Teleseminar services have become extremely popular over the past several years. This valuable tool can be used for different purposes across many business models. This article will discuss four applications, some common and some more unusual.
1. Online-based businesses have been early adopters of these services, due to geographical distances between the businesses and their clients. Interactive classes are often held in this way, as are promotional calls to introduce a product or service to a new market or to existing customers.
2. Brick and mortar retail businesses can make use of this technology as well. For example, let’s say a trendy women’s clothing store owner wanted to promote her new spring line-up of fashions, while rewarding her loyal customers. She could send a link to her email list of fans, announcing the online event. During the call, she could direct customers to her website, where she could walk them through photos of new arrivals. At the same time, she could explain the season’s fresh and new trends, and at the end, offer a special discount word or code. This code would create incentive for the customers to come in and shop!
3. Larger corporations can use this method of communication to train its employees all over the world, from a single site. Such training calls can also be recorded and used later, saving the company money by not having to recreate training each time a new employee is hired. Training can be scheduled at the employees convenience, on a flexible schedule. Employers could also have a stable of “anytime” training for instances where it’s necessary for an employee to work from home, e.g. in the winter when there are sometimes road closures due to ice or snow. Even if a lot of work must wait for employees to return to the office, there can still be productive learning accomplished from home on evergreen topics such as time management or increasing sales.
4. Learning online has increased in universities and colleges as well. With the exception of certain courses which require students to be hands-on to master the material, most classes are well-suited to distance learning. This saves students a lot of money otherwise spent on commuting, and allows more time to work, care for children, or to devote to other classes. Students with disabilities which make commuting very difficult are especially well-served by this method of learning. Professors can teach from anywhere in the world, and thus it’s possible for colleges and universities to offer a wider variety of classes than might be available in the local area. In this increasingly global economy, students who learn to collaborate with students and professors from other countries will be at an advantage. This method of providing classes allows for that collaboration much more readily than locally based learning.
These services can help companies train employees, provide marketing opportunities for retail businesses, boost an online business, and create global teaching and learning opportunities. From your favorite local clothing store to large corporations to online businesses to universities, learning via telephone and online are certainly here to stay.