In last week’s post we addressed the first four stages of the sales process and video’s role in augmenting your effort for each. Again we’ll acknowledge the National Association of Sales Professionals (NASP) in describing the 7 stages of the sales process—prospecting, qualifying, making your presentation, handling objections, closing, and getting referrals. Video is a crucial sales tool in today’s market, as we’ll describe.
Stages five and six of the sales process: handling objections and closing the deal
Handling objections typically requires a fairly personalized response to your prospect, and therefore a direct response, but you may get fewer objections in the first place if you use video. For example, if your video shows how easy your product is to use, you won’t hear the objection that the product sounds hard to use. Being aware of other companies’ demo videos can help you in handling objections, too.
Everyone’s favorite stage of the sales process, closing the sale, benefits from video, too. Here’s a few ways video can be involved in these two stages of the sales process:
If you’re shaking hands on a deal that involves an ongoing relationship, this may be a good time to email the video that succinctly sums up the strengths of your organization and products. When making that final decision between companies and products, people are looking at factors like the stability and track record of the company and the quality of the products. Now is the time to show highlights of the company and your most attractive products and features one more time.
If you’re selling a product via the web, a landing page with the purchase/check-out option that has the video will hold their attention long enough to get them in a buying mood.
Videos that instruct your potential clients in how to use your products are also helpful to have available at the closing point, as these show your commitment to successful use of the products and enable the potential customer to envision themselves using the products. They also may prevent customer service issues from cropping up at a later time.
In sum, pleasant and informative videos are a great addition at these later stages that can make signing a contract or entering a credit card number and clicking feel like a natural progression in the process—exactly what you’ve designed the sales process to be.
Stage seven of the sales process: getting referrals
NASP reminds salespeople that encouraging a new client to give you referrals is always a good idea, and that it shortens your prospecting process. We’ll add that video can be a great tool in this stage of the sales process, too. If you’ve provided a video in an email, your client may just decide to forward that email or link to others—or embed it in a blog or a website–thereby generating new prospects and starting the process over again.
Brother International’s popular “Printer Orchestra” video about new products, for instance, would be a fun way to say thanks for a sale. And it’s so interesting that it might meet the bar for a satisfied purchaser to be willing to share it with colleagues or friends.
Video improves your ability to connect with clients and customers at every stage of the sales process, and a selection of short, professional videos can really have a great return on investment.
If MiniMatters can help you with business video, fundraising video, association video, or other video production needs, we’d love to provide an estimate through our online form, talk with you at 301-339-0339, or communicate via email at [email protected]. We serve associations, foundations, nonprofits, and businesses primarily in Washington, DC, Maryland, and northern Virginia.
