Carolyn Bradfield

A while ago, I shared my “mystery shopping” experience in the conferencing industry.  For those of you who are unfamiliar, a mystery shopper is someone who uses a service, shops in a store or eats at a restaurant and gives feedback for improvement to the owners.

InterCall was the focus of my mystery shopping adventure when my husband (who has a different last name than mine) attempted to set up a new InterCall account which took weeks and a lot of steps to get simple reservationless conferencing service.  After the blog, I think InterCall figured out who my husband was and never delivered the account information or an invoice in the mail.

Had they done that, he would have incurred a $25 invoice fee to get a mailed invoice and a conference minimum fee that would have kicked off when he dialed in to see if his number worked.  That would have cost $15.  There would have also been a number of other fees and charges and in reality he could have been hit with around $40 in fees and taxes without even conducting one conference call.

We didn’t confine our mystery shopping to InterCall.   We also tested Premiere Global (PGi) and had a similarly negative experience.  My husband signed up for an account online and purchased a “Ready Conference Plus 100 Pack” for 1 year.  What is a Ready Conference Plus 100 Pack, you ask?  This bundled price includes 100 minutes a month for $10.95 and you get charged whether you use them or not.  Do the math and you’ll realize this service is selling for $.11 a minute for a no-reservation, automated conference call.

We got an invoice this time,  opened it, only to be socked with a $20.90 bill without ever dialing in to try the service.  Like InterCall, there was an invoice fee to mail the bill, but unlike them there was this fixed monthly charge.  There was no customer service number on the invoice and after a lot of searching the web site, we found a “sales number” and were eventually transferred to customer service.

After a 10 minute hold time, we spoke with a customer service person who informed us that this was the service that was signed up for on the website and we were obligated to keep it even though it didn’t suit our purpose.  After 5 minutes of attempting to make our point and getting nowhere, we asked to close the account.  The agent refused unless we faxed in a request along with a good enough reason to shut it down.  (How about – you’re overcharging me and I didn’t use it!)  After reasoning with the agent, he agreed to accept an email request to close the account.  He never offered an optional service, a better rate, or seemed to care if we used Premiere or not.

Months ago, Copper Conferencing introduced the “Conferencing Bill of Right.s”  If you use Premiere or InterCall – the two big guys, you should take this seriously.  Unlike the “Goliaths” of the industry, Copper Conferencing will never do the following:
•    Charge you to receive an invoice in the mail so you can pay your bill.
•    Hide our customer service or billing inquiries number so you can’t find us.
•    Not help you find the service that matches your needs.
•    Charge minimums or miscellaneous fees not required by the federal government
•    Implement crazy pricing packages to disguise high rates

There are a lot of things, however, that we will do:
•    Constantly look for ways for you to manage cost
•    Make ourselves available if you want to talk to us
•    Give you on-line access to your invoices and accounts so you can control your access to information
•    Find new ways to connect to us or use our services that make it easier and more efficient for you to conference.

Some conferencing companies have joined the likes of industries like the airline industry that are holding the line on revenue by charging fees instead of finding customers that want to use those services.  Remember baggage fees, exit row fees, food fees and other surcharges?  Look at your Premiere and InterCall bill and maybe you’ll see some similarities.

Copper Conferencing is not one of the big guys, but we’re definitely one of the good guys!

Carolyn Bradfield is the CEO of Copper Conferencing, a leading provider or audio and web conferencing and wrap-around services to enhance customer experience. You can try Copper’s great web and audio conferencing services — FREE.  Just sign up now.

Copper Conferencing

As a conferencing company focusing on the small to mid-sized business market, the Inside Sales team at Copper Conferencing is primarily staffed with recent college grads, eager for experience.  Although claiming to be willing to be developed and tutored, the introduction into the world of sales can often be a bit of an adjustment, if not downright uncomfortable.  That first sales job means confronting new expectations, quotas and revenue demands, and making your own living that is entirely dependent upon your efforts.  It can be a greater jolt than expected, with a steeper learning curve than anticipated.

Bringing fresh-out-of-college salespeople up to par involves both personal and professional skill development:

• What defines a workday?  What are reasonable work hours if you are to succeed?
• What is appropriate office attire? What is appropriate office language? What is appropriate office interaction between co-workers?
• What is the correct protocol for business email?
• How do you sound on the phone?  Do you sound professional and friendly when you speak?

Of no less importance, the effective manager of such an organization must know the difference between intention and results.  New salespeople often erroneously see these as equal.

