Chuck Bauer: Make That Positive First Impression Right Away
In the mid-Eighties, Chuck Bauer excelled as a sales professional with an international corporation. After observing the best of the best in sales, Chuck applied his skills and placed first in sales figures for 59 of the 60 months he worked there, earning clients from referrals and return customers. It wasn’t long before the U.S. corporate office learned of this exceptional salesman and requested his expertise in training other sales professionals at the local and national level. As his reputation grew, Chuck became a training and sales advisory expert for a large, international electronics company. Seeking another challenge, he became a featured speaker for the first 24-hour television network devoted to personal and professional development in Dallas, Texas.
From there, it was a natural segue to concentrating on personal development and sales presentations training in over two cities a week, coast to coast, where he gave sales seminars and keynote speeches. By the late Nineties, Chuck was dividing his time between his sales consulting company and his position as Vice President of Sales for a national merger and acquisition company, overseeing 80 salespeople nationally. Responding to increasing requests from clients and associates, Chuck left his position at the merger and acquisition company to devote all of his considerable energy, experience, and passion to his life’s purpose: increasing the sales figures for every one of his clients, be they individuals, small businesses, or large corporations.
A published author with Wiley Publishing, Chuck Bauer’s work has been featured in numerous business and sales-related magazines and websites. A licensed instrument-rated private pilot, certified open water scuba diver, disciplined body builder, and Bikram yoga practitioner, Chuck lives in Dallas, Texas. To date, Chuck has helped well over 50 C-Level executives, hundreds of business owners, and thousands of individual salespeople work smarter, make more money, in less time!
Covideo: Hi Chuck! Thank you so much for sitting down with us today. Are you able to tell us a little bit about yourself and your current position?
Chuck: Well, I own the company, and we have over 1200 clients and run about 40,000 minutes of WebX training a year. We are one of the biggest WebX users in the country. My claim to fame in all the coaching and consulting that we do is that I go on live sales calls every week. Through these sales calls, I observe all the great stuff but also all the bad stuff that salespeople do and are notorious for. On the business consulting side, I go on-site in different companies every week and see the issues that business owners and leaders have with their leadership skills and ownership skills as well. So, I see everything first hand, and I have a natural knack for efficiency, organization, and fixing problems so that they don’t ever come up again.
“It is a beautiful thing to be able to use a video to start off a great relationship between a salesperson and a potential client.”
Covideo: That is great! Can you elaborate a little on how you are utilizing Covideo in your consulting practice?
Chuck: Well, I’m going to answer that in two ways. So first on the sales side, I train based on making positive first impressions and that you never get a second chance to create a positive first impression. The Covideo platform allows us to make that positive first impression right away. So when a salesperson gets a lead —no matter how the lead comes in—they are to shoot back, whether by text or by email, a 30-to-45 second Covideo introduction video that will immediately give them an edge up on the competition. So, it is a beautiful thing to be able to use a video to start off a great relationship between a salesperson and a potential client.
In addition, we teach our salespeople various other tactical approaches on how to use Covideo outside of a first impression, so there’s a whole list of different things for which we use Covideo. On the business ownership side of the world, one of the biggest challenges that I run into is miscommunication of directives from leadership to staff members. Staff members misinterpret what was said to them during purely verbal directions about 80% of the time. So, the Covideo platform is a must use by my business clients. Giving directions by video allows the person receiving them to stop, play, replay or pause.
Covideo: Can you say more about that? Why should business owners use Covideo?
Just as importantly, with Covideo, a business owner or business leader can show visuals on the video to reinforce their message. Business owners or business leaders’ goal is to have 100% buy-in on their communications. Well, Covideo helps with this! Verbal directives can be forgettable and messy, so because they are doing it by video, it helps it stick. Over the weekend, I gave my staff 7 key directives on some things I need from them. You will never, never catch me giving verbal directives to them. You will always catch me giving them directives by video.
“Not only is it efficient, but we also get to see what the effectiveness is of people watching the videos.”
Covideo: We love to hear that! So, what do you like most about Covideo?
