How to build a video savvy sales team

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It’s no surprise that just like marketing, sales teams are also adopting video to get better response rates on email and build their personal brands. Click here to know how to use videos in different stages of sales funnel. Integrating video into your sales strategy requires you to start early and take special initiatives to make it a part of the very culture of your sales team. 

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But before we talk about that, let’s look at a few benefits of creating a well-oiled, video savvy sales team:

Benefits of Video for Sales

Video is the most effective and fastest way of interpersonal communication, after face-to-face interaction. Research shows that emails with video have an open rate of 13%  higher than normal emails and a 21% higher conversation rate(source). Not only that, 

• 70% of the customers watch a video throughout their path to purchase
• Successful deals have usage of video in their purchase path over the lost ones

These studies make a really important case for validating that video is a part of your sales strategy right now. Not only if you’re a lone-wolf sales rep, but also when you are leading a team and having the unique opportunity to scale video as part of your organization’s larger sales strategy. But how easy or tough is it?

It’s not as complicated as you think.

Creating videos and leveraging them to get engagement from your prospects is now easier than you think. There are many tools that allow you to fully utilize the power of video in sales, be it at the prospecting stage or when closing the deal. The challenge, however, is ensuring that video becomes a part of your sales team’s DNA.

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Think back to the time when the first CRM was implemented? How would have decision-makers ensured success and full utilization of this sales game-changing tool? Similarly, the challenge is to make video an everyday part of your sales team’s life requires a shift in one’s mindset. 

Here are a few tips to begin this journey:

• Make video the new normal:

  This is true while introducing any new aspect to your sales strategy. A mindset change begins with normalizing the very use of video in your existing sales process. Video is no longer a complicated, equipment-heavy tool in the hands of marketers alone. It is easy, scalable, and accessible to all. 

• Include video in the training process:

  If you want your reps to use video to reach out to your customers, start by using video while onboarding them! One of the greatest gifts you can give your young sales reps is a massive repository of training videos that they can refer to time and again. Be it FAQs, best practices, or simply a walkthrough of all the sales tools your team is required to adopt, create videos for onboarding new talent encouraging them to adopt video early.

• Lead by example and find evangelists:

When was the last time you turned on your webcam while doing a remote call? You can’t convince your team to adopt video if you are camera shy! Change begins at home and so it must begin with you. Like in the case of adopting new technology, find early adopters who can act as evangelists who encourage this idea and help with this mindset shift. Can your friends in marketing help your sales team embrace videos? Use this as a great opportunity to align your sales and marketing teams, by encouraging conversations and knowledge exchange between the two.  Incase your webcam is not working or you’re facing trouble with webcam, you can do webcam test here.

• Create a video template checklist:

Video can be utilized at all stages of the customer journey. Each stage requires a different video template to guide the prospect through to the next one. For instance, a simple video that greets the prospect and talks about their problems might be the way to go when you’re starting out while you could actually take the lead through a proposed quote when they’re almost ready to close. Similarly, testimonials are a good resource that helps the customer make a decision. Create a checklist of templates across all stages, categorize them as per industry to make it even more personalized and simply make the use of video easy for your team.

• ‘Show’ rather than ‘tell’ culture:

Results speak. Use data to show to your team how video can help them achieve their targets. Actions always speak louder than words and nothing motivates salespeople more than actual numbers. Does adding a video to an email really impact the click rate? Does turning on the webcam while giving a demo help close a deal faster? Let them experiment and see the results. It is important to use tools that measure this information to be able to show results.

• Build a robust video library:

It is a scientific fact that our brains retain images more than written text. When the product team is ready to launch a new product and the marketing team is working hard on a campaign, we tend to assume that the sales team understands the new product well, has read through all the possible content provided to them and has retained it. You can now leverage the superpower in your hands when it comes to passing on any kind of information to your sales team using videos. Whether it is motivational or educational – it captures the power of storytelling beautifully, by engaging you fully. Unleash that power by putting together an exhaustive video library for your team that is easily accessible.

• Practice being on camera:

Have you ever heard a TED Talk? Do you know that if you’re selected to give a TED Talk, you need to start working on your script about 6 months before the actual day? Rehearsals start 4 months in advance and you even have multiple rounds of dress rehearsals. A mentor works with you throughout this time period. And that is why these talks are effortless and so impressive. While you’re not creating TED speakers, you need to start working early with your sales team to get them comfortable with the camera. In sales, authenticity is everything, so the idea is not to be over-rehearsed. Just like becoming an expert in the product, you’re selling, you need to become comfortable with the idea of being on video.

• Use videos for personal branding on social media:

More than 80% of all B2B leads come from Linkedin – so if your team is not using this platform effectively, chances are you’re missing out. Creating a personal brand on social media is a great way for your reps to generate leads by adding value through informative content and video is a big part of this. Whether it is through webinars, short informational videos that establish thought leadership in your industry or even fun snippets about life as a sales rep, prospects love to engage with reps who are able to establish themselves as their go-to-resource.

• Equip them with the right tools:

Whether it is basic video equipment like the right mics and cameras or the tools for distribution and measurement of your video sales campaigns, equip your team early. Help with a checklist of best practices to ensure that while you’re scaling video for sales, you aren’t compromising on quality.

The time to get your team excited about the video is now. 

In a world where the video is almost a way of life, can your team afford to skip out? Not really. Embrace its power and take your team along. It’s easier than you think!