I am what you would call an “old dog” and – as the saying goes – it’s difficult indeed for me to learn new tricks. I have to admit that technology really sets me on my heels; I just don’t understand half of what is out there. I am someone who started in business when it was pen, paper, and typewriters and I have had a hard time adjusting to how fast everything moves. I’ll also readily admit that I wasn’t much of a fan of computers – or any of the subsequent technology – in the beginning. It all made me feel inadequate and I honestly couldn’t see how any of it could help me be better at what I did. Plus, it seemed that the second I learned one thing, something bigger, better, and faster came along and I was right back where I started – behind the times.
I do admit when I’m wrong however and I can see how there are a great many resources available today that have made things enormously easier in business. One of the things that I really changed my mind about is video conference. Again, I’m old school. When I wanted to see a client – or a prospective client – I went to see them. However, we were starting to do business with people all over the world and traveling was not cost-effective in every case. Everyone in my office was using video conference to conduct meetings. Video conference is a part of web conference technology; it’s like an online meeting where everyone can see each other, hear each other, and talk like they would if they were sitting around a conference room table.
I was scared of video conference at first but was eventually forced to use it when I was pitching a client on the other coast. In one session I was hooked. It was a great way to “meet” and the technology fascinated me. I could not imagine when I first started working that I would ever have the opportunity to do something like this. I may be an old dog but I am willing to learn!
Popularity: 23% [?]
In the last post I talked about introducing web conference to the company with which I was now working. This was a recent hiring for me and, of course, I was anxious to impress my new bosses. However, I was certainly being careful not to step on anyone’s toes and I brought up web conference with trepidation as I recognized what a traditional company this was and how technology had been difficult for them to embrace.
But regardless of the hesitation on their part I knew that it was absolutely necessary that they not only learned about web conferencing but also embraced it as I could see as a new third-party observer that their methods of communication were breaking down. This was a great company with a lot to offer and a big reputation in the industry. They had a solid foothold on the east coast and the opening of a west coast operation had allowed them to expand their services and grow their brand. But in terms of the offices communicating with each other they had come to a screeching halt and important information was being misinterpreted or falling through the cracks altogether. Web conferencing could help; of this much I was certain.
Web conferencing would allow people in both offices to attend “live” meetings where not only would information be presented but there would be the opportunity and the forum to interact with each other as participants in the same meeting. This was the next best thing to being there and it was imperative that the company understand the need for more modern – and certainly more effective – communication if they were going to remain viable in this increasingly tech-savvy world. Eventually the powers-that-be understood what I was trying to say and they have begun using web conferencing to communicate – allowing for much smoother production.
Popularity: 26% [?]
When I first brought up the idea of web conference in my new company I have to admit that most people looked at me as though I had multiple heads. I was working for a more traditional company that didn’t know the language of the Internet and had only just acquiesced to getting a website; so anything that was technology-related was going to be a bit of a hard sell considering that everyone was anxious enough with the economy biting at their heels.
But in my opinion we had a problem that only web conference could fix. The original company had been started on the east coast by two brothers. But a decade later one of the brothers had migrated to the west coast to be closer to his daughter and her family. He promptly opened up a west coast operation to offer the same high level of products and service in another area of the country and the two offices worked in tandem with each other to expand their operations. This was obviously a good thing for the entirety of the company in terms of branding and certainly with regard to growing the business and the bottom line. But it also initiated challenges; some that were foreseeable and some that were not.
At the time of the west coast opening the Internet was still in its infancy and the two offices of the company learned to communicate with each other through frequent phone calls. The problem was that as the team grew and more people were involved in projects the phone calls, while important, were not allowing the information to reach the people critical to the project and were not allowing for the sharing of information all at one time. Simultaneous and live communication, however, has become more than possible and I introduced web conferencing to my new bosses with enthusiasm.
Popularity: 26% [?]
