Hey all, Mike here. I’m a Customer Success Manager at Drift. By now you’ve probably heard about all the hype around video and how it can expedite a sales cycle and help drive revenue.
It’s pretty sweet, so if you haven’t, definitely check out some of the ways video can be used by your sales organization to add a personalized touch and close more deals.
It’s no surprise that emails containing video get 4x more engagement than your typical plain text email. In less time than it takes to type out that perfect opening line, you can record a touchpoint to send off to your customer to get the momentum back to where it needs to be.
But for those of us not chasing net-new sales, video can still be an impactful tool post-sale. Let’s face it, CS teams are busy. Like, super busy. Their time is divided between replying to customer emails, on-boarding new clients, getting ahead of renewals, chasing down support tickets, and consulting on product strategy.
But what if I told you there was a way to speed all of that up, while still adding valuable touchpoints to your book of business?
In this post, I’m sharing three easy ways for all you CSMs out there to add personalized, 1:1 video to your post-sale game.
Ready? Let’s go.
1) The Mini Business Review:
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Your CS team’s time is limited.
Imagine you’re a CSM. Your inbox has 40 emails in it, you’re trying to renew three huge customers this month, and your week is back to back. But wait, there’s more. You need to do a check-in call with one of your accounts and just can’t find the time.
Enter the video play.
In five minutes, you can record and send out a personalized video that covers everything you would normally cover on a business review call. Share your face (and if you’re in SaaS like me, share your screen and jump into your customer’s portal) and quickly run through high-level reporting to open it up. Are they crushing it? Let them know! Are there some things they could do to level-up or optimize? Show them!
Your typical check-in call incorporates three things:
- Where are we today?
- What does your CSM recommend to drive results?
- A CTA
So with this play, simply record a quick walkthrough of results to date, identify a shortcoming in their current strategy that ties back to those metrics, and close out the video by either asking to set up a call or giving them some homework.
And then take a step back. You’ve effectively just completed your Quarterly Business Review, saved 25 minutes, and added value to your customer all without jumping on a call. Nicely done ?
2) The “They’ve Gone Dark” Play:
You’ve called, you’ve emailed, you’ve emailed again. You’ve done everything short of booking a flight to their headquarters to try to get back in touch with your main point of contact. But not to worry, you have another tool in your arsenal.
This play is simple. Just flip on that webcam, put on a smile, and summarize your outreach over the last few touches with a prescriptive call to action to sign off.
The kicker? With Drift Video, not only do you get to see when someone has started watching, but you can also chat with them while they are watching your video! Talk about tenacity.
3) The Renewal Conversation Play
No one likes bringing up contract renewals. It can be awkward, or your clients might feel pressured to make a decision. And despite your best efforts to bring up the conversation on a call naturally without sounding like a sales rep, it just feels…tense.
So if the end of month/quarter/year is rapidly approaching and you need an effective way to get in touch with your customers quickly while still finding a way to provide value, video is a great way to break the ice. Because while the conversation can sometimes be uncomfortable, it’s an important one to have. Video can help you hit the right note.
Start off by identifying something new or by making a recommendation for your customer. Introduce a new feature, showcase an optimization that could be a quick win, or give an example of success you’ve seen from them. Then let that transition into a quick note on the upcoming end of their contract. This way you’re able to get them engaged at the beginning of the video and provide a call to action in your own time, without feeling like you’re pushing your own agenda.
And when it is time to bring up the renewal, make sure you remind them of the renewal date and outline some options they can dig into before your next conversation.
Congratulations! In completing this play, you’ve just set an agenda for a renewal call, pitched a potential upsell or new use case– and you did it with some personal flair ?
