You and Your Agent

The relationship between you and you agent

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen

Fellow agents have asked me to write about the conversation skills a model needs when communicating with his/her agent.

Whether you and your agent have been together for a year, or have just recently met, the same rules apply.

Do not do any of the following, ever:

• Do not send your agent kisses or hugs at the end of an email or SMS. It is inappropriate.

• Your agent it not your sweetie, darling, lovey or dearie.

• Dnt use slang , txt lang or abbrev. (It is NOT fun to decipher.)
• Do not send us a list of why you cannot do something. We do not have time to read everybody’s soap opera lives as we are busy.

• Do not forget your name at the end of emails or SMSes as we do not enjoy guessing who you are.
• We do not like excuses, so be honest and get to the point. 10 emails are not necessary.
• NEVER cancel a job, shoot or anything else, ever!
• Do not phone at 05:00 for directions to your job. Google is a powerful tool – make sure you use it to its full potential.
• Do not get your mother, granny, aunty, uncle, little brother John or anyone else to phone us to tell us you can’t do something. Our contract is with you and not them, else we would be a character agency.
• Never smoke or drink when you are on the job.

• Do not be rude or have a bad attitude.
Always do the following to ensure a successful working relationship between you and your agent:
• Reply to emails and SMSes.
• Always add your name to emails or SMSes.
• Sound professional as this is a working relationship.
• Keep your emails on topic. (Example of how NOT to do it: “hi, I am running late coz I had a bad night & my head hurtz nw so ill get up & eat 1st and cm 2u afta is that ok?”)
• Spell Check is free! So put it to good use.
• Look at the time before you send an SMS. If you are not dying and it is not an emergency do not send us SMSes or call after 17.00.
• Reply with an email longer than one word or sentence – we worry about your intelligence, especially when your one word is spelt wrong…
• Your agent is NOT your friend. Be respectful and polite because who is sending your photo out for work…? You guessed! Your darling agent, so be nice!
• Be punctual and reliable. There is nothing that annoys an agent more then someone without manners.

Warm regards till next week!

Nicole Cronje