In the last post I talked about how communication in our business is crucial to everything we do. Most businesses in a variety of industries would say the same thing but with us – because we work with people all over the world – the ability to communicate effectively could make or break our relationships with people. I had one client with whom I was having trouble. On the rare occasions that we actually saw each other and were in each other’s physical presence we got along very well and had no difficulties communicating. Perhaps it had something to do with being able to see each other’s facial expressions or read each other’s body language. But when we communicated through email – and even through phone – as we did most of the time, we had difficulties understanding each other. Things were misinterpreted, details were missed. It was becoming enough of an issue that I finally had to take things into my own hands and come up with a resolution. My resolution? Video conference.
Through video conference my client and I could meet virtually through a “live” experience that allowed us to see each other as well as hear each other. We could interact person to person, face to face in a manner that was almost as good as actually being in the same room. And this way – through video conference or web conferencing – rather than traveling to be with each other, we could save money and still communicate effectively.
I’m happy to report that video conference has saved this client relationship. We have scheduled weekly video conference meetings through which we are able to share information. And, so far, nothing has been misconstrued. Video conference offers us the next best alternative to being together and has given us the platform on which to conduct successful business.
Popularity: 23% [?]
Have you ever had an experience where you just didn’t understand someone over the phone but the minute you were with them in person you completely got what they were saying? There was something about being in their physical presence – looking in their eyes and reading their body language – that allowed you to get the full meaning of their message in a way that you were not able to do over the telephone. We have all heard about the different ways in which people “learn” – that lectures in a classroom for one person may be adequate for their learning style while someone else learns the material better when they are able to read it from a book. Sometimes it’s all about the way in which the message is delivered that changes the way we interact.
In my line of business we frequently come up against difficult clients; everyone does – it’s just the way of the world. But every so often you come in contact with someone that seems as though they are speaking a completely different language. You just can’t seem to understand each other. I had a client like that in the beginning of the year and to make matters worse she was on the other side of the country which meant that most of our communications were through phone and email – something on which we seemed to miss each other’s message quite a bit. When we were together – which wasn’t often – we got along really well and seemed to really be able to read each other but through the phone and through email the message was lost and we often read things that weren’t there. It was clear that we needed a better way to communicate over the distance and video conference turned out to be the way to go.
Popularity: 21% [?]
Like all companies right now we are all in the business of saving money. We need options that allow us to be more effective in a much more cost-efficient manner. This is especially true when it comes to methods of communication. We need to be able to communicate with vendors, associates, and even clients in a way that keeps us in control of the message, allows a back and forth dialogue, and keeps us from incurring unnecessary travel expenses. This can all be accomplished through effective teleconferencing services.
All companies need a way to bridge the gap between the distances in which they are able to serve and the money that needs to be spent in order to do that most effectively. While companies on one coast surely have the ability to serve companies on another they most certainly do not want to have to incur travel expenses every time they need to schedule a meeting. That would not work for the bottom line in any regard and would certainly slow the process to a point where doing business in this manner would seem highly unproductive.
But through teleconferencing services companies can take control of how they work. They can meet any time and any place with companies all over the country and even the world – scheduled or on short notice and with all the bells and whistles that make it the next best thing to a “live” and in person meeting.
Web Conferencing – Allows for the sharing of ideas verbally while also sharing documents simultaneously with all attending participants through the web.
Audio Conferencing – Allows for one main line into which meeting participants can call and share ideas. There can even be an audio conferencing host identified who leads the meeting.
Video Conference – When face to face contact is needed video conference offers the best alternative to in person meetings where the speaker is seen as well as heard.
Popularity: 28% [?]
In the last post I talked about my hiatus from the advertising business. I had started in an agency when I was in my twenties – just out of school – and was returning having been home with my children for some time. I couldn’t believe the changes during this relatively short period of time. The most noticeable, of course, was the growth of the Internet which I had obviously experienced on a personal level but that I was now seeing in terms of its effect on the world of advertising. When I had left the agency world there were obviously computers but we didn’t have one on every desk and no one used them like they do now. In fact, we did most of our work on paper!
Now everything is electronically based which, I am happy to report, has dramatically increased the efficiency of nearly everything that is done on a day to day basis. But I think what has impressed me most greatly after this time away from the office is the expansion of business dealings on a national and international level. We are able to offer our services to people around the country and even around the globe; and helping to make that expansion possible is video conference.
