Nearly a year ago now is when you probably first started hearing about COVID-19. Not long after, that the shutdowns started, and we were all told we should stay at home. During this time services like Zoom and other video conferencing tools took off as businesses and professionals tried to adapt to the new landscape in order to keep business going. Initially, this served well as a temporary fix to a seemingly temporary problem.
Yet now that a year has passed and talk about COVID-19 and stay-at-home orders are still buzzing in the news, this issue has proven to be not so temporary. Many of your clients probably still aren’t comfortable meeting in person. Like it or not, traditional face-to-face meetings are taking the backburner while video conferencing is becoming/has become the norm.
To gear up for the rest of 2021 I would like to discuss our top 3 suggestions for preparing and executing an effective video conference with your clients:
- Video Conferencing Services
- Necessary Equipment
- Easy-to-Explain Presentations
1. Video Conferencing Services
The first step is to find a video conferencing service that works best for you. However, you must remember that your client will be using this service as well when you organize the meeting. The most important feature of any video conferencing service is ease-of-use.
We suggest you utilize a recognizable brand, one that your clients have probably already heard of and/or have already installed on their computer. We would also recommend one that has scheduling functionality built in. For example, services like Zoom will allow you to schedule a time to meet and send a confirmation email to your client via email. This just makes it easier for everyone.
2. Necessary Equipment
Once you have chosen the right service to schedule and host your meeting, you want to make sure you have the right equipment. There is nothing worse than joining a video conference where the host has a grainy video feed or spotty audio.
Firstly, we suggest you make sure you have a fast internet connection. Slow internet will be the biggest limiting factor in terms of quality. You can have the best camera and microphone in the world, but that means nothing if you have poor internet.
Which brings us to our next suggestion: a good camera/webcam and microphone! Fortunately, technology has come a long way. Nowadays you can easily acquire a high-quality camera and microphone without breaking the bank. You could certainly order these from Amazon, and have it shipped to your door in a few days; just be sure to read the reviews before you order.
Lastly you want to make sure to look good. Obviously, you would want to dress nicely, but people often forget to go beyond that. I can’t tell you how many video conferences I’ve seen where people clearly forgot to check what the room looked like behind them. I’m talking messy living rooms with dishes piled up with the dog pacing back and forth. It’s simply distracting. So just make sure to tidy up your office and be aware of what your clients can see in the background.
3. Easy-to-Explain Presentations
Even if you take all the precautions of making sure the video conference is setup properly and runs smoothly, none of that matters if you cannot put together a good presentation. As you know, communicating over the web can be difficult.
Many people, including myself, have hard time articulating certain sales ideas. Sometimes its easier to let the presentation speak for itself. Fortunately, all video conferencing tools give you the ability to share your presentation directly with everyone in the audience.
Now, you could show your client a generic spreadsheet or illustration explaining whatever financial strategy you are presenting, but in video conference that is simply not acceptable. In order to keep their attention over the web (especially when you’re competing with their Facebook feed and the games on their phone) YOU HAVE TO STAND OUT.
Although it may seem time consuming, it makes sense to put together a personalized solution before presenting it to your client. You must have personalized point-of-sale material designed specifically for each client in every scenario. Furthermore, many advisors have their own branding and logo design to represent themselves.
Why don’t people take the time to inject these elements into their presentations? Simply put, it’s difficult!
That is why you should let us handle it for you! At Advisors Resource we have strategies that we know life insurance prospects are attracted to. Though our experience we have been able to tailor these strategies to fit the financial and planning needs for individuals among all demographics.
We always make sure not to over-complicate our strategies as well. All of the presentations we have structured around these strategies are easy to explain and easy to understand.