• Following training, sales managers of a young sales team must model every direction given to their team:  show them what you are asking them to do – how to research a lead, how to call/prospect, how to set a sales appointment, how to execute a sales appointment.  Let them model their behavior after yours.
• Setting clear expectations with frequent feedback is critical to the success of a young team. The manager is responsible to hold up a mirror so that the salesperson can see the connection between behavior and results – a key to this is doing so on a more frequent, rather than less frequent, basis.
• Micro-management of these hires is not only smart, it is absolutely necessary.  From experience, I know that allowing someone to veer off-track on results without immediate course correction establishes a habit that can be nearly impossible to break.

One great benefit of a young sales team is the energy and enthusiasm they bring to the job. If eager to learn, they willingly take on any challenge and work like crazy to be successful. Having no previous experience, old habits are non-existent, so training can be geared toward the focus of Copper Conferencing’s ideal customer.  We are confident that we are providing a great opportunity in an increasingly expanding market when we hire inexperienced salespeople, knowing that the sales experience they receive from Copper Conferencing will set a solid sales foundation for their future sales careers.

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

Carolyn Bradfield

Every time a new employee starts with Copper Conferencing, I usually take the portion of their training that includes an historical perspective of the industry.  After all, I’ve been in the industry longer that most people I know (other than my friend Mike Burns).  One perspective that is difficult to get across to our younger people is just how much conferencing has transformed how American business operates.

I started my business career in the information technology division of General Electric (GEISCO).  Even though we had email back in the early 80’s (way before the rest of the world did), management was generally focused on setting policy and dictating that policy to the rest of us.  We weren’t asked our opinion about how things should work; we were told what we needed to do to execute GE’s business plan.  Being a cog in the wheel was a good description of how employees were viewed.

After GE, I evolved to the voice mail industry.  Phone systems didn’t have voice mail, so our company (Async) sold it as a service.  Sales operations jumped on the chance to leave voice messages vs. written messages with administrative assistants and our business took off.  Voice mail was for one-way informational messages and companies continued to tell their employees. how to execute the plan, not create or add to the plan.

Then along came conference calling.  We began talking to regional managers who spent each Monday on the phone calling their people one at a time to deliver information, repeat policy and deliver action items.  Conferencing changed all of that.  Instead of just being able to deliver a one-way informational message, dispersed organizations were able to get their people on a call once a week.  Now, there could be a conversation.  What are you seeing from the competition?  What is the best strategy to win deals?  How should we address this issue?  All of a sudden, employees were being asked to contribute their thoughts, their opinions, their information and their insights.  Business began to transform from being management-directed to being collaborative.

This is a simple concept, but it’s absolutely transformational in the way people thought about their jobs, their companies and themselves.  Employees realized that they experienced the same obstacles as other employees.  They knew there were others who had creative ways to outdistance the competition.  They had a way to share their victories with others and stay motivated.  They counted and their opinion mattered.  They were a part of the process.

With younger employees, it’s almost taken for granted that they will be asked their opinion and asked to contribute to the collective wisdom of the company.  However, that transformation may never have happened if it were not for a technology like conference calling that made it convenient, affordable and easy to bring people together.

Sometimes when I wonder what my overall contribution to business is going to be remembered for, I can point to how I showed companies how a simple technology like audio conferencing could transform their organizations into a more competitive and collaborative culture…..how management could turn directives into conversations….how they could improve morale and the value of their employees.  Simple technology, transformational results!

Carolyn Bradfield

Although it seems like it, I haven’t been in the conferencing industry my whole career.  In fact, I’ve done some pretty interesting things – taught English, worked for a newspaper, wrote a book.  One of the most gratifying things that I’ve ever done is to start and run an adolescent wilderness therapy program – Phoenix Outdoor.

So what is wilderness therapy and how does this fit in the picture of a long-standing career in conferencing?  Adolescents that engage in behavior that put them at significant risk sometimes run out of options when parents can’t correct that behavior despite the best efforts of therapists, psychiatrists, or school counselors.  Wilderness therapy removes adolescents from their risky environment and places them in a natural setting so that issues driving negative behavior can be identified and addressed as they hike, camp, work with a peer group and talk to therapists.

One of the common threads in families we worked with was that parents were crushed by having to commit their child to a program like Phoenix.  Instead of planning for prom, watching the Friday night high school game or helping with homework, they have to face the fact that their child snorted cocaine, failed in school, or ran away from home.  They have to explain their child’s absence from home and school to family and friends that may not understand.  They feel alone and isolated.

Getting parents to come out of their isolation and gain support from each other was critical to helping the family heal while their kids were in treatment.   Phoenix kids came from all over the country so they couldn’t come to the program to get to know each other.  Fortunately, I was in the teleconferencing industry and relied on the service to connect these people together.

Each week, they attended a Monday support conference call where the parents could talk about their feelings and how having a child in treatment affected their family.  They came to a webinar where we dealt with common issues such as setting boundaries or Internet addiction.  They visited with a family therapist over conferencing.  With minimal cost and no disruption to family routines, parents and siblings were able to vent, heal, collaborate and work through a plan for success once the child completed the program.  They were no longer alone.

