How to record training videos for the system you configured for a client.
The vendor’s academy teaches the default product. Your client’s team works in the version you built: their pipeline, their required fields, their automations. Training that sticks is recorded in that configuration, split by role, and kept current as the setup changes. Here is the structure, a script, a worked HubSpot example, and what to hand over with the files.
7-day trial · $49 once · no subscription · Apple Silicon · macOS 14+The short answer
Custom training videos show the client’s own configuration, one task per video, 3–5 minutes each, grouped by role: user, manager, admin. Record them with test records so no real customer data is on screen, and deliver MP4 files with a written index. On a Mac, Shift-Command-5 records them for free. Configured systems keep changing, so plan for updates: Qreata ($49 once) records locally with no account and keeps each project editable, which turns a changed screen into a 20-second re-record.
The recording workflow
Map roles to tasks
List who uses the system and what each role does in a normal week. A sales rep, a team lead and an admin need three different sets. Five to eight tasks in total is typical for one configured process.
Build test records
Create a company, two contacts and three deals with obviously fake names, prefixed TEST. Save a view that shows only those records and record from that view, so no real customer appears.
Script the reason, then the clicks
For each task write one sentence on why the process works this way and one sentence per click. The reason is what the vendor’s documentation cannot supply and what stops people working around your setup.
Record one task per video
Log in as a user with that role, start from the screen they start from, and finish on the saved result. Pause two seconds between screens so each one can be replaced separately later.
Test each video with the role it is for
Ask one person in that role to follow the video using a test record. Where they stop or ask a question, the video has a gap.
Deliver the library with an index
MP4 files in a folder the client owns, numbered by role, with a document listing each video, its length, and its recording date.
Log what each video shows
Keep a private list: video, screens shown, time ranges. When the client asks for a change to a stage or a field, the list tells you which videos to patch.
What to record: client training videos by role
Split by role before you split by feature. A rep who has to sit through dashboard filters stops watching, and a manager does not need to see how a call is logged. The counts and lengths are our editorial guidance for one configured process, such as a sales pipeline or a support queue.
Record the admin set even if you stay on as the client’s consultant. It is the set that protects your work when their operations person changes.
| Role | What the videos cover | How many | Length each |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily user | Create a record, move it through the process, log activity, close it | 3–5 | 3–4 minutes |
| Manager | Read the dashboard, filter the board, reassign work, approve | 2–3 | 3–5 minutes |
| Admin | Add or remove a user, change a stage or a field, see why an automation fired | 2–3 | 4–5 minutes |
| Everyone | A two-minute overview: what the system is for and where each role starts | 1 | 2 minutes |
A script template for a task video in a configured system
Fill in the brackets for each task. The second line is the one consultants skip and the one clients value: it explains a decision you made with them during the project, in their words.
Filled in for a pipeline: “When a deal moves to Proposal sent, the system asks for the amount and the close date. That is because the forecast on the team dashboard is built from those two fields; without them the deal is invisible to your team lead.”
- Task and role (5–10 seconds): “This video is for [role]. It shows how to [task] in [system], the way it is set up for [client].”
- Why it works this way (10–15 seconds): “[Step or required field] exists because [reason agreed in the project].”
- Starting point (5 seconds): “Start from [screen or saved view].”
- Steps (2–3 minutes): “Click [exact control]. In [field], enter [what]. [System] now [result].” One sentence per click.
- What the automation does (10–20 seconds): “When you save, [automation] [creates a task, sends an email, notifies the lead]. You do not need to do that by hand.”
- If it goes wrong (10 seconds): “If you see [message], it means [cause]. [What to do].”
- Result (10 seconds): “The record now shows [state]. That is the end of this task.”
Worked example: a HubSpot pipeline for a 5-person sales team
The client is a five-person sales team: four reps and a team lead who is also the account admin. You configured one deal pipeline with six stages (New, Qualified, Demo booked, Proposal sent, Negotiation, Closed), made Amount and Close date required when a deal reaches Proposal sent, made a lost reason required when a deal is closed as lost, and built one team dashboard.
