WHY VIDEO IS YOUR SALES SECRET WEAPON
Video is your sales secret weapon because video out engages every medium except face to face.
Just to be clear, we’re talking about sales videos, not beautifully curated, corporate or brand videos. Sales videos are short, insight based, personally presented within the body of an email that connect with prospects, engage with leads and delight customers.
Increasingly, getting your sales team members to be there in-person is harder to achieve. The economics simply don’t stack up. The problem with this is that sales teams then have to resort to dealing with prospects and customers from afar, making the process of buying less personal. And let’s face it, phone calls and emails lack the emotional impact and make selling harder because it’s less personal.
The solution as the title of this blog suggests is video. For each stage of your sales cycle, video can value add your sales teams interactions.
How video improves each stage of your sales cycle
1. Cutting through the inbox clutter.
As the old saying goes…’the first rule of advertising is to get noticed… And nobody remembers the other nine rules’. Inboxes are highly cluttered environments and according to Vidyard, video communication is 8 times more likely to be opened. That’s pretty significant! And will lead to a lot more opportunities in your sales funnel. At this stage your sales team members can use video to show their personality and enthusiasm they have to help the prospect with insights and helpful hints and tips.
Think about the biggest challenge during this prospecting stage - building relationships from a cold start. Using video, allows prospects to begin the process of knowing you, and this is likely to make them more emotionally committed and interested, as you bring your value proposition to life.
With a video platform like Vidyard, you will also be able to track your video opens and learn about how much of the content was consumed just like in the example below. This will enable knowledge and timing for follow ups. The end result being more meetings.
2. Video speeds up closing deal stages
Sales deal stages can often stagnate as your prospect are busy with priorities outside of you and your business. So video is a great way to cut through this busyness and help your sales team’s efficiency to improve significantly. There will be less ‘no-shows’, you’ll be able to explain complex topics simply, and use video to bring in other members of your organisation like operational executives or product specialists to build trust and expertise.
Videos also allow you to show, not just tell, by explaining with little demos along the sales process. And when you get to the proposal stage, instead of a long-winded explanatory email to explain terms and conditions or pricing assumptions, a video can explain and engage in a way that’s simple, more human and definitely more relational.
3. Video develops, grows and secures customers for the long term
Often the relationship and trust of a new customer is centered around the sales team member which creates some anxiety when it’s time to handover to the account manager. To increase your customers on-boarding success rate you can do this by introducing them to their new account manager via video. A video from their new point of contact will reassure them that their interests are being looked after – particularly if both team members feature.
Customer service can get in on the act also. They can use video to explain a support issue and avoid lengthy telephone conversations that can often lead to more confusion. FAQ’s can be even more effective as videos and can be sent to customers in response to queries, saving time and improving resolution time.
If your business relies on renewing customers then supporting them with video is a not only a great productivity strategy but also increases the customer’s satisfaction, with faster answers to their questions making them more likely to be successful and renew. Likewise, if the customer becomes non responsive, your team can use videos that connect emotionally in an attempt to make them feel accountable.
What types of sales videos work best?
As with most things, the most effective style of video depends on the situation and the level of personalisation of communication.
Webcam or selfie videos are great for prospecting and breaking through the clutter, introducing yourself through the recording of a short, personalized message to begin a relationship. The benefit here is putting a face to a name that builds rapport unlike you can with copy in an email.
Screen capture videos, with or without your webcam turned on are a great way to deliver a more complex message or to share an insight. With screen capture videos, you can also use supporting visuals to explain how you can solve your customer’s problems.
Last but not least, is the marketing video that allows for personalised snippets. These personalised snippets can turn a generic product or even a brand video into a sales generator simply by using details like the prospects name, their company, and a link to the sales persons calendar.
Sales videos won’t be a sales secret weapon for long, so start small to begin your sales video journey.
