Using video in the sales process can be a very effective strategy! But what are the things to focus on in order to get the best results?

In this clip, Karthi Mariappan, the Co-founder and CEO of Hippo Video, discusses what you should and shouldn't do when creating video to use in your process.

Carole Mahoney:
Video is just a necessary thing now. And we're still trying to get sellers like, how to look in the camera and be engaging when you don't have that in person dynamic going on.

So what are some of the do's and don'ts? I'm sure you've seen a lot of good sales videos and a lot of bad sales videos. What's the good? What's the bad? What are the do's and don'ts for sellers who are trying to incorporate video into their sales process?

Karthi Mariappan:
Yes. I'm going to talk about very tactical things. I'm not talking about strategies here. The key tactic is go in front of the camera, do it ten times because we are not going to get it right first time or even the fifth time. So it's all about getting accustomed to this new normal. There is no magic in it. Everybody can do it. That is the first key thing.

Second, be comfortable. As I said, be real and authentic. Prepare yourself, use tools like teleprompters, which can help you understand the key points that you want to come again and again. That is the second important point.

Three, a well lit background and a comfortable background is good enough. You don't have to be very jazzy and such. Have a comfortable posture, preferably standing because with standing you can actually emote much better.

So that would be the three key do's, I would say.

Carole Mahoney:
What about the don'ts?

Karthi Mariappan:
Yes. The don'ts is being very, very conscious about how this is going to be carried out. So don't be very conscious about it.

Two, don't be very loud. Don't be very, very forceful. Make that initial connection, very calm, composed connection with that viewer. Then you can go for your value proposition, et cetera.

And third important one, and the most important one, not more than 90 seconds. The video should not be more than 90 seconds. That is what we have seen our data telling us. Less than 90 seconds is where you're able to have the person fully understand. That is the key.

Carole Mahoney:
Yeah. And so to summarize the do's... And it's so interesting too, because many times we try to do something new, we're nervous, it takes us longer the first time we try to do it. I remember the first video that I ever shot for a sales engagement. It was maybe a 60 second video. It took me 15 minutes to shoot it because you do it over and over again. And the teleprompters... It's funny because what happens when you use a teleprompter, is it forces you to think about what you're going to say, you have to write it out, and you go through and you read it out loud. And there's a lot of cheap, easy, free tools that you can use for a teleprompter. 

But it helps you to also... this is what I have found is that when I use a teleprompter, one, I have to think about what I'm going to say beforehand. But then two, when I get on the video, I'm not worried about forgetting the words. I'm not worried about what I need to say. I'm not, well, not as much tripping over what it is that I need to say. So it's sometimes these just very simple things to do. 

Next Week: Where in the sales process the highest impact of using video is.
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