An Engaged Workforce: Building a Team for Results with Trust, Freedom and Accountability

Presented by: Wally Hauck
Date: Thursday, March 18, 2010
Time: 2pm ET / 12pm MT

Register Now!

Join Wally Hauck and create an environment that enables employees to engage. Wally Hauck, the Team Building Consultant, explains how to create an environment of freedom, trust, and accountability and deliver more of what CEO’s are looking for from the workforce of the future.

In this webinar participants will learn:
•  Key factors for creating a culture of high performance and engagement
•  How to implement key factors for high performance and engagement
•  How to identify and remove barriers that prevent engagement
•  3 Key strategies to create a lasting culture of trust and accountability – without threats or bribes

Join Wally and discover the need for engaged employees. Consider this:
•  The key asset of any successful firm is the brainpower of its people
•  Workers are less and less interchangeable
•  Complexity of the new competitive world requires continuous information exchange

This is an hour well spent for anyone who works within a workforce that is strenuous and disengaged. Register today!

Who Should Attend: Everyone

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

Working at a small company gives employees the opportunity to dream, think, and contribute to product development, enhancements, and how we market and sell to our customers.  At Copper Conferencing, talking with our customers is as close as picking up the phone, whether you are in Marketing, Customer Service, Accounting or Sales.  We count it a privilege to hear what our customers tell us that they care about, what it is that they need, or what they would like to have from conferencing in future days/years.

Although predicting the future is not likely, peeking around the next corner isn’t out of reach.  The combination of customer desires and employee dreams of future possibilities launch ideas, and ideas become ways of doing things better.

2010 is the year of doing conferencing better, easier, less expensively.  At Copper, this means partnerships with leading web conferencing providers to provide an expanded menu of service and choices for our diverse customers.  It means introducing Local Dial In as a connection option to drive your costs down.  It means having a  Conference Coach available to you every time you call us, and Connect To Copper, a state of the art Customer Portal for you to  self-access and manage your  conferencing account whenever you need to.

Wherever you are, we are here. We have expanded our menu, giving you new choices, and making conferencing easier.

Try Copper for free!

1.    Logon to Connect To Copper at www.connect2copper.com
2.    Enter your conference ID and PIN
3.    Select “reports” and then “recordings”

Carolyn Bradfield

One of the key things to remember about the Channel Partners Show in Las Vegas is the word “partner.”   Channel partners are independent business people who are experts in telecommunications services and  “partner” with technology providers to recommend and offer services to their customers.  Their customers are not large enough to staff up with a telecommunications or IT professional, so having an independent 3rd party help them make these types of decisions is critical to having the right services at the right price.

Copper Conferencing has a number of partnerships with telecommunications agents as well as technology providers.  Here are some thoughts about partnerships, focusing on what makes a good partnership and what destroys one.

Good Partnerships

• Partnerships are based on trust. You have to trust your partner to represent you appropriately and they have to trust you will deliver what you promised when you promised it.
• They have well defined relationships. Anxiety always comes from un-met expectations.  If partners know what to expect from each other, misunderstandings and conflict are minimized.
• Partnerships hold boundaries. Once the partnership rules are defined, if either of the partners operates outside of those defined rules, then the partner must communicate that a boundary has been breached and how to re-establish it.
• Partnerships are collaborative. Sometimes the rules need to change.  Sometimes what is being delivered needs to be adjusted.  Good partnerships make change a collaborative process, involving all parties.
• Partnerships must have processes to resolve conflict. If there are disagreements partners must have a plan and process to appropriately communicate and resolve the issue.

Interestingly, one key topic of conversation at this particular show was the issue of “channel conflict.”  Channel conflict specifically refers to organizations that use partners to generate revenue alongside with having their own direct sales force.  Conflict results when that direct sales force encroaches on a partner’s customer.  Because a direct sales force can likely sell services at a lower price than the partner, then conflict becomes inherent if there are no rules of engagement, little pricing discipline, or mechanisms to determine which channel is best positioned to serve the customer.

At Copper Conferencing, we have both channel partners and a direct sales force.  Our rules of engagement are quite clear relative to our partners.  If the partner is in a deal, we withdraw because generally the partner has a broader relationship with the customer and is better positioned to make conferencing a part of their overall package.  We discipline our sales organization with pricing controls so they are not undercutting our partners inadvertently.  If we encroach without realizing it, we immediately communicate to the partner so they are aware that their customer has been entertaining offers outside the influence of the channel partner.

This is a respectful way to do business and creates the trust that the channel partner needs to know that we are focused on what is in the best interest of Copper Conferencing, the partner, and the partner’s customer.  Unfortunately, this philosophy is not consistent in our industry.  The largest conferencing company (and we all know who they are) doesn’t respect the need to manage channel conflict.  They unleash their direct sales organization on anybody and everybody, have very little pricing discipline not thinking twice about undercutting their partners, and no mechanism to determine who is best positioned to serve the customer.

