I try to make myself available to customers and prospects every day of the work week. And by available I don't just mean email, Twitter, or even over the phone. I mean available to have meaningful one-on-one discussions with another human being over video (we use Zoom).
I used to do demos and discussions over the phone or with screenshare software but would never have the camera on. Then one day I decided hey maybe it would improve communication if myself and the person I was talking to could actually see each other.
Now to be fair, most software companies don't even have a phone number - so our customers and prospects were already happy that they could call us and a real person would pick up.
But why not take it further? Why not create an even deeper connection? If we can't physically meet and talk what's the second best alternative? Video chat is the obvious answer.
When you do a video chat with someone there is much more information coming across on both ends. The facial cues, the work environment, if kids are running around, etc. Most of that information would be hard to gather if it was just a phone call. Both parties will also communicate in a more empathetic way since you have to look at each other.
Everyone talks about getting to know your customers and everything about their world - i.e. creating personas. What better way then simply talking with them over video chat as often as possible?
And from our customer/prospect's end, they get to talk with a real human being and feel like a VIP since they aren't on a giant webinar or talking to an outsourced customer support rep.
These interactions lead to building trust, goodwill, and patience since our customers get to see the real people behind the software they're using.
So next time you chat with a prospect/customer do a video call and see how it goes. You might be surprised how much you learn.