Three Years On

As we pass the three-year anniversary of lockdowns, it's fair to say that I'm noticing two distinct camps when it comes to video calling in solutions salesteams.

One veers towards the 2019 model. Reverting to how things were. A drastic reduction in video meetings with prospects compared to the intervening three years. To the extent that they seldom occur, and when they do, are little more than a telephone call with a static 2-D thumbnail of those involved on display throughout.

The other embraces video meetings. Actively trying to discover when and how to make them part of the push to improve their overall selling productivity.

I can safely state that the reverters seem to far outnumber the explorers.

There is also a sizeable rump in the middle.

Those that still hold the occasional video call, but are not really doing them any different to how they did when they dialled-in to what was likely their first, back in mid-2020.

Naturally my personal endeavours currently seek out both explorers and those not yet there but who would like to move things on a touch.

So my 'bias' should be clear.

I firmly believe those in Enterprise Sales should be consciously trying to figure out where to specifically unleash the power of video meetings on bids.

If you're on such a path [understanding the caveat that following Buzzfeed-style five-bullet listicles alone will never give you the true edge needed for sustained glory] then here's a quickfire quintet of pointers to check off your list;

• don't rely on tech support colleagues to make it happen for you
• ask your prospects where they value video calling over other mediums
• choose one prospect meeting, whether already formalised, a current gateway or a midpoint check-in, in which you already had success through its video hosting and standardise it
• separately track how video call actions go completed or get stuck uncompleted
• run video meetings with clear structure and goals (not as obvious as it might sound), preferably with pre-sends to back this up and engender engagement