How Much Has Video Impacted the Way We Sell?

Back in the old days, when you wanted to copy something, you would have said, “I’m going to Xerox this.”  And for years when you needed a tissue you would have asked for a Kleenex.  And when you wanted to clean your ears you would have asked for a Q-Tip.  All three of these are examples where the brand and the product were one in the same.  We’re getting to that same point with Zoom video, where more than half of all salespeople are now using Zoom!

Video is becoming such an important part of selling, especially during the shutdowns and quarantines, that Objective Management Group (OMG) is creating a new selling competency called Video Proficient.  As part of the development process to identify the attributes for this competency, we test various questions in advance and examine the distribution of answers to make sure that they are within the norms we need to have.  We also ask more questions than we will actually use.  In the past week, nearly 2,000 salespeople answered 10 potential questions and I thought it would be useful to share some of the data we have already collected.

In March, most salespeople were very uncomfortable conducting their business over video. Look at this article I wrote about video as recently as November!  Yet today, just three months later, 49% of salespeople prefer video to a phone call and another 28% don’t have a preference.  That’s quite a change!

So how do salespeople feel about video?

As you can see, 91% of salespeople now have positive feelings about using video for selling!

Are they Zooming?

Actually,  they are, with 56% of salespeople using Zoom.  I was surprised to see 38% still using Skype and 26% still using Facetime.  I predict that before the summer is over, most salespeople will have moved from those two platforms.

How serious are salespeople about their video and what kinds of accessories have they added to make their video more professional?  Nearly 40% are using virtual backgrounds and almost 20% have added external microphones, HD cameras, green screens and/or studio lighting.

How proficient are salespeople becoming with video?  They’re doing better than I expected.  More than half consider themselves to be intermediate users, while almost 30% believe they have mastered their video platforms!

Video is here to stay and not just because so many of us will continue to work remotely.  It’s here to stay because it’s a far more effective tool than the phone and almost as good as being there!

Image copyright 123RF