I recently had the experience of implementing a video platform to send content to prospects during the sales cycle. It ultimately resulted in increasing sales cycle velocity, increase demo efficiency and gave Account Executes more control and visibility of stakeholders during the sales cycle.
In this blog post, I will highlight the types of video content that can be sent to both prospects and customers and, based on my experience, when to use them in the sales cycle.
1. Video Voicemail
Often used by Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) or Account Executives (AEs) when prospecting, right at the beginning of the sales cycle. The idea of this kind of video is exactly what would be included in a voicemail over the phone, but instead, it will be a video of the rep. It will be no more than 30 seconds and completely tailored to the prospect. It will also be a single-use video and can’t be reused. The idea is to persuade them to engage in a conversation and learn more about your company’s products or services. In my experience, being as natural as possible is key. This type of video is about building a relationship with the prospect in the early stages.
2. Vision Video
What are the challenges your company helps solve? What are the headline value drivers of your product? That’s the kind of content to include in a Vision Video. Again, this would be utilised early on in the sales cycle and could be sent out by SDRs or AEs. These are generally produced by Marketing and would be the kind of 2-3 minute video that also gets published to the company’s YouTube channel. These are very standard videos that can be reused for most prospects or may be tailored to the type of industry or size of prospect. However, they should be very high-level and not product-specific so they can be sent out well before any discovery has taken place.
3. Case Study / Testimonial Videos
Can be used in a wide range of stages in the sales process. These could be used to help generate interest from a lead and sent out by an SDR. Alternatively, these could also be used well into the sales cycle and sent out by the AE. This could be a 4-minute interview with a current customer as a testimonial or it could be a short case study of the kind of ROI or benefits specific customers have realised with your solution.
4. Demo Overview Videos
This is the main type of video content I was discussing in my first blog post about increasing the efficiency of Solutions Consultants by reducing the number of wasted demos. This type of video will almost always be the first time the prospects will see the product. It will be sent out only after a full discovery or needs analysis call has taken place so you have a good understanding of the prospect’s needs.
You could have a large library of demo videos that can be sent in a type of personalised playlist based on the prospect’s requirements. The total view-time of this type of content should be no more than 20 minutes – anything longer and it will put off your clients from watching the full video. These types of videos a managed and created by Solutions Consultants (or Sales Engineers if you prefer) and replace those dreaded harbour tour type demos.
After the prospect’s stakeholders have all watched the demo videos, you can have a deeper follow-up discovery call and answer any questions they may have. The first real, live demo can then be purely focused on the client’s needs and your product’s differentiators as stakeholders will be coming to that meeting with a base level of education and understanding at a high level of your product.
5. Objections Handling Videos
Short 5 minute product-focused videos that can be sent out later in the sales cycle. Again, these will be created by Solutions Consultants and can be sent out after a demo video has been viewed or even after a live demonstration. We have found that if a prospect raises a tricky objection which we cannot answer on the spot, a short video can be recorded to send to them to mitigate the objection as a follow-up. These videos can be created on an ad-hoc basis but can be reused if the same questions come up in the future.
6. FAQ Videos
Frequently Asked Questions can be used in a similar way to Objection Handling Videos. They can be sent out as and when required during the sales cycle and are likely to be around 5-10 minutes. However, they are focused on topics that may be for specific stakeholders rather than the entire group. For example:
- Explain your Cloud Accreditations?
- How does your solution integrate with system XYZ?
- What does your implementation approach look like?
Equally, these types of video can be utilised to expand the scope of the opportunity. e.g. if a prospect mentions they need to integrate with XYZ during a call, you can send a follow-up video that explains your pre-built connector for that system.
Conclusion
While this has not been an exhaustive list, these are the core content types that have been tried and tested. As this is still a relatively new way of working, I am sure there will be further types of video that can be utilised in the future. As a rule, aside from the Vision Video, we have found that a natural style of video recording works best – as if you have recorded a web call or webinar.
By utilising these videos, we have increased sales cycle velocity by having the right content to hand at the right time.