A negotiation expert on how to close over Zoom

Note: the views expressed in this article are solely the subjective views of its author, based on their personal experiences, and are not necessarily representative of Roar!

Let’s start with the positive, a lot of your previously used closing strategies can work over video calls.

However, to make them work you must first understand the differences in how you communicate via the medium of the screen compared to the real life physical world.

Ultimately, it's a 2-dimensional conversation, rather than a 3-dimensional physical exchange and there are five basic areas that you should at the very least be considering, to set yourself up to close those important opportunities with your customers and clients. Negotiation expert Paul Weedon shares his top tips for closing over Zoom:

Firstly, look closely at your own environment on screen. 

Contemplate for a moment the physical environments that you used to choose out there in the real world. You may have chosen a relaxed setting, a coffee shop or casual lunch, on other occasions you may have opted for a more formal setting, the company boardroom being the most extreme. Why do you choose these different environments? Because they set a different tone for the type of conversation that you want to have.

Now use the video mirror and turn on your camera, is your current screen environment inducing a relaxed feeling of being in a coffee shop or something more professional like the company office meeting room? Either are fine ‘if’ they are appropriate, it's about having a suitable tone for the type of conversation that you want to have. Soften it by adding items that show your personality along with some plants, or make it feel more like the boardroom by going for simple lines and block colours. 

Please don’t make the mistake of dismissing it as unimportant, it’s as vital as where you choose to close out there in a physical scenario. 

What about your camera angle? 

Particularly if you're working on a laptop, you probably have the angle set up incorrectly with the camera below your eyeline, meaning that you're looking down on the person whom you are talking to. Again, switch your camera on and reflect on the angle from which you’ve been talking from so far. If you're looking down on someone you are in effect talking to them as if they are a child, you want to have an adult-to-adult conversation, this is how you get an even footing from which to build and do this on a video call you simply need to make sure that the camera angle is 100% level with your eyeline. 

My laptop lives on a pile of books, emotionally respectful conversations are very quickly achieved.

What about your pace and tone? 

On video calls you are almost certainly shouting, the reason being that you feel like the person you're talking to is far away. Physically, of course they are, they may well be in a different continent and different time zone, however the screen brings the other person right in front of you, on a video call you've emotionally stepped into their space, and they have stepped into yours. Furthermore, the microphone is approximately 30 centimetres in front of you, even if you whisper, they will hear you. 

Now I'm not suggesting that you should whisper throughout a video call, that would be peculiar for all, however when you want to land a key piece of information, when you want the person on the other side of the screen to really digest what you're saying, don't talk louder and faster, which is what your brain is telling you to do because of the perceived distance, slow down and talk a little quieter. 

In effect, you’re going against your intuition, however once you do this you will find that it gives you more space to think, allowing you to tactically consider your next move, and if you talk more quietly the person on the other side of the screen will intuitively ever so slightly lean in to pay more attention. 

You’ll also find that it requires from you a lot less energy.

Use the home advantage

I would always try, at the point of wanting to close, to speak to somebody on a video call when they're in their own home rather than in an office. Why? Because people feel a little more comfortable in their home environment. Nobody picked the decor or location of their office; everyone did though have at least a hand in the decor and location of their own home. If you're surrounded by your own personal possessions, you will naturally be a little softer, it is much more difficult to be a hard-nosed and ruthless businessperson when your life, and your family, is literally on the other side of the wall. 

If I’d have asked you two years ago where the perfect place would be to try and close with a customer or colleague, you would have almost certainly answered ‘in their own home.’ 

Here it is, a glorious opportunity to close on their perceived emotional home turf.

Finally, the power of silence. 

People are struggling with silence on video calls, they feel like they need to constantly fill the space. I guarantee that the best way to get the attention of an individual, or indeed a group, on a video call is to say nothing. If you pause, it will sharpen their senses and bring everyone straight back to you. 

In the context of closing, if you are comfortable pausing, the other person will inevitably want to fill the space and in doing so they will hand over more information for you to analyse and tactically consider.

Like everything in life, it’s about experimentation and practice, nobody learned to ride a bike on their first attempt. If you begin though to implement these suggestions it will empower you to close on your terms and it will gift you the confidence to effectively close on your future video calls.

Enjoy the process, embrace the change and good luck.

Paul Weedon is a video communications consultant and the go-to guy for the new hybrid workspace, how to close deals over zoom, how to ensure your career stays on track in the new ever evolving workplace.