In 2020, video for sales became more than a trend. It’s now a vital tool for remote sellers, who need to prospect digitally and maintain relationships with customers. We all know about the amazing growth of video conferencing platforms, such as Zoom and Google Meet for synchronous virtual meetings. But there are other asynchronous sales video platforms that are changing the way remote selling teams interact with customers. But, as I like to say, a fool with a tool is still a fool. Even after you provide tools to your sellers, you still need to train them, so they can use them effectively. That is why for this episode of the Modern Selling podcast, I invited an expert on video for sales, Steve Pacinelli.  Steve is the Chief Marketing Officer at BombBomb, a video messaging platform that makes it easy to record, send, and track videos. Steve is the co-author of the best-selling book to better business communication, Rehumanize Your Business: How Personal Videos Accelerate Sales and Improve Customer Experience. Prior to leading the charge of the "relationships through video" movement, he was a Sales Manager, Vice President of Events, and the National Speaker for Realtor.com. He has presented to more than 1,000 audiences throughout his career. Thematically these presentations focus on online marketing, video communication, lead conversion, consumer psychology, and sales automation. Listen to this episode to discover how to leverage sales video for your sellers. The Difference between Video Marketing and Video for Sales People often confuse video for sales (or “relationship videos,” as Steve calls them) with video marketing, but they’re not the same. Video marketing is usually professionally produced with green screens, drones, editing, and fancy tools. However, video for sales is recorded directly by salespeople at their desks, using a webcam or a phone. Video marketing involves one video intended for thousands of people, while video for sales is thousands of videos, one for each person. In other words, video for sales is intended to replace the simple text messages that lack the emotion and personality of the seller. “We removed the messenger from the message 25 years ago, when we decided to move most business communications into text,” Steve says. “So we removed the most important part of the message.” Since inboxes are filled with messages that are devoid of the messenger, it’s impossible to know which ones are actually written for you and which ones are just generic marketing messages. Relationship videos can convey that they are personal messages just for the receiver. Steve says that he sends out video messages by email all the time. His response rate is 80%, because he breaks through the noise and stands out from the rest, who just send text-based messages. That is the power of video for sales -- they are short and sweet. And they are about the prospect, not about the sales rep. Although sales leaders should be teaching their sales teams how to leverage video for prospecting, many are still relying on email or the phone to reach out to potential customers. Steve explains there is a disconnect between how sales leaders behave in the real world and how they do sales prospecting. For instance, when sales leaders hire salespeople, they don’t just do it through text messaging. They have face-to-face conversations with them, either in person or through video-conferencing in the COVID era.  Why? Because they want to read their body language; they want to see their reactions and expressions. This also applies to prospects and customers. And although synchronous video conferencing would be ideal, people are not always available at the same time. That’s where asynchronous personalized video messages come in. There are different use-cases for sales video messages that your sellers can use to stand out from the crowd, either to fill their pipeline with video or for internal communications or training purposes. Why Sales Video is Better than Text Steve says that an asynchronous sales video message is better than text, because the seller can deliver a message with a precise intention; it will be understood without the risk of misinterpretation. A text message, on the other hand, has no emotion and the reader can inject whatever emotion they want to the text. Video allows sellers to have control of the emotions of their sales pitch. They can deliver their message with the undertone that they want. “When you are selling something,” Steve explains, “you want people to stay on the emotional side of the brain. You don’t want them evaluating every feature. When they read, they will switch to the rational side.” For example, if the reader is upset because of something that just happened at home or at the office, and they receive a written email, they will interpret whatever the seller wrote with that negative state of mind, even though that was not the intention. Another important advantage of video: the ability to earn trust. When a prospect sees the seller’s face - through both verbal and nonverbal cues – they are more likely to trust them. “People want to connect with other people,” Steve says. “And now more than ever, they want to see your face.” Steve shares how, when he worked with Remax LLC, selling Remax franchises, the results were incredible. They saw an increase from 58% to 72% of people showing up to appointments when they received a video before the meeting. Listen to Steve explain what goes into an effective video message