How Video Helps HubSpot Drive Global Sales Performance

HubSpot sales rep Adam Rataj was the first person in the organization to discover the power of video for sales back in 2017.

At the time, he was charged with reaching out to users who’d signed up for HubSpot’s free product to educate them about how to use it with the goal of getting them to engage with the product and—ideally—upgrade.

He spent a lot of his time reaching out to new users with long, text-heavy emails and trying to schedule a meeting to educate them on how to get up and running with the product. The process was tedious, time consuming, and repetitive as most new users would ask the same questions about getting started. Adam needed a more efficient way to help free users get the resources they needed so he could start having more meaningful conversations with potential customers.

After being prospected by a Vidyard sales rep, he decided to give Vidyard’s video platform a try. Instead of jumping on a call with a customer to ask a question or spinning up a virtual meeting to do a quick demo, Adam began recording short videos to illustrate a HubSpot platform feature or demonstrate a task.

He quickly built up a library of videos in Vidyard to handle frequently asked questions. Almost immediately, Adam began seeing results. He was using his time wisely. His customers were happier with his support and they loved that he was efficient with their time.

“The last thing you want to do is waste people’s time,” says Adam. “Using video, I was able to answer questions so much more efficiently. Using plugins to Gmail and HubSpot, I know when a customer has clicked on the video, when they open it, and how much they watched. The video is fully HubSpot branded—there’s a big orange sprocket in the background—and they can see it was from me and they can book time in my calendar. For all these reasons, I found I was working less, making more money, and my customers felt cared for. I have a 94% customer retention rate and a strong flow of referrals because customers are well trained and onboarded.”

Within six months, the Vidyard platform was widely adopted across HubSpot, and Adam was promoted to sales manager.

Now he uses Vidyard to efficiently onboard and train new team members. And, since 75% of his team is geographically remote, video has also become a useful internal communication tool, fueling collaboration and boosting productivity.

“I can’t even tell you how much time I’ve saved now that I’m not typing repetitive emails,” says Adam. “With new reps joining our team every month, I was probably spending five hours a week onboarding new hires. I’d have to sit down with the rep, give them a demo, and answer each of their questions. Now I send them to my Vidyard video library and they train themselves.”

Adam's Video Tips for Sales Reps

1. The shorter the better. Answer a customer’s questions directly!
2. Focus on the person’s needs versus their name. This allows you to keep the video personal, without it being personalized, so it can be used over and over again.
3. Keep your video conversational and natural. If you stammer, who cares? People love it when you’re your authentic self.
4. Shoot your videos as new questions come in and add them to your library. This will allow you to build up a war chest of video responses over time