“Some of the things that we see that have been key to success here are being in that mindset of video and prospecting is about opening a door and getting their attention.” – Tyler Lessard in today’s Tip 660
How about you? Do you do personalized video messages?
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Vidyard
Tyler Lessard on LinkedIn
The Visual Sale Book
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Transcript
Scott Ingram: You’re listening to the Daily Sales Tips podcast and I’m your host, Scott Ingram. Today’s tip comes from Tyler Lessard. Tyler is the co-author of the brand new book “The Visual Sale,” host of the Creating Connections show, and Chief Video Strategist at Vidyard. In that role, he works with B2B Sales teams big and small to strategize on the use of video to book more meetings and close more deals. Here he is:
Tyler Lessard: If you will argue that video has become a critical part of how we sell in this new virtual world. In fact, Forester recently launched its 2021 B2B Sales Predictions. And at the top of the list was the expanded use of video for both live video conferences, as well as recorded personalized video messages. And it’s not hard to understand why video is such an important part of the mix now. It is of course the next best thing to being there in person, but it also gives us the opportunity to show rather than just tell, to create clarity throughout the sales process and to earn the trust of our buyers at a time when frankly it matters more than ever.
Those sales teams who have already started to adopt video above and beyond live zoom calls have seen some pretty interesting results, not just in their outbound prospecting, but throughout their entire sales process. And those who have taken a strategic approach to the kinds of videos that they’re creating, both ad hoc as a rep, as well as collectively as a team have started to see shorten deal cycles as well as higher close rates. So what are these businesses doing right? And how can the rest of us get on the video train?
Let’s start with outbound prospecting. Many of you may have already seen this out there. It’s the ability for sales reps to quickly record and send a video message via either LinkedIn or directly over email. Tools now exist to make this really simple and integrated with your existing accounts. And frankly, it can often be faster to record a video message than to type out an email that said most sales reps still don’t know how to unlock this potential in video, to help us book more meetings and get more opportunities in the door.
Some of the things that we see that have been key to success here are being in that mindset of video and prospecting is about opening a door and getting their attention. It’s about delivering a message that creates immediate rapport. That’s helpful and human, but also clearly shows them that you are there to solve a problem.
Now, the second part where we see video now used in the sales process is to start to show people what it is that you do, and to give them more customized and personalized content experiences as they go through your sales process. Now, traditionally many of us have waited until the live demos to off what we do. And then we’ll wait another two or three weeks for the next zoom call to have another live discussion or to present new ideas. But savvy sales reps are now drip-feeding their prospects with short videos throughout the weeks or days leading up to live calls. They may record a custom demo with a screen share video, walking through a specific feature or function. They might use visuals to clearly explain an answer to a question that that prospect may have, whether it be related to capabilities, benefits, how other customers use their products or services, or about pricing or competition.
Short recorded videos that cover these topics can not only be more timely and easy for prospects to consume, but they’re also easier for them to share around with other decision-makers at their organization. And it can help you move the deal along much faster than waiting for those next live calls.
And finally, we’re seeing sales reps use videos to record and share sales proposal walk-throughs. So instead of simply sending over a document and relying on them to read through it, is sharing a video where you actually talk through what it is that they’ll be getting, why the value is, what it is, what the pricing looks like, and reiterating the problems that you’re going to be solving for them.
Not only does it help your champion clearly understand what your pricing looks like, but it’s something that they can forward around to other decision-makers and they can hear your message directly rather than trying to interpret it for themselves. There are many other ways to be using video in today’s sales process and the real win for today’s sales teams are to get their reps comfortable, confident, and expert in recording and sharing videos in being strong on camera and it learning how to use different types of content at different phases of their sales process.
There’s lots of great resources out there to learn more about these ideas, but I’d encourage you to check out the new book, The Visual Sale, how to explode sales, drive marketing, and grow your business in a virtual world, which provides a myriad of ideas, best practices and real examples from modern sales and marketing teams of how they’re using video to stand out, to book more meetings and to ultimately close more deals.
Scott Ingram: Now I want you to go do three things. Grab your own copy of “The Visual Sale,” Try out Vidyard as a tool to record and send custom videos and then connect with Tyler on LinkedIn for some more tips and ideas and we’ll have links for you to do all of that at DailySales.Tips/660
Once you’ve done that. Be sure to come back tomorrow for another great sales tip from Marcus Chan!