Sales is tricky.

You never know what gets your prospect excited about your offering. As uncertain as it can be, there are certain rules of thumb that you just can’t miss out on.

An engaging sales pitch is crucial to creating a nice first impression. Post that, how smoothly the lead travels through your sales funnel decides whether they’d move ahead with your idea or not.

A lot of salespeople, even the seasoned ones, commit the grave mistake of treating the sales cycle as a slide deck of bland facts, figures and results.

While it’s true that you can make a compelling argument based on data, it’s also true that you must strike an emotion to motivate your prospect to hit that “Buy Now” button.

And how do you strike that much needed emotion?

This blog post is all about that.

By the time you finish reading this post, you’d have learnt how to use the power of videos to drive decision-making and boost engagement at every stage of the sales cycle.

We’ll see how to use videos in sales, and also study some practical examples and ideas on how to deliver the videos right.

Let’s get started!

Videos for Prospecting: The First Impression

Although it’s true that videos are equally effective at every stage of the sales journey, they can be particularly effective for prospecting leads.

Why? Because, this is the first time you’re interacting with the prospect. They have no idea who you are, what you do, and what you are selling.

Statistics suggest that more than half of prospects want to see how the product works on the very first call.

They’re looking for information, thinking about solutions that can help solve their pain points, and that information is what you must deliver.

They are more likely to engage with a video that has a human narrating something rather than a boring text email.

Here is a very nice example of how Pipedrive has attempted to give a quick product tour in less than two minutes.

Video Prospecting Emails

Video prospecting emails are more or less like normal prospecting emails.

It’s just that they have a video embedded in the body of the email, deliver more value and invoke curiosity about what you have to say.

This, at a later stage, may even turn into interest in your product.

So, how do you send across the perfect video sales email?

Well, all you have to do is record a video sharing or speaking about the quick tip, blog post, or relevant data point you wrote about in your email.

Here is a quick example of how Salesforce introduces you to their offerings.

Don’t have time to film a video in a decorated setup or don’t have the tools and resources to create videos like above?

The way out can be using a screen recorder such as StoryXpress to drive your idea home.

Here is a great example of a screen recorded SEMrush overview.

You may also want to check out this Airtable demo video.

No matter if you intend to give a virtual tour of your product or target a particular pain point of your prospect, a screen recorded video can do the trick.

Moreover, if you’ve already identified your prospect’s pain points, it’s always a good idea to explain how to solve it using a live demo rather than writing a how-to guide in an email.

Why? Because, who reads essay-like emails? Do you? We don’t!

Videos for Follow Up

Videos can be an excellent value addition for prospecting emails, but they are also not a bad idea while you follow up with the prospect.

Include a video in your follow up email to have a quick recap of the meeting. This would also make sure that both the parties are on the same page.

Use this opportunity to talk about what the next steps are. But, keep it short and sweet.

Sometimes, you may also want to re-engage with a lead that has gone cold.

Here is a quick template that you can use while sending a follow-up email like this -

Hi [prospect],
It was nice getting in touch with you a few days ago regarding [how to solve your pain point].
Unfortunately, I didn’t hear back from you.
And, I hate sending annoying follow-up emails.
So instead, I recorded this quick follow up video that gives you a quick recap of what we discussed the other day and what the next steps are.
Hopefully, this comes in handy. Let’s schedule a call to discuss the further steps and how we can help you ace the next quarter.
Talk soon,
[Your Name]

Videos for Nurturing Leads

A lot of salespeople don’t take this seriously enough but nurturing the leads that you have is as crucial as prospecting new leads.

In fact, we suggest that it’s even more important.

Qualified marketing leads on your plate are considering different options to solve their problems.

They have seen your product but still haven’t made their mind to commit to it. And here is where you can score using some nice, informational and engaging videos.

Your lead is informed about their problems and about your product, and they’re doing active research in order to make a decision.

At this stage, consider sharing video content that helps them filter the right products. Help them choose wisely.

Create some nice product videos, explaining the hidden gem features that they may not have noticed before.

Here is a quick example of how AHREFS uses a screen recorded video to explain how to use AHREFS to find keywords your competitors are ranking for.

Wondering how to do it for your product? Install a Chrome browser extension such as StoryXpress and record your screen while you explain a given product feature.

Next, you can also create some explainer videos talking about complex concepts related to your prospect’s business. This may or may not have information about your product.

Yet another example from AHREFS explaining search intent using a simple screen recorded video.

Click here to know more about StoryXpress.