In the short time that I wandered by their blue and white booth, I overheard several agents with their list of customers that this provider encroached on and the unfortunate channel managers who had to explain that there was nothing they could do about it.  Wake up channel partners!  If you are in a relationship like this, then think long and hard about whether there is trust in this relationship.   It’s not enough to like your point of contact.  They are probably really nice people.  However, your provider must have a mechanism to define boundaries, rules of engagement and resolve conflict.  Otherwise, every customer you do business with is at risk.  What kind of partnership is that really?

Carolyn Bradfield is the CEO of Copper Conferencing, a leading provider or audio and web conferencing and wrap-around services to enhance customer experience. To learn more about Copper Conferencing, visit www.copperconferencing.com.

Carolyn Bradfield

I’m out of Las Vegas and winging my way back to Atlanta.  Fortunately I got upgraded to first class which is a good thing because the airplane is crowded and I need to be fed so I can feel better.  Again, I’d like to make sure everyone remembers that I didn’t wake up to a tiger or an unidentified baby in my room.

Normally my policy on airplanes is not to talk to anyone around me, but I made an exception this time.  My next-door neighbor is Daniel a professional hockey player from Canada and I couldn’t resist asking him about his perspective on Canada’s big win in the Olympics.  Hockey is not my thing and I think if you’re from the South, you’re more focused on sports like SEC football, which is like a religion in the state of Georgia.

I asked Daniel to describe for me what he thinks we should know about Canada’s win at the games and about hockey in general.  Here’s what he told me.

1. The best players in the world come from Canada – look at Sidney Crosby as the example.  Personally, I think the reason this might be true is that a large part of the country is like the frozen tundra a lot of the year so that’s all these guys have to do for fun.
2. The USA needs to get over its obsession about winning the most medals.  Canada won the most gold.  Daniel says we should focus on quality not quantity.  If you look statistically at Canada with its much smaller population, then per capita they took it to us in the medal count.
3. We should get over the women’s team’s celebration.  They worked themselves to death for 4 years, are true amateurs and deserve to celebrate just like the men did without criticism.  (I wholeheartedly agree)

For all of you who think hockey is a violent sport, Daniel would agree with you.  To him, it’s all about intimidation.  If you’re intimidated, you may be likely to flinch.  If you flinch, then you may be likely to hesitate.  If you hesitate, the other guy can go around you and score.  That totally makes sense.  Despite his admitted aggressive play, Daniel still has all of his teeth, so I’m not sure what message that sends about his fighting ability.

Now, here’s where Daniel and I might just part ways.  He believes that any hockey player can do any football player’s job.  Daniel’s exact quote is, “Can you see a 325 pound football player put a pair of skates on.  We do everything that football players do, but at 35 miles an hour.”  Maybe we should test that theory.  Take the best hockey players and put them against the NFL all stars.  I know who my money would be on.

I learned a lot at the Channel Partners Show and one of my lessons is to be more interested in the guy next to me on the airplane.  People are way interesting.  Also, I plan to sell Daniel’s company some conference calling.  His company is my ideal customer profile.  They have 29 locations, lots of sales guys on the road and use conferencing to conduct sales calls, have remote meetings, show their graphic designs and get business done.  Love those Canadians, eh!

Carolyn Bradfield is the CEO of Copper Conferencing, a leading provider or audio and web conferencing and wrap-around services to enhance customer experience. To learn more about Copper Conferencing, visit www.copperconferencing.com.

Carolyn Bradfield

If anyone has seen the classic and Oscar-worthy movie, The Hangover, you can get a perspective of the night’s activity AFTER the show.  Keep reading, I’ll get to that in a minute.   First, the Channel Partners Show.

One of the side benefits of coming to the Channel Partner’s show is having people with interesting services and technology stop by your booth and let you know what they offer.  I’m constantly thinking about what Copper Conferencing’s customers might be interested in.  For example, there is a mobile assistant company that has a system for you to call in, dictate notes into their technology and have an email transcript sent to you.  I may try that out some time.  Another company offers a way to connect to a conference call from any international location through your computer’s speakers.  Worthy of looking into.

There were a number of conferencing companies here with us at the show and it comforts me to know that Copper is still very much ahead of the curve in offering our customers more services, more automation and a better customer experience.  Our Connect To Copper online customer portal is head and shoulders above any automated account management system.  We’re the only company offering nationwide local dial in.   Our strategy of offering market leading web conferencing services, integrated with audio, is exactly what customers are looking for.   I like who Copper is and how we stack up against the competition.

