To get the most from every meeting with a potential video production producer, it is important to ask the right questions to ensure that you have all the necessary information to create a solid proposal.
These are the questions that I always ask before leaving a sales meeting.
1. Which type of project are we able to help with?
You must first know what kind of project it is. Safety training, recruitment, marketing, sales, and internal communications are just some of the many options.
2. What is the purpose of the project?
They want the video because of this. You can launch a new product, hire new employees, or introduce a new member to your management team.
3. What are you going to do with it?
What will the video do? Online, at a conference, or in a meeting.
4. Who are your target audiences?
This may be my favorite question. This will give you the information you need to make the video appealing to as many people as possible. (executives, teenagers, middle-class soccer moms, etc.
5. How do you envision the video being produced? (Interviews, narration, b-roll, photography, etc.)
It is always a good idea to encourage the prospect to think creatively during the first sales meeting. Even if they don’t know what the video will look like, encourage them to brainstorm ideas with you. You can show them excitement while you work through ideas together, and they will soon realize that you are the right person/company to do the job.
6. Do you have any videos that you would like to see?
Everybody may claim that they want to do something completely different. You may find that someone has seen a similar video to inspire your project. Find out the name of that video and what they liked about it. Ask them if they would like to include parts of that video into their own. Interview with the CEO, aerial shots of their plant, testimonials from customers, Glidecam footage at their sports complex, and so forth.
7. What time does the video have to be ready for distribution?
This is the deadline. This will allow you to plan your production accordingly. It usually takes at least 24 hours for the video to be complete before it can be shown to the client. Depending on the logistics of the case, it may be necessary to sign off the video at least one week in advance of showing it to your audience. So you don’t get caught off guard, make sure you have all the information you need.
8. This video will help you define success. What is it supposed to do for you?
Once you have a clear understanding of what the prospect considers a successful project, then you can develop a kick-butt video project. Their success might be as simple as a video that makes the trade show booth stand out at upcoming conventions. A marketing video on the website that converts 10% of visitors to their offer or to their mailing list might be a success for them. You’ll be a valued customer if you can help them achieve their project goals.
9. Is there a budget that you have set aside for this project?
Shame on you if you leave a sales meeting and don’t ask this crucial question. It is possible to avoid many headaches by knowing what your prospect has allocated for this project. At the same time, not everyone you would like to work with will give you their budget, most will. Asking the above questions will help you build trust with them. If the client is able to spend $5,000, it doesn’t make sense to send a proposal for $10,000. This information should be shared in as many sales meetings as possible to increase your success rate.
If it’s a sales/marketing video…
10. How valuable is a new customer to your business?
These questions and the next one are used to show prospects how to calculate ROI for video production services. Asking a prospect what a potential customer is worth to their company will help them envision winning new customers through this project. A new customer is far more valuable than the production cost for most business-to-business marketing efforts.
11. How many customers would it take to get this video purchased?
The conventional wisdom says that people need to be convinced of the potential income they will make from producing videos. It was a problem for me because I felt it was unethical to promise something that I didn’t know would be kept. My experience over the years has taught me that clients can be shown how quickly they will make their money back and that this gives them enough confidence to continue with the project regardless of how expensive it was. Knowing how valuable a prospect is, you can calculate the number of customers required to “break-even” on a video project. Once the investment in the video has been recouped, the ROI is endless.