Mingela and we as VO artists were now Guinea Pigs!

Smartcast in my opinion has never nor will it ever get out of beta stage. They need to dump it and go back to the way things were.

I have the time and the energy to challenge V123 on this.

But I don't feel that I can squeek unless I pay to squeek.

Throw the steak in the pit and may the toughest dogs eat the best!

Greg Houser · **Voice Talent** Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 174

Craig Burnett · Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008, 17:12 (GMT) Post subject:

I used to get dozens of SmartCast leads per week...sometimes dozens per DAY.

Then, all of a sudden, I stopped getting leads at all. I complained about it, and their "voice talent turned customer service quality assurance manager" condescendingly told me that my profile was "too generic." Odd, since I USED to get plenty of leads, but I thought, what the heck, I'll play their game.

So I added tons of descriptive things to my profile so that I would start getting more leads.

Nada. Now I get MAYBE 10 leads per week. I assume it's because I actually audition for the leads I get, then get penalized for answering them. Especially answering them quickly. Which I think is REALLY funny, since they've now started to advertise that voice seekers can get an answer within 24 hours.

Unbelievable. I've stopped complaining, because I get treated like a 12-year-old when I do, and they never answer my questions anyway. And because I AM such a squeaky wheel, I can't help but wonder if they're reducing the number of leads I get as "punishment." Hard to say.

Sad, because V123 used to be a good service back in the days before SmartCast. It's too bad they're not fixing the problems...only telling people they have no choice but to take what they're being given. You have to wonder how long a company can last, with that kind of "do it our way or go away" attitude.

Greg Houser · **Voice Talent** Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 174

yes, I do so love their customer service folks. When they answer you (doesn't seem all that often), you have a one in four chance of eliciting a reply that is downright corrosive, ta one in two response where your told how wonderful the system is, and it's your fault that it's not working as described (I find this especially amusing since on a few occasions I could identify the line of code within the search engine that was faulty, and use past experience to explain what it meant), and a one in four shot of actually getting a meaningful reply.

I'll say this now. I can live with the low-balling, cattle calling, non-public (yet easily googled) tagging, non-vetting, not-too-smartcasting system that's here. For the cost, it's additional marketing and if I get an extra regular customer or two out of it, then I'm good.

I won't willingly pay for poor customer service, which is why I don't pay for V123. I won't even take a trial offer through one of my voice coaches (who has also become completely frustrated with the site and company).

Craig Burnett · Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008, 19:20 (GMT) Post subject:

I agree with you, Greg. I get just enough clients (many of them long-term) from V123 to make all the shortcomings tolerable. But if I'm not getting leads anymore because I've answered too many, it may be tough to GET any more of those cherry clients.

Time to concentrate more on other areas of marketing, and let them continue to mess up V123. All we can do is tell them what we think they're doing wrong, and let them make their own decisions. That's what they're going to do, anyway!

Lee Gordon · **Voice Talent** Joined: 22 Oct 2004 Posts: 1549

I'm guessing that you noticed this drop-off in leads starting around the first of May. It can't be a mere coincidence that so many people started experiencing such a noticable reduction in SmartCast leads all at the same time. Despite whatever kind of boilerplate answer "customer service" gives you, it is clear that they must have done some tinkering with the SmartCast algorithms. Otherwise, why would a profile that was sufficiently targeted and comprehensive enough to get you leads in the past suddenly become inadequate now?

Connie Terwilliger · **Voice Talent** Joined: 14 Jul 2003 Posts: 409

Have you compared the list of invites to the total list? That might help you figure out if it is a personal drop off in leads, or a system wide drop. I haven't had time to look - I'm in New York on some family biz and haven't had much time at the computer, but certainly there hasn't been much action this weekend!

Deby Cedars · **Voice Talent** Joined: 23 Jan 2006 Posts: 1482

Ron I was recently casting a project.....It was not a car dealership project though so if your car dealership demo came up in my search I would have moved on to another person's demo.....

I was only looking at Talent in the NYC/CT area though......

Also the real stats that I think effect us the most are our ratings......Are you a A student (5 stars) or a C student (3 stars)????

Connie I've had lots of auditions....mind you many were jingles.

Ron Reid · **Voice Talent** Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 98

Robert Jadah · **Voice Talent** Joined: 17 Jun 2005 Posts: 2627

Lee Gordon · **Voice Talent** Joined: 22 Oct 2004 Posts: 1549

JC Haze · **Voice Talent** Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 86

Ron, Robert, Deby, Lee...and anyone else who can hear me:

I, too, have been left out, lately. It became very slow the last week of June. The last audition I sent out was July 1st, and I've had almost 0 leads since. A WHOLE WEEK AND NOT A SINGLE LEAD?????????????????????????????????????????????????
For months, I used to receive about a dozen leads a DAY, and for about 2 weeks...
NADA.
Something's wrong somewhere folks...It's time to REBOOT.

I am thoroughly dissapointed in the business practices of V123. They treat their customers (us) like they couldn't care less.
I haven't contacted Alex yet, but plan on it. He's the ONLY one I wish to talk to...because the others (and I won't name names) are very poor customer service representatives. I know if I owned this company, and viewed the responses and reply emails by some of these bozos, I would fire them ON THE SPOT. They're giving V123 a very bad name.
NOTE TO ALEX: YOU NEED TO WAKE UP. YOUR PEOPLE ARE SCREWING YOU.

Craig Burnett · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008, 04:50 (GMT) Post subject: Six days - NADA

Six days and counting without one single lead.

Of course, I still get the emails telling me how many leads have come in that match my profile.

It's just so unbelievable...I can't figure out how they think the SmartCast system is WORKING, when they're having this many people talk about problems just getting even ONE lead.

I've sent another email...we'll see what they have to say. I'm sure I'll be told I'm doing something wrong.