On a first B2B sales visit, the opening five minutes usually go on introductions: what the company does, who its customers are, how it differs. Every salesperson tells it a little differently, and how well depends on the individual. A two-minute video makes those five minutes consistent, and leaves the salesperson time for what matters, which is listening. Playing the brand film from the website, though, often doesn't fit.
How a sales video differs from a brand film
- The audience. A brand film is for anyone. A sales video is for a buyer or manager in a meeting room, evaluating.
- Someone is talking alongside it. The salesperson explains as it plays, so the video needn't say everything and may not need narration.
- It gets interrupted. It must pause cleanly when a question comes, ideally on a frame that carries information.
- Playback conditions vary. The speakers may not be connected, the network may be down, the screen may be a small laptop.
Content: the buyer's unspoken questions
- Is this company reliable? Years in business, scale, locations, certifications, shown briefly in pictures and numbers.
- Can they solve my problem? Two or three applications close to the customer's industry.
- How does it actually work? The product or service in use. For software, see software and SaaS product demo videos; for manufacturing, see factory and manufacturer profile videos.
- How have others found it? Cases or testimonials; see customer testimonial videos. Customer names and logos need their permission.
Keep the whole to about two minutes. The meeting is about the conversation, not the video.
Modular: one set of material, a version per customer
Customers in different industries care about different things. Rather than one long film that covers everything, cut the video into independent sections:
- Company introduction (30 to 40 seconds, shared by every version).
- Product lines A, B, C (30 to 45 seconds each).
- Industry applications, such as automotive, medical, consumer electronics (30 seconds each).
- Cases (30 to 45 seconds each).
- Closing (contact details, shared).
The salesperson plays "introduction, product line B, automotive" for one visit and another combination for the next. The common combinations can also be exported as complete videos. With openings, closings and cards in one style, a new product or case later means adding one section.
Designed to work without sound
- Every point has a clear title card and doesn't rely on narration.
- Text large enough to read on a laptop from across the table.
- Numbers and charts held long enough for the salesperson to explain.
- If there is narration, a music-only version as well, so the salesperson can speak over it.
The approach is the same as for show floors; see looping videos for a trade show stand.
Files that will play in the customer's meeting room
- Offline files, stored on the laptop and phone, not dependent on streaming.
- A common format. MP4 (H.264) plays on most devices; see which delivery format to choose.
- Modest file size, easy to send by email or chat after the meeting; see compressing a video file that is too large.
- Embeddable in slides. Tell us if it goes into PowerPoint or Keynote.
- A link for follow-up, an online version to include in the email afterwards.
Material you can reuse
Sales videos seldom need a new shoot. Usable material includes the existing brand film and product videos, footage from shows and events, product images and 3D renders, and charts from the sales deck rebuilt as motion graphics. Missing application scenes can be illustrated with AI video production. Chipscat does post-production only and doesn't film; see the corporate video materials checklist.
What to tell us
How a real sales meeting runs and the deck used, the questions customers ask most, the product lines and target industries, the cases that can be made public, and brand guidelines. See the corporate video brief template; the overview is commercial video editing for businesses.
FAQ
Can the sales video also go on the website?
Yes, but use a version with narration or full subtitles there, since no salesperson is beside it.
We have many product lines. Does each need a section?
No. Start with the two or three that bring the most revenue or are pitched most often, and add the rest later.
Do overseas sales teams need their own language version?
If you sell abroad, plan it from the start; see multilingual versions of a corporate video.
