Do you ever get the feeling that people fear certain phrases coming out of your mouth? I’m pretty certain this is how my team feel when I bound into the office and declare ‘I’ve got an idea!’.

If you follow us on social media, you’ve no doubt seen our weekly Sales Tips and #mondaymotivation videos featuring my alter-ego Mad Mandy! For those who haven’t, Mad Mandy’s Monday Morning Motivational Workouts feature me, Courtney and Simone in full gym gear and wigs devising and demonstrating exercise routines using various items of office equipment. The weekly Sales Tips are slightly more conventional business advice videos (no wigs involved!) giving subscribers guidance on feeling confident and increasing sales.

Why Videos?

From the humble beginnings of a selfie camera to professionally shot and edited, videos are a brilliant way to connect with your audience and clients. They give them a real insight into your personality and ethos and put a face and voice to what can easily become a webpage or social media channel with no human touch.

After doing Sales Tips regularly and watching our viewership grow, we wondered ‘what else can we do?’, this was when my team started to worry about what I might come up with! But, however much they moan, we like to think that our simple, and often silly, videos say something about us and our attitude, which people don’t often associate with the dog-eat-dog world of sales.

And it’s working!

Wherever we go now, people are commenting on Mad Mandy (Green Umbrella have even told us they all sit down to watch it together first thing on a Monday morning). Their comments on the latest exercise or funny moment are often unrelated to their desire for sales training, but that’s the power of brand awareness. Whatever size company you are, and whether you’re selling products or services, finding ways to reach your audience and stick in their minds should be an important part of your sales and marketing strategy.

This is because, to use an idea coined by Bryan Kramer, the sales industry is no longer Business-2-Business or Business-2-Consumer, it’s Human-2-Human. People buy from people. Sales is about building and maintaining relationships.

If you want to build more business relationships and make more sales, bear these five things in mind:

1. Care about their Business

People care about you if you care about them. Use a CRM system to schedule time for ‘keep in touch’ calls. These are calls with no objective other than to touch base, ask after the business and see how they are.

2. There are some things automation will never be better than us at!

You’re a person, not a robot, and being human and approachable is guaranteed to bring you more business than scripts and automated communication. Ensure you pick up the phone when it rings and call people back as soon as they enquire. In a world of pinging devices and ‘out of office’ replies, people will appreciate a phone call more than you realise.

3. Stick in their Minds

Enter Mad Mandy! Give them something to remember you by.

4. How can you Resolve their Problems?

Sales is all about problem resolution, never pitching. Let your prospect guide the conversation and ask them lots of lovely open questions to encourage them to elaborate on their issues and explore their plans.

5. Offer Added Value and Freebies

The great thing about webinars and tutorials is that people feel like they’re getting something for nothing, and who doesn’t like that!

So, if you’re not using videos as part of your sales and marketing strategy yet, I can’t encourage you enough. We’ve discovered that putting our weekly videos out on social media and email shots has enabled us to fulfil a lot of the needs I’ve just listed. They’ve also generated leads, won us business and increased our brand awareness.

And that’s how a wig and a leotard became one of our best sales strategies!