Fast 50 Program

Deliotte & Touche named WebEx as part of their Fast 50 Program. From 2001 to 2005, Webex increased revenue a whopping 280%, earning them the #20th spot on the prestigious list.

To qualify for the Technology Fast 50, companies must have had operating revenues of at least $50,000 in 2001 and $5,000,000 in 2005, be headquartered in North America, and be a company that owns proprietary technology or proprietary intellectual property that contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues; or devotes a significant proportion of revenues to the research and development of technology. Using other companies' technology or intellectual property in a unique way does not qualify.

Thanks,

David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

Yahoo IM Plug-In

WebEx released a plug-in that enables Yahoo instant messengers to "co-browse" websites at the same time. My wife and I actually used it the other day when she was showing me some XMAS presents she wanted to buy. In the past, she would copy and paste the URL's into IM. I would then have to click on the URL's and navigate on my own until I found the product she described to me over the phone.

With the new WebEx plug-in for Yahoo IM, we browsed the sites together. She navigated and I simply followed along and saw everything she did on the browser.

You can download the plug in here: www.webex.com/go/yahoo

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

The Art of Listening

The other night I was watching the Will Smith movie, "Hitch." Will Smith plays a date Dr who promises any man that he can help woe any woman. Throughout the movie he provides some pretty clever dating tips. The one that stood out to me was when he said, "You need to listen. That way when it's your turn to talk, you'll have something interesting to say."

In sales, LISTENING is critical. Too many sales reps are so eager to talk, to get a turn to chime in, when in realty the best thing to do is ask thought provoking questions that draw out needs and motives and then sit back and LISTEN to what the customer has to say. If you can't master the art of active LISTENING, you'll never master sales.

Watching the movie got me thinking about common phrases and what they actually mean. For example, in a Classifieds Ad, when you hear "Must be self-motivated," that really means "must work your butt off with very little direction or guidance." Sure there is some sarcasm here but you get my point. Then I thought about this across sales. Here are a few phrases I thought of:

* Not Interested = "You have said nothing of value."
* Not a Priority = "You have not shown me any reason that this should be a priority."
* Management Did Not Give the Go-Ahead = Your fault for investing time and selling to a non-decision maker who could not effectively sell management on your behalf.
* Price is Too High = "You have not differentiated yourself, your company, your process or your product compared to your competition."
* Price Objection: an opportunity to demonstrate value, indicates buyer interest
* Lowest Price = Lowest Profit, Lowest Value

In my opinion, any question from the customer is a buying signal. It's the customer's way of saying, "Tell me more. Clarify this a bit more for me. Help me understand." The key is to LISTEN carefully and translate what they mean since everything the customer says is a clue in helping you unlock their needs and win the sale.

The most successful sales reps are those that can master the many complex components of a sale, one of the most important being LISTENING skills.

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

Lehman Brothers and WebEx

WebEx will be making a presentation to investors at the Lehman Brothers Global Technology Conference on Wednesday, December 6.

A webcast and replay of each presentation will also be available on the company's investor relations website. Click Here to View the WebCast

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

Genesys Lay-Offs

Confirmed by a close insider, last week Genesys laid-off a large part of its sales team and executive management team, mainly VP's. The reason...Genesys needed to shake things up since the company was not hitting the revenue target goals.

Today's stock price for Genesys (GNSY) = $1.45 a share

I presume the numbers below played a large part in the lay-offs:
Profit Margin: 0.30% [Lack of Profitability]
Return of Assets: 6.47% [Lack of Effective Management]
Return on Equity: 2.82% [Lack of Effective Management]
Quarterly Revenue Growth: (-5.50%) [Lack of healthy Income Statement]
Quarterly Earnings Growth: (-97.60%) [Lack of healthy Income Statement]
Total Cash: 8.54M and Total Debt: 44.18M [More debt than cash]

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert

Microsoft Vista

With the new Vista Operating System, Microsoft has once again proven that is stands behind it's traditional fat-client business model. Considering that Windows and Office account for more than 60% of the companies revenue, I suppose it make sense to stick with what has worked in the past. Only problem is that ultimately it's the customer that suffers in the end with the hefty annual fees for the upgrades.

I am still a huge believe in the Software as a Service model simply because of the benefits that the customer immediately realizes. Low risk, low cost, zero implementation.

Thanks,
David Chao
The Web Conferencing Expert