The program succeeded and was later acquired by a much larger player in the industry.  Why wilderness you ask?  I was one of those parents whose child ran out of options, who tried everything and who sent their child to the woods – in January!  I was embarrassed, traumatized, confused, and yes alone.  What I wouldn’t have given to be on a conference call with others so I could talk about it.

This is a call to treatment providers everywhere whose families are spread out while children are in treatment.  Conferencing is easy, inexpensive and can make a powerful impact on the lives of families who are struggling to heal and move forward.  They need to know that others have the same problems and issues, that they aren’t bad parents, and they are not alone.

You can try Copper Conferencing free for 30 days and make your business and the lives of your client easier. Read more now!

Carolyn Bradfield

I said I was going to curtail travel to avoid the H1N1 Swine Flu, but I need to visit our Denver office and have relented – I fly there Tuesday.   I watched the news tonight only to find that contentious passengers who have come down with the virus are having a very difficult time changing their tickets.  I guess the airlines would rather have someone sick on their airplanes than allow passengers to make a change.  I’m not liking my chances here.

Now to my second issue.  Denver, what’s up with no rental cars? This is the 3rd time this year that I have gone online in advance and not been able to get a rental car anywhere in your city.  Not at the airport, not downtown, not anywhere.  Does your convention and visitor’s bureau not work with the rental car companies like National and Hertz to let them know when to expect visitors?  Recognize that you aren’t one of those cities with a good mass transit system, so rental cars are kind of important.

Fortunately, I’ve been able to reduce my travel significantly.  Conferencing is helping me achieve that goal.  I’ve cut back my travel by 50% and the tough time I am having with virus laden planes and no rental cars reminds me one of the reasons Copper Conferencing is in business — to help people work where ever they are and when ever they need to using web and audio conferencing.

Conference calls should be one of the most collaborative and engaging communications experiences in business.  It seems like some of our conference call leaders need a little help living up to that goal, so here’s my recipe for a good conference call.

• Keep your calls to no more than 1 hour.  Most people don’t have the attention span for calls that last for hours and hours.
• Develop an agenda.  Let your participants know what your agenda is and stick to it.
• If a side issue develops, then agree to take that issue off line and not make it part of the conference call.
• Engage your participants by directing questions to specific people.  As an example, “John, how is the competition affecting your territory?”  “Bill, could you expand on that?”
• Give up the podium to others.  Ask someone else to lead a portion of the call and prepare the material in advance.
• Manage distractions.  Gracefully learn how to move on from the individual that wants to dominate the conversation.  Make sure people learn how to mute their lines if there is background noise.
• Recap the action items at the end of the call.  If there is going to be a next call in the series, preview what you will cover on the next call.

To me, the best conference calls are ones where most of the people have an opportunity to contribute.  They’re the ones that don’t last forever and stay focused.  They’re the ones that use the medium to collaborate, train, strategies and engage.  Hopefully this helps conference call leaders step up their game.  By the way, I still need some followers on Twitter.  Maybe the next time I go looking, people will be happier about their conference calls.

DENVER, CO, September 9, 2009 – Carolyn Bradfield, CEO of Copper Conferencing wants every one of her employees to experience the joy and advantages of owning their own homes. This week, Copper Conferencing, provider of web and audio conferencing services, initiated its own first time buyer program by offering no-interest loans to employees who buy a house that qualifies for the First-Time Home Buyer Federal Housing Tax Credit.

“Home ownership offers a significant level of personal satisfaction and there’s never been a better time in history to own your own home,” said Carolyn Bradfield, CEO of Copper Conferencing. “We have a great team of young people working at Copper and it has always been my goal to help them grow personally, as well as financially from their experiences working for the company.”

According to Chief Financial Officer, Christina Wafford, “The First-Time Home Buyer incentive from the Federal government is a tremendous opportunity for every employee to become a homeowner. The program offers a tax credit of up to $8,000 if they close on a house before December 1, 2009. As a company, what we are doing is to advance to each home buyer the tax incentive money as an up front, no interest loan so they can use that money as a down payment to buy their new home.”

Copper also brought in a group of local real estate professionals and loan brokers to work with employees and educate them on what it takes to buy a new home. Wafford added, “The Copper Conferencing program is really very simple. We loan our employees the tax incentive they will receive when they get their tax refund. They use that tax credit to pay off the loan from the company. I encourage other employers to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help their employees achieve home ownership. With low interest rates, reduced housing prices, and the Federal Tax Credit, there is no time like the present. In the long run we’ll have better, more productive and loyal employees helping us to build a stronger business.”

