In this episode of In Pursuit of Growth, we talk about what’s happening in the world of sales engagement. We have more tech than ever, but is it making a difference? Revenue leaders work hard to provide sales enablement tools and training to make it easier to connect with prospects—but it isn’t easy in today's complex world.
There are so many ways to engage our customers now. But we’ve got to ask ourselves, are we using them? As revenue leaders, we’ve got to provide new and interesting ways to help our salespeople engage customers and prospects throughout the buyer’s journey.
Video marketing isn’t anything new. Marketers and business owners have been told for years to focus on video to reach and convert their customers. On nearly every website we see videos long and short, professionally made or recorded with a phone. In this episode, Tyler Lessard, Vidyard's VP of Marketing and Chief Video Strategist, and I chat about ways to engage potential customers with video. And how to stay connected with them throughout the sales cycle in authentic and meaningful ways.
Stop Focusing on the Email Pitch
Email isn’t the best solution to get your prospect’s attention. It can be difficult to personalize and connect via email. Plus, many business owners so many pitch emails each day with the reaction being, “I don’t have time for this.” There's less and less time for our prospects to engage and a video can really stand out. Video allows for your personality to shine through and can be an easy way for you to add value to your buyer’s sales cycle.
You can say, “watch this engaging three-minute video,” and tell your prospect one critical thing they need to know and to share what’s next. Again, be binge-worthy, not cringe-worthy.
Every time your prospect watches one of your videos, it's more face time you get with them—further solidifying your relationship. The more they get to know you, the more you build rapport, and their expectation of your value keeps increasing because they begin to see how they would be treated as a customer.
Ensure that your messaging is always on point—something from a thought leader, a startling statistic that’s relevant, something about that company specifically, and keep it short. You want to come across as interesting, authentic and valuable.
Moving Prospects Through the Sales Process with Video
A great strategy that has proven effective is drip-type videos to move prospects through the sales cycle. As you move through a process with an account, continuously drip buyers short videos explaining different ideas, updating prospects, answering a question they may have, walking them through a part of your solution, or explaining the success of another customer. We call these “micro examples,” where you don’t necessarily always wait for your customers to ask for more information.
Go Beyond a Meeting
Meetings are not how most people want to engage with your brand nor how they want to buy. They aren't looking for more meetings, so don’t ask for meetings until you’ve gained their trust and shown that it’s valuable for them to talk to you.
Not only are they not looking for meetings, but they are looking for ways to complete their B2B purchase with little or no conversation with a salesperson.
Gartner’s Future of Sales research shows that by 2025, 80% of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels. This is because 33% of all buyers desire a seller-free sales experience—a preference that climbs to 44% for millennials.
Part of the reason for this is because buyers feel that sellers do not add value.
Most of us already get the concept that our sales messaging has to be interesting, engaging, and relevant but the research is telling us we must also add value.
Tyler shares how to implement the video and sales engagement practices in this podcast. We’ll also suggest some stellar subject lines and why it’s critical to give your customers more control of their time.
Using Video Messaging to Engage Prospects
Once you get your audience’s attention, how do you keep them engaged?
- Hyper-personalization. Do your homework and be precise with your messaging to show that you truly know your customer and that you have the solution for their problem.
- Keep it high-value. You don’t need to go over a massive list of features in order to make an impact.
- Make your messaging binge-worthy, not cringeworthy. Like a Netflix show, you want to keep your audience wanting more. Make sure they understand where you’re going, but don’t reveal it all upfront.
Get more inspiration for your video marketing in Tyler Lessard’s new book, The Visual Sale: How to Use Video to Explode Sales, Drive Marketing, and Grow Your Business in a Virtual World. It covers ideas, examples and tactical how-to guides to utilize video in today's virtual world across your sales and marketing programs. Tyler’s advice will help you maximize engagement with your audiences, build relationships, earn trust, and modernize and personalize your approach in this virtual-first world—even when we can't be there to close the deal in person.
