There is little reason not to make video a part of your online presence. With the availability of smartphones and inexpensive editing tools such as Canva and Adobe Express, even the luddites amongst us can enhance their social presence with some quick promotional videos, explainers, or even live video to reach out to our customers directly.

However, there are some obstacles and pitfalls the inexperience may not immediately realise.

A Failure to Understand the Platform

Think about how you use social media, whether it’s Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, etc. All of these sites use the same content-delivery method – content is stacked on top of each other encouraging the user to scroll. So conditioned are we to scrolling, that a lot of content gets lost in the noise. What we’re seeing doesn’t even register with us, until something catches our eye.

Different platforms present our content in different ways. Some sites, such as YouTube, allow the user to put a thumbnail image on the video. Other sites will use the first frame of a video as a makeshift thumbnail. More will simply autoplay the video once it’s in the user’s device viewport.

We need to understand how each platform will present our video and tailor it accordingly. Our thumbnails need to be intriguing and enticing, our first frame should pique curiosity, and the openings of our videos should be exciting and novel. Failure to tailor our videos in such a way leads to people scrolling past.

Not Getting to the Point Quickly Enough

In the film industry, there’s a rule of thumb that if a script reader gets to page ten of a script and doesn’t have an idea where the story is going, then the script gets tossed aside. In the TV industry, a writer has until around page five.

In the world of social media, you have about ten to fifteen seconds to grab someone’s interest, and even that is pushing it. Therefore, not only do you need an eye-catching enticement to stop scrolling and watch your video, but you also must ensure you’re delivering your message instantly, and that message needs to be something that will get people to stick around.

There is no point wasting a couple of seconds on your logo, or adding a title screen, or putting in anything that is likely to send an audience elsewhere. If you’re posting an explainer video, don’t waste valuable time explaining the problem, get right into how you’re going to solve it.

Ideally, your social videos should be as short as you can make them. Anything more than a minute in length is sketchy territory for maintaining people’s attention spans, and if you can get your message across considerably quicker, that’s a huge boon.

Not Having a Script

You don’t need to write a screenplay to make a good video for social media, but you do need to know what you want to say and have the confidence to say it clearly. Nobody wants to listen to somebody ‘um’ and ‘er’ through a video, nor are they interested in watching someone going off on wild tangents. If you look like you’re ‘winging it’ then the only reason people are going to watch your video is for comedy value, and that’s definitely not what your goal should be.

At the least, you should have a structure for the video planned out and rehearsed, so that you can deliver your message clearly and concisely. You should also ensure that you’ve researched your points, are using the correct terminology, and not making the type of errors the Culture Secretary makes on a regular basis.

Trying to Emulate Television Advertising

People aren’t on social media to watch television adverts, and most of the adverts shown on TV would fail on social media. For a start, most of the time, you’ll want your video to occupy as much of a user’s viewport as possible – and that means filming in portrait mode, as opposed to landscape/widescreen. Widescreen videos looks great on a 55” HD TV, or even a laptop/desktop monitor, but they look tiny on a phone screen.

For a phone user to watch your widescreen video, they need to click the maximise button then physically rotate their phone. Those are small, but still extra steps and steps a lot of people simply won’t be willing to take.

Forgetting to Subtitle Videos

When a video appears in your feed, it’s muted. People don’t like random noises blaring from their devices, so the platforms require the user to turn the sound up manually. Many people won’t do that, for obvious reasons. If someone’s in a public place and hasn’t got headphones, it’s embarrassing for them when their device suddenly starts blurting out noises. Consequently, you need to subtitle your video to make sure your message gets across.

It’s also worth noting that many people who use social media may be hearing impaired anyway, so subtitling your video is simply the decent thing to do and shows awareness of the current discussions around accessibility.

Lacking Confidence

Many people feel that they shouldn’t post video that is ‘imperfect’ – too raw, too shaky, too amateurish. What you need to remember is that expectations are lower on social media. People aren’t expecting to see MCU-style cinematography, or Leonardo Di Caprio levels of acting skill. Sometimes the imperfections can work in your favour, as they can lead to a perception of your video being more honest and relatable.

