Zoom hosts a huge range of tools that can help you schedule seamless and convincing sales meetings and calls without having to meet your prospects and customers in person. However, without face to face subtleties and with any technical difficulties that crop up, it can be easy to lose participants' attention. By following our top 10 tips you can keep your customers engaged and build rapport just as effectively as you would in a face to face sales meeting.
Some Basic Practical Points:
Nobody wants to see up your nose…
Make sure you are sitting square to your webcam, nobody wants to see up your nose! This may mean putting your laptop or computer on a pile of thick books or a laptop stand.
…Or hear your washing machine!
Even an inexpensive microphone can make a massive difference to the sound quality of your calls. If you’ve ever tried to listen to a video with bad sound or a radio when it goes fuzzy you’ll know how hard it can be to follow what is being said. Crisp sound with no additional noise from traffic, washing machines, pets, children and colleagues will help your customers stay connected and focused.
A mysterious silhouette won’t build trust…
Does anyone like seeing themselves on a video conference call!? Setting up the correct lighting will make a difference to how your customer perceives you and will help you feel comfortable with seeing yourself if you are not yet 100% confident in front of the camera. Never sit with a window or strong light source behind you as the customer will not be able to pick up on your facial expressions and make easy eye contact. The best lighting to use is a soft light placed in front of you, just don’t set it up too close or you may look washed out. An LED ring light is particularly useful for minimising any imperfections and lighting your face softly.
…neither will sitting in a broom cupboard!
Use a light coloured, uncluttered background for your zoom calls. Too much clutter will distract your customer and they are less likely to make eye contact and engage with your facial expressions. Just like you wouldn’t a host an in person sales meeting in a cupboard, try to be in a professional setting that gives you both confidence in what you are saying.
The following suggestions are more subtle tips that will help you stay in control of the call and keep your customers engaged, committed and interested in the conversation:
Take time to schedule questions and bring participants back to the conversation:
Participants in video calls may be worried to ask questions so as to avoid the difficulty of speaking at the same time as someone else. Make sure you take regular and multiple opportunities to ask open questions and use participants to draw them back into the conversation if they look like they are nodding off.
Remember this is a video call, not a phone call:
Your prospects and customers may be unwilling to turn their video on but set the expectation from the start that you will need them to be on video. Would you host a sales call with a barrier between you and your client’s face?
Minimising the use of presentations is more important than ever:
It can be easy to fall into the trap of focusing too much on using a Powerpoint presentation. When you are presenting in a room with your customers present they can easily pick up on your dynamic body language and facial expressions while you show a presentation slide. This is nearly impossible when using video conferencing and participants either won’t see you at all or will see you in a tiny box at the side of your presentation. Minimise powerpoint use and stick to showing a few graphs or diagrams only where necessary.
Don’t be a robot
Without the back and forth nature of an in-person sales call it can be easy to feel like you are talking to yourself and slip into “robot mode.” It is more important than ever to speak slowly, clearly and fluctuate your tone of voice. Build in pauses to keep your customers’ attention and give them time to ask questions so the conversation still flows in a back and forth manor. If you’re feeling brave, record yourself speaking in front of the webcam and play it back to check how “boring” you may or may not be!
Body language is still important:
Just because it may feel like your customers can only see you face, don’t slouch away from the camera. Leaning slightly into your camera shows you are listening and that what your customer is saying is very important to you or vice versa. You could also try standing up when you talk to increase your confidence and create a more dynamic atmosphere in your video. You might need to pile your laptop up on more books!
Keep smiling and don’t be afraid to show emotion:
Last of all, don’t forget to smile and get excited! Just like you would in face to face sales meeting, build connection and emotion by showing empathy and passion for the customers’ needs and wants. They will really appreciate the personal touch.
It can be really easy to forget what we know about hosting persuasive sales meetings with all the distractions of using new technology and changing the way we host sales meetings. If you feel a refresher session would help boost your confidence in front of the camera Gary Delbridge or Joanne Hallam are delighted to be able offer one to one coaching calls. Get in touch using the contact details below:
Call
01695 589 555