Ryan Dohrn offers three ways to reach buyers tired of video calls: switch to audio-only calls with a PDF agenda, send short pre-recorded videos via email, or offer Zoom meetings without cameras required. He also stresses that in-person meetings at trade shows and coffee shops still build the strongest relationships.
What's going on, friends and fans? Hope you're having a great week out there in sales land. Hey, no matter how you're watching us or listening— podcast, YouTube, whatever— be sure to subscribe down, down below. And do us a favor, give us a like on those videos, uh, or also on the podcast. It helps us out all across the board. All right, next listener question comes in from Bridget up in Vermont. Hey, Bridget in Vermont, beautiful. Love every time I have a chance to visit Vermont. Hey Ryan, I just feel like my customers are completely Zoomed out. I'm trying various different angles to get them on virtual sales calls and it's just not working. Any help is appreciated. So Bridget, you are dealing with a very common problem that I myself find myself getting into on a regular basis. And so there's 2 or 3 things that I've started doing. Number one is, as much as I prefer to be on Zoom or GoToMeeting or whatever, so that I can share my screen. I'm just noticing that people are just fatigued. So I'm going back to the good old-fashioned conference call, getting somebody on the phone. What's interesting, even the youngest buyers, I'm noticing that they really like it. Maybe it's because they don't have to do their hair or get dressed for the Zoom call, or, you know, whatever the circumstance is. Well, what I do is I typically will invite them then to a phone call, and then I'll share a PDF of what I'm going to talk with them about via email right before that call or right when I have them on the call. So I know that a lot of you don't know how old I am. It's not a real big secret. I'm over the age of 50. I know you can't tell, you know, but I remember when face-to-face was where it was at. Then my boss was always like, oh, you know, you got to make all these phone calls and get on conference calls. And then it was like, oh, you got to get on GoToMeeting or Zoom calls. And And now I think we're cycling back to, well, I'd love to be face-to-face with folks, that'd be awesome. But I'm noticing that phone calls tend to be very sufficient. So that might be something that you would consider first. The second thing that you might consider is using videos that are not live. So I have almost everything that I sell, I have a little video recorded about the features, advantages, and benefits, and value that comes from buying that. So if someone was gonna buy, for example, Programmatic from me, I've got a little video that explains that, so I can send that to them and say, hey, here's what I was calling about. I've got a video that explains my event sponsorships that I sell for the Niche Media Conference. And so if somebody wanted to buy a booth or they wanted to sponsor a lunch or wanted to sponsor a reception, I've got little videos recorded so I can kind of drip those little videos to people. And that is, as crazy as it sounds, I was gonna say as dumb as that sounds, as crazy as it sounds, that really tends to work. Like, I feel like people don't wanna commit to a call but they'll watch little videos that I'll create. So I even have a video, an email that will say, hey Bob, here's the reason that I was calling. I recorded you this short video and boom, I'll see them click on it. So you could use Loom, L-O-O-M, or you could use Vidyard or I mean Soapbox. I mean, there's all kinds of different screen capture tools and recording tools that you could potentially use. And then the third thing on this, Bridget, that I've made note of is that I really feel like you could say no camera required. So if you're doing a Zoom call with somebody, you could in the invite or when you're asking them, hey, we could do a Zoom call, no cameras required, just need to share my screen. You could do something like that. I think a lot of times people don't want to grant us Zoom calls because they don't want to get up and get ready for the call and things like that. That's okay. I don't wake up every morning looking like this, right? You got to put on the shirt, you know, put the gel in the hair, whatever the circumstances. So just look for those other alternatives. But something that we just really don't talk enough about, Bridget, is the fact that it's really great to try to be face-to-face with people. That's why attending trade shows, attending industry events, getting in market with customers, taking them to coffee, that kind of thing. Getting in market with customers is the way that you build relationships, and it's the way games really are changed. But I don't want to be an old sales dog here. I know that that's harder and harder these days, so just kind of give that a little bit of consideration. So Bridget, I hope that information is helpful to you. Get out there and sell something and make us all proud. Never forget, friends, if sales was easy, everybody'd be doing it, and they're not. We're not crazy. I used to say that we're crazy. We're not crazy. There's This is a great career, friends. It will feed your family for a lifetime. You just need to pay attention and, and just maybe need to tweak and change your game just a little bit. Love to speak at your national sales meeting. Love to answer more listener questions. Send 'em over to ryan@ryandohrn.com. All right, friends, we'll see you next time.