Don’t focus on what’s wrong with your video. Instead, ask yourself whether what you’ve got is interesting, enticing, whether it’s going to catch people’s eyes and get them to stick around. That’s far more important than having HBO production values.

Forgetting the Call to Action

You’ve done it! You’ve put up a video. It’s caught people’s attention. It’s being shared, liked, commented on – what’s next?

Don’t assume that people who watch your video all the way to the end will be encouraged to follow you, visit your website, email you, or anything else. You have to provide some instructions. If you want people to follow, ask them to follow you. If you want people to visit your website, tell them that. If you want people to buy your product, tell them where they can buy it. Give them something to do!

Otherwise, you’ll have put all that effort in and little will come of it.

Need Some Help?

If you’re looking to develop your social selling skills, we can offer a range of solutions to enhance your people’s abilities to sell via social media, master their virtual presence, and even lead remote social selling teams. Get in touch, and discover the RLA difference!

The post Social Selling: 7 Mistakes You Might Be Making With Video Content appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

Lack of Buy-In from the Board/Executives

Often, it is the people at the very top who need the training first. However, board members and executives tend to feel that they already know what they’re doing and don’t need training. They adopt a stance that there is nothing more for them to learn. This leads to a situation where the board inevitably fail to adopt the recommendations of the programme.

While you can still train those lower down, without the will at those of the top to make changes, the programme ends up failing to deliver results.

The Generic Approach

A great training programme reflects the market sector, the customer needs, the business culture and environment. A coach spends time getting to know the business before the training takes place to understand real-life challenges and use common language, relevant examples, and a range of practical activities.

Unfortunately, there are trainers out there that sell ‘off-the-shelf’ coaching solutions. They don’t take the time to know the business, so they will try and use the same programme for a B2B technology wholesaler that they would use for a retail pet supplies outlet.

If your leadership coach isn’t suggesting preparation and research, then you should look elsewhere.

An Outdated Approach

You wouldn’t send your child to a school that still taught them that mercury was a fantastic cure-all or that piling on the carbs is a great way to lose weight. There are many things that we once accepted as fact, but we now know are not true.

The same applies to leadership theory. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is still a staple of many leadership programmes, despite being written in the 1940s and widely disputed today. Worse is when coaches parrot a common but gross misunderstanding of concepts such as McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. They didn’t understand it to begin with, and now the incorrect interpretation is accepted as accurate.

A lot of content still used in leadership programmes was written decades ago, and much of it is no longer relevant. Leadership coaching is a science, and just as you’d be horrified to go to the doctor and find they wanted to drill a hole in your head, you should be very wary of any leadership coach using outdated textbooks and techniques.

A Militaristic Approach

“Break them down and build them back up!”

It’s called attack therapy and is a prevalent method for training recruits in the United States Army. During the 1980s, attack therapy became a popular method for leadership programmes, which it really should not. If you’re going to war, then sure, you will need to confront pressure and phobias, but despite much macho posturing, business isn’t warfare unless your business is organised crime.

The biggest problem with attack therapy is how proponents disregard the individual’s stresses, fears, and mental makeup. I have seen people in tears after a session with a wannabe drill sergeant who evidently never watched past the halfway point of Full Metal Jacket.

Yes, people want to be, and should be, challenged. Overcoming challenges is vital for personal growth, and experience can make us stronger. However, not everybody is up for a Bear Grylls-style survival weekend in the Peak District. You need to respect your people’s boundaries and tailor your programme in a way that ensures those boundaries are not violated.

A Poor Spread

Believe it or not, food is important. Food gives us energy, and that energy is what ensures our people are engaged and motivated. Hungry delegates are rarely receptive or engaged in the content. Snickers are not what I would suggest, but they are right – you’re not yourself when you’re hungry.

If you’ve hired a great leadership coach, then you should support them. Part of that support is ensuring that your delegates have good, healthy food available at lunchtime. Make sure you’ve accounted for dietary requirements, and try and avoid bloaty foods like sausage rolls and Scotch eggs.

If your budget can stretch to it, consider bringing in a catering company to provide something a little bit exciting. The more comfortable your people, the better your results.

