Rehumanize Your Business

by Ethan Beute

  WHAT TO DO IF YOU DIDN'T GET A REPLY

  To One Person

  This is a better scenario than the two others presented so far. Your email was delivered and opened, then your video was played. You know all this because you're paying attention to your analytics and alerts. This might be enough; you may only have wanted to convey information without making an additional ask. If, on the other hand, you asked for a reply or provided a call to action and your recipient didn't take you up on it, think about the answers to these questions. Did you ask them to do something not tracked in the inbox, like return a phone call or text message? If so, you've used video to help move the opportunity forward. If not, was your call to action clear? Did you make it obvious what the opportunity was and how to proceed? Did you even ask for a reply or another specific behavior? Any of these may be contributing factors.

  Assuming you made clear the opportunity, knowing that you got the email open and video play lets you know that you've cleared the initial hurdles. Follow up with a lightweight text email, a very short video, a phone call, or a text message. Don't say or write, “My video email system told me that you opened my email and played my video, so why haven't you responded?” Instead, try something like, “I sent you some information (about the topic). Did you receive it? Did you have any questions about it?”

  Regardless of whether or not he or she has questions, you're likely to get a response just to confirm receipt. But you're also likely to get more information or context along with the confirmation. If your ask is conversational, you're almost certainly going to get something better than, “Yes, I got it.” Like: “Yes, I got it, but …” or “Yes, I got it, and …” If you're using The Pro Method with a system equipped with a feature like BombBomb's Re/Actions, the opportunity to reply can be right there on the video, so it's an obvious and easy thing to do.1

  Again, you can take the conversation out of the email chain or even offline completely if you don't get a reply, as captured conceptually in Figure 11.3. The purpose of the video is to get face to face to improve communication and build connection.

  FIGURE 11.3 If You Didn't Get a Reply or Response

  To a List of People

  Replies to mass video emails are harder to come by than replies to truly personal sends. To increase them, start with the same line of inquiry as the previous list send scenario. The first and most obvious question: did you ask for a reply or make clear the call to action? Then: was the video play the end in itself or the means to another end? If your goal was the video view, no further follow-up is needed. If your goal was a reply, click, or another activity that some portion of your recipients didn't perform, reach back out to those people. Because they opened your email and played your video, you need to come with either a simple reminder or an entirely new angle. They may have intended to do it later and just need a reminder. Or they may have checked out your message in full but not seen or understood the value of saying, “Yes, I'll do that.”

  Across a large population, there's no way to know definitively which approach to take. Feedback from people who did take you up on your opportunity with a reply or a click may help you decide. Were there any frequently asked questions from people who've already said “yes” or replied with intent, but needed a question or two answered first? That may be the new angle you need to reposition the opportunity. No apparent friction from the “yes” group? The others may need a simple reminder with the urgency of a deadline.

  MULTIPLE VIEWS, LATENT DEMAND, AND LONG-TERM FOLLOW-UP

  A few common scenarios worth further exploration here include multiple views of a video sent only to one person or a small group, as experienced by Michael and the young family and by David and the dinner party back in Chapter 5. Another is recognizing opportunities that are easily missed for flying just under the radar. The third and final is using video to sustain connection over long or delayed sales and service cycles.

  Multiple Views

  A member of the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame, Brad Montgomery uses professional videos or “marketing through video” on his website, in YouTube, and in other channels. These show what he's like as a performer on stage. But he also uses casual videos from his Denver office, sometimes wearing a ballcap or T-shirt, to land professional speaking gigs all over the world. These show what it's like to work with him as a person. You can see the difference in Figure 11.4. “Isn't it a cool irony that by making it simpler and cheaper and easier—boom!—it makes these videos even more effective?” asks Brad, who suggests using personal video “to get to the decision-makers who aren't talking to you on the phone. It's fantastic for this.” Among the reasons he's sent more than 1,700 videos in three years' time: it gets him face to face with decision-makers even when there's a gatekeeper. Tracking lets him know he's succeeded, even in advance of the reply.

  FIGURE 11.4 Personal Videos Serve a Unique Purpose

  You'll get a similar story from Dallas-based musician and producer Ken Boome, who says that personal videos have “radically changed the way I do business.” Like Brad, Ken is often screened by an executive assistant or a committee member who represents one or more decision makers en route to getting the job. One of his best stories: “I sent the video to one person and about three minutes later, I'm getting analytics—boom, boom, boom. A half hour later, I have a signed contract and a deposit. That was a $1,200 gig.” Could he have done that with a plain text email? Not likely. “She already feels like she knows me because the ‘know, like, and trust' factor has been established with video,” says Ken. Video puts you in front of decision-makers. Multiple views let you know that you made it behind the gate and pitched to those decision-makers “in person.”

