No one wants to be stuck in a grind doing the same thing year after year and known for nothing more than consistency; especially a business. In business it is important to reinvent yourself; to remain viable in a changing marketplace. Those who are not able to keep up find themselves pushed to the wayside very easily; it’s important, therefore, to stay up on what is happening in your industry as well as in technology across the board. You certainly don’t want to be known as the company stuck in the dinosaur age when everyone else is employing the many advancements available to us including teleconferencing services.

This was never a philosophy that I was easily able to get my father to buy into. You see, I work in the family business and I have a far different perspective than my father - who has owned and operated the business since he was a young man - and his father before that. I want to branch out, to step into the modern age of technology but this has been a hard sell to a man who just doesn’t embrace change.You have no idea what I had to go through to get him to admit we needed computers in our offices, let alone a website. It has been a hard fought battle for me since I graduated from college but I believe strongly that it’s a battle worth fighting; that in helping my family’s business take these steps I am ensuring its viability and the future security of our family.

Now that I have finally gotten this company online and we have a website to go along with our online status I am ready to take another step forward by starting to use web conferencing and video conference - two things that I think will propel us forward in business. More in the next post…

Popularity: 3% [?]

There are, surprisingly, so many businesses out there that do not use all that is available to them in the world of teleconferencing services. They get online with their website and they let it go at that, when in reality there is so much available to them beyond that; so many resources that will allow them to operate more efficiently and serve their clients better. Teleconferencing services offer a wide variety of resources that companies will benefit enormously from using including:

Audio conferencing. With email the most accepted mode of communication these days many people have allowed telephone communication to go by the wayside, when in fact it is an enormously effective - and often more personal - means to communicating with groups who are separated by distance.

Web conferencing. Given the access that modern businesses have to the Internet, web conferencing is a great way to communicate beyond email. It gives participants the opportunity to “meet” online where they can interact and access the same documents in live time. This can be a significant resource for a company that is managing projects among groups that are far from each other. Online they can look at the documents connected to their project and make suggestions and changes on the spot.

Video conference. If you’re looking for the next best thing to meeting in person you won’t be disappointed in video conference. This technology also allows people to meet online but allows them to see as well as hear each other. Video conference offers participants the ability to gather in an online meeting space and conduct their business as if they were in the same physical location.

By taking advantage of the many teleconferencing services available to them, businesses throughout all industries can change the way they operate and reach out to a much larger audience.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Pitching new business is difficult under normal circumstance as there is always the pressure to deliver; but the thrill of competition and the ability to present what we have to offer to our prospective clients has always been just the adrenaline that I need. I am so passionate about what we do - about how good we are - that my presentation flows easily from my lips and I find that if I can gather people together long enough to listen to me then I have a good shot at closing the deal. Lately things have been more complicated however as we have expanded our reach to a global scale. Sure, this is a good thing - no, a great thing - but it obviously puts a certain strain on our resources especially when it comes to travel. While I would love to be able to pitch new business in person on every occasion it’s just not possible each and every time So I turn to video conference.

Video conference - as well as a host of other teleconferencing services including web conferencing and audio conferencing - has given us the ability to communicate effectively with clients and prospective clients around the world without sacrificing the quality we demand from these communications. Video conference has also been a big player in my pitch meetings when it is simply not possible - from a financial or a logistical point of view - to travel.

Through video conference I can gather attendees in a common space at a pre-determined time just as I would for a traditional meeting. I can then stand up and lead the pitch just as I would at any other time - complete with visual props, written documents, and more. Video conference has not slowed down my ability to close the deal; now I’m just doing it in a way that is more in line with modern business and the technology of the present and the future.

Popularity: 5% [?]

It is one thing to have a phone conference and another to meet in person; there can be no confusing the two. Meeting in person provides the opportunity to look people in the eye and establish a personal relationship in the span of that meeting time. You also have the opportunity to share physical materials with those in the meeting - whether they are reports, written information pertaining to a particular project, visual support documents, and more. When there is no ability to meet face to face, however, much of the impact of a meeting can be lost. Audio conferencing offers a solution that at least allows you to pull in a variety of attendees to a particular meeting but there is no opportunity to share documents in real time and often that personal touch is left by the wayside.

