Todd McCormick

10 Immediate Benefits of Video for Sales Teams

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.

How do sellers benefit from incorporating video into their sales calls and sales management processes? Here are 10 quick gains sales teams can see as soon as they turn on a webcam:

  1. Reduce the costs
  2. associated with travel for field reps. Using video, outside reps can leverage their in-person selling skills – such as nonverbal communication – without the time and expense of travel.

  3. Spark more engaging interactions between inside reps and customers. We’ve all heard the phrase “death by PowerPoint.” When you’re on a faceless conference call or hiding behind a PowerPoint, you missing out on fully connecting with your customers. Getting face-to-face adds dimension to the online sales call.
  4. Maximize sales and marketing investments in inbound leads and nurturing campaigns. The cost-per-lead for inbound leads is substantially less than outbound leads. More companies are investing in areas like social media to supplement or enhance their marketing efforts, and building out their inside sales forces. With video, you allow inside sales reps to retain the human component of selling.
 
Blakely Thomas-Aguilar

Go Mobile or Go Home! Welcome Spring with the March PGi Newsletter

We’re in the first week of Spring, and the golf course beckons! As the season turns and the sun comes out of hiding, the PGi March newsletter helps you get the job done and hit the links as businesses everywhere go mobile, social and in the cloud to keep up with the newest tech trends.

  • Go Mobile or Go Home! Explore today’s mobile trends with these helpful hints to integrate mobile technology into your IT strategy.
  • Host glitch-free web meetings with these tips and tricks.
  • Learn how to manage remote workforces and telecommuting teams with these fantastic tips.
  • Experience SXSW, Austin’s incredible music, art and digital festival, from the comfort of your laptop.
  • #Shift to social good and help your business make a difference with today’s most innovative entrepreneurs, Brian Solis, Warby Parker and Joe Huff.
  • In the beginning, man created the business meeting. Learn how PGi can help you rid your world of soul-sucking meetings with crazy good online meetings tech.

Want to receive the newsletter automatically every month? Simply visit the PGi Learning Space or email me directly at blakely.thomas-aguilar@pgi.com.

 
Todd McCormick

What nonverbal messages do you send during virtual meetings?

I’ve said before that up to 93% of communication is nonverbal. But did you know that you exchange approximately 800 nonverbal messages during the average 30-minute sales call? (Source: The Art of Nonverbal Selling, Gerhard Gschwandtner)

On a sales call, your nonverbal communication will always say more than your words. What nonverbal messages are you sending to clients and prospects?

 
Cora Rodenbusch

Digital Nomad Tip #28: Don’t Let a Few Miles Keep Your Team From a Big Opportunity

G’day mate and greetings from down under in beautiful Sydney, Australia! After taking a week off in the Hobbit capital of the world, South Island, New Zealand, we made our way to Sydney and have been enjoying some of the best weather the city has to offer.

In the short time we’ve been here, my colleagues have taken me to Sydney’s most iconic landmarks as well as a few lesser known sites, such as the local pub and this stunning art installation in a small alleyway just a few feet from the office.

Aside from the temptation of Sydney’s nightlife, working here couldn’t be easier. The connectivity is the best we’ve experienced in Asia-Pac and much like Hong Kong, the city runs 24/7 making it easy for digital nomads like myself to find places to work (and coffee to drink) at all hours.

Just recently I put my Digital Nomad skills to the test and joined Evernote’s Andrew Sinkov and Green Strategist Lewis Perkins in PGi’s SXSW panel, Up in the Air: On the Move with the Working Nomad via iMeet®. I was honored to (virtually) sit alongside two of the industry’s top thought leaders to discuss what it looks like to work on the go.

Over the past few years, I have attended SXSW in person thanks to PGi’s prime real estate, centered in the heart of  downtown. But this year was special in that I was able to show the power and financial value of video conferencing by joining via iMeet®. No plane tickets, no travel time, no hotels, just me in my office here in Sydney, far removed from an 18+ hour flight and a $3,500+ transportation bill.

I started to realize that video conferencing was no longer a nice-to-have for my business, but a must-have. From budgets to time management, environmental awareness and taking advantage of overseas’ opportunities, video fills a void that exists in the workplace today.

Go Virtual to Cut Costs: PGi recently brought USA Today’s rising cost of travel stats to life with a powerful visual  – Ditch the Rising Gas Prices – Get a Room [INFOGRAPHIC]. I chimed in to say that driving my car wasn’t the only mode of transportation that was becoming cost prohibitive. I think I set an iMeet® record when I was in Zurich, Switzerland paying $17 just to go a few miles on the bus!

 
Blakely Thomas-Aguilar

Ditch the Rising Gas Prices – Get a Room [INFOGRAPHIC]

According to a recent article in USA Today, skyrocketing gas prices are pushing business travelers to “do something electronic” and turn to conference calls, web conferences, webinars or video conferencing to save money at the gas pump. So how much can your company save by changing meeting venues from on-site business travel to online meetings with PGi, iMeet and GlobalMeet?

 
Todd McCormick

4 Proven Communication Techniques for Successful Virtual + Online Meetings

Modern business moves at breakneck speed. Your prospects don’t have time for long, face-to-face sales pitches. But when you limit communication with prospects to email and telephone, you miss out on one of the most important aspects of closing the sale: nonverbal communication. According to Microsoft, buyers receive 200+ emails a day. Of those, just six are relevant and wanted. They ignore voicemails and deny meeting requests. With a phone call, you lost body language but retain vocal cues; with email, you don’t even have that. It’s no wonder so many are turning to online meetings to correct this problem. At least 55% of communication is nonverbal—93% if you include tone of voice, facial expressions and body language. Why cut your communication effectiveness in half?

