Remember, people do business with those they know, like, and trust.
Our guest today is George Thomas. He works for The Sales Lion, a consulting company for people in the marketing and sales space. George works with Marcus Sheridan, who also came here on the podcast where he spoke to us about the concept of how sales reps need to be smarketers. Essentially, you have to be both a sales rep and a marketer in today’s economy. And what best way to do that than by tapping into the power of videos.
Here are the highlights of my conversation with George: Why Videos?
- Research shows 70% of the buyer’s journey is done before somebody ever picks up the phone or visit your website. (This was done years ago so this number may probably have risen to 80-90% now)
- You have to meet the consumers where they’re at – YouTube, Facebook, your own website.
- When they call and fill that form, you want them to already know you and you want them to want to buy from you.
- Videos have taken over written content. Not because the new generation is lazy. But we value our time – we can learn more in a quick two-minute video than we could reading a 1,500-word blog article.
- Even for children, it’s about 95% videos for education and communication. So you probably have to be good at videos NOW so that you’re there when they arrive.
Why Are People Afraid of Doing Videos?
- We’re so used to looking at ourselves in the mirror that when we see ourselves in a video, it doesn’t look right. So subconsciously we think we look bad. But who cares? Who cares what you look like?
- If you get past yourself and realize nobody cares about that, what they care about is the words coming out of your mouth – the education you’re giving and the value you’re presenting. So get it out of your own head.
- Who knows, what you think is one of your biggest weaknesses may actually end up being one of your biggest strengths!
Your Step-by-Step Guide to Get Started with Videos:
- Assessment
To get where you want to go, you have to know where you’re at. Go to the www.thesaleslion.com/assessment. It’s a free video assessment to help you know where you’re at in the process and which you should focus on.
- Script
- Be prepared. The questions is whether to use a script or not?
- If you’re great at communication or you’re selling it everyday and you’ve got it memorized, you may not need a script.
- However, if you want to communicate in a way that most people can understand, do a simple script with some bullet points to know which direction you want to flow. Get some kind of a script template. Download one on www.thesaleslion.com/script.
- Pre-production checklist.
Consider things like:
- Background
- Number of actors/salespersons
- Audio, Lights, and Setting
Check out a sample of the pre-production checklist at www.thesaleslion.com/checklist
Getting the Right Equipment:
- Have good to great audio. Use the right type of mic.
- Good lighting. Use some sort of light kit. You can really get a nice Savage Light Kit for $150-$180. Or just use natural light.
- Get a good video camera. Get a camera that can shoot 1080p or higher, or a 4k.
The 4 Different Levels of Gear: Level 1: Get a $49 mic. Attach it to your cellphone. Put it on a little tripod. Shoot and go for it. Level 2: You still use your phone for the video. Use something like an app called FileMaker Pro that lets you shoot at 1080p or 4k. Throw in a road mic. Get a light kit that attaches to it. Level 3: The Prosumer – Use a video camera and a Manfrotto tripod. Level 4: Here, you’re spending on DSLR camera and Sennheiser microphones.
- Figure out what your budget fits into.
- Consider what’s the easiest for you to get started.
- People are very comfortable with their phone. Start with an iPhone or Android or the Gorilla Gear so you won’t be worried about all those technical terms. Now, you can focus on just being good in front of the camera..
What Type of Content to Produce: Create content about the questions you get asked most. Instead of emailing written content about this, you can just paste a link to your video on that where you answered the question. The Climate Selling:
- You assign your prospects to educate themselves.
- Assign the pieces of information they need to educate themselves on before they ever get there.
- This way, you get your time back.
How Video Transforms You
You gain trust in the quickest amount of time so the consumer will give you their attention.
George’s Major Takeaway:
Get Started with this Process. Just pull up your phone and start making a video. Do it as a response to somebody in your email. Use it as your email signature. Talk about who you are for about 30-45 seconds. Just be human. Be super-human, super valuable, and zero salesy. If you want more, research if a video workshop is right for your company or sales team. If so, go to www.thesaleslion.com/video.
Episode Resources:
Connect with George on Twitter @GeorgeBThomas and Facebook @Mr.GeorgeBThomas. Feel free to ask George some questions!
Maximum Influence by Kurt Mortensen
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Check out my past interview with Marcus Sheridan: TSE 078: WHY SALES PROFESSIONALS NEED INBOUND MARKETING AND TRANSPARENCY MORE THAN EVER BEFORE!
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