Videos for Closing Deals

As your leads slide all the way down to the bottom of the funnel, it’s time to share some really powerful video content that instantly drives them to conversion.

Very often, you’d have seen businesses sharing case studies and testimonials with prospects in order to build trust and credibility.

Besides, case studies also stress the fact that the product at hand is actually useful and has a proven track record of bringing results.

However, no business rule book mentions that case studies always have to be textual. How about getting some video testimonials recorded and sharing it with your prospects?

Here is a quick video of Lisa Coyle from 360 payments talking about how Pipedrive helped their net income grow by 298%.

She talks about why 360 Payments upgraded from Pipedrive Advanced to Pipedrive Professional and how the return on this investment is impressive, to say the least.

A video testimonial certainly looks more trustworthy and credible as compared to the usual textual testimonials found on websites.

It’s like someone you recognize coming to you and talking about a product! You feel the difference?

If you can’t arrange an interview-like testimonial as shown above, you could yourself explain how your product has helped businesses scale their revenue and solve their pain points.

Feel free to use the StoryXpress screen recorder for the same (or maybe refer to your clients?)

Likewise, you can address the FAQs related to your product in a separate video each, like SurveyMonkey does in this video.

Anyhow, it’s a great idea to share video content such as case studies, customer testimonials, frequently asked questions and company story cum background with leads that are near to conversion.

Videos for Sending Proposals

You work super hard on prospecting leads, nurturing them and driving them to the bottom of the funnel.

Finally, you hit the jackpot and they request a proposal. But, would it be nice if you send across a bland proposal that doesn’t delight your customer as much as you’d like?

Delighting Your Prospects With Videos

Sending a proposal is one of the most important steps in the sales cycle. After all, it’s the proposal that decides if you’d get the contract and that too at the price that you’d like or not?

You’d have sent a lot of text proposals or slide deck proposals in your sales career.

For a change, consider sending a video proposal. A video proposal can be an insanely powerful initiative on your part.

And, in a lot of cases, companies have multiple decision makers. It’s nice if in addition to the written proposal, you share a handy resource that the involved executives can send around and take opinions?

Here is a template to help you get started with sending video proposals -

Hi [prospect],
It was nice connecting with you over a Zoom call this morning.

I pondered over your business challenges and feel that [our product] can be of immense help.
I have once again summarized the project details, requirements and pricing for you to review in this quick video here.
Let me know if you have any questions.

Talk soon,
[Your Name]

In case you want to do this real quick, you can use a screen and webcam recorder to run the prospect through the proposal using a video.

Videos for Post Sales

Offering best in class customer experience is the key to building a brand in the long run.

If you want to turn your customers into your brand advocates, you must delight them, not just before the sale, but post sales as well.

A short “thank you” video offering yourself as a resource, providing any necessary support or just requesting them to reach out to you as and when required is a nice move.

Not only will this help you win their trust and build brand credibility, it will also increase the chances of them referring you further.

Most importantly, delighting your customers post sales helps reduce churn rate. Thus, a short, quick video saying that you are thankful can help go a long way.

Having said that, you could also use this opportunity to send across the onboarding videos.

Here is a template to help you -

Hi [prospect],

Delighted beyond words to welcome you on board.

I’m excited to see how you use [the product] to [solve X pain, accomplish some goal].

Your [account manager, implementation specialist] will be getting in touch with you shortly.
Meanwhile you can watch this quick video that would help you understand how you can make the most out of [product].

If you have any questions, please don’t shy away from getting in touch with our customer support.
Good luck!
Talk soon,
[Your Name]

You see how easy that was?

According to statistics, seven in ten B2B buyers watch a video sometime during their buying process. The most popular are the ones about product features, followed by how-tos and professional reviews.

Videos actually can be the gamechanger you are looking for.

And, if you still haven’t started using videos actively, what are you even doing?

Finally, you don’t have to be a professional video marketer to start using videos as an integral part of your marketing and sales strategy.

As long as your videos are helpful and human, you are good to go.

To conclude, you don’t have to stop at recording and sharing videos. Make sure you keep track of how your videos are performing.

Wondering how to do that? Check out distraction free video hosting and analytics by StoryXpress. Optimize your videos, add engaging CTAs, host your videos in an ad-free environment and build your brand video by video.

Remember, being the best salesperson is not an accident. It’s a skill you learn and master every single day.

The best salesmen develop skills that further result in revenue, productivity and conversions. And what skill did you learn (or revise) today?

We hope you have your answer now!

Good luck! Happy video marketing!