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The “no talent” competition
We’ve run into a situation recently where a client heard at a Jeffrey Gitomer speech (well known business speaker / sales consultant / author) that the most effective way to go after new customers is with video testimonials from past and existing customers. Gitomer recommended that all sales people have a Flip video camera and go around to their customers getting these testimonials which they then edit on iMovie, MovieMaker or such like.
This seemed harmless until a potential project was put on hold because, “We’re not really sure we want to go the professional route, based on what Gitomer was talking about.” Now other sales gurus besides Gitomer are advocating the do it yourself approach to videos and I’m seeing the potential to lose a few well paying talking head jobs because of this nonsense. Mind you Gitomer’s own customer testimonials shown in his speech we’re shot by a camera on a tripod and the audio was either boomed or from lav mics. Wouldn’t be surprised if a reflector had been used to fill in a few of the shadows.
In a previous post Terence Curren wrote: “If you can’t get down in cost to the level of the low talent guys, then you need to educate your customer base to appreciate the value of your quality added to the product.” Well now we’re seeing competition from the “no talent guys.”
Based on this my partner and I have come up with the idea of creating an actual comparison. The idea is to use a Flip camera just the way an amateur would. With the Flip we want to:
-Shoot somewhere with a really busy background.
-Shoot handheld.
-Be about six feet away so the audio will sound like it’s mic’d from six feet.
-Have direct sunlight on the subject.Then with our gear we shoot the exact same person properly — shallow DOF, scrim, reflectors, hairlight, good audio, etc.
Of course this little demo doesn’t even bring into account the importance of having interview experience or any concept of any editing.
So, does going this idea make any sense? Will being able to actually SHOW the differences mean anything to our delaying prospect? I have my doubts, but figured I’d throw it out to the group for consideration. And should be go through with this any other ideas on “helping” the Flip version to be representative?
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28 Replies
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Hi Nick,
That sounds like a great idea. It will demonstrate to your customer exactly what they are paying for. If they prefer a more “realistic” style then perhaps you could demonstrate a professionally shot handheld testimonial as well. You could also offer the client a package that includes a lower price for these amateur videos. If they prefer that to the professional videos then find a way to charge them for it in a way that doesn’t lower the overall value of your product.
A professional solution should mean more options for your client flip and iphone (with fancy zacuda rig) should be among them.
Good luck.Jake Williams
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Make sure you let a non-professional friend shoot with the flip. Or at least train yourself to throw your instincts out the window:
eyes in the middle of the screen with 2 feet of headroom
10 feet away zoomed all the way in, preferably digital zoom
bad white balance
silhouetted from a window
interviewer stepping over the answers
have lots of cell phones ringing
direct overhead lites for raccoon eyes
outside with lots of wind noise
cafeterias with lots of hard surfacesIf they were considering this, tell them about their credibility being marred. Or have them do it as an initial step in gathering material to generate questions for ‘real’ interviews.
Steve
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The other thing I would say to these clients is, I’d ask them;
“So, do you buy each of your salesmen a Cessna and send them to pilot training school….. or do you book them commercial airliner flights to their sales calls? Are you in the widget business, or the video business? What business are you in, and if it’s not your core competency, why are you committing resources to doing something “half-fast”?
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Nick,
I like your idea, but I’d suggest that you make something really funny like the B-Roll video that Mr. Suszko posted last week. Did you see that one? It would make a great icebreaker for your clientele, and a great YouTube video too.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los AngelesPOST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
A forum host of Creative COW’s Apple Final Cut Pro, Business & Marketing, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.
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Also…edit the FLIP with iMovie and use what titles they have…opposed to what you do with FCP.
But I agree…get an inexperienced person to handle the flip. But MAN, it would be good to have someone with NO interview skills ask questions. I bet these companies that use sales people to do this will find out pretty quick that interviewing is a skill in itself.
I have seen some pretty bad customer testimonials appear on TV though. And they looked like they were shot on Hi8.
Shane
GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
I do see this as being a great strategy for RX companies in the headache / dizziness meds business. Heck even make a TV commercial out of them.
Vince Becquiot
Kaptis Studios
San Francisco – Bay Area -
Nick –
I will have to disagree with everybody else that’s posted here – I think creating a “crappy video” comparison test runs the risk of making you look silly and unnecessarily negative.
I think the best thing you can do is nothing at all; just wait till your clients try doing this themselves. After they crash and burn they will come back to you with a greater appreciation of your skills.
Herb Sevush
Zebra Productions -
I always like sending clients the following:
A new hair salon opened up for business right across the street from the old established hair cutter’s place.
They put up a big bold sign which read:
“WE GIVE SEVEN DOLLAR HAIRCUTS!”Not to be outdone, the old Master Barber put up his own sign:
“WE FIX SEVEN DOLLAR HAIRCUTS” -
Greg, you’re in violation of my prior art on that “seven-dollar haircuts” anecdote; you can forward your fine to me via paypal.
🙂
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I have to agree with Herb. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had clients stop using us in an effort to save a buck. We don’t get mad and we don’t cut rates, but we offer to help them in their “transition” any way we can.
Virtually every one of them has eventually came back to us to either “fix” something a much cheaper production company or internal employee has done, or they’ve gotten so many negative comments about the horrible quality, they realize what they were getting from us was a pretty decent value proposition.
Granted, there are a couple of agencies that have strayed and never come back. But they were the ones that still told clients that video production cost $1000 a finished minute…a rate that was used when I first started in production in 1983! They’re also the ones that don’t notice the difference between a $100,000 Nike spot and a $500 car commercial shot on a 15 year old DV camera.
It’s scary to see the trends taking place in our industry with flip cameras, iPhones with video etc. But we still preach that clients are hiring us for our knowledge, our expertise, our efficiency on planning an executing shoots, and our abilities to tell stories and communicate. So if they want us to use an iPhone to shoot a video, well, we’ll try to talk them out of it, but if that’s what they want…heck…in the words of Carl Spackler from Caddyshack:
“We can do that…we don’t even need a reason!”
Chris Blair
Magnetic Image, Inc.
Evansville, IN
http://www.videomi.com
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