Where does marketing end and sales begin? The age-old debate. I believe that there should be a seamless transition between marketing and sales, almost undetected by the customer. The best B2B companies in the world operate exactly like this, realizing that the right strategy can result in very little “heavy lifting” by a salesperson which results in high customer delight and significant sales. Video is the key to this experience. Let me explain.

What if every car dealer operated like the following example? Picture this… you walk onto a car lot and you download an app. On that app you can watch a video about any car that you’re looking at. Now, hold up your phone and use Augmented Reality to learn about the car’s features. Like a specific model? Great, just use the finance calculator on the app to estimate your payments. Before you ever talk to a salesperson you can get inspired by the brand and learn about how it’s special. You can learn about features and do proper research without someone over your shoulder. You can even send videos with pricing to your wife to confirm this important family decision. After that fun journey - enter the salesperson. Probably quite different than the experience you’ve had at a car dealer. That’s the power of video when it’s properly positioned throughout the buyer’s journey.

Here are four (of the many) reason’s that video is your best salesperson.

1. Video never has “bad days”.

Video doesn’t wake up feeling depressed. Video doesn’t have an argument with it’s wife in the morning, causing it to have a hard time focusing during that big meeting with the prospect. No, video is the same all the time, every time. Once you create a stunning video that communicates superbly it will stay that way forever. Think about how profound this truth actually is. Let’s say you find a great way to explain the key features of your product or service. Once you clearly articulate this via a video it will be there forever. Just put the video in front of the right prospect and you’ll get the intended result every time. Video is like the Navy Seal of sales. It’s not going to stop until it gets the job done, regardless of the conditions.

2. Video never goes “off script”.

I know my business, VeracityColab, like the back of my hand. I am one of the co-founders. I’m not sure anyone knows how to talk about our business better than I do. With that being said, I still have days where I’m “mentally off” and forget how to talk. I go “off script” and talk about our value proposition in a way that means nothing to the person I’m talking to. If it can happen to me, then it can happen to anyone. But it will NEVER happen to a video. Once the video is completed, it will never forget what to say and go “off script”. As long as I can get someone to click play, they will get the right information delivered to them no matter what.

3. Video can “sneak” into the C-Suite.

If you’re selling B2B (Business to Business) then chances are that you’ll need to get the approval of the VP or C-Suite level. These people are busy! They don’t have time for a 45 minute webinar. They don’t have time for a lunch to discuss the details. They do have time to watch a 90 second video. The statistics show that you’re more likely to get a C-Level Executive to watch a video when researching a product or service. Also, video is so easy to share (a link in an email or text message or Slack) that it usually makes it’s way to the “desk” of the C-Level Executive within minutes, rather than weeks. Talk about shortening the sales cycle!

According to Forbes, 59% of executives would rather watch video than read text.

4. Video can represent quality better than a suit.

Great video looks amazing. It speaks to the quality of your brand. It’s smooth. It’s clean. It’s impressive. It’s not often that your prospects will say that about your salesperson. Even if they do… you don’t want a prospect falling in love with your salesperson, you want them falling in love with your brand. Great video really sets the bar for quality with your prospects. The quality of your video work might just be what separates you from your competitors. We’ve seen that be the case with our clients. When our clients take the time to produce amazing video with VeracityColab, they subtly show their value proposition to their prospects just by the quality of the finished product. How cool is that? When it comes to food we “eat with our eyes first” and it’s a similar concept important purchases… we judge the quality of the product with our eyes and ears first.

One Final Note

If you have a great salesperson in your organization, they shouldn’t be intimidated by the notion that video can do a better job than them during specific plot-points along the customer journey. It should be quite the opposite. The best salespeople embrace the notion that tools like video can help them do less “persuading” and more closing. Real salespeople are competitive and want the close. They want to win. Video helps them to win more efficiently, creating better commissions, and good salespeople like that. Bad salespeople won’t like this article. Why? Because great video will expose their weaknesses and shine light on their inability to close.