8/14/2023-Video Pitching

You can juggle tennis balls or hand out money…but it won’t provide an easy fix to the engagement challenge you have on your video calls. Learn to share the meeting with your clients.

"Umm, can you turn your video camera on, please?"

Sometimes you dare to ask that question of your buyers, sometimes you don’t. While you might not be able to change those raised by wolves, you can control you.

Because video meetings are a big part of the sales-buyer exchange, you should regularly appraise how you come across via Zoom, Teams…or any other platform.

First and most importantly, can the buyer see your eyes in a video meeting? Start there…eyes = trust.

Today, fix any issues you may have that could exist against these vital physical video meeting best practices:
1. Camera at eye level. Your chin may be really attractive, but perhaps only to your mother. Get your angle right.
2. Light your face so the audience can see your eyes and the wrinkles created when you smile and laugh.
3. Spacial distance. The camera should be between 24-36 inches from your face.

As for the non-physical elements, well, that’s all about your ability to get everyone to participate. Have your questions and activities ready ‘cuz you’ll lose ’em the second you slip into pitch mode.

The way you run a video meeting versus an in-person meeting is different; each has similar yet unique rules of engagement.

And that’s a good thing because the current business environment forces you to think more discretely about your customer and what they want and need from your interactions.

You don’t need to think variety show or Broadway production to drive engagement in your video meetings. But you do need to think about how you’re going to get ’em talking and doing stuff.

There are facts of life that will never change: death, taxes, high quotas, and prospects who won’t turn their cameras on….even when you ask politely. So it’s your job to change it up and create meetings that go against the grain of how you’ve managed in-person meetings.

At the very least, create an agenda where standard business items can be covered, and roundtable discussions or collaborative group conversations can flourish.

This 4-minute clip of a staged video meeting is sometimes cliche, but it offers funny moments and reminds you why it’s so worth it to push for an in-person meeting.

But when in-person meetings are impossible, video meets are great…just make sure they can see your eyes!