In the last post I talked about the importance of communication in business and how finding your own “groove” comes down to exploring the possibilities and ultimately choosing those methods that best suit your team and what you do on a daily basis. For us, it was all about establishing relationships between ourselves and clients the world over. We needed to be able to put trust in place and for those people that we served on a daily basis to know, without a doubt, that we were there for them regardless of the time and regardless of the distance that separated us. Audio conferencing, as we discussed earlier, was a key element in forming that trust and those relationships. It allowed us to pick up the phone and include anyone that we wanted or needed in the conversation. More than just a phone call however, audio conferencing is professionally run and seamless in its operations. More methods for communication that we have used include:
Web Conferencing - This has improved our business dramatically. When you meet in person with clients - and you are currently engaged in a project - you bring to the table (the physical table) the documentation associated with that project at which time all participants can add in their two cents, ask questions, reference particular items, etc. With web conferencing, this can all be done online. Through a phone and web connection, participants can access the same information in real time through a moderator who is in charge for uploading the documents. From there it’s possible to talk about the details of any project and to all be on the same page - literally.
Video Conference - Takes it one step further by allowing us to see each other. This is a virtual meeting room of sorts where participants can log on from their own location.
Popularity: 2% [?]
There is nothing better in the world than being able to stay in touch with those who are far away. I learned this the honest way when my sister - the person I am closest to in the world - moved to Japan. Between the time difference and the physical logistics of traveling to see her or her traveling to see me, we had a difficult adjustment at first. It was difficult enough to find a time when we were both available to talk and then it was by phone. When we discovered video conference, however, everything changed. It wasn’t the same as having her in the same room as me but it was definitely a lot better than a phone call and seeing her on the screen made everything okay somehow.
I took this experience to work with me when we were discussing how best to communicate with clients that we have in other countries. Our company was struggling with the economy just like every other business; we had to watch our bottom line and frequent international travel was simply not in the budget. That being said, we still needed to be able to effectively communicate with our clients regardless of distance, and a phone call - even conference calls - just didn’t cut it each and every time.
This was when I brought up the possibility of using video conference. It had been different; it had made things better for me on a personal level. Maybe it could have just as much impact on a professional level. My company was certainly open to anything that would allow them to better service our clients without having to come out of pocket for travel and they immediately green lit video conference. To date, video conference has had a huge impact on our business, giving us the freedom to be far away but still closely in touch.
Popularity: 5% [?]
In the last post we talked about our position as a small to medium sized company that was actively servicing our client base in order to maintain long term relationships and reaching out to potential new business. We had our hands full juggling it all especially with a relatively modest team - certainly nothing like the staff that larger companies of our kind have available to them. We needed to be equal parts service and sales and the fact was that we couldn’t do either effectively without the use of modern day communication such as web conferencing and conference calls.
Sure, web conferencing and frequent conference calls allow us to better service our worldwide client base. We certainly can’t have in-person meetings with them on a regular basis - the world of our business moves too fast and it’s not cost-effective for that much travel. Through web conference, however, we are able to share project documents in real time, get instant feedback and remain on the same page with the client’s needs. Conference calls also allow us to stay in touch on a frequent basis; just having voice contact between our team and our clients gives those we work for peace of mind and an understanding that we answer to them even from this far away.
For all these reasons and more, our methods of communication also allow us to bring new clients on board. We are in one part of the world and many of the people that we are pitching are in other parts of the world. They need to be able to trust us; trust our ability to offer exceptional service regardless of our physical distance. Web conferencing allows us to stay in touch and share physical documents and conference calls are our standard weekly operating procedure - giving new clients a scheduled check-in with us. We even use video conference on a frequent basis so that we can physically see each other without having to be in the same room. This is the new face of business and we are using all the technology that we can to make a great impression.
Popularity: 18% [?]
In the last post we talked about how technology has grown and changed over time - completely replacing the traditional methods of communication with faster more efficient methods that speak to the rise of global business. No longer is physical distance an issue in business; we are able to communicate just as effectively through our advanced technology as we would if we were in the same room together. Those of us who began our careers before the Internet have seen remarkable change over the years and likely have been surprised at how easy and effective it is to communicate with vendors, clients and co-workers across the miles.