Chuck: Well with my large client base—over 1200 people—it is important for me to be able to maximize time which then maximizes my profits, so I teach repeatable videos. I can take a 30-second to 3-minute video. But, I can hit 1200 to 1300 people at a time with it through our communication channels. So we have multiple videos with 400 views to 8000 views, and we can use those as repeatable.
Not only is it efficient but we also get to see what the effect is of people watching the videos. Covideo is still unique, and yet some people are still sleeping on the utilization of video. They are still being bogged down by the ancient use of email. In today’s world, it is proven that people don’t like email. They aren’t opening things, aren’t reading things, and are disenchanted by it. With video, it gives us the upper hand by doing something different. People can see and hear us versus just reading.
Covideo: Can you tell us about a specific instance when you used Covideo that you felt was particularly successful?
Chuck: At my company, we teach all of our clients that to truly be distinctive they need to be doing things that other salespeople will not. So, I’m going to give up one of our little secrets and let’s use Tyson Foods as an example. When a salesperson that I’ve coached leaves an on-site appointment at Tyson Foods, they are to walk out in front of Tyson Foods corporate headquarters. Then, they fire up the Covideo app on their cell phone and put their face in the picture with Tyson Foods sign in the background. Finally, they cut a follow-up video right there for the person with whom they just had a meeting to thank them. That’s how they continue the relationship!
Before they’re even driving out of the parking lot, they’re pinging that person back with a video by email or text. This again shows the distinctiveness and true power of video with just a 20-to-30 second message. It’s important for us that we do Outlook and Google efficiency checklists. In our checklists, we are checking our client files for how many Covideos that they send every week. Also, how many mobile Covideos that they are sending. They are graded on efficiency by using Covideo.
“Even in today’s world of technological advancements, Covideo continues to stay up on technology, and we’re happy to refer all of our clients to Covideo.”
Covideo: What plans do you have for using Covideo in the future?
Chuck: Well, you know, we will never leave it. Even as long as I have been with Covideo, it is still such a unique item. For example, last week, I had a discovery meeting with a company out of Scottsdale, Arizona. My immediate follow-up right after the virtual meeting was that I sent them a Covideo. The decision maker emailed me back. He was telling me he was forwarding it up to the executive team. His goals was to show them what we are doing with our follow-up emails.
We are going to continue to maximize it and help people learn it. It’s very easy to learn. Also, we do have a program that teaches people how to use it for their business needs. We have full coaching sessions about teaching it. It just really stands out for our clients, so we are going to continue to use Covideo. Before I chose Covideo, I messed around with two other platforms that were nowhere near as good. Even in today’s world of technological advancements, Covideo continues to stay up on technology. We’re happy to refer all of our clients to Covideo.
“…choose Covideo; because take it from my word, there is not another platform out there that does everything that is required by a sales platform or business platform.”
Covideo: What would you recommend for other business professionals exploring video as a communication tool?
Chuck: Well, it is simple. First, choose Covideo, because take it from my word. There is not another platform out there that does everything that is required by a sales platform or business platform. Second, I would tell the other people out there, “Don’t overthink this”. I see people freaking out about recording themselves. Really, it’s not a big deal if you don’t want it to be. I encourage all my clients and employees, “Don’t delay; don’t think about it.”
The mere investment of what we pay per month for Covideo is paid 10x over if it is used. The videos don’t have to be perfect. Your hair doesn’t have to be perfect. Just brush your teeth, comb your hair, get on Covideo, and USE it. If you use it a hundred times, you are going to end up using it thousands of times. But, let’s say you invest in it and overthink how everything needs to be done. Most likely, you’re going to be at a disadvantage. Just be yourself, don’t delay, utilize it, and put it to work! It is a total package—one of the best!
A big thank you to Chuck Bauer for being an amazing champion for Covideo and kudos on all the great work you’re doing with businesses and salespeople through your consulting practice, Chuck Bauer Sales & Business Consulting!
To learn more about Chuck and Chuck Bauer Sales & Business Consulting visit: www.chuckbauer.com
Covideo provides video email software that helps businesses and individuals communicate more effectively, build relationships faster with easy-to-make personalized videos.
