Enquiries everywhere, answered by someone
Your agency manages a roster of creators. Brand enquiries arrive in the talent team's shared inbox, in each creator's own inbox (forwarded if they remember), in Instagram DMs to the creator, through a form on your website and from other agencies. Some ask for rates only. Some have a full brief. Some come from brands you have never heard of and need checking.
A talent manager is on holiday, and her creators' enquiries sit for a week. A brand asks for a creator who is exclusive to a competitor for another month, and a junior quotes anyway. Another brand gets two different rate cards from two people. The creators ask why they hear about deals from brands directly and not from their management.
Why inbound deals slip
Inbound enquiries are the lifeblood of talent management, but they arrive through channels the agency does not control.
- Enquiries come through many channels, some only visible to the creator.
- The details needed to reply (dates, deliverables, usage, budget) are often missing.
- Creator availability and existing exclusivity are not checked at the first reply.
- Each talent manager keeps their own pipeline.
- Nobody sees how many enquiries were missed or declined, or why.
What missed enquiries cost
Unanswered enquiries are lost income for the creator and commission for the agency, and brands that are ignored rarely ask twice. Quotes that clash with existing exclusivity create problems with the brand the creator already works with. Creators who feel their management is slow start negotiating directly, and eventually leave the roster.
Without a pipeline, you also cannot answer the questions that matter for the business: which creators are in demand, which brands keep coming back, and where deals are lost.
There is also a fairness question inside the roster. Creators whose manager is quick get more deals than equally good creators whose manager is overloaded, and without a pipeline nobody can see that happening, let alone rebalance it.
And brands remember. An agency that takes a week to answer a rates request, or answers it twice with different numbers, is not the first call next time.
An enquiry pipeline per creator
- All enquiry channels feed one pipeline: the talent inbox, forwarded creator emails, your website form, and quick logging for DMs from the creator's or manager's phone.
- Each enquiry is read and its details extracted: brand, contact, creator, deliverables, dates, usage, exclusivity asked, budget if given.
- Missing details are listed, with a suggested reply asking for them.
- The creator's calendar and existing exclusivity are checked, and conflicts are flagged before anyone quotes.
- The enquiry is assigned to the creator's talent manager, with cover when they are away, and a reminder if it is not answered within your target.
- Quotes use the creator's current rate card, approved by the manager and the creator where you require it.
- Deals move through stages to signed, and declined deals are recorded with a reason.
| Enquiry | Creator | Check | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skincare brand, two Reels | Creator A | Available, no conflict | Quote from rate card |
| Coffee brand, TikTok | Creator B | Exclusive to competitor | Decline or offer later date |
| Agency, rates request | Creator C | Details missing | Ask for brief |
| Unknown brand | Creator A | Brand check needed | Manager reviews |
A talent desk that answers everything
Each morning the talent team sees new enquiries, sorted by creator, with details pulled out and conflicts flagged. The manager on holiday has cover, and her creators' enquiries are answered by a colleague. The coffee brand is offered a date after the exclusivity ends. Creators can see their own pipeline, so they know their management is working for them.
At the end of each quarter, the pipeline shows enquiries per creator, conversion to deals and reasons for loss, which helps with rate setting and with recruiting creators to the roster.
Is your talent inbox like this?
- Brand enquiries arrive in several inboxes and DMs.
- Enquiries go unanswered when a manager is away.
- Quotes are sent without checking exclusivity.
- Different people send different rates for the same creator.
- Creators hear about deals from brands first.