The library is eight videos and about 26 minutes. Every video is recorded from a saved view filtered to three deals named TEST – Acme Fixtures, TEST – Northwind Dental and TEST – Blue Harbor, owned by a test user, so the board never shows a live deal.
Video 02 carries the reasoning that keeps the pipeline clean: it shows the required fields appearing when the deal is dragged to Proposal sent and says why they are required. Video 07 is the one for the admin, and it ends with an instruction: after changing a stage or a required field, tell you, because videos 02 and 04 show those screens.
| Video | Role | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 00 What the pipeline is for and where to start | Everyone | 2:00 |
| 01 Create a deal from a contact | Rep | 3:00 |
| 02 Move a deal and fill in the required fields | Rep | 3:30 |
| 03 Log a call and set the next task | Rep | 3:00 |
| 04 Close a deal as lost with a reason | Rep | 2:30 |
| 05 Read the weekly pipeline dashboard | Team lead | 4:00 |
| 06 Reassign deals when a rep is away or leaves | Team lead | 3:30 |
| 07 Add a user, change a stage or a required field | Admin | 4:30 |
Keep client data off the screen
A CRM screen is a list of real people: names, emails, deal amounts. A training video is copied, forwarded and kept for years, and you do not control who opens it. The safest recording is one where the data was never on screen. QuickTime Player cannot hide it afterwards, and Qreata blurs only what you mark: no tool here detects a customer name for you.
If something private does get into a take, there are three repairs. Cut the seconds out if the video still makes sense without them, re-record that range with the record closed, or in Qreata cover it with the Blur tool: a rectangle with a time range, as Blur or Solid fill, which stays fixed in place and does not follow a scrolling list.
- Use a sandbox or test account if the client’s plan includes one. If not, create TEST records in the live system and delete them afterwards.
- Record from a saved view or filter that shows only the test records. The default list view will show real ones.
- Record the browser window, not the whole display, so mail, chat and other tabs stay out of frame. If you have to record the display in Qreata, list mail and chat under Never show these apps in Settings → Recording privacy.
- Turn on Do Not Disturb and close the notification panel of the system itself if it shows names.
- Avoid global search on camera: suggestions show real records as you type.
- Watch the finished video once only for data: pause on every list, sidebar and dropdown.
What to deliver alongside the training videos
The client is paying for a team that can work in the system after you leave, and the video files are one part of that. Hand over these five things at the end of the project.
The written steps matter more than they seem. A video is how someone learns a task the first time; a written list is what they check on the tenth. The narration you already recorded is most of that text.
| Item | What it contains | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Video files (MP4) | One file per task, numbered and grouped by role | A folder in the client’s own drive or intranet |
| Index | Video name, role, length, recording date, one-line description | A document in the same folder |
| Written steps | The clicks for each task as a short numbered list | Under each video in the index, or the client’s wiki |
| Access | Named user accounts with the right role for each person | Invitations from the system; no passwords in documents |
| Change log | Which screens each video shows, for future updates | With you; share it with the client’s admin if they will maintain the videos |
Recording on a Mac: the free route and where Qreata fits
Press Shift-Command-5, choose Record Selected Portion (or Record Selected Window on macOS 26 Tahoe and later), pick your microphone under Options, and record. The file saves to the desktop as a .mov, and QuickTime Player trims the ends or splits a mistake out. That is a complete, free way to make the first library.
It runs out when the configuration changes, and a configured system always changes. Two months after go-live the team lead adds a third required field, Budget confirmed, at Proposal sent. Video 02 now shows the wrong dialog from 0:50 to 1:15. With a flat QuickTime file you record a new clip at the same window size, split the old movie twice, and add the clip by hand. With Qreata you open the project, which stays editable after export, pick Replace Take (the Rerecord tool in the editor), Shift-drag across 0:50–1:15, and record the new dialog. Screen, camera, microphone and system audio are replaced for those 25 seconds and the other 3:05 is untouched. The range has to sit inside one segment and can’t cross a cut; a retake shorter than the range is rejected and a longer one is trimmed.
