No Nonsense Conference

When you have associates located over a large area, it can be pretty expensive to get everyone together for important meetings. Travel arrangements, accommodations and an area large enough to house the gathering all add up to some considerable costs.

For many businesses, this is just not an option. What are they to do? Leave their associates to figure things out on their own and hope for the best? Ack! Recipe for disaster!

Have a conference call and get the same results as if your team were all in the same room.

Many options for conference calling are available to fit any budget. How does free sound? For basic conference call programs, there are many free options. You can upgrade the program for a fraction of the travel expenses and get features such as recording and visual options.

Keep up with the big corporations without breaking your bank account.

photo credit: alancleaver_2000

Your conference call is on the right track. Everyone has made their introductions and the meeting is going splendidly.  Suddenly a very large sounding barking dog decides to join the meeting.  Ok. This can be overlooked.  The dog owners ensuing tirade to shush the dog, eh, not so much.

Even though you may be sitting there in your den still wearing your pajamas at three in the afternoon, you must still simulate a professional environment as if you were sitting at a board room table in a smart business suit.

Find a quiet area and use a phone that does not pick up background noise. You don’t want the other participants to think you are attending the meeting from a dark corner in a dance club. If a quiet area is not an option, or your phone picks up every little sound within a 10 mile radius, use the mute button on your end until you need to speak.

If you do use the mute button, be sure any hold music is turned off. The smooth stylings of Barry Manilow are not always a welcome addition at conference calls.

Be familiar with all the buttons and features of the call. Especially if you have muted yourself.  You don’t want to miss the opportunity to share your brilliant contributions to the conversation because you can’t figure out how to be heard.

When you do speak, unless you have already been announced, introduce yourself so everyone knows who is speaking.  This is very helpful to the person that might be taking notes of the call.

Don’t fidget. Don’t rustle through your paperwork. It’s very distracting for other attendees.  If you must cough, sneeze, snap, crackle, or pop- do your absolute best to prevent your ‘functions’ from being blasted over the sound waves.

So just remember, even though you’re wearing your super soft Star Wars Jammies, make sure everyone thinks you’re dressed to the nines.

photo credit: web_ape

A deadline for a major client is looming over your shoulder. With every tick tock from the clock you feel the hot breath of the deadline going further down your back. Stress overcomes reasonable thinking and you go blank on where the completion of the project actually stands.

Relax.

Take a deep breath.

Schedule a conference call with the team.

Get everyone together and find out how everyone is doing with their assigned tasks. Are they on schedule? Has their finished project been reviewed and approved for submission? Who needs help bringing their portion to completion?

Conference calls are a great tool for building teamwork and unifying staff. Re-delegating loose ends to wrap up the final touches happens effortlessly as everyone pulls together for the same cause.

You will begin to notice that hot breath gradually backing away as you take control and start to feel a little better about the whole situation.

By the conclusion of the conference call, your secret weapon, the clock will be subdued into submission once again.

photo credit: alancleaver_2000

A No-Nonsense Conference is a group of 4 but no more than 7 members whom usually meet twice monthly at pre-determined times by telephone.

Having run these groups since November 17, 2003  we have been able to successfully apply teleconference technology to 3 core areas: 1) Sales Meetings & Training, 2) Customer Advisory Boards, 3) Industry Specific Peer Groups.

You choose the core area that’s right for you and your business.

Example: The Sales Meeting & Training groups discuss a variety of topics like: opening new accounts, referral selling, prospecting, specific product applications, specific customer challenges, unique selling situations and much, much more.

The benefits to these groups go far beyond the additional dollars to the bottom-line. There is camaraderie among the participants. It’s peer-to-peer and one-on-one. Like a group of friends sharing stories over breakfast.

“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.” - Niels Bohr

The next time you are lying awake in bed at 2 a.m. wondering how to deal with your entrepreneurial crisis du jour, remember this article and the message I’m going to deliver: find, join, and participate in affinity groups.

Read the entire Inc. article here.