Outbound Sales Isn't Dead; You're Just Doing It Wrong: How to Use Video to Increase Sales Connection Rates [Webinar Recap]

Sales is changing. There's COVID, the economy — in-person meetings are on hold. Does it make sense to keep up with the outbound sales approach? 

It does — but what has changed is the approach. And that is where prospecting via video comes in. 

Prospecting videos are one of the most under-utilized (and effective) strategies right now. They can skyrocket your connection rates, help you get those meetings, and, yeap, even drive close rates. 

If you are struggling to adjust your sales approach or are interested in video but aren't sure where to start, you will want to keep reading.

Andy from Leadfeeder was joined by Morgan J Ingram, previously from Terminus, one of the founding members of account-based marketing. He is now a sales coach with JB Sales. He's got a ton of great advice and sales experience.

We're going to cover a few main points below, but if you want to learn more about using video in the sales prospecting process, I recommend watching the full webinar here:

Note: Want to target the right audience for your videos? You can try Leadfeeder free for 14 days here to see what companies are visiting your website and what content they are looking at.

Does video in prospecting actually work?

I know what you are thinking — video, really? Isn't this going to be spammy or a waste of time?

I get it. Here's the deal, though. Video gets messages across more effectively.

A recent study found that viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when they read it in text.

So, while it might feel a bit uncomfortable to dive into videos, it is far more effective at getting your message across — especially during COVID when in-person meetings aren't an option.

Here's what Morgan shared:

"I sent 100 videos out. They were cold people that were in my network, but I never talked to them. We got 40 responses, 27 meetings — do the math there, that's a 40% response rate, 27% meeting persistency rate. And within that, seven of those deals closed."

He suggests first connecting to people on LinkedIn in order to do these videos,  your conversion rates will be a little bit higher. But, you can also use them through email as well.

So, how do you create videos that will help you connect with prospects and drive those meetings? Here are a few tips from Morgan and Andy's webinar.

Don't send videos out as the first touch

The first mistake people make is sending videos out as the first touch. If you want to get the results Morgan talked about, you don't want to start with a video.

You want to warm up the prospect a little bit. Start by emailing, calling, get some engagement feel, and then you can do the video as a third touch.

By then, they've got to know you a bit and you will see those engagement rates and responses you are looking for.

Show empathy

Those events you've relied on, those on-site visits aren't going to happen. Not a lot of face-to-face is going to happen, probably until the end of 2021.

If that's the case, the best way for us to have real empathy or tactical empathy, as Chris Voss calls it, is to create a video.

Keep it real, talk about who you are, what challenges you see them, or their industry facing. Own your mistakes — if you aren't sure how to pronounce their name, you might say something like, "Oh, I hope I got your name right."

Don't give a perfectly scripted performance. The goal here is to show empathy, show your personality, and build a real connection.

Be consistent

The average video reply rate is around 10% — which sounds great, right? But if you want to reach those rates, you have to be consistent with creating videos.

There are two reasons for this — at a 10% rate, that means you're going to need to create 100 videos to get 10 responses. On top of that, the more videos you do, the better you are going to get at it.

Think about the first time you did a cold call or pitched. Maybe it felt a little awkward, a little weird. Maybe you weren't really good at it. Just like everything else, the more you do it, the better you are going to get.

Take 45 minutes a day, block it out, and then say, "Hey, I'm gonna create five videos. Five videos a day. Five videos in 45 minutes."

If you do that, that's 25 videos a week. That's you 100 videos a month. That will get you those 10 responses. Over time, that response rate will improve because you're going to get better at delivering via video.

Don't use a hard call to action

A collaborative call to action is more conversational, less salesy, and it's easier to deliver. That will help you feel way more comfortable. If I say, "Hey, are you interested in a deeper dialogue?" That's an easy way to lead into a bigger conversation.

Another softer approach is a collaborative CTA. Something like, "Hey, I have a solution or service that can help you, so let's collaborate together to solve your problem or whatever goal you're trying to accomplish."

This makes it feel more like a team approach than someone trying to hard-sell you something, which will turn a lot of leads away.

Use the 10-30-10 formula

Now let's talk about the format of your videos.

In the first 10 seconds, you need to get this person's attention. Focus on triggers or a problem. Maybe you've gone to their website and see they have a product update, so they're going to need help marketing that. Or they are acquiring another business and will need help combining teams. That's your trigger to grab their attention.

Next is your value proposition, which should last 20 to 30 seconds. Take the value proposition you use in your cold call and insert it here. It's really plug-and-play, don't overthink this one.

Then the last 10 seconds is the call to action. Remember, the call to action will change — this isn't your standard cold call or hard sell CTA.

The call to action that Morgan recommends using is, "If you feel like this is relevant and you're interested in a deeper dialogue, feel free to respond back to this video. Thanks for watching."

If you use the 10-30-10 formula — that's just under a minute. Keep it short and sweet.

Side note: If you're looking for in-depth instruction, the guide below on selling with video is legit (if we do say so ourselves 😏).

Conclusion

Finally, keep in mind that video can go on any medium. If your clients are on Instagram, then go to Instagram — or email, LinkedIn, even Twitter.

And remember, video isn't the first touch. At a minimum, it should be the third touch. You've already connected via LinkedIn or email, and now you are helping them get to know you just a bit better.

Note: Want to target the right audience for your videos? You can try Leadfeeder free for 14 days here to see what companies are visiting your website and what content they are looking at.