  When you see multiple views racking up, anticipate a reply or a call. Or proactively reach out with some variation of, “I sent you some information. Did you receive it? Did you have any questions?” to prompt that reply or call. Multiple views on narrow sends most often mean you've been forwarded; it's affirmation that there's real interest from the person you sent it to.

  Latent Demand

  Being seen and heard doesn't just make you more persuasive, it also makes you more memorable. We remember more of what we see than what we hear. As we watch you in person or watch you on video, our mirror neurons mimic your behavior, sensations, and feelings; we share your experience.2 This explains in part why sales is said to be the transfer of emotion. When you engage with someone through video, but it doesn't produce an immediate result, know that you'll likely be in the consideration set when it's time to make the decision because of the impression you left.

  This manifests as an email open or video play alert on a video email you sent weeks, months, or even years ago. We see it all the time on our own sends. All within a 30-minute window, Richard opens up a newsletter from 19 months ago, an offer from 15 months ago, a personal video from 11 months ago, and a webinar follow-up from eight months ago. What's going on? He's going through his “BombBomb” folder where he filed away all those sends. But today's the day! He's finally ready to give it a real, in-depth look for himself and his team. What did I do when I saw those alerts come in? I gave his contact information to one of our Sales Development Reps, then sent a personal video thanking him for past interest and asking if he had any questions. Again, these analytics and cues to latent demand are what give email its incredible ROI.

  In our previous consideration of responsive and unresponsive lead follow-up, we established that the decision timeline is different for different people. Making that initial, personal connection more memorable with video can keep you in consideration. Reinforce that by having lead nurturing habits or processes in place. That you're sending video in one of the easiest channels to track lets you know where there's latent demand in your database and tells you when to follow up.

  Long-Term Follow-Up

  We offered Richard a continuous flow of opportunities to participate with us. Live events, webinars, newsletters, special offers. What if you don't have these in place
for your business? Or what if these things are the purview of the marketing department? In both cases, make it a habit to reach out with a video once per quarter or twice per year to people who represent open opportunities that aren't immediate.

  You can do this on a one-to-one basis by making a habit to reach out to five or six people each morning a few mornings each week. The compounding effect of sending to six people three times per week puts you in front of nearly 900 people each year. And once you're comfortable, it's a 15- or 20-minute commitment per session—less than an hour per week! Your subject line, email body, and video preview should make clear you recorded the video just for her or him. They should either provide a specific promise of value or ask a simple question. Mention what you last talked about and create the opportunity to pick up where the conversation left off.

  You can also do this on a one-to-many basis. Create the opportunity to experience you face to face in a channel that lets you know who's interested based on their actual behavior. Provide interesting or helpful information that relates to you, your brand, your product, or your service. Give an update on your industry or market. Use a screen recording to walk and talk through a timely topic. Your video doesn't have to be long or complex. It just needs to be you. If you pursue this path, use the analytics on the mass send to know who to reach on a one-to-one basis by video, phone, text, or another channel. In this way, you're prequalifying conversations.

  NOW WHAT? THAT’S WHAT!

  One of the main reasons email has the best return on investment among digital channels is that you know exactly who does what. You get specific feedback about people's actual behavior. Use it! Video email and video messaging are not silver bullets to cut through all your communication and conversion challenges. As you blend video into your business communication, use tracking to identify opportunities for more conversations and more conversions. Developing even simple processes for follow-up helps you make the most of your personal video practice.

  NOTES

  1. Menor, Alli. “Increase Your Sales Email Response Rate with Re/Actions by BombBomb.” BombBomb. October 9, 2018. https://bombbomb.com/blog/increase-your-sales-email-response-rate-with-re-actions-by-bombbomb/.

  2. Kinsey Goman, Carol. “Why You Are More Successful in Face-To-Face Meetings.” Forbes. October 25, 2015. https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolkinseygoman/2015/10/25/why-you-are-more-successful-in-face-to-face-meetings/#14c5c7cd6315.

  CHAPTER 12

  Where Rehumanization Is Now and Where It's Headed

  The English word “education” has two different Latin roots: educare and educere. Educare means to train, to mold, or to nourish. Educere means to lead out, to draw from, or to bring forth.1 Both have been goals leading into this final chapter. We've sought to share years of experience, insight, and expertise from pioneering the personal video movement with and through our customers and team members. That's educare. As the dozens of people mentioned in this book and thousands more like them have already done, you must reflect and self-identify as a participant and practitioner. You must discover your own motivations and find your opportunities to get started or to go deeper. That's educere. Our highest goal is to equip and inspire you to rehumanize some of your digital communication with personal video messages. You'll be glad you did. We need to see you.

