15 Most Common Questions about Video Conferencing for Sales

April 24th, 2012 by Todd McCormick Posted in Conferencing, iMeet, Meeting Tips, PGi, Telecommuting, Tips and Tricks, Video Conferencing, Virtual Meetings, Virtual Sales Strategies

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More and more, sales professionals are using video conferencing technology like iMeet to get results with the online sales call. Here are some of the most common questions I get from salespeople who are thinking about improving their sales by getting face-to-face with their prospects online:

1. Q: How does PGi train its own sales reps to use iMeet?

A: Our reps live and breathe with the application. We record our online training sessions and review video presentations with sales leaders.

2. Q: Can you use iMeet with social media tools and social networks?

A: Absolutely. Once I have my room in iMeet, I can post it anywhere. I can invite prospects via LinkedIn or Twitter.

3. Q: Can iMeet share documents?

A: Yes. A file cabinet is part of your iMeet meeting room. You can put PowerPoint and video in your file cabinet and bring them to any video meeting.

4. Q: How many people can be on an iMeet video call?

A: At one time, 15 guests can be live with streaming video. They can collaborate and build relationships throughout the sales cycle, not just at the beginning and end. Instead of having phone calls and exchanging emails in between quarterly in-person meetings, all you have to do is send out a link to whoever you want in your video conversation.

5. Q: Is iMeet in other countries?

A: We are in 12 countries now and expect to increase that number.

6. Q: Does iMeet integrate with CRM?

A: Not yet, but we expect to by the end of 2012.

7. Q: Does iMeet charge for video time?

A: You get unlimited video and audio for $69 per user per month with iMeet. Price breaks begin at five users, and there are discounts for annual and multi-year deals.

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Interviewing on iMeet: A Personal Perspective

April 19th, 2012 by Joshua Erwin Posted in Collaboration, iMeet, PGi, Video Conferencing, Virtual Meetings

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You’ve heard from other PGi bloggers about how iMeet can revolutionize the interviewing and hiring process, bringing the right talent to the right position regardless of the location of either. I’m here to present a personal perspective of just how much better an iMeet interview can be.

While interviewing for my new job at PGi, I had three interviews for a position in Atlanta, Georgia, over 500 miles away from where I was currently living in St. Louis, Missouri. I met with a total of eight different interviewers located across the country and across the globe, ranging from Montana to Hong Kong!

Sure Beats the Drive

All of that virtual globetrotting was as simple as entering a web address, thanks to the flexibility and ease-of-use of iMeet.

iMeet, interview, PGi, remote interview

6 Ways to Project A Powerful Nonverbal Presence—Best Practices for Communicating with Customers Online (Part III)

April 17th, 2012 by Todd McCormick Posted in Audio Best Practices, Collaboration, Conferencing, iMeet, Meeting Tips, PGi, Tips and Tricks, Video Conferencing, Virtual Meetings, Virtual Sales Strategies, Web Conferencing

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This is Part III of a three-part blog post about effective nonverbal communication during online meetings and video chats. Read Part I and Part II.

While it’s hard to gauge prospects’ true reactions and respond appropriately on the phone or over email, video eliminates the guesswork. When you see someone’s face and hear their voice, less is lost in translation. Successful sales people use this additional information to deliver a more compelling message, overcome objections, and get prospects to say yes—quickly and decisively.

Before each video sales call, take a few minutes to review these 6 principles.

Remind yourself to mirror and match. For instance, if your customer is more reserved, relax your tone of voice and lower your pitch to show you’re on the same wavelength. You’ll know your sales call is going well when they start to mirror your body language in return.
Pay attention to volume, pace, and pitch. You can use your tone as a powerful tool to focus others’ attention on what you want. I recommend nailing this down by practicing your pitch out loud.
Your eyes are your window to the sell. Turn on your webcam for a minute or two, and practice looking directly into the

face-to-face, iMeet, mirror and match, Video communication, video conferencing, virtual meetings

Best Practices for Communicating with Customers Online: Engage with Your Body Language (Part II)

April 10th, 2012 by Todd McCormick Posted in Audio Conferencing, Collaboration, Conferencing, iMeet, Meeting Tips, PGi, Tips and Tricks, Video Conferencing, Virtual Meetings, Virtual Sales Strategies, Web Conferencing

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Want to learn more about video? Sign up for our webinar today at 2pm EST with Josiane Feigon—#Vote4Video: The Sales Tool You Can’t Do Without.

Did you know you exchange approximately 800 nonverbal messages during the average 30-minute sales call?

Every salesperson should have at least a rudimentary grasp of how to use body language to support your sale. (If not, check out these body language sales basics, such as eye contact, use of hands, posture, etc.).

The trick with online meetings is that you don’t have the entire body to work with. Your webcam focuses on your head and perhaps your torso. That means making eye contact with your camera, relaxing your shoulders, and bringing your hands into view to emphasize certain points.

