[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Here’s Why Face-to-Face Meetings Are So Important
By John Brandon as written on Inc.com IMAGE: Getty Images
Joe Cowan knows a bit about telecommuting.
As the CEO of Epicor, a business software company, he works remotely from his home in Atlanta even though the 4,000-person firm is based in Austin.
He's served as an inspiration for the rest of the workforce, 25% of whom work at home. (Many of the remaining 75% don't come into work every day.) He accepted the role of CEO in 2013, but before that worked remotely from his home for 15 years.
As a CEO, he is breaking from the norm. For lunch, his wife usually brings him a hot meal from the kitchen. His office during the week is located above his three-stall garage. He doesn't believe in big, fancy executive office suites. Yet, there is one thing he insists is critical in business and insists on as a best practice.
Cowan believes strongly in face-to-face meeting with key managers and other employees to give them his full attention, no matter where he works. He says there's no way he could lead such a large company if he didn't have these weekly meetings. It's an interesting paradigm, because Epicor works mostly with other companies who tend to encourage teleworking and have remote offices.
"My folks who are working remotely really learn how to make distance working relationships work," says Cowan. "And that helps when it comes to cultivating relationships with our customers. Most B2B relationships are distance ones. And because that's often how we operate as a business, we know how to build and foster those relationships--with our employees and customers."
The company uses Skype for Business to make sure everyone is connecting. Cowan says face-to-face meetings are important because remote teleworkers often have a sense of isolation. They need to feel as though they have the same immediate connection that employees in the home office have with each other. That's why he encourages them to text message more than email or even use the phone (which often leads to voice mail) because texting usually leads to a sense of being "in the moment" with other workers. With email and phone, there's a sense that the home office employee will get to the message eventually, which just makes the isolation more pronounced and ruins productivity.
There's nothing more immediate than a video call, he says, other than actually visiting someone in person. (Cowan is a member of the United Airlines 5 Million Mile club, which suggests he tends to "fly home" quite often.) His main concern is that everyone in the company can communicate effectively with one another, which is why Epicor is currently installing videoconferencing hardware for every home worker.
"I want every employee to clearly understand what my goals are for the company, and where each individual employee contributes to the success of meeting those goals," he says. "From a very granular standpoint I encourage all of my managers to hold regular video calls with their at-home colleagues."
So far, the strategy is working.
The company had FY 2014 revenue of $995 million compared to $961.7 million for FY 2013. They recently acquired two retail technology companies, ShopVisible and QuantiSense. Maybe all of those face-to-face meetings are starting to pay off.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Microsoft takes the title this year from longtime defending champion Salesforce.com. Analysts gave the company high marks in company direction (4.5). Ragsdale notes that "Microsoft is heavily investing in [its] CRM platform, adding sophistication across sales, marketing, and service, and as a result is seeing increased adoption by large enterprises." Wettemann singles out as strengths the "Parature service capabilities and knowledge base" as well as "integration with Office 365 and PowerBI," and Ament lauded the company's improved suite of integrated customer engagement products. Its software enables companies to reach customers "via multiple touch points and to do so with enterprise-wide intelligence, supported by Microsoft's Business Analytics platform (PowerBI and Azure Data Services)," Ament said via email.
4 ways you can use technology as a differentiator to grow your business
Understand your customer
Get a 360 degree view of your customers with insights into customer details like buying, service, and communication history in a single place. Use data as a competitive advantage—to help you understand your customers and connect with them on their terms.
Increase your sales
Identify and focus on the customers and opportunities
that will help grow the company. Drive sales best practices across your organization to help you reach your goals.
Get your work done anywhere
Get your teams up and running quickly with a solution that provides a familiar experience—your PC, phone, tablet, and laptop. Work from the device you love.
Work together easily
Bring together the right people wherever they are to take advantage of the combined knowledge of the experts in your organization. Work with the right people, in the context of what you are doing.
“We save around £5,000 (U.S. $8,000) a year with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and our advisers can now use CRM tools on any device they choose.”
Mark Mace, IT Manager
Blackstone Wealth Management
Download .pdf
05 ModernBiz- Brochure CRM
