When most of us started in our careers, technology was a far cry from what it is today. Most of us had meetings with vendors and clients face-to-face in conference rooms or by phone - either person to person or through a crackling speaker where you were forced to hear yourself echo about a room and hope that you were still able to effectively deliver your message. Today, there are so many more options - so many different ways that we are able to communicate with each other without having to worry that the quality of that communication is sacrificed. Even when a face-to-face meeting is not possible, in many ways it has been rendered unnecessary in light of all the technology available to us; the many ways that we can reach out to each other, deliver and receive information, and essentially conduct business no matter what the physical distance between us. Consider the possibilities:
Conference Calls - The tried and true method of group communication, conference calls have replaced the amateur, often low quality calls of the past. Today, you can schedule conference calls through a reputable hosting company. Invited participants then call the conference call line at the scheduled time, input their code and they are connected to the call. Conference calls can host any number of participants and even offer the ability for participants to mute out of the call if needed.
Web Conference - Combining audio conferencing with the power of the Internet, web conference allows participants to speak in a group setting while accessing documents simultaneously. Web conference is one step up from audio conferencing and far more effective than email; all of the participation without the need to physically be in the same room. Web conferencing is especially helpful for those working on projects where there is information to be read and approved.
More in the next post…
Popularity: 30% [?]
In the last post I talked about how I started my business with high hopes and a deep commitment to doing great work. I have never been happier in my life than I have been in this pursuit; it’s been great setting up my business and figuring out what will work for me and my clients. It’s a learning curve for sure but I’m happy to make the journey. Because mine is a virtual business there was no reason to have a traditional office space. Instead, I quite comfortably work out of my home office and, in so doing, have saved myself quite a bit of money that would normally be spent on overhead. This has allowed me to put that money into the business operation itself and pass the savings onto my clients, but has also presented me with some unusual challenges.
Communication, for instance - while always important - is particularly important when it comes to virtual business. Your clients do not come to your physical office space; in many cases you never meet face to face at all. So having dependable methods of communication at the ready goes a long way towards putting your clients’ minds at ease.
For instance, I discovered shortly into opening my business that while email was the most convenient method of communication for me, it was not enough for some of my clients who preferred - if we were not able to actually meet - a more personal phone call. I since changed tactics to include frequent phone calls, as well as email, as my methods of communication.
Video conference is something that I am now also using on a regular basis as it gives my clients a more comfortable feeling of personal service. While they may not be able to meet me in person, we are able to talk through video conference just as we would in a traditional meeting setting. Through video conference, we can see as well as hear each other and just this small personal contact does wonders for building a business relationship.
Popularity: 28% [?]
There has been no bigger thrill in my life than the thrill associated with opening my own business. I have been able to focus my dreams into one goal - to create a successful business that provides a great product and exceptional service; I’m finally in my element and I feel powerful and ready to see my dreams come to fruition. One of the things that I have been committed to from the start is really embracing the online arena. I started my company from my home because - with what I do - I am a firm believer that I don’t have to have a physical office of the traditional kind. Why spend money on the overhead when most of my clients will be in other states and will have no need to actually come to my office? Conversely, I would likely not visit them in their offices. Ours is a business relationship built on the modern convenience of the Internet. Any communication that we have can be done through phone calls, conference calls, emails, and even web conferencing - where we can look at what we’re working on in real time.
However, I have had to make some concessions lately in the way that I communicate. So much of this is trial and error; determining what will work best for myself and my clients - as I encounter something in particular - and making adjustments from there. For instance, I learned early on that while email is convenient and certainly is good to use, many of my clients felt more comfortable receiving phone calls from me. Because our work is done online we don’t have occasion to meet in person; they like the personal service of a phone call and hearing a human voice. So I made the adjustment and I communicate now through a mix of phone calls and email. Even still, some clients were uncomfortable with never having actually seen me and for that reason I chose to starting using video conference.
More in the next post…
Popularity: 28% [?]
Starting a business of any kind takes skill, dedication, and the willingness to think outside the box. You need to be flexible and have the ability to shift course if needed. Those who are not flexible in their thinking and are at least willing to make adjustments as they go will find the path ahead loaded with obstacles. Of course, one of the things that any new business owner must be willing to do is to embrace the technology that is available to them. Without doing so they are vulnerable to being left in the dust by companies that are more willing to put themselves out there. Utilizing conference calls, web conferencing, and video conference may seem like a small thing to some businesses but when you understand how much they can impact the business that you do, you quickly realize how important it is to absorb them into your operations.
The long and short of it is this…today’s successful companies are available to a wide range of customers on a national - and even international - level. They know that doing business only with those customers in their immediate vicinity is limiting them and they have embraced the technology that will allow them to effectively communicate with customers the world over without any delay or sacrifice in quality.
Conference calls, for instance, give you the ability to organize a multitude of parties on one phone call and schedule it just as you would any other business meeting. You can gather people together at a chosen date and time, through one phone line and one access code and immediately be in “front” of those with whom you want to share information.
If that’s not enough, web conferencing puts documents in front of a multitude of participants at the same time allowing us to see work and make changes in real time. Video conference gives us the ability to enter a “virtual boardroom” where we can see each other as well as hear each other; another option for the digital age of business.
Popularity: 24% [?]
Today, there are many more opportunities in the world of business than ever before. All doors are open to us online; we have been granted access to international partnerships because of our ability to communicate so effectively and that has broken down logistic barriers that were once firmly in place. In this day and age, it’s just as likely that we will do business with someone in another country as it is that we will do business with someone down the road. While we can chalk this up to advanced technology (our ability to email someone in a matter of seconds or scan and send any documents that we want in record time) there are specifics offered by that technology that have really allowed us to grow successfully. It’s certainly convenient to drop an email to a client but does this really allow us to communicate most effectively? Web conferencing, however, and video conference allow us to similarly harness the power of the Internet but use it much more effectively in our specific pursuits.
Web conference, for instance, gives us the ability to take audio conferencing to the next level. Now, not only are we able to talk to a multitude of parties at the same time, we are also able to share documents so that we are all looking at the same thing simultaneously on our computer screens. Imagine the time and miscommunication this has saved countless companies that are working on projects and need ongoing input.
Video conference is the new way that so many of us are communicating in business. It literally tears down the wall of a physical separation and gives us the ability to bridge the divide through face-to-face communication, albeit on a computer screen. Without technology of this kind, the world of business as we know it today would cease to exist.
Popularity: 26% [?]
When we were handed a project by one of our biggest clients it was not unlike many other projects that we had worked on previously except for one very big factor - this client and the team within their company that we would be working on the project with - were in another country. Yes, this is how business is conducted everyday and we are certainly one of those companies that is looking to expand our customer base and work seamlessly with people all over the world. Technology has certainly made it much easier to achieve many things and communicating efficiently with people the world over is one of them. However, due to the time sensitivity of the project and our need to pass time sensitive documents back and forth between our companies as we worked our way towards approval, we needed something more reliable than email. Web conferencing was our solution.
While we had been using audio conferencing to communicate most frequently with this particular client - and video conference several times when we wanted a face-to-face meeting - web conferencing offered us a more hands-on approach to communication. We could get online and talk amongst the team - hearing each other while also simultaneously accessing the same documents. This was enormously beneficial in allowing everyone on the team to weigh in on particular pieces of the document, make live changes, and gain approval on the spot. In fact, it’s the only way that we could imagine working with so much on the line and so little time to get it all done.
We made web conferencing a part of our ongoing project management - something that we did everyday between our two teams. It made the process much more efficient and certainly sped us on our way to completion and success.
Popularity: 21% [?]