About Copper Conferencing
Headquartered in Denver, Colorado with a major communications center in Roswell, 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 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, visit http://www.copperconferencing.com/go/818ae or call a Conference Coach at 866-903-7521.

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

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How time has changed that philosophy!
InterCall has bought up just about everyone in the industry, including my former company Raindance, and in my opinion has just about choked to death on the acquisitions.  Most of the people that maintained those customer relationships have been exited from the business.  Once that happens, InterCall has a nasty habit of significantly raising customer rates, believing that these customers won’t go anywhere else because InterCall is just so big and dominant in the industry.

When they have the slightest slip in minutes or growth, they make it up by putting in crazy charges.  This is especially true of the customers that were unlucky enough to be part of an acquisition.  If you use their service take a good look at the invoice.  Rates are probably substantially higher if they bought your prior provider; there are minimum charges and even charges for things that used to be free such as a paper invoice or a post conference email.

And try calling customer service.  You could be delivered to any of a number of far flung operations that don’t really know each other’s services and take forever to answer a simple question.

Now you know why small companies like Copper can compete against the giants like InterCall.  We live our value system – the customer is always first; their needs are always urgent; and we are very easy to do business with!

Most conference calls work reliably every time you pick up the phone and call leaders seem pretty happy.  And, most people think that you can’t automate beyond a reservationless call.  However, I think that the industry ignores one of the most important people in the transaction, the administrative assistant.

Administrative assistants have a great deal of authority and responsibility these days, especially in the face of staff reductions.  They make decisions for many operational functions in the company and quite a few services, including conferencing.  They also care a great deal about efficiency and making sure they don’t waste their time.  Imagine how much harder life would be if an administrator had to wait on hold to track a UPS shipment…or to book an airline ticket.

At Copper, we think the administrator is often the most important person in the conferencing equation and we should improve their experience just like the industry improved the experience of the call leader.  No administrator should have to call customer service to add or delete a user, to get a copy of their invoice, or to find out what their usage is.

Companies need to think about everyone involved in the customer experience equation and improve the experience all the way around.  Sometimes it’s the person that you think about the least that counts the most!

BROOMFIELD, CO, July 13, 2009 — Copper Conferencing, a leading provider of audio conferencing and web conferencing services to small and medium-sized businesses, announced Paul Montelongo joined the Sales track of The Business Webinar Series ( www.copperconferencing.com/campaigns/biz-webinar/), a free educational webinar series for business professionals.

“We are pleased to partner with Paul Montelongo for our online webinar series,” said Alycia Maier-Turner Director of Marketing for Copper Conferencing.  “Mr. Montelongo’s topic is perfect for sales and marketing professionals or anyone who wants their businesses to survive and thrive in a tough market.  Mr. Montelongo’s free online presentation using Copper’s web and audio conferencing is only 45-minutes with an additional 15-minutes for questions.  Participants can join from anywhere they can access the internet – it’s perfect for busy professionals.”

The Business Webinar Series features speakers who have become renowned for their pursuit of excellence and their knowledge of business issues.  This online education series enables business professionals to learn from the best and from those with perspectives spanning multiple industries and disciplines.

“Understanding emotions and being able to leverage that to your advantage is key to creating value,” said Mr. Montelongo.  “Additionally, understanding emotive levers gives you insight in to what your top client’s needs and wants are and how to respond to those needs while continuing to make more money.”

Free for registered participants, Paul Montelongo’s webinar “Creating Value in Any Market” will begin at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, July 14, 2009.  To register, visit http://www.copperconferencing.com/go/d0cea

About Copper Conferencing:
Headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado, Copper Conferencing provides eco-friendly 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 event calls, Copper Conferencing helps businesses save time and money while improving productivity. Copper’s audio and web conferencing services are backed by fully managed, carrier-class platforms to power communication for thousands of customers. For more information about Copper Conferencing, visit www.copperconferencing.com or call a Conference Coach at 866-903-7521.

About Paul Montelongo
A nationally recognized speaker, author, syndicated columnist, and entrepreneurial consultant, Paul has built two multi-million dollar construction companies over the last 28 years. His companies have contracted with thousands of clients, from Fortune 100 companies to the private investor. Paul’s companies have specialized in new home building, design/build remodeling, real estate development and insurance restoration. Paul has earned the prestigious Certified Graduate RemodelorT ( CGR ) and the Certified New Home Sales ProfessionalT (CSP) designations from the National Association of Home Builders ( NAHB ), which recognizes excellence and professional commitment to the construction industry in America.

Paul brings his practical, no-nonsense experience to businesses and organizations around the country. His programs are packed with genuine life stories, anecdotes and personal experiences from being in the trenches of the real world of business.  You can learn more about Paul at www.paulmontelongo.com

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

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