  The technologies, tools, and platforms described throughout this book will continue to change. Internet speeds will increase, as will smartphone and webcam video quality. Will our recorded, moving images become holographic? Will we blend virtual or augmented reality with recorded video images of ourselves in some hybrid medium? Will predictive analytics improve to the point that we know exactly who to send videos to every morning to reach the right people with the right message at the right time? Probably. But the opportunity that's in front of you right now is the opportunity you've had since you started working professionally. And it's the same opportunity you'll have as the technology changes.

  Video's value is in you, not in the technology. Personal videos are about people, not about video. Video is simply the means to the end. It's a medium. A tool. The end is a stronger relationship with people than existed before you clicked “Record,” “Stop,” and “Send.” Your opportunity is building trust and relationship with each person you work with to provide value and generate revenue.

  What's happening is less a revolution and more a pendulum swing back from our over-reliance on typed-out text, automations, and other faceless, digital communication. We're moving back toward a more personal and human approach. This is why we call it rehumanizing, rather than humanizing. Video gives you a new/old way to sell and serve. It's a return to the way business was done for generations … face to face.

  Since we started on this journey back in 2006, many people have completely missed this point. They see personal video as a technology play, sales gimmick, faddish novelty, or parlor trick. These are the people who send one or two videos, expect magic to happen, and quit when it doesn't. They're the people who see sales exclusively as manipulation rather than an equitable exchange of value. They're the people who see a potential customer for his or her transactional value, not as the source of 10 more customers.

  Because you picked up this book in the first place and got this far, we expect you're not among them. Instead, you see the value of taking a warmer approach to leadership, sales, customer service, recruiting, teamwork, and all the other roles and functions you find yourself in that require better communication and trusting relationships. You see this as a way of being, not just something you're trying or doing. Or you at least see its promise.

  MORE EFFECTIVE AND MORE SATISFYING WORK

  In the opening chapter, you saw data collected from approximately 500 people comparing video email to traditional email. They reported more replies, more clicks, higher conversion, more referrals, and a greater ability to stay in touch. These are all great outcomes. They're compelling reasons to get going with video if you've not yet started or to double down if you've only dabbled. But the true value of this approach to business communication has not yet been established, even though most of us know it intuitively. That value is in human connection.

  Remember Andrew Brodsky, PhD, the assistant professor at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin? We introduced him in Chapter 2. Andrew's research is primarily in organizational behavior and communication. As a doctoral candidate, he led a research project with a team at Harvard Business School exploring the dynamics of traditional email and video email within our community. While trying to come up with the right design to get at the themes he wanted to explore in the study, Andrew decided it would be useful to interview several of our customers. I sought the permission of several of our most prolific video users, then shared their contact information with him.

  After he conducted several interviews, Andrew reported back some of his findings. He heard from the video users something we'd prepared him for: that the people you send videos to feel like they know you before they ever meet you and that the results achieved by getting face to face are better than results achieved by sending plain text. But Andrew also heard something from our customers that we'd not ever heard ourselves: that sending videos doesn't just make the recipient feel closer to the sender, it also makes the sender feel closer to the recipient. Of course!

  Of course the dynamic goes both ways. Relationships go both ways. Connection is between two people. So even though it's an asynchronous, one-way medium, personal video isn't just a more effective way to work, it's also a more satisfying way to work. We're not just better face to face, we thrive face to face. Our highest purpose is to be in relationship with other people. One of our deepest needs is to connect with others. This qualitative feedback did not get tested or quantified in the study, but it's deeply interesting and important to us as we continue to explore and advance rehumanization with video.

  We don't know how common this phenomenon is or how it works. We're not sure what it is about the practice
that draws us closer to our recipients. We're not clear on why we're psychologically or emotionally drawn closer to people, even when we can't see them. We expect it's tied to soft-sounding concepts like vulnerability and authenticity. You're showing people who you really are. You're opening up, letting your guard down, and being honest with them. There's a vulnerability there and a fear of judgment, rejection, and shame. The honesty in truly being with someone in person or in video builds trust, which is the foundation of any satisfying relationship.

  As we shared in the opening of Chapter 3, satisfying relationships are the greatest predictor of human health and well being. This finding was reinforced by research drawing on data from four longitudinal studies like The Grant Study. A team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill blended social and biological perspectives and found that social isolation in teens creates the same risk of inflammation as not exercising. In older adults, social isolation creates the same risk of developing hypertension as having diabetes. Our social connections “get under our skin” and affect us physically. These researchers sought to understand how and why. The recommendation of one of the study's authors: “Do have a good and healthy diet, and exercise; but also try to have a good social life and connections with other people. Cultivate broad and somewhat deep, functional [relationships]. That's as important, if not more—and don't wait until you're old.”2