As we discussed earlier, conference calls are still the most relied upon method of communication in business. They are not, however, the calls of the past in which multiple people gathered around one speaker phone and the quality was average at best. Today, conference calls are scheduled just as if they were traditional boardroom meetings. Callers are able to patch into the conference call using a pre-assigned number and code; calls can host hundreds calling in from multiple locations and the quality is far beyond anything we could have previously imagined.
Web conferencing, however, has taken conference calls to the next level, allowing participants to share both voice and documents online. This has changed the way we do business - giving us the ability to manage projects and go over paperwork simultaneously no matter where we are in the world.
What has really set us apart technology wise, however, is video conference. Through the advent and continued growth of video conference, meeting in person has almost become obsolete. It’s great if it’s convenient but it’s certainly not a necessity. Through video conference we can see each other as well as hear each other and we can conduct business accordingly.
Popularity: 9% [?]
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: 10% [?]
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: 13% [?]
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: 12% [?]
I am simply one of those people who does better with face-to-face meetings. You can explain all you want to me over the phone and you can email me information; but in the end, I gather the most information when we are speaking together. This is the truth but it is also a truth that doesn’t leave me many options when it comes to doing business; especially since I very often do business with companies around the world. Sure, it would be great to sit down with everyone and have a face-to-face meeting on a regular basis but logistically this just can’t be done. I had to come up with another solution that would work well within the reality of our circumstances but still allow me to have what I needed so that I wasn’t compromising any of the work integrity that made me so good at what I did. Video conference was the answer.
Through video conference we are able to meet with clients face-to-face, even if we are not technically in the same room and there’s nothing more that needs to be done than the scheduling of the conference. Video conference gives all of us the ability to see each other as well as hear each other through the computer. Obviously the convenience of such a meeting is the most practical for everyone involved especially when you are talking about companies that are sometimes across the world from each other.
However, video conference does not sacrifice what is most important to me in order to deliver that convenience. I am still able to see the people I am talking to; I am still able to look in their eyes and read their body language and have a personal conversation with them even if it’s over the computer - and in the end, this is the most important thing for me.
Popularity: 12% [?]
In the last post I talked about how - as a company that was committed to growth - we had infused a variety of teleconferencing services in our day-to-day business. It was most important to us that we were able to stay on the cutting-edge of technology and for that reason we embraced some of the things that many other businesses might shy away from because they were out of their comfort zone. We had, for instance, begun a strong relationship with teleconferencing services and had used everything from audio conferencing to web conferencing to help us reach out to clients and potential clients around the world. Now we were finding that video conference gave us a huge advantage in the marketplace - allowing us to provide a “next best thing” to meeting with people in person.
Some of the benefits of video conference include:
Versatility. Video conference can just as easily be used as a medium for pitching a new client as it can for a meeting with an existing client about a project.
Flexibility. When you’re in modern business and you’re juggling multiple time zones based upon where your clients are at the time and where your potential clients are, you need to think creatively. Video conference gives us the edge in business by allowing us to bridge physical distance.
The ability to showcase our commitment. Being so far away from some of our clients means that we have to work twice as hard to show them how dedicated we are to meeting their needs. Video conference allows us to meet “face to face” and to address issues right away.
We have seen time and time again that when we are open to what is available to us we benefit tremendously. Video conference - along with a variety of teleconferencing services - are a big part of what we do and how we do it.
Popularity: 15% [?]
As a small company on the rise, we are continually open to whatever will help us to continue to be successful. In fact, there’s not much that we don’t do to stay in the game and grow our company and this openness has allowed us to discover many new things that other companies in our position may quickly pass over simply because it is unfamiliar and perhaps a bit uncomfortable. For instance, video conference and other teleconferencing services have been huge components of our success over the years. We have able to introduce these avenues of communication during a time when we are reaching out to new business prospects around the country - and around the world; and it has allowed us to better communicate with them and flex our technical savvy.
Over the years we have definitely made use of audio conferencing - pulling participants into meetings from their offices around the world and this has allowed us to better manage a variety of client projects as well as help us to reach out to potential new clients who may need to speak to us often but are not close enough to visit in person.
Additionally, we have used web conference in a variety of ways - especially in project management as it has allowed us to access the same documents as those with whom we are speaking so that we can make changes on the fly and never worry that everyone on our team is on the same page at the same time.
Video conference has been unbelievable - giving us the ability to conduct business literally around the world. More than just a tool that we use from time to time, video conference has become a staple in our business; something that we use everyday in one capacity or another. more in the next post…
Popularity: 17% [?]