It used to be that a meeting was a physical coming together of participants. And while that is most certainly ideal it is not necessary with the technology that is available to us at the present time. Web conferencing services have expanded all of our territories and allowed us to present and receive information in real time without even having to be in physical proximity to each other.
Video conference will certainly take some getting used to on my end but it’s something that I can see already is highly beneficial to the industry as a whole – allowing business to get done seamlessly and saving money in travel related expenses.
Popularity: 26% [?]
When I first started work in the advertising business it was what you would consider “old school.” I was in my twenties, fresh out of school, and computers were nothing like they are now; we had them but there was certainly not one on every desk and the Internet was barely in its infancy. No one was online in the capacity or scope that they are now. Most of what we did was done on paper and we had the file cabinets full of materials to prove it. We drove production traffic, submitted client reports, and even filled out our timesheets on paper. It was a very different world.
In keeping with this style, everything that we did in terms of client service would be considered old-fashioned today. When we needed a meeting we had a meeting and everything was done in person. This was the way that it was done. We traveled to the clients or the clients traveled to us. But business was not at the level that it is now; there was no global commerce the way that there is today. And things are done differently because of it.
That was what I was to find out when I came back into the advertising business after a long hiatus. I had left to have my children with whom I was home for many years. While I dabbled in freelance work I was out of the office for some time and had no idea how different the environment had become.
Now no longer was it necessary to conduct meetings in person. Business was being done with companies all over the map and those who service them had to step up to the plate with more advanced forms of communication. This was my first introduction to video conference. More in the next post…
Popularity: 18% [?]
Working within the confines of what your business can offer is what will get you cost-effective solutions that deliver a return on investment. I was working from a home office that was obviously small but I was servicing the same accounts as much bigger corporations. I had to keep pace with the big guys and that meant turning to global commerce and addressing how I would fit into this landscape.
Part of doing business on this level is making sure that you are available to the clients in terms of communication. It didn’t matter if they were across the country or across the world; I needed to be accessible to them and ready to answer questions and speak to them at a moment’s notice. While a simple telephone call or email would certainly do the trick in most cases, it came up short in a lot of situations because, after all, I was working with teams - not just individuals.
Teleconferencing services really fit the bill in this regard. I am able to set up audio conferencing or video conference, invite the attendees that I want there and essentially conduct a live meeting that has everything but the physical presence of the involved parties. We are able to respond to each other, deliver information, and discuss details in real time without missing a beat. Best of all, no one need ever know that I am sitting at my desk in my home office. For all intents and purposes, I am a large scale corporation; which inspires confidence in those who trust me to meet their demands at every turn.
Audio conferencing, video conference, and web conference have become services on which I rely. They have allowed me to keep pace with the competition and still do so within my own means.
Popularity: 34% [?]
Do you know what it’s like when you close a new deal – the deal that no one – including you – thought that you were going to get? There’s nothing like that feeling in the whole world and I should know, considering I have been in sales for what seems like forever. I have done it all, traveled to all conceivable places, and put my heart and soul into the work I do on behalf of the companies for which I work.
This particular time in my life has been difficult – as it has been for all of the people out there who mostly work on commission. Sales have dried up and we are all eeking out a semblance of a living and hoping that we soon see the light in this economic darkness. There are still deals being done but the competition is fierce. There are few people who are in any position to turn down work and so we are all going way above and beyond to win business and service the heck out of our customers so they don’t jump ship.
I have always loved to close deals but nowadays the art of the close has a lot more pressure involved because you simply don’t know when the next opportunity is going to come down the pike. I had a major opportunity in front of me but the prospective clients were across the country. I had already gone out there to meet them in person but now they wanted another meeting. I couldn’t afford to travel out there again but I didn’t want to blow it and so web conferencing became my tool of choice.
By setting up a web conference I could essentially conduct a “live” meeting in which I could answer their questions directly and ultimately make the pitch of my life. And in the end, the fact that I was able to professionally rise to the challenge was all the convincing they needed and we won the account.
Popularity: 26% [?]
