How Facebook Live can make you better at sales

1. Gain confidence

You haven't experienced fear or nerves until you're on a live stream with 200 people watching and another 2,000 more tuning in after the fact. You know if you screw up, your mistake is permanent. Nothing on the internet goes away.

After doing a live video and going back to a normal sales presentation, you realize it's no big deal if you slip up because three people will know about it at the most. This makes you more confident.

2. Audience appeal

The biggest challenge I have when shooting videos is not finding interesting subjects or 'attention getters.' I'm relatively good at bursting through the noise and getting viewers. The challenge is keeping them, which is why I always recommend having some sort of special offer or tip that you don't present until the end of the video. But you still have to make the insurance and financial services piece interesting to the viewer.

This is something that you can implement in your sales presentation that will be a game changer. Most of us sound vanilla and bland to the client when we talk about our product in a presentation and if we can implement a little bit of self awareness and actively try to keep the clients on the edge of their seats, we win.

3. Be yourself

This is the most important tip. Too many advisors sound just alike, thus producing average social media results. Mix it up. It is ok to be corny. It is ok to be yourself. It is ok to show clients you are human being just like they are.

I did a video of myself riding on a skateboard in a suit and tie. This has nothing to do with insurance, but it accomplishes two things. One, it makes the viewers remember me, and two, it makes them know I'm real. I cannot convey this enough. This is a huge strategy that I think a lot of advisors can implement into their sales presentations.

Now obviously you don't need to go into a sales presentation riding a skateboard, but add a little humor or personality into your pitch. Personally, I research my clients on Facebook before I meet with them and find out what they like. Then I try and fuse that with something that I like and bring it up during the presentation.

When it comes to marketing on live video or any social platform, the important thing to do is just start. One of the biggest regrets of my professional career is not being the Periscope or Facebook live advisor right when the platforms debuted. The only way to accomplish this is to start early.

I vowed to never make this mistake again, which is why I have created huge leverage on Snapchat. If you want to market to your clients in the 21st century, you have to get into their phone. As Gary Vaynerchuk says, "The phone is now the tv, and the tv is now the radio."

Think about that. 

Sign up for The Lead and get a new tip in your inbox every day! More tips:

• Snapchat: the new social frontier for insurance agents

• Your AUM increase using social media: a cool $8 million-plus

• 7 social media tips for insurance pros

You're invited to join us on Facebook.