Your Video Call Setup is Losing You Money

Your video call setup may be costing you serious money, and it's a pretty simple fix.

I sat in on an onboarding presentation for a software that costs about $15,000 annually.

The software had already been bought and, arguably, it's worth the money.

However, the person doing the onboarding committed three cardinal sins:

- Terrible virtual background
- Awful microphone quality
- Brutal video quality

Immediate red flag.

You're going to charge me $15,000 a year and then have onboarding be done by someone whose setup looks like 2013 Skype?

Why don't you care about your clients enough to provide a professional onboarding experience? It would prevent them from wondering if they just tossed five figures of capital into the trash.

So, how do you fix this? Three easy steps!

1️⃣ Ditch your virtual background.

Please, I am begging you. Please. You're not fooling me into thinking you're right in front of the Golden Gate Bridge while you're taking this call. Also, they never work, and you always blend partially into the background.

Even if you work from home and the background isn't the nicest, it's fine. A half-decent real background beats the best virtual one every time.

2️⃣ Invest in a mic.

Yes, I know your AirPods sound great (they don't, and you're wrong, but that's a different argument). A legitimate microphone looks and sounds better and the professionalism breeds consumer confidence. This is doubly important for anyone in more conservative, professional industries.

If you have the money, Rode's new PodMic has USB functionality. Add a pop filter for aesthetics and sound quality, and you're good to go.

3️⃣ Upgrade your camera

You don't need to spend thousands. For a couple hundred dollars you can get a pretty good 4K webcam that'll do just fine. Anything but your Mac's FaceTime camera.

If you have a Mac and an iPhone, you can pair your phone as a continuity camera. High-quality video with no extra cost. It's what I do 🤷‍♂️

Also, make sure you're far enough back from the webcam to at least see your shoulders. Being right up on the camera feels like you're invading people's space, even when you're hundreds of miles away. Seems silly, but I promise it'll help.

And a bonus fourth tip because I feel strongly about it:

4️⃣ Get rid of your headset.

It doesn't make you look cool. I'm sorry. They're never good quality either, and they're riddled with issues. If you know of a headset that isn't, let me know, and I'll be happy to redact this. I'm just not convinced that such a headset exists.

If you're serious about improving the quality of your video calls, DM me. I'll block out some time - completely free - to help you improve it.

Thanks for reading,

Joe

PS: No hate on the guy in the featured photo. I’d be happy to help him solve his setup woes, too.