How Video Conferencing is Creating Global Business Opportunities

Ask anyone previously considered an office worker to describe their schedule, and you’ll likely hear at least one mention of Zoom meetings.

In recent years, meetings conducted through streaming video have exploded in popularity. While their novelty has worn off for many employees, the transformational impact of video conferencing on business cannot be overstated. Seemingly overnight, businesses have been able to access markets around the world they could only dream of entering even five years ago.

Here are a few ways video conferencing opens up new business opportunities for companies worldwide.

• Lowers Barriers for Prospect Meetings

Before video conferencing gained widespread adoption, sales meetings were typically conducted in one of two ways: In person or over the phone. Both of these options have their drawbacks.

Sales is relationship-driven. While customers take into account factors such as a company’s product features and the level of customer service it provides when deciding between vendors, their relationship with the account executive leading the sales process can prove critical if the differences between the vendors are negligible.

Sales calls conducted over the phone can limit the degree to which sales teams are able to develop relationships with prospects. Without face-to-face contact, it can be difficult to build trust and showcase personality since body language plays such a key in both.

This inability to build relationships over the phone explains why companies paid to have their sales teams meet with prospects on-site. Of course, not all companies can afford to pay for flights, food, and hotel rooms for every sales meeting—especially for clients located overseas. Video conferencing combines the convenience of the phone with the personal touch of an in-person meeting, enabling companies of all sizes to close deals with clients around the world.

• Allows Employees to Collaborate with Colleagues Around the World

Although modern technology makes it possible for businesses on one side of the globe to serve customers on the other side, there’s still value in having employees located near the clients the company serves.

Having employees located in areas of the world where customers are highly concentrated serves several purposes. For example, a company may need an employee to attend a critical meeting with a client overseas in person to demonstrate its commitment to its relationship with the client. It also establishes credibility in the country with key stakeholders, including government regulators and members of the nation’s business community.

Employees located abroad must be able to easily collaborate with their colleagues in the nation in which the company is headquartered. Video conferencing makes this type of collaboration easy. Colleagues can easily share documents and receive feedback at the moment. The ease with which co-workers can share information reduces the need for companies to invest in office space abroad and redirect it toward Zoom room equipment so their employees can work remotely.

• Engages Customers Worldwide through Live Events

Live streamers on sites such as YouTube and Twitch draw in millions of viewers at a time, and companies are starting to take notice.

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, live webinars became very popular. Employees working from home attended webinars to gain insight from industry experts, while the companies hosting webinars generated qualified leads. Video conferencing software makes it possible for any company to host their own webinar.

For example, Zoom’s event and webinar service allows participants to easily register for upcoming webinars. Once the webinar begins, they can ask questions and obtain a recording of the webinar with only a few clicks.

The ability to host live events significantly increases the awareness of a business among customers worldwide. Prospective customers can discover a company and learn how it addresses their needs by attending a webinar. These live events also offer companies an outlet through which they can engage existing customers and promote upselling, cross-selling, and referrals.

Webinars are both low-lift for businesses while also being highly effective at driving new business globally.

• Improves Coordination Across Time Zones

A company with locations in different time zones faces significant barriers to communication between employees.

For example, imagine a company located in Los Angeles that has employees in the United Kingdom. When employees in L.A. are beginning their days, those in the U.K. are ending their’s. Finding time slots where all employees are available for meetings would be nearly impossible. Video conferencing makes asynchronous coordination simpler than ever before.

Rather than forcing colleagues overseas to stay up late or wake up early to attend meetings, companies can schedule them when most employees are available and then share recordings with those who were unable to attend. The ability to record meetings ensures no employee misses out on key information covered during the session and ensures a company’s headquarters and locations abroad are always working in sync.

• Enables Faster Responses to Customer Concerns

“Let’s hop on a video call” is a phrase you’ll often hear as an employee at many companies today. Connecting with co-workers and customers is as easy as clicking a few buttons.

Responding to customer concerns is just as simple. Previously, addressing a customer’s challenge might involve hopping on a phone call, which led to frequent miscommunication and misunderstanding. Alternatively, a teammate may have been dispatched to handle their concern on-site. Unsurprisingly, this process was costly and inefficient.

Now, companies can quickly send over a link to a video conference and handle the concern immediately. The ability to share screens and transcribe speech to text also reduces the chances of miscommunication, allowing representatives to quickly and cost-effectively resolve most concerns a customer might have.

Think Globally

Video conferencing is revolutionizing how business is conducted globally. It’s creating a business environment where deals close faster, workers collaborate more effectively, and customers engage with vendors in ways never thought possible.