I know you’re busy, and I apologise for taking your time. But I believe by investing the time in reading this, it will save you time and make you more effective in the future.
After scrolling down a bit and seeing the volume of information below this, some of you will decide it is too long to read. It’s a great advertisement for what the point of this article is; that video messaging is the perfect response to a generation whose attention span is diminishing. But that’s not the only benefit…
Yes, video messages are a ‘buzz concept’ floating around Professional Services at the moment. Like with any hyped idea or product, they become popular for a number of reasons, coming together in a perfect storm.
Sometimes the new sexy thing fades into obscurity (how’s that breadmaker going for you?) whilst others become part of our everyday life. Who would have thought 10 years ago that in 2014, school tuckshops and Woolworths would start selling sushi?
So when it comes to the relatively new trend of video messaging, those who are regularly using them adore them and have built the systems and processes in their business to ensure they become a part of everyday life. Not only that, but their clients are raving fans (and in the process become a source of quality and regular referrals).
And for those of you who are naysayers, I can tell you that I have seen enough of the evidence to categorically believe that this isn’t just another fad. As I got off the plane from Melbourne a few weeks ago and received a video message from a 69 year old client who now does ‘selfie videos’ as a matter of course, I hit the same moment when my Mum asked me if she should buy an iPhone. With videos messages, the fad has now become a solid and enduring trend.
Like my Mum helped me realise that Apple had created the momentum to change the world with one product, I now see hundreds of professionals regularly sending video messages as part of their client engagement, follow-up and servicing processes.
I firmly believe now is the time to for you to jump on board. To get the learning curve behind you so you can stay at the forefront of what you do.
For the less emotional amongst us who prefer to consider such things from a more ‘rational perspective’, I would like to challenge you on some of the common reasons you may not be sending video messages currently;
It takes too long
Professionals who are in the habit of recording video messages continually tell me that they find it SO much quicker than writing long-winded, over-thought and over-refined written messages.
You see, the benefit of written communication is the very problem with it as well. The fact that we CAN keep adding to it, changing it and ‘perfecting’ means that we do. We get distracted by something else, come back to the email we were writing and it takes time to get back ‘in the zone’ when we go back to it. It isn’t uncommon to find that it takes more than an hour to write some emails. Whilst sometimes this is due to the necessary details involved, I contend that much of this is because we are not as focussed on its completion as we need to be.
One of the necessary pre-cursors to productivity is FOCUS. Video forces you to eliminate distraction, consider what you are saying and just say it. Umms and ahhhs are far less of a problem than you think. Video forces you to stop focussing on perfection and to just execute; saying a message in two minutes that would take at least 45 minutes to put into words.
It’s too hard
I know what you’re thinking… yeah I can record a video on my smartphone but then how do I get it off my phone, onto my computer, into an email….. wahhhhhhhh ‘too hard basket’. I am just going to type an email instead.
And in days gone by, I could see where you were coming from… but now we have ‘YouTube Capture’.
You see, you have an awesome and surprisingly useful camera in your pocket. Coupled with this game-changing app, recording, editing (if required), uploading and sending videos is now completely seamless. It’s only available on iPhone at this stage but the Android version is on its way. I won’t sell you on this app, I just recommend you download and muck around with it.
As my favourite Maths teacher at school used to say “it’s so easy, you could give this stuff to a smart monkey”.
And if you don’t have a smartphone, many businesses are recording DSLR video messages in their office and sending them to clients. You need to train yourself up with the necessary skills, tools and systems, but when it comes to video, you don’t have to personally manage the end to end process of sending it yourself. Consider ways of using the team around you to make this process smoother.
But what about those of you who find speaking on camera hard? Well, that can be a challenge (and one that most of us encounter initially). Being on camera should be no different to communicating in person. You just need to drop the false perception that many of us have that we need to become a newsreader and deliver a message perfectly (in fact, the more natural you are, the better!).
This one isn’t an easy fix, but comes with practice. Like anything worthwhile, there needs to be an initial investment in your time and learning to get more comfortable. But once you are skilled up, you’ll never know what you did without it.
I look silly on camera
Now this is one we get all the time and I can assure you it only exists in your head! 99.99% of the world think they look terrible in photos and especially on video. You are not special in this regard!
Don’t let your own insecurities affect your ability to help someone else.
If you deliver video messages like a newsreader and completely out of sync with your normal way of being, you may look like a goose / gander. But if you are your authentic self and replicate how you are when you are in front of a client, you will look no different to usual!
But think of what you are doing that text cannot do. You are adding the extra dimensions to your message of eye contact, body language and facial recognition. The ultimate effect of all of these things is a deepening of your relationship with whoever is receiving your message. If a worded email gives you 3 ‘relationship points’, the video equivalent of it gives you 10.
Getting to the point of ‘natural’ can take a little time, but I strongly believe the rewards are well and truly worthwhile.
So how did I go?
I may not have sold you on changing the entire way you email clients, but I hope I have piqued your interest enough to at least give video messaging a go.
If nothing else, I want you to consider what it actually is that’s holding you back. Is the reason rational or is it an issue you are creating in your own head? Whatever it is that’s holding you back, ask yourself what’s the worst that can happen?
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost, 1916