The Type of Message That Can Revive Stalled Deals in Under 15 Minutes

You may be feeling like you have tried everything in the sales book to reconnect with clients or stay in touch over long sales cycles. But have you ever thought about sending them a personal video?

Video content has an innate ability to grab our interest. In fact, including video in an email can boost click-through rates by 28%. These videos don’t need to be highly produced -- think of them as video voicemails. They are professional in that you want to represent yourself well, but your personality should come through.

Here are the four main elements of a great sales video.

1) An Engaging Reason for Reaching Out

Less is always more. Here are three interesting themes that'll keep your video under 45 seconds:

1. Pay them a compliment: If the prospect or their company has posted something they're excited about or proud of, congratulate them and give some follow-up thoughts.
2. Provide sort of value to the client: Describe the content you’re sending to them and why you thought they’d find it helpful.
3. Share news: Give them an update that's important or relevant to their business.

You can also keep it light. One of our reps revived an old pipeline deal that was about to sign with a competitor when he sent a comical 15-second video with the email subject line “Hail Mary.” The video began with him catching a football and asking the client if we were still on their “roster.” The client loved it, and we ended up getting the deal.

2) A Strong Call-to-Action

Consider your objective before you create a video. Are you trying to get your prospect’s attention, schedule a call or meeting, reengage them after they’ve gone dark, or show them a compelling benefit of your product?

Once you’ve clarified your goal, structure your video and call-to-action around it.

For example, your CTA for reengaging them might be:

“We haven’t connected in a few weeks, but I have an idea for your upcoming [event, campaign, goal]. Respond to this email if you want to schedule a quick five-minute call.”

3) A Welcoming Set-Up

Keep your videos to 30 seconds or shorter when reconnecting with a client or sending a quick note saying hello. Remember to relax, smile, look directly into the camera, and use a plain, non-distracting background.

We also recommend starting with their name: “Hey, [name]!” or “Hope you’re having a great day so far, [name].” This makes your video feel more personalized and friendly.

4) Good (Enough) Quality

Your video doesn't need to be Hollywood-worthy, but it should be easy to watch.

Use your webcam or a cellphone and a tripod. Tripods for cell phones are important because they let you shoot your video in landscape mode at eye level. If you're using your webcam, make sure it's high enough to avoid the “chin” shot.

If you're short on time and equipment, HubSpot's free Clip Creator tool can help you create effective, engaging video content with the help of AI — cutting down production costs and time. Add your own script, audio, or visuals to make it a completely customized experience. 

Lastly, use an editing tool to cut out the dead time at the beginning and end of your recording. If you're shooting on your iPhone or Android, you can trim right on your phone.

Apple users can use iMovie; Windows 10 users can trim right in Photos after shooting the video using the Camera app.

We also recommend downloading a teleprompter app (like this one for Android or this one for Apple, both free) if you’re more comfortable following a script.

Our sales reps share their personal video clips in our owncloud-based video hosting solution, 2Win! Bridge. This software lets them upload videos quickly and host them in a non-distracting environment.

Sending your prospect a personalized video is a great way to revive a stalled deal. It might make more time to create one than write an email, but the results will pay for themselves.