Other teleconferencing services, however, offer a variety of options for staying in contact with important people without losing the impact of a face to face meeting.

Web Conferencing - Through web conference attendees can speak in real time - with multiple attendees - as well as access and share documents through the web. This is enormously effective for those who are managing specific projects and want to share certain material with those who may not be close by.

Video Conference - When the next best thing to a live meeting is required video conference offers the solution. Through video conference attendees can see as well as hear each other - meeting in an online “space” where business can be conducted just as it would around a table in a traditional conference room.

By utilizing the modern technology of teleconferencing services businesses of all sizes can achieve the personal connection and impact they are after without having to physically be in the same space for a face to face meeting.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Putting together a presentation is enough of a challenge without logistical obstacles getting in the way. Yet when we faced the prospect of pitching our services to a prospective client who was across the country the logistics could not be ignored. We only had a certain amount of time to present to this client and flying across the country was simply out of the question. We entertained a phone conference but the thought of trying to convey what we do over a phone line seemed unappealing at best. Instead we opted for video conference knowing that this method would give us the best chance to impress the prospective client even with distance as an issue. The reason? Visual appeal.

Over the years we had crafted a very strong presentation to give to new business prospects and the presentation has been finely tuned to utilize our message along with graphics and other visual tools. We find the visuals very important in explaining our position and we did not want to sacrifice this component for a phone call that might not give us the edge in winning the business.

We had used web conferencing services before but had not had a video conference with a prospective client so this was going to be all new; but a great way to see if something like this could work in approaching prospective clients around the country. We set up the video conference and proceeded to put on our entire presentation just as we would if we were in a conference room with prospective clients.

In the end video conference worked well on our behalf as we were able to convey our message in spite of the physical distance between us. All in all video conference was an amazing use of technology for us and certainly technology that we will continue to use well into the future as we branch out in finding new business.

Popularity: 8% [?]

In the last post we touched on the position that most companies have found themselves in over the last year. We are all struggling against the economy, doing the best that we can to survive and thrive in an environment of unpredictability. It was all about standing out in a crowd and our industry is no exception. As a medium sized company we were in danger of getting lost in the shuffle - squeezed out by bigger companies. We had to do everything we could to compete. We were more than confident about what we had to offer; we knew that we were just as good as others in our industry if not better in most cases; however we needed to be able to service clients on a worldwide scale. We wanted to integrate teleconferencing services into our operations going forward - ways in which we could quickly and efficiently deliver our products and services to our clients and prospective clients.

Teleconferencing services, web conference, audio conferencing and video conference could put us on a level playing field with bigger companies and expand our customer base. The benefits that such services could offer us included:

The chance to communicate easily. With one office and a limited staff we had to be able to communicate with our clients and prospective clients in the easiest and most affordable way possible. Teleconferencing services offered us the ability to do this.

Reach a larger audience. We had been serving clients on a regional scale; now we could reach out to a global audience just as easily as we could have a relationship with a business down the street.

Effectively manage projects. Once we were on our way with a client there were projects that were ongoing and needed to be managed on a day to day basis. Teleconferencing services allowed us to do that.

Popularity: 8% [?]

No matter what type of business you are in, you have undoubtedly realized the challenge we all face at the present time. Businesses across all industries have been called upon to step up to the plate like they never have before - to take control of their operations with a steady grip and hang on for the ride. Things are unpredictable right now and will likely continue to be for some time to come. Those who want to do more than just stay afloat - who want to really continue to achieve success - need to be able to take control. For us there was no choice. We had a ton of competition in our market and the economy had not been kind to any of us. This is where the truly strong among us were going to be separated from the pack. We had to rally the troops and for us it was going to be a tough road because we were a smaller company up against a bunch of giants.

