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About This Episode
Video is exploding in popularity — and necessity — as we are all moving to the virtual world due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today’s episode will help you reimagine your sales strategy through video.
I’m excited about this conversation with Karthi Mariappan, Co-Founder and CEO of Hippo Video.
Karthi and two co-founders started Hippo Video after 16 years at Zoho because they believed in video as the engagement platform of the future.
When people are feeling shock, uncertainty, or grief about their work, health, and lives, video can be the best way to connect and provide some genuine help to others.
“Before COVID, people have started video in their sales process already, but this has made it not an option of having videos in the system,” Karthi said.
The don’ts of video
How do we reimagine some of our existing sales strategies because of the reality of everyone’s remote work?
“None of your playbook is going to work now, and you have to rewrite it on your own,” Karthi said.
The first don’t is…
1. Don’t be a jerk
“Empathize with your prospects or customers, understand where they are coming from, and give them value,” Karthi said.
I saw a prospect email that took this approach: Hey, what’s your plan for 2020 at this moment?
So, that’s a big don’t.
People are going through so many things right now that a question so aggressive is completely overwhelming.
2. Don’t push the sale
Recognizing your customers’ needs right now means building trust, not a pipeline.
“Giving is the way forward,” Karthi said.
The best sellers in the world were already leading with value. The crisis just exposes the gaps of people not doing that.
“Find the value that you can deliver to the prospect and go into that engagement with them in a more authentic way,” Karthi said.
The dos of video
“Be real is what is required,” Karthi said.
When you’re adjusting all of your touchpoints to remote, virtual, digital, or other long-distance mediums, you should acknowledge that today is not just like any other day of the week.
1. Pay attention to tone
True story, I got a prospecting email offering a “great keynote” for our Unleash conference.
Well, that was canceled three weeks ago.
Along with every other event in the whole world, right?
On the other hand, this approach works really well: I heard your event got canceled. Ours too. Here are a few things we’re doing to set us up for success in the future.
“This is all about understanding empathy, understanding where they are going to connect with you, and connecting there with a very, very proper channel,” Karthi said.
He mentioned a Chinese company that shut down all their stores and started evangelizing their product online through videos.
Explosive growth.
Why? They positioned themselves as helpers.
“They are becoming more like advisors rather than selling product,” Karthi said.
2. Show your face
When you’re searching for more channels to reach out to your customers because all of them are locked down in their homes, you stand out and deliver value by adopting video.
“You put your face to your signature,” Karthi said.
Here are the two areas where Karthi is seeing the most success in video right now.
- Sales… because nothing warms up a cold email like a short video
- Customer retention… because they’ll slip away if they don’t feel connected to you
“It is more important to have your existing customers with you for a longer time find value with your existing products,” he pointed out.
In other words, you should take the time to send each and every one of your existing customers a video telling them how much you appreciate them and that you’re there for them if they need anything.
Karthi’s 3 takeaways
I really appreciated his optimism in the resilience of our world.
1. Remember that humans have always been very creative and have come out well in stress.
In particular, teachers and churches are using video to send messages of kindness and confidence right now.
2. Forget about selling. It’s more about giving.
3. Be real, be authentic — and videos help you do that.
For more engaging sales conversations, subscribe to The Sales Engagement Podcast on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or on our website.
About The Podcast
The Sales Engagement podcast is the #1 podcast focused on engaging your customers and prospects in the modern sales era. This show features real-life stories and best practices from revenue leaders doing the job day in and day out, in a casual, radio-like talk show.
Each episode features modern tactics, strategies, hacks, and tips to get the most out of your sales engagement strategy and help you navigate the next generation of sales. You’ll find energetic talks that will provide you with real actionable value around building meaningful connections and creating a better selling experience through authentic conversations that you can measure.
The Sales Engagement podcast is here to help B2B sales leaders, customer success leaders, and marketing leaders innovate and usher in the next era of modern sales by building pipeline, up-selling customers, and ultimately generating more revenue with more efficiency.
Hosted by Joe Vignolo, Senior Content Managing Editor at Outreach, and Mark Kosoglow, Vice President of Sales at Outreach.