Lack of Pre and Post-Work

A great leadership coach should be sending through pre-work and follow up-work. If they don’t, then the training exists in a bubble. It just becomes a day you’re expected to “get through” before you return to your regular job. The training needs to be embedded, and the best way to accomplish this is to make the delegate’s think about it before and after.

Pre-work aids the training by giving the coach an idea of where the people are. What are their skills, what needs improving, what challenges are they facing, etc.? Post-work demonstrates to what extent they’ve understood the training and how they will be implementing it.

Both provide a key set of metrics that a coach can use to assess the impact of the training. Great coaches don’t just deliver a day’s training and leave you to it. They continue to provide an after-care service to ensure that your people maximise their potential and your investment.

Additionally, delegates must be informed about the training, structure, expectations, etc., before it occurs. Don’t just send them to the venue on the day and expect results. Encourage them, excite them, and work with them to ensure they’re ready to start learning new things.

Too Much Theory

Think back to school. Who were your favourite teachers? I would wager that the majority of your favourite teachers were the ones who engaged the class. Very few people respond well to a pure theory approach. PowerPoint is a crutch for some coaches. They overuse it. A coach that stands and talks for hours isn’t going to engage people. Eventually, your mind will wander because you are bored, and once that happens, very little will stick.

The most effective training is only about 30% theory. The rest is practical application – roleplays, scenarios, relevant games, and similar. When you’re looking to bring a leadership coach in, you should ask them what they do to keep your people engaged. It’s not your people’s fault if the coach can’t keep their attention.

With that in mind, some organisations think that their people shouldn’t be having fun when training. There is an incorrect assumption that if your people laugh during training, they must be mucking about. That isn’t true. When we’re having fun, things stick. A real-life example is how most of us will remember more lines of dialogue from a comedy show than we’ll remember from a gritty drama. We remember them more effectively because they brought us joy, and our brains are hard-wired to seek joy out.

Therefore, your coach should be making your people laugh. The training itself should be fun and interactive. The more fun a person has during a training session, the greater the likelihood the training will stick long-term.

Are you interested in Leadership Training? We have the skills, knowledge, and experience to deliver a world-class training experience to your business that will deliver tangible results and a fantastic return on investment. Just drop us a note here, and we’ll get back to you soon.

The post 7 Reasons Why Leadership Training Can Fail appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

With more businesses opting to furlough some of their people, there is a risk that companies will be stuck in catch-up mode for months to come. Therefore, leaders must recognise that although their people might not be able to work right now, they must still be challenged and engaged to ensure that when they resume work, the business does not fall behind.

Keep in Touch

Understandably, many people feel isolated right now. Leaders should take the time to enquire how their furloughed people are doing. By reaching out, you can get a sense of how your people are coping and whether they might need any further help to get back into the swing of things. Leaders should expect that some people may be feeling depressed, stressed or anxious at this time, and people having difficulties must be allowed to speak up, so that appropriate resources are made available to them.

Furthermore, simply letting your people know that you’re thinking of them demonstrates the type of compassion and empathy that engenders trust and encourages people to motivate themselves to remain at their best.

Open Up Social Opportunities for Furloughed People

Making use of technology, leaders can create social areas online for their people to remain in touch. While furloughed staff are not permitted to engage in work, that doesn’t mean that we cannot make use of online groups or meeting places to allow the group to support and engage each other. By giving your people online meeting places, you might find that the support of the group keeps people positive, motivated, and ready to get back to work.

Invest in Training

Furloughed people can still partake in training, and if the budget permits it, now is an excellent time to consider whether there are any skills or company needs that could be addressed. By giving people the chance to enhance their skillsets, or learn new ones, you also give people a way to feel like they’re doing something positive – and sometimes, just feeling like you’re productive is a massive step towards being productive.

At Robin Lines Associates, we’ve run several different online programmes over the past couple of months and favour a short-session, highly interactive approach that gets people thinking and participating as well as learning.

Find the Internal Motivators

You know your people, and you know that within your workforce, some have an uncanny knack of keeping people’s spirits up. Some of these may already be on your leadership teams, but others could be those who bring something unique to the day-to-day. Perhaps they add a sense of levity when things are going rough, or maybe they just have those special qualities that engender respect from others.

