The Value of Using Video and Screen Sharing for Sales Meetings By Bill Cates, CSP, CPAE President Referral Coach International Sponsored by If I hadn t seen it for myself, I wouldn t have believed it. I recently delivered a speech for a company that sells long-term care insurance using video and screen sharing. Not only are they highly effective in this screen-sharing environment, they re getting referrals near the end of their first conversation with brand new prospects! I have to admit that I was very surprised. Long-term care insurance is a critical part of one s financial planning that requires the consultant to engage in a very personal conversation about the prospect s current and future financial situation, as well as what one of the consultants called their future self. Who wants to talk to a stranger about what might happen to them and their family once they reach a stage in their life where they might not be able to take care of themselves anymore? Traditionally, this has been an in-person educational sales process and still is for many long-term care insurance specialists. However, this firm I m helping has cracked the code for making online sales calls work using video and screen sharing. They convert their prospects at an astonishingly high rate. And did I mention they even get referrals when they ask for them? I ve been using the combination of video and screen sharing for over a year, and it works quite well for me. Here are some specific things you can do to make effective use of this easy-to-use technology. Screen Sharing Is Much More Than a Telephone Appointment I have been using telephone appointments for 10 years or more. I ve become quite good at building rapport with prospects and clients and have converted many prospects into clients right over the telephone. Then I discovered the effectiveness of screen sharing and using visuals to help support my message. Now I ve added video conferencing to the screen-sharing environment. Allow me to tell you a quick success story using the combined power of video and screen sharing. Copyright 2014 by Bill Cates - 301.497.2200 - BillCates@ReferralCoach.com page 1
I was contacted by a large financial company headquartered in Singapore. For over a year, they had been purchasing a significant quantity of our video-training programs. They approached me about licensing my intellectual property so that they might reach more of their advisors more quickly and cost-effectively. We began our conversation with email. Their vision of the deal and my vision of the deal did not match. I was discouraged. Then I suggested an online conference call using both video conferencing and screen sharing. Wow - this made all the difference! We were able to connect and communicate in a way that just wasn t possible over email. Not only did we come to terms on the licensing deal for Singapore, but they decided to engage in a similar deal for Vietnam. Now I m in further discussions with them for eight more countries in Asia. I probably would not have accomplished this without video and screen sharing. Between my own experience and my interviews with several top producers at this long-term care insurance firm, here are some important concepts and lessons I ve learned. More Than Your Voice On the telephone, all you have is your voice to convey sincerity and other important emotion. While your voice inflection can convey quite a bit, it doesn t hold a candle to facial expressions and body language. With video conferencing, they can see your smile. They can see that you are focused on them and not multitasking. Because of this, it s much easier to build rapport and trust. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words While this may be an old adage, it s true and more important now than ever before. Brain resonance imaging has proven that all buying decisions come from the part of the brain where our emotions reside. Pictures engage the emotional side of the brain where all buying decisions are made. Now, without leaving your office or the comfort of your home, you can engage the all-important emotional side of your prospects brains through the use of video and screen sharing. Start using video and screen sharing and watch your closing ratio soar! But Don t Neglect the Other Side of the Brain While buying decisions are made from the emotional part of the brain, the decision is often justified from the logical side of the brain. This is where screen sharing really shines. Graphs and charts can be used to engage this more analytical part of the brain. Engaging both sides of the brain is truly a powerful process, and you simply can t do this with the telephone alone. Copyright 2014 by Bill Cates - 301.497.2200 - BillCates@ReferralCoach.com page 2
Screen Sharing Can Be Better Than In-Person Appointments Okay, nothing really replaces the value of visiting with people in person. With that said, there can be some advantages for turning some appointments that you traditionally did in person into video and screen-sharing appointments. Accomplish More in Less Time Screen sharing and video conferencing allow you to hold more appointments in one day, with no travel expenses. Those long-term care insurance specialists used to conduct one or two sales calls per day. Their travel time was a cost, as was their fuel and wear and tear on their cars. Now they are averaging four sales calls a day; some lasting as long as two hours. No travel time equals more appointments. No travel costs equals higher margins. Larger Geographic Area When the long-term care insurance specialists were limited to in-person sales calls, the geographic area they covered was limited to how far they were willing to drive for a sale, which limited their universe of potential prospects. Now these reps do business all over the country. They told me that the efficiencies created from this technology has allowed them to almost double their income while reducing expenses at the same time. This is every business person s dream. Appointments Are Easier to Schedule If you conduct business with consumers in their home, you re going to love video conferencing and screen sharing. One reason these LTCI specialists have been able to schedule more appointments per day, is because now they can hold appointments with consumers during the day from their prospects place of business. One of the specialists told me, Many of my clients prefer to give up their lunch hour to an online appointment over their time at home in the evening. Others simply prefer not to conduct business with strangers in their home. Avoid the Traffic How many times have you been late to or missed an appointment due to unpredictable traffic? Talk about stress! While you may not totally eliminate this common hazard that most business professionals experience, you can certainly reduce the time spent stuck in traffic. What will you do with this extra time? More sales calls? Nine holes of golf? Copyright 2014 by Bill Cates - 301.497.2200 - BillCates@ReferralCoach.com page 3
