Prospecting is one of the most time consuming and tedious aspects of a sales professional’s career BUT can be the most rewarding if executed well. We constantly strive to find better ways to get in touch with our prospects to generate the lifeblood of our pipeline: the first meeting. Depending on the quality, timing and other variables tied to first meetings, they are usually worth up to thousands of dollars to the commission check down the road.

When I first joined ClearSlide as a Sales Development Representative (SDR) my main responsibility was to set appointments for account executives, and one of my biggest challenges was figuring out how to be effective.

Luckily, at that time the product team had started exploring the use of personal videos for sales outreach. Our internal app allowed the sales team to record videos using only a green screen and an iPod Touch. These personalized sales videos put a face to a name and differentiate the average seller from the constant barrage of emails our prospects receive on a daily basis. Instead of writing long emails that prospects probably delete, sellers can creatively explain the reason for their outreach. It’s a great way to get a foot in the door by sparking a warmer conversation.

I first began testing the effectiveness of ClearSlide Video Mail by creating emails with “personal video for [first name]” in the subject line as a first touch to our prospects. Then I used the ClearSlide online content library to select marketing-approved material. Lastly, I added my personalized video to the beginning of the introduction decks and sent them out as customized hyperlinks rather than attachments. The whole process from first recording to sent email only took about five minutes and we were eager to see the results of our efforts.

The result? Open rates increased. Using ClearSlide analytics to track how/when material was viewed, I was able to tell when prospects were engaged and interested in our services, creating an opportune time to call and increase chances of setting a meeting.

After setting a meeting, I found that sending a video thanking a prospect for their time increased hold rates. In fact, our team went from a hold rate of between 70 – 80 percent to above 90 percent after a month of this practice. Many prospects responded back thanking us for the video and they expressed excitement for the upcoming meeting.

Currently, our Video Mail product helps sellers boost email open rates by up to 60 percent and increase conversation rates by over 20 percent.

My current 6-month open rate for my video prospecting email measured with our analytics is exactly 20 percent. That means one out of every five prospects that I have never engaged are interested enough to click on the informational links to learn more instead of moving on to the next task. That way I can be smarter about where I spend my time and get creative in grabbing the attention of my always busy high-level executive targets.

As an Account Executive I set my own meetings and manage a full sale cycle so it’s very important to be as efficient and effective with my time, making Video Mail that much more valuable.