Whatever their skills and whoever they are, consider asking them to take a role in motivating and supporting those who need it most. Having people ‘on the ground’ who can keep people in a positive mindset can often be more effective than leaving it to those in upper-management.

Structure Your Communications

Where your business has only furloughed some people, you must structure your communications to take this into account. People on furlough may be disheartened or demotivated if receiving emails about ongoing projects they cannot be involved in. Those working on those projects with the added stress of possibly having to do the jobs of several people may be understandably annoyed if receiving communications intended for furloughed people.

Try not to segregate, and ensure that everybody is kept in the loop regarding any and all developments. Instead, tailor your messaging to take into account the feelings of the furloughed and non-furloughed people.

Give Your People a Vision

Additionally, make sure that people know in advance what your plans are. Give your people a vision for what you’re going to achieve when the lockdown ends and people return to work. One of the simplest ways to encourage people to work on staying motivated is by ensuring they have a destination when they return.

If you want to hit the ground running when you come back, make sure that your people are at the starting blocks from the outset. Any vision you communicate must be realistic. Don’t burden people with the added concerns of fanciful ambitions; instead, think of how you can excite and spark their creativity with your proposals. Make them want to come back to work as soon as possible to be a part of your future success.

Our People Engagement Bitesize Session

The post The Importance of Keeping Furloughed People Engaged appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.

Salespeople often want to push the ‘big ticket’ items. They will have a well-crafted pitch and all of the answers to the questions they think the client will ask. Problems arise when it’s the client who goes ‘off-script’ – an unforeseen objection, an unanticipated question, not needing what the salesperson is selling.

Your salespeople need to be able to connect with your clients on a personal level. They need to listen to what your client is telling them and only then direct them towards a solution. Sometimes it might not be the highest value sale they can make, but selling the right product or service reaps greater rewards in the long-term.
 

They Don’t Know What They’re Selling

Of course, to sell the right solution, a salesperson needs an in-depth knowledge of what they’re selling. They need to be able to make recommendations, pitch the benefits and answer questions. If your salespeople don’t know what they are selling, how can you expect them to inform the client?

Always remember, a customer primarily asks themselves ‘How will this benefit me?’. You need to ensure that your salespeople can answer that question before it has been asked.
 

They’re Not Asking the Right Questions

Great salespeople have a knack for finding a customer’s pain points and discovering their needs. After all, if you want to sell the right product you need to be able to work out what that product is. The more diverse your offer, the greater the challenge for a salesperson to narrow down the options.

Sometimes a customer may have already sold themselves on one product, but it is, in fact, another that would be more appropriate. Train your salespeople to ask your clients what challenges they want to overcome and dig deep into specifics to make sure you are selling the right product to the right client.
 

Your Salespeople Are Unlikeable

Sales is a people-oriented business. If your salespeople cannot connect with people, then you need to figure out why? It could be that they’re perceived as loud or abrasive by employing high-pressure sales tactics. Perhaps they come across as somebody who is only after the commission, or there is something else off about their presentation. Whatever it is, you need to address it quickly.

Remind your salespeople that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to sales. Each client is an individual and needs to be treated as such. Consequently, people skills are a vital part of sales.
 

Your Salespeople Are Not Prospecting

Prospecting is vital if you want to keep your business ticking over. Too many organisations allow their salespeople to sit around and wait for leads when business is slow. Instead, they should be training their salespeople to generate their own leads. Get them on the phones, firing off some emails or arranging meetings with clients.

Slow days are the perfect time to keep a relationship active, keep clients informed and even to follow-up recent sales to make sure the customer is happy. All of these activities can help keep your pipeline flowing.

You can read more on Prospecting here.
 

Your Salespeople Cannot Sell Themselves on Your Offer

A salesperson needs to be enthusiastic about what they’re selling. If they cannot sell themselves on a product, how can they expect to sell it to somebody else? At worst, an unenthusiastic salesperson comes across as demotivated, which may reflect on your business poorly.

You should encourage salespeople to research your offer, ask questions about your offer and engage in roleplays where they sit in the buyer’s chair and have the product sold to them. Help them to understand what problems this offer solves, and they should then be able to pitch it enthusiastically to clients.

The post Six Mistakes Your Salespeople are Making appeared first on Robin Lines Associates.