How “Virtual” Meetings Can Help You Close More Sales, Save More Money, And Increase Your Productivity & Profitability

The cost of meeting with prospects and clients is becoming a real financial burden for many businesses.  But thanks to advancements in technology, you can not only save money, but also demonstrate your products and services to more customers, faster and easier than ever before.

Two of the most common ways of holding “virtual” meetings are teleseminars and webinars. If you haven’t already conducted a teleseminar or webinar to connect with your clients and prospects, chances are that you’ve at least been invited to one.

Both are simply a presentation delivered to folks via a conference line or online meeting which saves you in travel, hotel rooms, gas, and meals. It also saves an incredible amount of time. GoToMeeting.com and GoToWebinar.com (both owned by Citrix) are the big vendors in this space. Another two in the running are Webex.com and the new Acrobat.com

These web-based meeting services do not require expensive equipment or software; you simply download their application right over the web and you instantly have access to web-based tools that enable you to share your screen or PowerPoint with any number of people.

Paul Hartwell, a marketing consultant in Chicago, takes advantage of “old school” thinking.  Following each virtual web meeting, he sends his clients a generous gift certificate to a local restaurant with a note that includes a recap of the meeting and ends with how much he knows the ‘business meal’ will be enjoyed when out with a friend or significant other.

Teleseminars follow the same principle, but are purely phone-based conference calls. The advantage of a teleseminar is that anyone can dial in from any phone; however you lose the ability to show a PowerPoint, poll users, and chat via a Q&A window. If you sell a service that doesn’t need to be demonstrated, a teleseminar will work just fine. I recommend using a company called VoiceText.com out of Austin, Texas.