Qreata records, edits and transcribes on your Mac. There is no account, and the app makes no uploads unless you press an upload button; its only other network requests are license activation and update checks. For a consultant with a client’s CRM on screen, that is a simpler thing to explain to the client than a recorder that uploads while you record.
The rest that matters here: Blur · select elements blurs up to 8 interface elements, a sidebar of contact names for example, and follows them as you scroll. Microphone and system audio are separate tracks with their own Mute and 0–200% Volume, so the system’s notification sounds can be muted after the take. Captions in video burns word-highlighted captions into the MP4 for people who watch at their desk without sound. The transcript is produced locally and its text can be copied, which gives you the draft of the written steps. Export is a plain MP4 (H.264) the client keeps with no subscription and no hosted link that can lapse; Google Drive upload is one button, and Qreata Cloud is a separate paid option for a hosted link.
Limits: no automatic detection of sensitive data, no chapters, no SRT export, no viewer analytics, so you will not see who watched which video. Qreata edits only its own recordings, runs on Apple Silicon Macs with macOS 14 or later, and has an English interface. If part of the client’s team needs to record on Windows, they need another tool; the MP4s play anywhere.
It costs $49 once for three Macs, with all future updates, and Team is $149 once for up to 50 Macs. For a practice that bills by the project, that is a tool cost paid one time and not a per-seat fee that runs through the months between engagements. Trial test, ten minutes: record one three-minute task video in a client-style setup, export it, change one field in the system, and replace that range.
Common mistakes in client training videos
These are the ones that make a library unused within a quarter.
- Teaching the product and not the configuration. The vendor already has those videos; yours should show what is different here.
- One long recording of the go-live training call. It has questions, tangents and real data in it. Record clean task videos separately.
- Clicks without reasons. People skip a required field’s purpose, then ask the admin to make it optional.
- Recording from your super-admin account. Users see buttons in the video that they do not have.
- Real records on screen. Even one visible customer name limits where the client can store and share the video.
- No dates and no change log. After three change requests nobody knows which videos are still accurate.
- Hosting the library where only you pay. When the engagement ends, the client’s training should not end with it.
Before you share
- Every video names its role and shows one task from the starting screen to the saved result.
- Each task video includes one sentence on why the process is set up this way.
- Only TEST records appear, and you watched each video once looking only for real data.
- A person in the role followed the video on a test record without asking a question.
- The MP4s, the index and the written steps are in a folder the client owns.
- Your change log lists which screens each video shows, with time ranges.
Questions about this workflow
How long should a client training video be?
3–5 minutes per task. That is long enough for one task with its reason and short enough to re-record when the screen changes. A two-minute overview for everyone plus six to eight task videos covers one configured process; these figures are our editorial guidance.
Should I record the live training session instead?
No, not as the training library. A recorded call is long, includes real records and side questions, and cannot be patched when one screen changes. Keep the call recording as a reference if the client wants it, and record separate task videos with test data.
How do I record a CRM without showing customer data?
Use test records and a saved view that shows only them, or a sandbox if the client has one. Record the browser window only and avoid global search on camera. QuickTime Player cannot blur afterwards; in Qreata, Blur · select elements blurs elements you pick before the take, and the Blur tool in the editor covers a fixed rectangle.
Video or a step-by-step written guide?
Both, for different moments. Video is better the first time, because it shows the reason and what a correct result looks like. A written list is better for checking a step later. Record the video, then turn the narration into numbered steps under it.
What happens to the videos when the client changes the setup?
The affected videos need the changed screen re-recorded. If you kept a change log, you know which ones. In Qreata the project stays editable after export, so you replace only that time range and export the file again.
Does each person on my team need a paid seat?
No. Qreata Personal is $49 once and covers three Macs; Team is $149 once for up to 50 Macs. Neither is a subscription, and the client needs nothing to watch an MP4.