A Video Sales Call Follow-up?

Ever make a sales call that went really, really well? That covered more topics than you had planned? All of which advanced your quest to deliver still more value to your client? (And increase your revenue?) But left a major new opportunity virtually un-discussed?

Who hasn’t?

OK, I need your advice… I followed up a call like the one described above via e-mail the next day on all the action items we identified; theirs and mine. I’ve started working on my own To-Dos and let my key contact know that. Then I got frustrated because I was focused on the long-term strategy that he and I had agreed to seven months ago. Frustrated because a plan’s cooking along seven months into it? Yes!

As I’ve learned more about their business, I see a really powerful sales tool we could deploy, like right now. It’s tangential to the plan – related, but off the path we envisioned. That said, I’m convinced it can drive sales for them – serious volume – almost immediately.

I sent my key contact the video below.

You tell me. Great idea? Good Idea? OK idea? Dumb idea? What on earth were you thinking?

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This entry was written by Todd Youngblood, posted on August 4, 2010 at 5:52 am, and filed under E-Rep and tagged , , .
  • http://www.sitestreamseo.com/blog Alastair

    I come across a lot of your posts on Bizsugar and love your content.

    This one is really interesting. I can’t figure out whether it is a brilliant idea or a turn off.

    I’m trying to picture what I would think receiving a video follow-up like this and I’m really not sure. There’s definitely value in there for me but I’m still not sure and I can’t place why.

    I have a feeling that this might work really well with some people and poorly with others.

    If you use it consistently, I’ll be very interested to see the feedback.

  • http://ypsgroup.com Todd Youngblood

    Alastair,

    Thanks for the feedback. I share the “?” about video feedback to a specific individual, but so far have had only positive feedback. Video content aimed at a general audience is consistently effective. I’ll keep blogging about both varieties.

    Todd

  • http://Www.scottschnaars.com Scott

    This is really pretty interesting. We tried this years ago at WebEx and I recall it being pretty successful.

    It is one of those things that has since slipped my mind, but would be a great thing to try again.

    My feeling on the above is that it is a little bit long, but the premise is rock solid. I’m going to try to bust this out this week.

    One question about delivery – obviously YouTube is a public channel, so that is problematic. Are you sending this as an attachment? Any problems getting through spam / gateways due to size?

  • http://highvelocityblog.com/ Stone Payton

    How Did The Prospect / Client React? Did He Buy?

    Did he say “Way Cool?” or “What The Hell Was That?” or something in between? . . . or did he say nothing?

    P.S. You come across particularly well on video — Look Good, Sound Great. Some of us, maybe not so much. What do you do if you have say a face more suited for radio?

  • http://ypsgroup.com Todd Youngblood

    Scott,

    Length of video is an open question in my mind. Can be a bit longer when aimed at a specific individual than one built for general consumption. Still – 90-120 seconds is likely optimal max. Amazon S3 is one good option to avoid the “public” YouTube issues. E-mail we send only has a link, so no size problem.

    Would love to have your feedback regarding your success! Good luck!

    Todd

  • http://ypsgroup.com Todd Youngblood

    Stone,

    Client loved it! Hasn’t bought though… YET. For we “face for radio” guys, I say, go for it anyway!

    Todd

  • http://www.mbsauthority.com Barry

    Todd, I like the idea of using Video e-mail as a follow up tool. People will definately remember it over a regular e-mail or voice message. The company that I am with actually includes a video e-mail feature with their Premium subscription, but it can also be purchased separately. It is better than a YouTube video. It is safe and secure and stored on our server.

  • http://www.sitestreamseo.com/blog Alastair

    Hi Todd

    It’s been a few months now and I was wondering if you kept this practice up? and how it has been received?

    I’d really be interested to hear how it has gone.

    Regards

    Alastair

  • http://ypsgroup.com Todd Youngblood

    Alastair – Video follow-up of “key” sales calls is now a standard practice. It’s definitely NOT something for every every call. It definitely IS to reinforce major points at milestones in the sales process.

    Thanks for the reminder! I’ll do a full post on the topic soon.

    Todd

  • http://www.sitestreamseo.com/blog Alastair

    Thanks

    I’ll look forward to it.

  • http://twitter.com/TMcCormick2011 Todd McCormick

    This is great. Have your ever done initial sales calls with video? Face-to-face is still so important even if you’re an insides sales rep. My thoughts on the future of face-to-face here:, http://blog.pgi.com/2011/face-to-face-is-the-future-of-the-sell-video-conferencing-pgi-imeet/