PGi's iMeet Saves a Little Time in a Big Way

By Steve Anderson
Contributing TMCnet Writer

Sales calls can be a difficult thing for businesses, because there's always so much potential for waste. Small talk used in building rapport, travel from one place to another, and so on all contribute. Online calling might seem like a great alternative, but throw in technological headaches and the problem isn't solved so much as it changes shape. But the iMeet system from PGi is helping ARPEDIO Solutions' sales efforts save just a little time from each call using some rather simple technology.

The iMeet system opens up several options for users to meet with clients, including via straight audio, video connection, or by Web conference. The complete array of options is available not only to more stationary users by desktop or laptop PC, but it's also available via mobile as well, allowing users to set up conferences from most anywhere with an active Internet connection. But since the system works so simply, it's trimming a bit of time out of every call.

ARPEDIO's vice president of sales Graham Kelly explained more thoroughly, noting that sales reps were often on the bad end of the technology with other systems. Reps would have to spend between five and seven minutes just getting necessary plug-ins, establishing dial-in numbers and passcodes, and even helping the prospects get up to speed to engage in the conferences in the first place. With iMeet, that changes; now conferences work just right, the first time, every time. It works sufficiently well, reports note, that that five to seven minutes per call combines to trim about six hours a day off of ARPEDIO's operations, almost as if it had hired one more sales rep.

Since iMeet also works with all of the popular video room systems and endpoints as well as a wide array of simpler devices, PGi's system can be easily fit into a current environment, meaning that putting it in place is almost as easy as getting it to work on the sales call. The company also has other unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) tools on hand as part of the larger iMeet portfolio, so checking into these tools may produce some new and exciting solutions.

Sales has always been a numbers game; while technique and skill play a role in things, the more people contacted in a day, the more sales are likely to be made. Trimming off that five to seven minutes a call may not seem like much, but in aggregate it produces almost another person's workday worth of effort. Plus it improves on the client's perception of the company involved; the company in question just looks better this way when the sales rep is making the connection and carrying on, not stopping to troubleshoot a connection or set up the dial-in numbers or things like that. Using a platform that just works goes a long way to improve perception, and when each call is better, and more calls can be made, that improves the likelihood of sales success.

It's not a bulletproof solution, of course; a lot goes into the sales environment in general, and so the use of iMeet alone won't automatically mean greater sales. But it's certainly got benefits to offer, and used properly, it's likely to prove quite the helpful solution long term.