2009 is stacking up to be the year companies innovate to stay competitive. This is no time to hunker down with a business-as-usual approach in an effort to hold steady — successful companies will explore new ways of growing revenue while continuing to cut costs.

Remember: Today’s actions will determine your company’s future success. Innovating to compete is about working smarter and leveraging the right technology to differentiate your organization from the rest. Web-based tools are the key to starting the innovation engine. 

Harnessing the power of Web conferencing, remote support and remote access will rapidly lead to increased customer retention; drive new revenue opportunities; retain and motivate talented employees; and cut costs.

Yes, the current economic climate presents a challenging business landscape, but it also offers a golden opportunity to innovate your business for a better tomorrow. 

Though the impact of the current recession hits close to home, its scope is, indeed, global. That means customers and prospects everywhere are budgeting cautiously. Not surprisingly, as budgets shrink, customer expectations grow because everyone is being asked to do more with less. Innovating to compete begins with happy, loyal customers.

In a global marketplace, customers will inevitably be distributed. Web-based remote support enables companies of any size to instantly resolve technical issues for customers, regardless of where they are located. And, of course, quick issue resolution impresses end users, creating happy, loyal customers.

Ultimate Software, a leading provider of Web-based payroll and workforce management solutions, uses remote support to realize an almost perfect customer-retention rate. JC Gonzalez, VP of customer support at Ultimate Software, says, “Now our focus is 100 percent on helping our customers, and our overall customer-retention rate stands at an enviable 97 percent.” As an additional bonus of using a remote-support tool, the company has reduced call-handling time by 50 percent.

As employees become increasingly mobile, companies can provide anytime, anywhere access to ofice PCs via Web-based remote access. Law irm Frost Brown Todd LLC uses Web-based remote access to allow the irm’s attorneys to retrieve client iles, court documents and other critical data to provide timely service to clients. CIO Paul Bromwell reports, “We are doing a better job of servicing our clients.” With no time restrictions on when attorneys can connect to the irm’s network and client iles, employees can stay focused on providing superior customer service to a loyal client base.

Webinars enable instant and intuitive demonstrations or training for end users distributed around the world. Webinars eliminate the logistical burden of organizing onsite events, as well as the often exorbitant costs associated with travel. MarketSharp, a home remodeling software and services provider, uses Webinars to train and communicate with large groups of customers, thereby cultivating long-lasting relationships with satisied customers. Tim Musch of

MarketSharp has this to say about his customer-training Webinars: “Every month the enrollment snowballs and we end up with happier customers. The most important thing is that more of our customers are getting trained properly and using the product the way it’s meant to be used.” Now that MarketSharp uses Webinars to demonstrate its remodeling software to larger remote audiences, the company’s cost per sale has dropped an astounding 50 to 75 percent. Now that’s the value of innovating to compete.

Indeed, customer demands continue to grow as companies try to stretch every investment dollar. Web-based solutions consistently provide value in increased customer satisfaction and long-term loyalty.

Attracting and retaining talent while increasing productivity! Let's face it - your people are your most valuable assets. Providing the right motivation and a solid commitment to reinvesting in employees is key to attracting future top talent and keeping your current workforce satisied, productive and loyal. 

With secure remote support, distance is never a limitation when recruiting potential employees for your virtual support team. That means you really can hire cream-of-the-crop talent located anywhere – from Iceland to Indonesia – to provide superior support to your customers.

Coheris, a leader in CRM software, leverages remote support to reduce the time and cost of providing technical support and improve the overall customer experience. Amel Bouaia, customer relationship manager at Coheris, says, “This [remote-support] tool has a future for us, insomuch as it is accessible to the whole world.” 

Web-based remote service delivery enables companies to drastically reduce travel costs and related downtime while signiicantly boosting productivity. RSM McGladrey, a inancial consulting company, understands the burden offsite travel places on its employees, relying instead on remote-support and -service delivery. Steve Kleinwort, IT manager for RSM McGladrey, puts it this way: “We’re achieving higher employee retention, higher employee satisfaction and less burnout.”

Web conferencing jolts productivity by enabling virtual team members to instantly meet and collaborate. SolidWorks, a leading supplier of mechanical computer-aided design software, uses Web conferencing to collaborate visually on software and thereby increase productivity.

Brian Harrison, director of platform development at SolidWorks, reports, “Our developers don’t want to just talk about ideas — they want to see them and point to them.”

Web conferencing also enables businesses to train and communicate effectively with global teams. Golden Ventures, a nursing services company, relies on Web conferencing to offer consistent, high-quality training to distributed employees.

Debbie Goux of Golden Ventures notes that employees are often overwhelmed by the quality and effectiveness of the training they receive: ”They are ecstatic because they get the training when they need it.” Web conferencing offers companies signiicant productivity gains without the expense and hassle of travel back to headquarters.

Web-based remote support enables organizations to effectively and eficiently support remote employees while signiicantly reining in downtime. March of Dimes, a non-proit healthcare organization, relies on remote support to do just that — eliminate employee downtime by resolving technical issues quickly, regardless of where the employee is located. For Ed Erenberg of March of Dimes, the most important aspect of remote support is “the ability to remotely control machines anywhere, on demand, and help users if they’re having trouble with their local computers.” 

