How to Work the Zoom – Six Key Shifts to Turn Virtual Meetings into Connections and Massive Amounts of New Business
One of the biggest changes during the pandemic in 2020 was the move from face-to-face to virtual meetings. In fact, according to the Doodle “State of Meetings 2021” report, one-on-one virtual meetings grew by 1230% from January to December 2020, while virtual group meetings grew by 613% during that same time period. While we have started to shift back to the office, virtual meetings have grown from 48% of all meetings in 2020 to 77% of all meetings in 2022, and continue to grow by an additional 9.7% yearly. The bottom line is that virtual meetings are here to stay.
This presents a massive opportunity for anyone that is looking to network, connect and generate more business without ever having to leave your home office. So, if you are looking to grow your network, increase your sales and massively grow your business, you’re going to need to shift from “working the room” to “working the Zoom”! Here are six key shifts to do just that.
Key Shift #1 – Set the Stage for Success!
The first step to being successful in “working the Zoom” is to set the stage for success. Your office is your stage, and how you look, sound, and come across will determine how others will view you. This can make a major difference in the impression you make, as well as whether or not people see you as a professional that they want to connect and do business with. It’s no longer acceptable to have poor lighting, an unprofessional background, or poor sound quality. If you haven’t already, making some upgrades to your setup can make a huge difference in being successful online. Here are a couple of keys to excel in this area:
Invest in a high-quality 4K USB camera
Having a high-quality 4K USB camera will deliver a high-quality video image and make sure that you look your best. It also allows you to set up your camera at eye height, which is optimum and will make the best impression to those viewing you. While many built-in laptop cameras offer a pretty high-quality image, I recommend using a USB camera as it’s much easier to set up at eye level, which is important. If you are looking for a recommendation, I currently use the Logitech Brio 4K webcam, and it works great!
Make sure you have a well-lit room, and/or additional lighting
Lighting is key! There’s nothing worse than a dark room when it comes to making a good impression online. If you have great natural lighting in the room you are in, that may be all that you need. If not, investing is some quality lighting is a must. I recommend setting your room up so that you are facing any windows where natural lighting is coming in, and then having some ambient lighting above you, and also to the side of you. Additionally, having some key lights right in front of you makes a massive difference! You can get some cheap lights that work well on Amazon. If you want to invest a little bit more money, I currently use a set of Elgato Key Light Air lights on my desk, which you can find at www.elgato.com.
Invest in a high-quality microphone
A great microphone will make sure that everyone can hear you properly. There’s nothing worse than being on a call with someone and not being able to hear them. I actually use a noise cancelling headset, as that keeps noise to a minimum and also allows me to hear everyone without disturbing anyone in my home office. You can also use a condenser microphone like the Blue Yeti, which is probably the most popular one out there.
Make sure you have a great background
This is one of the biggest missed opportunities when it comes to setting the stage for success! Taking a little time to make sure you have a clean, professional background isn’t that hard and will definitely make a good impression. Ideally, you’ll have a clutter free book shelf or nice wall with some photos on it. You can even add some “props” that will help people connect with you. Pictures of your kids, awards, interesting photos or books are all great examples of conversation starters that people may pick up on.
While a lot of people use the virtual backgrounds that Zoom provides, I think this is a mistake. Unless you have a green screen behind you, those backgrounds will cause you to go in and out of the picture, and don’t really show you in your best light so to speak. If you don’t have a good background and you can’t easily change it, an inexpensive room divider set behind you will do the trick.
Key Shift #2 – Be a Virtual Billboard for Your Business
Now that you’ve set the stage for success, the next key shift is to be a virtual billboard for your business! Just like a billboard on the highway is a great advertising tool, so is a virtual meeting. Here are a couple of ways that you can be a virtual billboard for your business:
Dress for success
How you dress says everything about who you are as a professional. You should dress for a virtual meeting just as you would if you were meeting a client or prospect face-to-face. Think about the impression that you want to make, and dress accordingly. Keep in mind that most people are dressing down in virtual meetings, so this is a great opportunity to stand out! Pro tip – pay attention to the colors and patterns that you wear on camera. Solid colors tend to work well and make you look great, while large patterns and colors like white won’t look good on camera.
Build a branded background
You can build a branded background to market your business either by having an actual vinyl background behind you, or by building a virtual branded background using websites like www.canva.com. You can also add your business name, website or any other type of marketing information to your name field on virtual meeting platforms.
Key #3 – Leverage the Chat Box
One of the great advantages of being in a virtual meeting is the chat box. You can send a message to the participants, or you can direct message anyone in the meeting. This is a great way to reach out to connect with people during the meeting. Simply send them a direct message. You can comment on something you have in common, something you noticed in their background, or even compliment them on something they said during the meeting. You can also send a general message to everyone. For example, if anyone would like to connect, please reach out to me on Linked In at (insert a link to your profile). It’s a great way to connect with people while the meeting is going on.
Key #4 – Leverage Social Media
One of the great ways to connect with people during or after the meeting is to look them up on Linked In and connect with them. Simply find their Linked In page, hit connect, and drop them a quick note. For example, “Jim, it was great seeing you in the meeting earlier! I thought I would reach out to connect. I’m looking forward to getting to know you.” Then, once you are connected with them, you can set up a time for a quick one-on-one meeting to network.
Key #5 – Virtual Coffee Anyone?
One of my favorite ways to make more connections and generate more business is to use the virtual platform as another way to connect with people that you normally wouldn’t be able to connect with face-to-face. You can literally meet with people from all over the world without having to go anywhere, so it’s a great way to leverage technology to network and build your business.
One of the ways to do this is to send someone a Starbuck’s gift card with an invitation to connect over Zoom. You can also set up lunch meetings and have lunch delivered to their office, and have a lunch meeting over Zoom as well. Some of my clients leveraged both of those ideas during the pandemic and were able to grow their businesses and meet new connections that way.
Key #6 – Always Follow Up
When I was growing up my Dad was a great salesman. One of the things that he taught me was what he called his #1 rule sales, which is never make the call in the first place unless you plan on following up! Nowhere is that more true than in the virtual world. The reality is that virtual meetings are a great place to meet new people and make new connections. However, that is the first impression of many, and the only way that you will turn your new connections into business is to follow up and build relationships!
The bottom line is that there are all sorts of creative ways to leverage virtual meetings to connect with new people and grow your business! So, it’s time to embrace the technology, step up your online game, and learn how to “work the Zoom”!