Begin with a Smile. There’s nothing revolutionary about this concept, but we often forget to do what we know. By starting online meetings with a smile, you amp up your tone of voice, upgrade your appearance, and communicate confidence. You’re much more likely to forge a quick connection with the other people in your meeting.

Maintain an Open Body Position. Open and expressive movements invite collaborative communication. Sit up straight, and avoid leaning too far back in your chair. Hold your arms away from your body to avoid looking defensive. However, if you notice your prospect responds by pulling back, try to be more subtle with your gestures.

Eye Contact = Bulls Eye. As you and your prospect communicate, focus your gaze directly on the camera. Eye contact is a key element for building trust. Even a brief look away could send the message that you’re not listening, and derail your sale.

body language, eye contact, face-to-face, iMeet, Nonverbal Communication, video conferencing, virtual meetings

Digital Nomad Tip #31: How To Host A Video Conference From a Taxi

April 9th, 2012 by Cora Rodenbusch Posted in Collaboration, Cora the Digital Nomad, iMeet, PGi, Telecommuting, Tips and Tricks, Video Conferencing, Virtual Meetings, Virtual Sales Strategies

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When PGi’s Damian Martina realized a flight delay would put him in Brisbane just minutes before his big presentation, he looked to iMeet®’s mobility suite to keep business moving at the speed of light.

Last month, Australia/New Zealand Sales Director and tech enthusiast Damian Martina scheduled a sales presentation to take place a few hours after he was scheduled to land in Brisbane. Instead of cancelling the meeting due to a last minute flight delay, Damian took iMeet®’s new iPad app for a test drive and showed his prospects what it really means to take your business on the road.

How To Host A Video Conference From a Taxi

As soon as the plane landed, Damian collected his bags and quickly turned his phone into a walking WiFi hotspot by activating his tethering app. After connecting his iPad to his phone’s WiFi signal, he opened up his room in the iMeet iPad app, loaded his presentation and asked the meeting to dial out to him. With the room open and his audio and webcam running, he confidently waited in the taxi line for his guests to arrive.

He even had a few minutes to take questions from an unexpected audience. The curious glances from those around him led to several impromptu demos with onlookers asking, “Are you really on video right now?” and “What’s it called again?”

Once in the taxi, Damian was able to flip through the pages of his presentation, convey points “in person” via the video stream and carry on with the meeting, all at 60km/h.

“My guests couldn’t believe that I was really in a taxi. I had to turn my iPad around so they could see where I was.”

Damian remarks, “Just a few months ago something like this would not have been possible. Today, I find that I can do 90% of my work remotely. Thanks to iMeet, I don’t have to delay business because of my location.”

Just recently I met Damian in person at PGi’s Asia-Pac headquarters in Sydney. I congratulated him on making his meeting come together despite his circumstances – I know how unpredictable life on the road can be! He laughed and said that it wasn’t difficult at all. The app made it easy to start the meeting and pull up his files. And because his guests already had his room name, he didn’t need to dial out to his guests or circulate length dial-in details providing for a stress-free meeting.

As for his video appearance, he said it left quite the impression on his guests.

For more information on iMeet’s mobility suite, watch PGi Founder and CEO, Boland Jones take you through the iPhone and iPad apps in iMeet has gone mobile. Where will you take it?

Want your own iMeet room? Sign up for a 30-day free trial today. For those in Asia Pacific, learn more about the Asia-Pac iMeet pilot program by emailing your interest to APStrategyandMarketing@pgi.com.

Have you needed to run a meeting outside the office? What advice would you give to a novice mobile worker?

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Avoid Business Travel Hassle and Go Green with Online Meetings

April 6th, 2012 by Kim Casey Posted in Audio Conferencing, Collaboration, Collaboration Technology Services, Conferencing, GlobalMeet, PGi, Telecommuting, Video Conferencing, Virtual Meetings, Web Conferencing

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Business travel is expensive. A flight, hotel room, the time spent waiting through security or traffic, it all adds up. But what about the environmental price tag?

Your carbon footprint is a representation of the effect you — or your business — has on the global climate in terms of the amount of greenhouse gases you produce. A flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles for one person emits 755 pounds of CO2 — that’s five percent of a US home’s electricity for an entire year. But being environmentally aware is only the first step to solving the pollution problem. Sustainability is possible and as organizations are adopting a greener approach, they will need to take proactive steps to reduce their carbon footprint.

With today’s readily available technology, reducing work commute and business travel has never been easier. Video and web conferencing tools, such as PGi’s GlobalMeet, are affordable, easy-to-use and require no hardware other than a laptop, tablet or smartphone — tools that most businesses already have. With the spiraling costs and increasing inefficiency associated with business travel, video conferencing is a viable alternative to many unnecessary business trips.

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Are your workplace tools driving the business results you need?