Web-based remote access increases work lexibility by enabling anytime, anywhere access to ofice PCs. Flashes of inspiration in the middle of the night or at an airport terminal are never lost when employees have instant, secure remote access to work iles and applications. Work lexibility via remote access vastly increases employee productivity, but also improves morale.

Baptist Health Systems attributes its documented 10-percent increase in productivity to remote access. Additionally, Michael Long, senior network administrator at Baptist Health Systems, believes that remote access has “improved employee satisfaction and morale.” 

Motivated, productive employees are a company’s greatest assets. Attract and retain good workers by investing in the tools they need to be successful on the job. “We’re achieving higher employee retention, higher employee satisfaction and less burnout.”

Steve Kleinwort; IT Manager - RSM McGladrey, Inc.

Generate new customers and revenue

A sputtering economy is no reason to stop exploring new ways to generate revenue and customers. In fact, identifying new ways to differentiate your company from the rest will be key in 2009. Full-featured remote support allows companies to charge for premium services and support packages, thereby increasing services revenue. In fact, service and support revenue is fast tracking to become the largest contributor to overall company revenue.

RSM McGladrey puts remote service and support to work to dramatically boost billable activities within its professional services division. Steve Kleinwort, IT manager, says, “Our consultants are more eficient and are now earning more.” Indeed, the innovative use of remote-support tools result in a triple win for RSM McGladrey.

Web conferencing makes online demos simple and easy for everyone on the team, whether demos are planned in advance or escalate ad hoc from a phone call. CheckPoint HR, provider of Web-based human resource management, has used online meetings to demo its products for nearly four years. 

Web conferencing enables the company to meet its growth objectives by pursuing prospects and supporting customers across the U.S. — resulting in more than $1 million in revenue for the company. Founding Partner Steven Tessler says that Web conferencing “enables us to do business hundreds or thousands of miles from our prospects and customers as if we’re in the same room.”

The use of Webinars reines business intelligence, enables companies to create powerful, targeted messaging and generates higher quality leads. MarketSharp uses Webinars to reach more prospects and drastically reduce the cost of sales. Tim Musch of MarketSharp says that Webinars allow MarketSharp “to get our message out to hundreds of people at once.” As a result, the company has slashed its cost per sale by 50-to-75 percent.

Cut costs across the organization

Smart business leaders are constantly investigating ways to reine processes and cut unnecessary costs across the organization, regardless of the economic climate. But cost-cutting activities will be particularly relevant in 2009.

Web conferencing enables companies to drastically reduce travel costs by enabling employees, customers or business partners to meet instantly online. Cornerstone Information Systems, a software development company, relies on Web conferencing to demo its products online. As a result, the company slashes the high cost of travel to meet with prospects. Alan Minton, VP of marketing at Cornerstone Information Systems, says, “By presenting our products online, we reduced our cost of sales almost 50 percent.” 

Remote support enables companies to instantly and easily provide support and premium services to customers without having to travel. Backup Technology, a disaster-recovery and business-continuity solution provider, relies on remote support to eliminate costly visits to customer sites.

Ritchie Fiddes of Backup Technology says that before using a remote-support tool, “our technicians would have to visit a customer in person, and this negatively impacted the number of customers that we could support.” Fiddes continues, “We also found it dificult to support customers with ofices throughout the world.” That, of course, is no longer a problem for Backup Technology with remote support. 

Remote support also enables companies to increase irst-call resolution and greatly reduce the overall cost burden of providing support. Since putting remote support to work, Ultimate Software has seen a signiicant decrease in call-handling time.

Heath Propper, director of technical support, reports, “We have decreased our call-handling time by 50 percent.” Better service quality, of course, increases customer satisfaction — a win/win situation.

Web conferencing offered at a lat rate (versus per minute for usage) and also bundled with audio conferencing gives companies a comprehensive collaboration toolkit without unnecessary costs. 

FrugalBrothers Software, a provider of network security solutions and consulting services, uses lat-rate Web and audio conferencing to reduce the overall cost of conferencing. Owner Bruce Naylor explains why bundling his Web and audio conferencing is a critical differentiator: “The All You Can Meet® fee structure gives us unlimited meetings for that small price. And look at all the other features you get — conference calling, Voice over IP functionality and meetings on the ly with up to 15 people, to name just a few.”

Webinars also enable companies to host online events rather than traveling to far-lung tradeshows. That’s precisely one of the many reasons MarketSharp depends on Webinars. Tim Musch of MarketSharp points out that the company actually saves $30,000 every year in travel by avoiding sales seminars.

Web-based remote access enables companies to signiicantly save on the total cost of ownership, particularly when compared to a Virtual Private Network (VPN). John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health provides employees with Web-based remote access rather than a VPN as a strategy to reduce the cost of network support and hardware. Ross McKenzie, director of information systems, says, “A VPN would have required the involvement of our network staff and additional costs, such as purchasing hardware.”

Web-based tools increase eficiencies across the organization, which allows companies to cut costs while streamlining processes.