18 months ago I write a slightly brusque post about how to
get the best in a client (video) testimonial situation. My experience was that the
people asking for a short video of a customer were driven by the logistics of
the situation – rather then the outcome. They were bothered more about what
time we could get there, how quickly we could set up, who would be there to
chaperone us with the client, what the equipment would entail – those sorts of
thing. These things do not happen often, after all..
But what about the story?
The objectives of the session SHOULD be to create a
compelling piece of film that intimately explains why this customer uses your
services and products. The purpose of this is to support other sales pitches in
the future. The use of the word intimate is deliberate, as that will get you the credibility it needs and stop it looking
overtly scripted. We tend to forget that
part. I’d like to approach it as if we are making an award wining piece of
journalism – a story where a crisis was averted through innovative design – or
something like that.
Remember:
1.
Ask open, relevant questions
2.
Connect with the problem being solved
3.
Don’t “carpetbomb”. Only ask specific questions
relating to the agreed STORY
4. Get B roll - nice situational imagery that relates to the story, or the metaphor of the story. Here's a nice example.
This will make the footage easier and quicker to edit,
instead of buying everything in the store THEN deciding what to have for
dinner. Don’t write the story in front
of the customer.
Start with why. Then state what you want the story to be
about, and create questions that favour that story.
Simple.
No comments:
Post a Comment