 
Lea Green

A focus on the intersection of the future and the way we work: #ShiftSXSW

Beginning tomorrow, PGi will engage thought leaders, strategists, and business visionaries in a three-day conversation that intersects at the interactive hub of the SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. Our offices, located the top of the Frost Bank Building, will serve as host for the second #shift conference. This pop-up event empowers, studies and celebrates exciting new fields as well as embracing alternative thinking in both traditional and alternative industries.

PGi creates technology tools for a new generation of leaders, acknowledges the transcending culture of mobility and connectivity, and addresses the demand for a new way of doing business. In fact, even the name of our #shift event reflects the overwhelming change in our professional and societal behaviors. PGi and iMeet represent the avant garde of products designed to help business leaders redefine not only the way we do business but also the business we do. #shift focuses on conversations that address a variety of topics—from innovation in sustainable design and social enterprise to trends in broadcast media and pop culture. We underscore the importance of interactive conversations by inviting guest speakers to talk shop in an open, roundtable atmosphere. Attendees have the opportunity to share with peers and learn from guests in an impromptu think tank that unfolds and evolves on the spot.

Below is a summary of our events during Austin’s SXSW festival that demonstrates  PGi’s commitment to explore and improve the future of the way we work:

Saturday, March 10th // 4p-6p | “Revolution”: The SXSWi Edition of Brian Solis’ hit web series, hosted by James Andrews

Industry analyst Brian Solis and Social People founder James Andrews lead a conversation that addresses timely issues: Has social media reached its peak or is this just beginning? If only a small percentage of the population engages in social networking, what happens when it moves to the mainstream? What does it mean to be “connected” in the 21st century? What is the true value of social media to businesses? At what point do we lose “followers” and win business?

Sunday, March 11th // 5p-8p | “Soul Food”: A Classic Sunday Dinner with “How to be Black” author, Baratunde Thurston

Enjoy Sunday dinner with some of your favorite personalities in technology. Join us for a chat with Baratunde Thurston about his best-selling new book, “How to be Black.” Dinner will be provided by Dante Fried Chicken.

Monday, March 12th // 10a-2p | “Up in the Air”: On the Move with the Working Nomad

According to Forrester Research, 66% of information workers in the US and Europe already work remotely. Evernote CEO Phil Libin, PGi Digital Nomad Cora Rodenbusch and corporate green strategist Lewis Perkins discuss the implications of the teleworking age and the resultant tools that have emerged .

Featured panelists will share personal experiences, successes, failures, lessons learned, and where they believe the future is heading. Attendees will participate in an open dialogue about working remotely, unconventional workspaces, business travel, and corporate sustainability. These decidedly unique experiences will spark conversations and foster creativity. Our goal is to build collaborative relationships among peers while creating a fun environment to share elevated dialogue about the work we produce.

For more information about the #shift event or to join in the conversation about these progressive and thought-provoking trends, be sure to check out the PGi #shift blog.

 
Todd McCormick

The Digital Sales Call: How to Get Results

Successful sales professionals are making heavy use of online environments to prospect, create relationships, and close deals. But how are they translating the “art” of selling (once thought to be require face-to-face interactions) to an online environment?

Last week, I led a webinar with Selling Power—The Digital Sales Call: How to Get Results. I shared tips and tricks for leveraging technology in ways that will turn your team into a world-class sales force that excels during all sales calls – either in person or online.

Topics that we covered included:

  • How sales teams can leverage the “art” of selling in a digital world
  • Quick ways to establish + create trusting relationships online
  • What online tools sales professionals are using with success
  • New rules of thumb for successful online interactions

The response was pretty incredible. When Gerhard and I first polled the audience at the beginning of the webinar, 35% said they currently use video technology to get face-to-face with prospects. By the end of the call, 95% said they planned to do so.

The fact is, today it’s possible to combine the effectiveness of an in-person sales call with the cost of an inside sales call—and the results can be pretty incredible. My team improved our lead conversations by 40% after we turned on our webcams with iMeet.

Want to know more? You can listen to the PGi webinar or download the slides.

 
Todd McCormick

Is Your Workspace Set Up for Virtual Meeting Success?

Your physical working environment sets the tone for virtual meetings. Are you making that first online impression count? In this blog I’ll share 7 ways savvy sales reps can use their physical environment to improve online meeting performance.

Over 70% of industry average organizations don’t maximized their use of video conferencing technology, according to Aberdeen. Want to make sure you’re not one of that group?

 
Kim Casey

PGi Awarded Frost & Sullivan’s 2011 Product Line Strategy Award

We are proud to announce that Frost & Sullivan, a global leader in research and analysis, has recognized PGi as their 2011 Product Line Strategy Award winners. This prestigious award recognizes PGi’s accomplishments in delivering industry-leading products and solutions that advance videoconferencing software as a service.

iMeet and GlobalMeet were designed with the user in mind and above all, to provide a service that brings simple, personal and mobile video meetings to anyone, anywhere. As Frost & Sullivan Principal Analyst, Ronald Gruia, states, “PGi is perfectly positioned to be the provider of choice in an already growing segment of the videoconferencing hosted services market: desktop videoconferencing.” Coming from a highly regarded firm who uses our products every day, we couldn’t be more thrilled.

Please take a minute to celebrate with us and view this video from Frost & Sullivan’s Vice President, Rufus Connell: