It doesn’t matter if you watch Fox, CNN, MSNBC or any other live broadcast channel. Be it Webex, Zoom or Skype, are you ready for prime time? Perhaps it is time for men like me to dab my forehead with pancake so the glare of the lights doesn’t make me shine like a harvest moon in a Zoom conference. Perhaps it is time for me to put the book my wife wrote 40 years ago on a shelf facing out. Who knows, we may find interest in another printing. I might also consider cleaning or organizing the shelf behind me and strategically placing the desk jewel calendar I make on the shelf. Heaven knows, my distributor readers have more background props than Universal Studios.
You may be familiar with Room Rater (@ratemyskyperoom). Whoever these people are, they rate the background behind the talking heads on TV. John Heilmann, a frequent guest, and a host of his own show, has got to have a Zoom background interior designer. His background with flowers, fresh fruit, sculptures, etc., all blending into a steel grey and steel appliance kitchen background, present a beautiful image. When he sits in his den, the background is even more outstanding.
We are all on Zoom; even if the epidemic disappeared tomorrow, the world has changed. Webinars, web conferences, web family gatherings, web sales calls are a part of life. I still lament the label, “being ahead of his time”, when Dennis Burnham and I started “Our Meetings.TV” in 2004 to bring webinars to our industry. We bought bandwidth, which is free today, for $40,000 a year and tried to sell time shares for suppliers to use. They declined, not understanding the technology and we folded the business in two years. Still, we did conduct the first ever webinars for 6 of the top 10 distributors.
So today we are here, and you are there. You are online and your image is showing. It is time to take a serious measure of everything from the microphone you are using to the placement of your camera (not zit close please) and your background settings. It is time for you to consider what is on your computer desktop for immediate and seamless screen sharing. It is time to consider all the shortcuts you have so that you immediately travel to your website or your Power Point presentations. The clock is ticking quickly on every introductory sales call you make.
If not already, then soon, you will be making initial contacts with new prospects fully online. That requires prep beyond your visual setting, and you must be ready to artfully navigate while talking. Think of it as reaching for a catalog in front of the buyer. In the digisell, your mouse must quickly navigate to your sales aides. No “oops”, no gasps of exasperation or clicks of your tongue as you dance through the screen.
“They say” you need an elevator speech. I say, your speech would take you from the ground floor of the Empire State Building to the top, while stopping on several floors, to complete your speech. In the case of an online meeting, you need your “Overture” (your introduction) to be lean, mean, and effective. It sets the table for your one on one conversation. You have a very brief time to “wow” the prospect in your first encounter. You need more than one opening. You need different buying centers; you work in so many different areas, with buyers forming so many different industries, you should be specific with each market and product application.
I am an old-world believer in having a printed corporate brochure to present your business. I called it a “capability presentation”. Well, in the new world of digiselling, how about a brief video? Is that over the top? Is it what we expect when any program starts as well as a display of your creativity and diversification?
If your website is the portal to your company, then you should consider integration of a video conference so that customers meet you there. If you are living on a free Zoom platform, dig into your pocket and pay for that, Webex or any other service. Having a landing page and enhanced features will say a lot about your enterprise.
As for me, I’ll wear a baseball cap to cut down on my glare. As for you, figure out where to put the dog so that there are no background barks conflicting with you.
Joel D. Schaffer, MAS is CEO and Founder of Soundline, LLC, the pioneering supplier to the promotional products industry of audio products. Joel has 48 years of promotional product industry experience and proudly heralds “I was a distributor.” He has been on the advisory panel of the business and marketing department of St. John’s University in New York and is a frequent speaker at Rutgers Graduate School of Business. He is an industry Advocate and has appeared before the American Bankers Association, American Marketing Association, National Premium Sales Executives, American Booksellers Association and several other major groups. He has been a management consultant to organizations such as The College Board and helped many suppliers enter this industry. He is a frequent contributor to PPB and Counselor magazines. He has facilitated over 200 classes sharing his industry knowledge nationwide. He is known for his cutting humor and enthusiasm in presenting provocative and motivating programs. He is the only person to have received both the Marvin Spike Industry Lifetime Achievement Award (2002) and PPAI’s Distinguished Service Award (2011). He is a past director of PPAI and has chaired several PPAI committees and task forces. He is a past Chair of the SAAGNY Foundation, Past President of SAAGNY and a SAAGNY Hall of Fame member. He was cited by ASI as one of the 50 most influential people in the industry.