We weren’t going to let our size keep us down however. We were ready to fight the good fight and implementing a variety of teleconferencing services was our way of keeping up with the big boys. We knew without a doubt that we had everything that larger companies had and we could offer just as much - if not more - than most in our industry; but we needed to be able to compete on a level playing field. Web conferencing, audio conferencing and video conference could give us a leg up in reaching out to clients all over the world and could melt away the differences between us and companies that were much larger and had many more resources.

We knew that teleconferencing services were going to be an important component in our operations going forward. More to come…

Popularity: 10% [?]

In the last post I talked about how I had brought video conference to the table in answer to our marketing department’s desire to reach out more effectively to prospective clients. We had to balance our desire to get in front of new business with our budgetary needs and the time constraints of those to whom we wanted to talk. We historically were able to close deals with those we could talk to face to face. Our passion about we had to offer was easily translated through our presentations. Those who we were able to meet with face to face often became clients quickly afterward.

We had the ability to try video conference on for size with an upcoming presentation we wanted to give to a client on the East Coast. We were across the country from them and didn’t have the budget to travel for a business pitch. Further, they were not interested in investing the time in meeting with us in person; we were at a tenuous point in the relationship and we had to convince them that we were worth their time. We asked them to give us a few minutes via video conference and when they agreed we set it up quickly.

Through video conference we were able to give a presentation that was the next best thing to meeting with a prospective client traditionally. Video conference offered us a virtual conference space that was not hindered by physical distance. We were able to put on the presentation for which we were known - in a personal manner, talking face to face with our prospective clients. Plus, through video conference we could use visual tools to support our presentation. In the end, video conference gave us the resources we needed to not only make contact but close the deal.

Popularity: 16% [?]

When I brought video conference to the table to management I was confidently getting behind something that I absolutely believed would help us market ourselves more effectively. The long and short of it was that the marketing department in our company was looking for unique ways to reach out to potential business. Getting people on the phone, or to answer emails was proving increasingly difficult; they didn’t want to give us the time that we needed to promote our products and services. We knew from experience that if we were able to get in front of prospective clients we had a much better chance of conversion. We believed in what we had to offer and that came through in our presentation each and every time. But how could we communicate this passion to those we did not have the opportunity to meet face to face? Video conference was my answer.

We had the ability to test my theory pretty quickly. We had made contact with a company on the East Coast with which we very much wanted to do business. However, because we are on the West Coast we were not able to easily meet with them face to face. Even if we decided to invest the money in going there for a face to face meeting the company to which we were presenting did not want to invest the time in that meeting and in hosting us across the country. We needed a way to make personal contact with them but in an effective and fast manner. We set up a video conference in which we could “meet” with our prospective clients without asking them to invest a lot of time. We asked for fifteen minutes and we invited them to attend a video conference in which we could explain what we could offer them much more effectively than through a phone call.

Popularity: 18% [?]

The year ahead promises to be a great one for me and the company for which I work. We have all put our heads together and strategized some really unique and creative ways to get in front of the people with whom we want to do business and we’re all excited for the possibilities that lie ahead. We have made a commitment to embrace those things that we may not have been comfortable doing before and we’re really going to make an effort to reach out to the tools that could potentially make a big difference in our bottom line. Teleconferencing services across the board were included in those tools - from web conference to audio conferencing - even video conference.

Audio Conferencing - We had all had conference calls before but this year we’re looking to make audio conferencing a weekly part of our business lives by setting up standing “meetings” with clients. Even if we can’t meet in person we can take the five or ten minutes it takes to do a status report on a project or two.

Web Conferencing - Sure to be our best tool by far, web conferencing allows us to meet with our clients online so that we not only hear each other but share documents online in real time. This would be truly effective in what we had to do during the course of a month because of all the paperwork that typically goes back and forth between us and our clients. This would save time, money, and streamline our efforts.

Video Conference - None of us have used video conference much before but we’re excited to use it going forward. We plan to use video conference to get in front of prospective clients and pitch our services in a way that will keep us in their minds.

Popularity: 23% [?]