Also worth noting is that our show was right across the hall from the medical marijuana convention.  You should have seen the dreadlocks and the pot leaf imprints on everyone’s clothes.  They looked like rejects from a Woodstock concert.  Medical marijuana was legalized in Colorado with little to no regulation.  Now there are more medical marijuana locations in Colorado than Starbucks.   I’m sure the folks at the Lowes Home Improvement convention had a heart attack looking at these guys.  Home improvement guys are a conservative group after all.

Now for the Oscar-worthy “The Hangover” moments.  We got invited to some cool parties.  One of the fun ones ended up at a Smokey Robinson Motown review which was super-cheesy, but a blast to hear the classic old songs.  Of course, a few of the guests (who shall remain nameless) left early when they discovered that the singers weren’t going to take their clothes off. Look at the picture – why did they care?   I can’t really talk about the rest of the night because my life has been threatened.  I’ll leave it up to your imagination.

Just so all of you will know.  None of us woke up with a tiger or unidentified baby in our room.  We weren’t threatened by Mike Tyson.  Nobody pulled out their tooth on a bet.  Nobody got married without realizing it.  All in all, a successful show and fun experience.  Viva Las Vegas and see you next year.

Carolyn Bradfield is the CEO of Copper Conferencing, a leading provider or audio and web conferencing and wrap-around services to enhance customer experience. To learn more about Copper Conferencing, visit www.copperconferencing.com.

Carolyn Bradfield

The Channel Partners show kicked off with a flurry last night at the Mandalay Bay hotel with an open house in the exhibit hall.  The Copper Conferencing booth was strategically positioned right next to the food and the open bar, so we had a large group of people that hung out and visited with us, some waiting for the drink line to get shorter.

Aside from Copper Conferencing, there were a number of other conferencing companies in our industry who were present.  One of the hot topics for those at the show who know Copper and our industry is our newly-announced partnership with PGi (Premiere Global).  It is common in our industry to have buy-sell arrangements with other vendors.  None of us have the funds or band width to develop everything we sell.

In Copper’s world, we develop a lot of the key technology we are know for such as Connect To Copper, Copper Link, the Phoenix system and a soon to be announced Copper Mobile application for the iPhone and Blackberry.  For other technology, we take advantage of a larger company’s relationships and buying power and form partnerships such as the one we have formed with PGi.  They have helped us add new web conferencing to our product mix with the recent announcement that we now offer Adobe® Connect Pro, Microsoft® Live Meeting and Cisco WebEx®.  The have a much more extensive global network, extending our customer’s ability to execute both domestic and global conference calls.  We are really excited about what this means for the Copper Conferencing customer.

Now, just so you don’t think we’re boring and this is all business, we are having a little fun out here.  Remembering that what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, I’ll give you a little peek behind the curtain.  Yesterday, I had a fun meeting with one of our channel partners, who I have promised not to name in my blog.  Come to find out that he took Paula Abdul to his high school prom in his junior year.  (I have asked for pictures as proof, but this seems real!).  She wore teal taffeta and was the best dancer, cutest cheerleader and overall nicest person in high school.  I’m awe stuck and glad to hear that given that I have been an American Idol fan for years!  I hear our channel partner was a stud in high school – tight end, star football player and overall hunk.  (You can still see this in him today!)

We did get invited to a couple of cool parties tonight – going to hear Smokey Robinson and the Miracles if any of you are old enough to remember how great he is and then afterwards were invited to another party at Drais on the Las Vegas Strip.  It may be a long night tonight!

Back home in Atlanta, I hear it’s blizzard conditions, so I may have to take one for the team and stay here a little longer if flights are delayed – I’ll suck it up and be a trooper and try and practice my newly acquired gambling skills to see if I can improve the $15 I have won over the last 2 days!

More from the channel show tomorrow!

Carolyn Bradfield is the CEO of Copper Conferencing, a leading provider or audio and web conferencing and wrap-around services to enhance customer experience. To learn more about Copper Conferencing, visit www.copperconferencing.com.

Internet Marketing for Rapid-Fire Success

Presented by: Debbie Allen
Date: Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Time: 2pm ET / 12pm MT

Register Now!

Join Debbie Allen to discover online marketing strategies that will help you instantly connect with viewers and dramatically increases your online sales.

You will learn how to:
•  Implement powerful online marketing strategies that create proven results
•  Add benefit-rich headlines and attention-grabbing text that increases sales
•  Instantly improve the image and effectiveness of your website
•  Get listed higher on search engines and create more online exposure
•  Use email and social media sites to gain exposure to your website

Join Debbie to discover 7 ways to entice more online buyers, plus 6 ways to build online traffic fast! Register today.

This is an hour well spent for anyone who is trying to find more ways to improve their website.

