Inbound marketing will inevitably expand your company’s geographic reach—the internet is global, after all. It’s important to qualify leads from countries that represent a good fit based on:
- Industry clusters
- Competitive pricing
- Cultural fit
Expanding your customer base globally will likely change your traditional customer engagement model. As a 30-year-old company, the majority of our clients used to come from referral and word of mouth. There was a level of trust assumed from the start, which was further developed through face-to-face meetings. As the business grew and we moved to an inbound marketing strategy, more and more of our clients were spread across the country and the world. Sometimes our first face-to-face meeting is post-sale!
Email and phone calls are not enough to explore for fit and understand the complexity of customer challenges. We had to get better at video.
Other business leaders are embracing this change, too. One tech company CEO built video meeting rooms into his plans when he bought the building, recognizing that his sales process had changed. (Meet Chris Bihary in our Beer & Blog: Growing Tech Companies through Inbound Marketing.)
With tools like Skype and Zoom, video meetings are easy and affordable. Many tools even let you record your meetings, which is a useful way to capture successes or internal communications. Just be sure to avoid the dimly lit, poorly angled, never-the-right-volume scenarios that are too common with webcam videos. Staging plays a big role in eliminating distractions and ensuring that you come across as well as you do in person.
To create a great impression on video, here are some essential actions:
This infographic breaks down more top tips:
Want to delight customers? Download our 10 Tips for Customer Engagement.