April 5th, 2012 by Jan Correll Posted in Collaboration, Conferencing, iMeet, Meeting Tips, PGi, Uncategorized, Video Conferencing

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Last month I attended the Gartner Portals, Content and Collaboration Summit where Tom Austin presented on People-Centered Strategies (PCS). In his presentation, Austin defined PCS as an organizational strategy that (1) empowers people to take on demanding, non-routine tasks, (2) enhances employees’ abilities to make valuable contributions that has an impact on the business and (3) increases the workforces ability to do what they do well.

Although many organizations are moving to a PCS approach, I have wondered if those same businesses are giving their employees the tools and technology they need in order to deliver the results they are looking for. With IT spending per employee expected to reach an all-time high of $13,303 in 2012 according to Gartner, it can be a costly mistake to invest in the wrong technology…especially if it’s a technology for collaboration that is used by the majority of the workforce.

With almost 85% of companies having a remote workforce, the office of the future is no longer an office at all. As such, communication and collaboration tools will play a greater role in how business gets done. But the question remains, are companies arming their workforce with the right communication and collaboration tools? With so many players in the market how can you ensure you’re investing in virtual meeting solutions that will positively impact the organizations bottom line? Here are a few things to look for when comparing audio, web and video conferencing solutions:

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Best Practices for Communicating with Customers Online (Part 1)

April 3rd, 2012 by Todd McCormick Posted in Collaboration, Conferencing, iMeet, Meeting Tips, PGi, Tips and Tricks, Video Conferencing, Virtual Meetings, Virtual Sales Strategies, Web Conferencing

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Want to learn more about video? Sign up for our webinar on 4/10 with Josiane Feigon—#Vote4Video: The Sales Tool You Can’t Do Without.

It’s highly likely that your prospects don’t have time for long, face-to-face sales pitches. That leaves salespeople with email and the telephone.

Of course, the people you’re trying to reach receive 200+ emails a day. Of those, perhaps a handful are relevant and wanted. According to InsideView, over 90% of C-level execs never respond to email blasts or cold calls.

When you limit communication to email and telephone, you miss out on one of the most important aspects of closing the sale: nonverbal communication. With a phone call, you lose body language but retain vocal cues; with email, you have even less to work with.

Many sales professionals are correcting this problem by finding new ways to leverage nonverbal communication during online meetings and video chats.

At least 55% of communication is nonverbal—93% if you include tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language. During online meetings, you can use nonverbal cues to reinforce your message. Some experts say these meetings can be even more powerful than in-person meetings because you can use technology to focus in on the most important source of nonverbal communication: facial expression.

Here’s the first of three major areas where you can harness power of nonverbal communication in an online meeting:

Mirror and Match

Researchers at Boston University Medical School studied people in conversations. As conversations progressed and rapport was established, the participants began to coordinate movements such as blinking, hand motions, and head nods. They even began to match one another in voice pitch and rhythm.

Mirroring and matching is the process of entering your prospect’s world and matching your mind with theirs during conversation. This sends the nonverbal message that you’re in tune with their state of mind, and helps establish rapport.

Watch BNet’s Carol Kinsey Goman discuss effective mirroring:

Boston University Medical School, Carol Kinsey Goman, communication, Conversation, face-to-face, iMeet, Mirroring, Nonverbal Communication, video conferencing

Smartphone Etiquette for the Workplace

April 2nd, 2012 by Jordan Biasetti Posted in iMeet, PGi, Telecommuting, Video Conferencing

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We were all sitting around a table in our Executive Vice President’s office when a brilliant idea was shared. Immediately hands flew to their iPhones, and fingers began typing documents and emails. No one wanted to wait till we were back in our cubicles and in front of our laptops to log the idea; we had our easiest tool for business communication in front of us, and there was no reason not to use it.

The other week we learned that smartphones are not only here to stay in the workplace, but are predicted to take over as the top communicative tool for business by 2014. Still, there are people in every office that continue to perceive smartphone use as personal time no matter what those thumbs are clicking on. How do we persuade those people to embrace our move into the future and hop on the productivity train themselves? We convince them by acting as respectfully as possible when using our smartphones in places that were previously considered inappropriate. Here are three areas to consider:

iMeet, PGi, Smartphones, teleworking, video conferencing

How to Effectively be Managed Remotely

March 29th, 2012 by Jordan Biasetti Posted in Collaboration, Cora the Digital Nomad, GlobalMeet, iMeet, PGi, Telecommuting, Video Conferencing

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“Employment location: Austin, Texas or Atlanta, Georgia.” I remember reading the job description and wondering, “Now how does that work?” Wouldn’t PGi specifically need me in one office or the other? Apparently not. With teleworking on the rise, my managers were given the go ahead to hire an employee that they would end up supervising remotely.

Being fresh out of college, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this set-up. The whole “Hi, I’m your boss,” conversation is usually done so in person the first time, followed up with a physical handshake, yet it wasn’t until I had been with the company for almost a month that I met the first of my two bosses, and I still won’t meet the other for two more months.

globalmeet, iMeet, PGi, teleworking, video conferencing