Who Should Attend: Marketing, Business Owners, Anyone interested in boosting sales

Have questions about Copper Conferencing or need to do an audio conference or web meeting?  Contact a Conference Coach today.

The show kicks off tonight, so I thought I would start with my impressions of Las Vegas first.  A year ago, the city was reeling from high unemployment, a low number of visitors, empty hotel rooms and unfinished construction projects.  Obama compounded the issue by publicly stating that when the economy is bad you shouldn’t go to Vegas.

A year later, things aren’t much better.  The fabulous City Center is now complete with its high end Tiffany and Gucci stores, but there is a glaring lack of people that were there and willing to pay the prices.  Everywhere else, stores are closing or they are selling off inventory and the casinos are hurting for gamblers.  Since Vegas hosts a number of business conventions, I would maintain that so goes Vegas, so goes the economy and the country.  The recovery isn’t in full bloom and certainly hasn’t helped “Sin City.”

We decided to stay at the Luxor, only a short walk to the Mandalay Bay Hotel that is host to the convention, because of the super special room rates – $100 for a suite, you can’t beat it!  However, the hotel is aging and hasn’t come up to par with modern times.  Here is my advice for hotels like the Luxor to stay relevant to the business and convention customer that will certainly come back to Vegas over time:

• No hotel should be without WiFi.  Get a clue – we all have laptops.
• Get rid of those tired bedspreads and linens.  Use the white “hotel bed” look.
• Same with towels – upgrade them!  (And add bathrobes)
• Use better products in the bathroom – we like gels, high end shampoo, etc
• Change out your TV’s to flat screens

We kick off the Channel Partners Show tonight.  I’m excited to see many of the telecommunications agents that send Copper Conferencing business.  I’m excited to see the vendors and exhibitors and find out what’s new and relevant.

Welcome to my journey at the Channel Partners Show.

Denver, CO, February 25, 2010 — Copper Conferencing today announced the launch of a new suite of audio and web conferencing services to enhance the company’s collaboration offering and provide better value for Copper customers. These new offerings come as a result of an agreement with Premiere Global Services, Inc., now known as PGi, a leading provider of meeting and collaboration solutions.

“By teaming with PGi we are adding new web and audio conferencing capabilities to our suite of collaboration services,” said Carolyn Bradfield, CEO of Copper Conferencing.  “As a worldwide leader in conferencing, PGi delivers technologies that will enhance our audio conferencing capabilities and expand Copper’s web conferencing services to create an extremely rich experience, at a competitive price for our customers.”

Copper’s new web conferencing offerings include Adobe® Acrobat Connect Pro, Microsoft® Live Meeting and Cisco WebEx®.   Integrated with Copper Conferencing’s On Demand audio conferencing platform, these web technologies provide increased capabilities for webinars and web conferences from simple meetings, to nationwide training or complex corporate events.  Copper Conferencing offers a free trial of each of these services prior to a purchase decision and both per minute and subscription pricing.  To sign up for a free trial, visit www.copperconferencing.com/go/0bf53.

“By offering market-leading web conferencing services from PGi, we can expand Copper’s ability to deliver cost effective virtual sales calls, lead generation webinars, trainings, event management and remote customer service,” Bradfield added. “When businesses actively seek tools to better manage their operations, sales and staff, we can keep them connected and competitive, while at the same time saving them money.

In addition to enhanced audio conferencing capabilities, Copper is also introducing a new ‘Local Dial-In’ service that is available nationwide at a reduced rate.  Customers can now connect to On Demand conference calls using a local or toll-free number, as well a variety of international access from locations across the globe.

Copper Conferencing’s automated audio conferencing service, On Demand now offers expanded capabilities including additional call controls, added security features, plus the ability to subconference. The Connect To Copper™ customer portal features powerful, easy-to-use online account management tools with the ability to manage moderators, pay invoices and view usage reports.  New features include the ability to manage billing codes and listen to and download MP3 files of conferencing recordings.

About Copper Conferencing
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado with a major communications center in Atlanta, Georgia, Copper Conferencing provides audio conferencing and web conferencing services to small and medium-sized businesses. Copper’s Conference Coaches™ provide expert guidance of enhanced conferencing services. From On Demand reservationless audio conference calls, to highly interactive webinars and special teleconference event calls, Copper Conferencing helps businesses save time and money while improving productivity. Copper’s conferencing services are backed by fully managed, carrier-class platforms to power communication for thousands of customers. For more information about Copper Conferencing, www.copperconferencing.com or call a Conference Coach at 866-903-7521.

Adobe Connect Pro, Microsoft Live Meeting and Cisco WebEx are registered trademarks of the respective owners.

Press contact:
Alycia Maier-Turner
Copper Conferencing
303-952-4308
pr@copperconferencing.com

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