LOOV Co., Ltd., which provides the video utilization platform “LOOV” (https://loov-video.com/lp) for sales and marketing, conducted an awareness survey of both corporate sales representatives and BtoB purchasers. . Valid responses were collected and analyzed from 1,016 company employees or business owners who are currently engaged in sales activities for corporations, and 755 company employees or business owners who have experience of being involved in their own company’s purchasing consideration process. and announced the results.
More than half of sales representatives send PDF materials to “introduce their company’s services (products).”
When asked about what they do to convey information about their services and products before and after business negotiations, they answered, “We send PDF documents (or have people view them on the web).” ” was the most popular answer at 58%.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, an increasing number of companies are implementing telework, making it difficult to make repeated visits or have phone conversations. Actions seem to be common. Many people have probably had the experience of downloading and viewing service materials from a service provider’s website, or of viewing service materials sent to them by email from a sales representative.
However, sales representatives are still sending PDF documents with concerns about whether they will be understood.
Salespeople who answered that they send PDF materials were asked, “When providing service information to prospective customers in PDF materials, the details of the service cannot be conveyed through materials alone, so I would like to supplement the information orally. When asked the question “Do you feel this way?”, 92% of salespeople answered that they felt they wanted to provide verbal support (48.9% of the time, 43.1% of the time). It became.
Although they are sending PDF materials, they seem to be aware that they cannot be understood unless supplemented verbally. However, it would be difficult to contact each prospective customer (or customer) and provide verbal support every time you send PDF materials.
The sales staff’s concerns are valid, and the information is not being conveyed to those considering purchasing.
Just as sales representatives feel that “PDF service materials” require verbal supplementation, many prospective buyers also said that they have “experienced finding service materials difficult to understand (82%).” is giving an answer. BtoB products generally have complex and difficult content. In addition, it is characterized by the large number of people involved in purchasing considerations.
People with different positions and roles conduct multifaceted discussions. However, the PDF materials used by sales representatives are generally general-purpose, and the same materials are used regardless of the role, position, or consideration status of the customer. It may be natural that appropriate “service information” cannot be conveyed in this way.
If the materials are difficult to understand, the product will be excluded from consideration for purchase.
When considering a purchase, it seems that if the service materials are difficult to understand, it will not only give a bad impression to the person considering the purchase. In response to the question, “How did difficult-to-understand materials affect your purchasing decisions?” 57% of respondents answered, “I excluded services with difficult-to-understand materials from consideration.” are. When combined with the number of respondents (22%) who answered that they had “cancelled the purchase consideration” because the materials were difficult to understand, this number rises to 79%.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, there has been a shift to telework, and the entire purchasing process is shifting online. From the sales staff’s perspective, the risk of losing an order without realizing it due to materials may be increasing.
Surprisingly, prospective buyers say they would like to see videos to supplement and explain the materials.
Percentage of people who answered “I would watch it” when asked, “If there was a video of a salesperson explaining service materials when considering a purchase, would you want to watch it?” 91% of respondents said they would like to watch it (55%) or somewhat want to watch it (35%).
When receiving explanations or supplements about service materials, if the video is provided, it is possible to watch it at your own timing and at your own pace. From the perspective of prospective buyers, it may be that they want to avoid being constantly contacted by sales representatives, such as by phone, email, or visits.
The tendency to want to watch explanations and supplements of service materials in videos seems to be more pronounced among the younger generation. In response to the above question, 96% of people in their 20s (25 to 29 years old) answered “I want to watch it,” 94% of those in their 30s (30 to 39 years old), and 94% of people in their 40s (40 to 49 years old) The results were 85% for those in their 50s (50 to 59 years old) and 74% for those in their 50s (50 to 59 years old).
Less than 30% of salespeople currently use video.
Many prospective buyers say they would like to see supplementary materials and explanations in videos, but the use of videos does not seem to be progressing. Only 29% of salespeople use video to convey information about their company’s services and products.
Creating videos requires a variety of know-how, and there may be an impression that the cost is high when outsourcing production. However, as mentioned above, if it is a video of a salesperson explaining service materials, it can be created using the recording function of Zoom or Google Meet. There are many salespeople who can easily get started.
Considering that in a few years, the digital native generation, currently in their 20s and 30s, will play an even more important role in purchasing considerations, it is advisable for sales staff to start using video as early as possible. Maybe.
The use of video in business situations has already become commonplace in Europe and the United States.
In Europe and the United States, which are often said to be several years ahead of Japan in the field of marketing, “video” seems to have become commonplace for both “salespeople” and “purchasers.”
In fact, 86% of companies are already using video for marketing and sales activities for their products and services (reference:
Wyzowl research report
). In addition, there is a significant need for video viewing on the purchasing side, with 72% of people responding that they would rather view service (or product) information in “videos” rather than “service materials” when considering purchasing. (Reference:
HubSpot research report
).
It seems that there is an increasing number of people who don’t want to read the materials on their own, rather than wanting the information to be supplemented with videos. I can imagine that this wave will come to Japan in the near future. Even in Japan, potential buyers are increasingly demanding video content, and service providers may also begin to utilize video accordingly.
Finally
This survey revealed that many salespeople use PDF sales materials, but the content of the materials is not properly communicated to prospective buyers. Furthermore, it has become clear that if service materials are difficult to understand, they are excluded from consideration. To avoid this, the sales and marketing staff of each company said that many prospective buyers would like to watch videos, so they should use videos to supplement/explain the information in the materials. It is considered necessary.
It seems that there are still only a few service providers using video, but given that it has already become commonplace in Europe and the United States, many domestic companies may start working on it within the next few years.
LOOV Co., Ltd. offers a tool called “LOOV” (
https://loov-video.com/lp
) that allows sales staff to easily create and use videos. Since it is possible to easily create and utilize videos whose content changes according to the attributes of the viewer (customer), it becomes possible to provide appropriate service information to appropriate parties. Furthermore, since viewing data and customer data can be acquired, sales productivity can be improved.
