Place each sales video in the journey and match it to the buyer

1. Every conversation that repeats

The rule here goes further than most people take it. Ideally, a video goes in front of every conversation that is repeated from one customer to the next, sales or not. For example, if a sale takes two conversations, there are two videos; the person who onboards a new customer gets a third; and if you hold an exit meeting, that gets a fourth.

Before	Your video
Each sales call	One per call (SOP 247, section 2)
A visit in person, as in home services	Watched before anyone comes out
The onboarding call	Thanks them for buying, sets out the next steps and sells them again on the decision (SOP 139, section 8)
An exit or cancellation meeting	One more video; the call itself is SOP 132 — Run the cancellation call
A scheduled meeting with an active customer	Sent before it, to frame the meeting; in the view here, not a stand-in for the meeting
An application on your careers page	One for the company and, ideally, one per department or role (SOP 201, section 6.2)
A tour, in person	If visitors are not closing, played in the waiting room: they are captive there and can give it longer

What each one replaces. A video takes the part of its conversation that repeats and moves it in front, so that nobody has to say it endlessly, trimming it a little more each time because they are tired of saying it. Instead it is said once, perfectly: every visual, example, graph, chart and number, with no ums or ahs, and as much value packed into each second as you can manage. Framed that way, the conversation starts with 90% of the work done. The person on the call is there for the other 10%: to personalize the last few yards and see the prospect over the line.

The symptom. A sales call that takes 90 minutes is a classic sign that too much teaching is happening on it, and the same goes for an onboarding call. People in one-to-one conversation tend to use time poorly; a meeting runs for an hour when its substance could have been said in two minutes. So boil it down to those two minutes and send it ahead of the call.

2. What it does for your team

Your video can cut how many conversations it takes to get a prospect to the next step, or how long each one runs. Because every conversation arrives framed:

• new reps are easier to onboard, since the job needs less skill;
• each rep is used more, because one call can now do the work of two;
• each call is shorter, so, in one example, a rep goes from six calls a day to ten.

All the way through the funnel, that is leverage on your whole conversion process. The view here is that most businesses are dramatically short of these videos and could improve by putting one before every conversation. It is named as one of the problems that comes up most often in any business with a salesperson; whether you sell digitally or in person, putting a video ahead of each conversation will bring in more money. And for the vast majority of those whose constraint is marketing or winning customers, if they use salespeople and have no video in the process, they are leaving a lot of revenue on the table.

3. Where it sits: a question of friction

Adding a video adds friction in general, and so can what is in it. The lesson behind every placement here, probably the biggest one of all, is that everything turns on friction: use exactly as much as the sale requires, and nothing beyond it. A lot of the time that is more than people think, because they are afraid of their cost per lead going up. What really goes up without it is the cost of each sale, and the inefficiency of a sales process that needs many people to work it, which is very hard to scale. Judging by the sale rather than the call is SOP 208, section 8.

By the problem you have. Each of these is a test to run:

What is wrong	Where to put your video
Plenty of leads, too few of them qualified	Above the form or the scheduler
The right people, but without buying intent	After they schedule
Too few leads at all	The form first and your video below it, so nothing gets in the way of booking

Where to add friction for leads that arrive unqualified, or qualified but not buying, is SOP 208, section 6.

By the kind of lead. Local leads cost more and already bring more trust, so a video before they schedule might be too aggressive: let them schedule, then show it. Online, leads can be very cheap, so your video probably comes before anyone schedules or applies. If you need variety in your ads, you can run several lead magnets, each sending people to a thank-you page with a video that carries the core offer.

On a product page, it depends on the price:

The product	Where your video goes
Under about $100	The checkout first, with your video below it for the skeptical who want to find out more
Several hundred dollars	Sometimes above the fold, since buyers want a bit more persuading

It also depends on how persuasive the ad was. After a long video ad, six minutes or 20, that sends people to a page to buy, they might already be ready to buy, and the job is to step aside so they can buy. For cheap things, a single ad that demonstrates the product usually does the job. If search brings people to your product pages, put plenty of reviews and testimonials underneath.

4. A version for each avatar

People cannot take in too much proof. Someone who has seen a hundred testimonials will be more convinced than someone who has seen ten, so you want them to see as many as possible. If you serve several avatars, each with its own way of buying and its own concerns, you can match your video to each, at three levels of effort:

Level	What changes
1	Nothing: one core video, with a mix of proof
2	Your core video unchanged, with testimonials from that avatar's kind of buyer added at the end
3	Proof for that avatar woven into the main argument itself

As you optimize for scale, the work becomes segmenting and personalizing. A main landing page can carry a compilation of them all. Teaching people more, and tailoring it to them, persuades more; but it takes more work, the return on that work falls off, and other work in the business can pay more. Tagging proof by who is in it is SOP 248, section 2.

