Last time I posted I said I would tell you about a new way of selling. As you can tell from the title of this post, “educating” is the new hard close. Okay, obviously it is not a “hard close” I just wanted the Sales Robots to perk up.
Educating a potential client about “what can be” is certainly not new, but the process to get there is not only a lot simpler, but also way more effective today. I want to talk a little bit about Webinars. Webinars are also not new, most of us have probably been on at least a few if not many. It seems that about 99% of them are produced by governmental agencies who have really embraced the concept and flooded the world with mind-numbing Webinars, but the private sector is catching up.
Webinars can be very effective, but can just as easily stink. Just like a live seminar can put you to sleep, a poorly executed Webinar can have the same result. The difference is, in a live seminar, a bored attendee is less apt to leave, a bored Webinar attendee just slinks off without notice. With few differences the trick to a good Webinar is the same as a live seminar: engaging and relevant content, delivered enthusiastically to a targeted audience.
Now I am aware that many people suffer from stage fright; according to a Gallup poll the only thing scarier than speaking in public is snakes! I think death was third. I believe that this is a reason that many companies, especially small ones, avoid live presentations of any kind, but maybe if you read on you will reconsider Webinars.
I want to focus on Webinars as I truly feel like the surface has only been scratched of the power of this vehicle. First, the software has come a long way since this started. I personally use gotowebinar, but most packages seem to offer similar features. I will get into those in a bit, but lets talk about a few advantages of Webinars over live seminars. Obviously cost and logistics is a no-brainer. When you think about renting a room and providing refreshments etc, versus your attendees sitting at their own desks its an easy choice. When inviting people to a live seminar you are also limited by how far someone is willing to travel to hear about your topic. This may not be as much of an issue if you only do business locally… I’ll get to some more reasons later. But if your business is not geographically constrained, Webinars can reach a global audience as easily as a local one.
So what is the best format for a Webinar? In my opinion, the most effective solution is to have a host and an expert, or better yet, an expert panel. The host’s job is to professionally manage the program. Usually this will start out with a brief personal introduction, followed by some program instructions to the attendees like what options are available on their screen and how to use them, what the agenda will be, how questions will be addressed, a brief “setup” of the topic and an enthusiastic introduction of the speakers (experts) that will be featured.
Regardless of whether it is a live seminar or a Webinar, being a panelist or interviewee is considered to be the “expert” position. The difference in a Webinar is you don’t have the audience looking at you sitting there on the panel in front of them pre-judging you because you take too many sips of water. And don’t forget, you are sitting at your computer as well, right in your own office, wearing… well… whatever you want. When you take out the anxiety of being looked at for an hour, you will sound more comfortable, because you are.
So, let’s agree that the goal of either a live seminar or Webinar is to make you look like an expert, because given the choice and the means most people would prefer to deal with an expert for whatever it is they are in need of. So aside from some nervous tick or really odd outfit, where does someone who has established themselves as an expert throughout a presentation often loose all credibility? The Q & A. Let’s give Webinars a big leg up here. In a live seminar, when it comes time for the Q&A, you obviously have no idea what’s coming. We have all witnessed that jerk who wants to make himself look smarter than you; he stands up and scans the room clearing his throat…then asks you specifically if you can answer his obscure question that nobody else cares about. Of course we all know he already has the answer to this, but now its hanging out there threatening to make you look like a boob as all eyes land on you. Gotta hate it when that happens. But, not a problem in a Webinar with a host. The audience submits questions via a chat window where the host can see them as well as the panel but not the rest of the attendees. The host conveniently asks you, and you respond to, only those questions that reinforce your expertise. And who is aware that you avoided an awkward question from an idiot? Only the idiot who asked it. Webinars can be setup where questions are asked by the attendees live… but why would anyone do that. The key is “controlling the conversation”, and Webinars, if run properly, do that better than anything else.
Recently a client told me that they really did not want to have any sort of a sales pitch in their presentation, they felt it would diminish the presentation. Their plan was to follow up a few days later via email to ask for the business from their attendees. I disagree with this approach and here’s why. Attendees are expecting a pitch, every seminar or Webinar for business has one, that in itself is not a bad thing. What nobody wants is for your pitch to begin as soon as you open your mouth and continue until the end. Also, the person making the pitch for business, or “call to action”, cannot be an expert. In most people’s minds, experts and salespeople are two different people. If you have successfully established yourself as an expert, you will lose that perception the second you go into “sales mode”. Have someone else, like a host, make the pitch once at the end of the program to keep your hands clean. In a Webinar the host can put up a “special link” for an exclusive offer for attendees only. You would be surprised how many conversions can be created this way, riding the momentum of a good presentation. After a few days… well. How many times have you run into someone you don’t see often and say “let’s get together soon”. You may mean it when you say it, but then things happen and you never get around to it. So, I want to clarify my opening of this post regarding educating. Educating is the method, business conversion is the goal. Educating is a goal of schools and some non-profits. Any workshop for business must at the end of the day generate sales for the sponsor, or what is the point.
My next post will go into promoting your workshop, seminar or Webinar. Because without enough attendees, again, what is the point.
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