Why Collaboration is Crucial for Business
So, you FINALLY got your hot prospect to reply to your attempts to land them as a customer. Now the fun really begins. The prospect’s initial response is just the tip of the iceberg because so many details are required for a successful prospect-to-customer experience – no matter what industry or vertical your company is in. It’s time to “get into the weeds” on everything from design details to delivery dates to invoicing procedures. Additionally, each prospect is different on how they like to engage and provide information to you and your organization. Some like email, some texting, some prefer voice. But the most important thing is that you, as your company’s point of contact, are available anytime, anywhere to your prospect and your internal team. What’s the best way to do this? Business collaboration on the fly.
As a team member in an IT engineering firm, many human resources are required to make a customer sale come together successfully. This means that there needs to be an easy way to transmit prospect-provided information to the internal team while continuing to collaborate with the customer quickly. The ability for everyone involved to meet on a moment’s notice, to reply to questions promptly, and to share documents and information is critical to a successful sale. After all, your prospect chose you because of your customer service and your team’s ability to get the job done, right?
Prior to engaging with a prospect, your company needs to have a solid collaboration platform that allows everyone, including the prospect, to participate in the collaboration process as a team. A product like Cisco Webex Teams (formerly Cisco Spark) makes this very simple and easy. Emails, text messages, voicemails, images, white boarding sessions, documents, and other types of information can be shared with the team via Cisco Webex Teams, resulting in one place where the data is collected. A Cisco Webex Teams or Room is where all of the “weeds information” can be collected and disseminated through the team, ultimately providing the prospect a way to say “Yes” to your company’s proposal.
3 Benefits of Collaboration in Business
1. It creates flexibility amongst team members and customers
2. Achieve goals faster because everyone can easily be on the same page
3. Ease in communication offers more creative solutions
Part of this collaboration standardization needs to include the ability to collaborate anytime, anywhere, on any device. Since your prospect is a key part of this collaboration, he or she also needs to be easily included, at no cost or inconvenience to them. In other words, the collaboration method needs to be simple! Cisco Webex Teams has what is called “universal federation” – a fancy term for “collaborate with anyone, anytime, anywhere, on any device” even if the prospect is not a paid user of Cisco Webex Teams. Universal federation applies to every single feature that Cisco Webex Teams has – voice calling, video calling, content sharing, team spaces, messaging, white boarding on your cell phone, and more. By providing your prospect with a simple install of Cisco Webex Teams, they are now part of your sales process and contributing to your success as well as their own.
Because Cisco Webex Teams works on ANY device, you and your team are ready for collaboration on the fly. Be confident that collaboration on the fly, using Cisco Webex Teams, will turn prospects into customers for life!
If you have questions about collaboration and how it can help your business succeed and gain additional clients, give us a call at 616.837.6930. We’re helping clients throughout West Michigan use business collaboration to message, meet, and call instantly in a way that strengthens relationships, increases productivity, and speeds up decision making.
By Leo Reap, IT Resource Vice President & Senior Partner