5. Getting it watched

• Curiosity. In this view, curiosity works exceptionally well as a reason to watch. Say that inside it lays out the next step and what they have to do after it. Anyone in the process then feels bound to watch it.
• A low watch rate. If few watch your video before the form, it is usually a headline and framing problem: promise more clearly what they will discover inside, so that it builds curiosity. A low watch rate is not always a bad thing, either: it is the buyers who watch.
• Say how long it runs. Tell them up front, for instance that it runs 13 minutes and the last six are customer stories they are welcome to watch.
• For those who would rather read. Put the words of your video under it, written out and formatted for reading. A video sales letter is, after all, a long sales letter.
• If they have not watched by the call, put them on hold while you get a coffee: SOP 247, section 3.

6. The practical details

• Length. It depends on the friction. For a video that only has to get someone to schedule, the practice here is typically under 10 minutes. Most of the time, a very long video means too many words spent on one point; keep the main argument plain. To add more, add proof at the back, as testimonials.
• Where it is hosted. If you only want them to watch, a plain video site is fine. If they need to act on it, put it on a page where that action stands out.
• A named rep. The practice here is usually to make it from the owner's level. To introduce a rep by name, cut a separate intro that builds them up, and keep the rest of your video the same.
• Finish. Production quality is not thought to matter much, and clarity a great deal more. It depends a little on what you sell: for luxury, you probably want a higher finish. Decide whether you sell luxury or premium; most sell premium, which only means better than the market, and that, in the view here, rests on a clear value proposition.
• The page. Headline, sub-headline, video, a button, and then the scheduler pops up. Do not obsess over it: the layout makes a small difference, and the proof inside your video the biggest. The plainer layouts for a landing page are SOP 37 — Lay out a landing page, section 2.

7. Proof when you cannot make claims about results

In a regulated field such as financial planning, some proof will fall outside what you may show. Base it instead on subjective things rather than claims about income. On the law, the claim as made is this: illustrations are fine as long as they carry proper disclaimers (past performance does not guarantee future results, results will vary, and no income is guaranteed), give no overall impression of getting rich quick, can back up the claim, and have a person's permission before sharing their case. It is called a bit of a legal question. The law on claims and disclaimers is not covered on this page.

To keep away from money altogether, answer the questions that are not about money, of which there are many: how quickly you respond, how much access they will have, the thinking behind your approach, and the other questions customers typically ask.

High-trust sales. Financial planning is, in this view, like a timeshare: people are handing over a huge sum, everything they have worked for. So there it is more common to have several longer pieces of education. Meeting in person, locally, speeds trust up dramatically: some of the biggest names in financial services invite people to local workshops, and others run a central, digital model of several webinars on one topic, with a sales team booking calls from them. How long the selling must run for your price is SOP 65 — Convert a free consumption asset, section 3.

8. What this page does not decide for you

• Which placement wins for you. Each placement above is a test; the result for your business: Not established on this page.
• Where a product page changes over. This page gives no figure for the price between about $100 and several hundred dollars at which your video moves above the fold.

9. The checklist

Step	What to do
1	Ideally, put a video before every conversation that repeats: each sales call, onboarding, an exit meeting, check-ins, applications, tours
2	Move the repeated part of each conversation into it, said once and well, leaving the call to tailor only the final stretch
3	Treat a 90-minute call as the sign that too much teaching happens on it
4	Add just as much friction as the sale needs, and judge by the cost of each sale
5	Place your video by your problem: above the form for too few qualified, after scheduling for no intent, below the form for too few leads
6	Local leads: booking first and your video after; cheap leads online: probably your video first
7	On a product page, place it by price; after a long ad, get out of the buyer's way
8	If you serve several avatars, match the proof to each: added at the end, or woven into the argument
9	Get it watched: curiosity about the next step, a stronger promise, the length said up front, the words written out below
10	Keep it under 10 minutes for scheduling; host it where the next action stands out; one intro per rep
11	Put clarity before finish, unless you sell luxury
12	Where you cannot claim results, use subjective proof and answer the questions that are not about money

10. What this page does not cover

What goes in your video, and in what order, is SOP 207 and SOP 247. Whether your video should state the price is SOP 248, section 6. Filming and editing are not covered on this page. Collecting proof is SOP 123 — Run the standing proof streams.