1. It completely eliminates geographic disparity.
This can apply to anyone doing business anywhere. You can instantly meet with people from your organization, partners, customers, or prospects. With products like Reservationless 800 Conferencing, you can email, text or instant message with a number and access code from your Blackberry or other PDA and participants can join instantly. Proximity to a geographically separate customer base becomes instant.
2. Improves productivity in research and development.
This applies to people in charge of R&D in IT, biotechnology, physical sciences, product development, marketing or any other area. The widespread introduction of conferencing and collaboration tools in recent years has helped organizations improve research and development among team members. For example, web conferencing software has allowed company employees in separate locations to collaborate on projects in real time, greatly increasing operational efficiency. Countless organizations have benefited from this technology and seen improved time to market, resulting in previously unenhanced competitive advantages, reduced R&D costs, and faster return on investment.
3. Improve investor relations.
This goes for each and every CFO and CIO. All public companies are scrutinized in their quarterly conference call and earnings report. When the call does not go smoothly, it leaves a negative impression on the operational aptitude of the company making the presentation. Investors think, “What kind of company has an error-prone conference call?”
The unfortunate reality is that some companies fail the investor call, either due to not having enough open seats/bridges or a complete lack of restraint/order. Often they use products that are not designed for such large audiences and/or products that do not meet the unique needs of such a large audience. Major conference providers have solutions geared towards corporate and investor calls, and a wide variety of solutions exist to accommodate such needs and eliminate highly visible public disasters.
4. Drive sales.
This applies to any VP of Sales, Regional Director or Area Manager. Any company with multiple offices needs to have management tools in place to meet with subordinates in the branch on a regular basis. As a former sales manager, I learned the mantra “inspect what you expect” very early in my career. Having regularly scheduled calls with subordinates will help better prepare the organization and teach a culture of being prepared and organized. It will also keep senior management informed of sales activities as they happen, rather than hearing things in hindsight. This allows the senior sales executive the opportunity to act on accounts before they are potentially lost, such as stepping in and offering better pricing, terms, or service level guarantees. The best organizational leaders I’ve personally worked for made an effort to stay in regular contact with the field sales organization, and it showed in the results.
5. Improve corporate communication.
This applies and directly affects everyone in an organization. Have you ever worked in an organization where you felt like the corporate office was a world away? Maybe you will now, like I once did. The biggest difference between companies that grow successfully and those that don’t is that there isn’t a similar mindset in terms of goals and ethos throughout the organization. The most successful companies (such as Google) convey a sense of togetherness and corporate culture that is inspired by a set of values, such as “thought leadership,” “customer-focused,” “caring,” etc. Organizations that keep their core cultural values at the forefront do so by regularly communicating with their remote and regional offices. Audio conferencing and web conferencing are two of the easy ways to achieve this high priority.
6. Speed up training and education.
This applies to any C-Level that has a training requirement at your company. Organizations spend a lot of money training new hires on company and industry information, policies, and internal procedure methodologies. Many industries, such as education, legal, real estate, technology, manufacturing, and accounting, have initiatives that require constant training to maintain current standards in the respective industry. Audio and web conferencing are the dominant training tools for carrying out any organization’s e-learning initiative. Businesses using this technology save thousands, sometimes millions of thousands, in money savings on travel, lodging, meals and tips, and airfare. The often overlooked aspect of the savings from using conferencing products for eLearning is that it’s a definite boost in productivity. Instead of wasting several hours (at best) with flight time, your employee can get back to work instantly.
The company that uses these communication tools trains its workforce more efficiently, saves money and increases productivity at the same time.
7. Improve your internal marketing initiative.
This applies to directors of marketing and vice presidents of sales. Companies that can launch new products in unison to a geographically disparate workforce have a higher chance of success. The ability to present new offers in a clear, concise, and positive manner can boost sales attitudes about the new product or direction. Furthermore, the marketing message is the most important differentiator in our highly competitive society. Implementation is the best time for the marketing organization to convey those vitally important differentiators to the inside sales team, since most buyers want to know “what’s in it for me.” Differentiators close that gap with the prospect and help the sales team close deals.
8. Improve the external marketing initiative.
This applies to direct and indirect field sales force and customer retention specialists/account managers. Like the internal benefits listed above, the same benefits apply to external customers. When you implement new products or services, it’s easier to demonstrate it clearly and concisely. Audio and web conferencing solutions allow a sales force to easily introduce new offers without geographic limitation. Retention and service staff within a company can use the same conferencing and collaboration tools to introduce new products, conduct account reviews, and stay connected with vital decision makers in an organization. Since sales is all about relationships, keeping those relationships active is vital to protecting your customer base, and keeping in touch with top positions is key.
And for companies that rely on an indirect channel, frequent communication is paramount to boosting productivity. An effective presentation made in an entertaining manner is the best method for your channel partners to promote your product and not your competitors.
9. Offers mobile proximity.
This applies to anyone with a PDA or cell phone. While it’s true that cell phones can often cause a lot of static when participating in audio conferences, sometimes the urgency of the call outweighs the immediate need for everything to be 100%. Most conferencing providers today offer mobile solutions that allow access to web functions from PDAs, so you don’t miss any aspect of the call that is currently taking place.
10. It will save your business money, increase productivity, and is good for the environment.
This benefits everyone. Whether you measure by hard dollar savings on travel, dining, lodging, entertainment, or soft dollar savings in areas like increased productivity, increased sales, and better messaging, your organization will save money.
In addition, it will help decrease the carbon footprint that is a matter of great concern these days. Instead of consuming more fuel, conference users are making a socially responsible choice that reduces their impact on the environment.
Fewer trips = less fuel = better for the environment.
So with these 10 reasons, you may be able to see other applications for a conferencing solution and how it could positively impact your organization.