Multiple Decision Makers Every business person trying to move the sales needle knows the challenge of getting all the decision makers together at one time. The combination of video and screen sharing makes it so much easier to get in front of all the decision makers. I ve conducted many online sessions with decision makers joining the meeting from all over the country, even internationally. This leads to a much faster decision-making process. Make that 18 holes! Video and Screen Sharing Tips from the Experts Here are a few video and screen-sharing tips that I ve gleaned from others or have discovered myself: Prepare before you share your webcam. Chatting face to face on video is valuable, but make sure you look professional before you get started. Just got back from the gym? Make sure you have time to shower before you hop on your video call. When using video, control your background. Remove clutter and other distractions behind you in the video frame. I was in an online meeting with a colleague a few weeks ago. There was so much clutter papers, awards and knickknacks in the background of my colleague s webcam, I was distracted. It also didn t help his creditability. Practice using all aspects of the technology. Conduct a practice run with colleagues or friends before ever trying an online sales call. Know the web conferencing software inside and out. The technology should be there to facilitate, not get in the way. Practice the non-technology aspects of your sales call as well. You want to be confident and fluid on your calls, but not canned. Practice creates structure. And structure actually frees you up to be more flexible because you re not thinking about what you re going to say or do next. Practice keeps you from spending time on less important items at the expense of the important ones. When using slides, don t just read them. Use minimal words on each slide and add a photo or other visuals to engage both sides of their brain. (See above about practicing to make sure you aren t trying to cover too much.) Use more slides, not less. The more active your screen, and the more you engage their full attention, the less likely they will be surfing the web while talking to you. This should not be a lecture or a tutorial. Make it a two-way conversation. Get them to participate by asking questions. Copyright 2014 by Bill Cates - 301.497.2200 - BillCates@ReferralCoach.com page 4
Solicit their feedback. Ask for their perspective when you make important points or talk about specific benefits. Say things like, How does that resonate with you? and What do you think that would mean to you and your situation? This will allow your prospects to truly internalize the benefits of your product or service, leading to a higher conversion rate of prospect to client. If you re not using video conferencing, consider using a small photo. Try using a picture of yourself on the slides or at least some of the slides. Anything you can do to make this warmer and more personal is usually warranted while remaining appropriately professional for your target prospect(s). Maybe you don t want your photo on every slide, but certainly on your beginning and ending slides. Have a number of high-level questions to ask. High-level questions are usually open-ended and get people thinking in new ways. These types of questions expand their awareness into new concepts and perspectives. Every business person trying to make a sale should have about five to seven high-level questions designed to stimulate a meaningful conversation. Lay out the agenda for the session within the first several minutes. If there will be an action step you ll be asking of them at the end, foreshadow it. Let them know you ll be suggesting a couple of options as to how you can move forward. For instance, if your intent at the end of this online conversation is to schedule an in-person meeting, say something like, George, at this point, neither of us know if we should invest our valuable time getting together. I have a few questions for you and you probably have a few for me. There are some important stats I d like to share as well. From there, we can see if an in-person meeting makes sense. How does that sound? Now you have foreshadowed your desire for a decision to move forward. It makes it much easier to bring that up when the time comes. Use natural, non-forced humor. Be genuine. Take your cues from the others in the session. Humor is almost always a key to building rapport and trust. Don t be afraid to be genuine! It Still Boils Down to Trust One thing we know for sure is that making a sale converting a prospect into a client requires the building of trust as quickly as possible, without being forced. This is often hard enough to do in person, let alone using an online meeting. One rep I spoke to, who is using screen sharing for about 95% of his sales appointments, put it this way, Like any other sale, they are buying from you. They can buy the product (or similar service) from many places. Selling in this manner, you really have to shut up and listen! This is not a presentation; it s a conversation! Your listening skills have to skyrocket in an environment where it takes more discipline to do so because your tendency is to talk to fill the dead air. A mutually engaging conversation builds trust! Copyright 2014 by Bill Cates - 301.497.2200 - BillCates@ReferralCoach.com page 5
These Ideas Are Worthless Without Action Now, what are you going to do as the result of reading this report? What actions can you take right away to make sure your investment in time pays off for you and your business? Ideas do not make you more successful. Only acting on ideas will lead to greater success. If you aren t using video and screen sharing, you are probably missing huge opportunities to grow your business and serve your clients better. About Bill Cates Bill Cates is the author of Get More Referrals Now! (McGraw-Hill) Don t Keep Me a Secret! (McGraw-Hill) and Beyond Referrals (McGraw-Hill) To receive Bill s complimentary client acquisition ideas, go to: www.referralminute.com Bill may be reached at info@referralcoach.com or 301-497-2200. About GoToMeeting GoToMeeting is the extremely simple, extraordinarily powerful web conferencing service from Citrix. It integrates HD video conferencing, screen sharing and audio conferencing, allowing you to collaborate effectively online in a face-to-face environment. Hold unlimited meetings for one low flat fee and attend meetings from a Mac, PC and mobile devices. GoToMeeting will change the way you work and perhaps a whole lot more. To learn more, visit www.gotomeeting.com. Online Meetings Made Easy. Copyright 2014 by Bill Cates Copyright 2014 by Bill Cates - 301.497.2200 - BillCates@ReferralCoach.com page 6