Six Ways to Rev Up Your Revenues, Using VoIP

Six Ways to Rev Up Your
Revenues, Using VoIP

Brought to you by the Cisco Innovators Program [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/go/innovators]

How can you raise revenues without raising prices?

You can gain new customers. Or you can make new sales from your existing customers.

There's a network technology that helps you do both: voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Small businesses around the world are using VoIP technology in their Cisco® Unified Communications [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns151/networking_solutions_unified_communications_home.html]solutions to grow their revenues in six ways:

1. Expand the sales pipeline
Talk your way into new markets. VoIP can make it low cost to call virtually anywhere, including internationally. The seven employees of an Italian business [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/voicesw/ps6788/vcallcon/ps7293/case_study_C36-518254.pdf]use Cisco wireless IP phones to reach out to customers globally. "This solution lets us get on with our work without worrying about how many calls we are making and their cost," says the owner.

2. Up-sell
The instant you answer a customer call, the customer's complete record can pop up in your PC window. A 12-employee U.S. business [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/cisco/web/solutions/small_business/resource_center/pdf/AMS_CS_1201.pdf]used a Cisco Smart Business Communications System (SBCS) [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/solutions/small_business/products/voice_conferencing/smart_business_communications_system/index.html]to easily integrate its phone system with its customer relationship management (CRM) application. "It's useful for ‘up-sell' opportunities," says the owner. "For example, during the conversation we might offer the client a quote on a new policy, or discuss discounts for packaging some policies together."

3. Cross-sell
While you have a prospect on the phone, promote alternative products that are likely to appeal. A 37-employee Dutch business [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/voicesw/ps6882/ps10585/zamen_cs_1016a.pdf] integrates its CRM application with its Cisco SBCS, placing the reservation tools for all eight of its locations at employees' fingertips. The sales account manager explains, "If someone requests a location that is unavailable, we can look at all the schedules in a single view and offer them alternatives, so we don't lose the client."

4. Increase outbound sales calls
A nine-employee U.S. business [LINK: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2007/prod_110507c.html] took advantage of the one-click dialing feature of its Cisco SBCS to increase its telemarketing call volume. In four hours, the number of calls made by its telemarketer increased by 400 percent. "The ability to reach more potential clients has already helped us secure a large order," says the managing partner.

5. Improve outbound sales calls
Contract or hire the best-qualified telemarketers, wherever they are. With a VoIP solution, they can even work from their homes. As they qualify leads and take orders, virtual private network (VPN) technology creates a secure "tunnel" to protect their communications with your network.

Another strategy: Improve your telemarketing with a call-recording application that lets you monitor calls, and train and motivate your team by using the best examples of engaging prospects, overcoming objections, and closing sales.

6. Be there to make the sale
Don't miss any sales opportunities. That's easy to say, harder to do. A Cisco SBCS can help ensure that your business will:

• Answer all calls from prospects and customers. The automated attendant can answer and direct the call. A 24-employee Serbian business [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/solutions/small_business/resource_center/pdf/EM_Dental_Customer_v3b.pdf]distributes incoming calls dynamically among its employees at two sites; no more orders are missed, and no charges are incurred for calls between sites.
• Connect callers to the employee best suited to help them, using the single-number reach, conferencing, or presence features.
• Take the important calls. Use the selective call-forwarding feature to specify who can reach you, at what number.
• Stay with the customer. If you're in a phone conversation and must go to the warehouse, you can stay connected over your wireless network. If you're offsite and involved in a cellular phone conversation, a dual-mode feature keeps the call in play when you get into the office, handing it off to your IP network to end the cellular costs and let you access networked data.

Designed for small businesses, a Cisco SBCS can route calls through VoIP services such as Skype. But it does much more. It combines voice, video, data, and wireless networking, as well as security and phones, in a single easy-to-use system that enables business-class applications. The price of a complete Cisco SBCS solution starts at under $6,000, and Cisco CapitalSM offers 0% financing [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/web/ordering/ciscocapital/cf/na/docs/three_years_zero_percent_aag.pdf].

Could Cisco VoIP grow revenues at your business? Consider this: It's the solution that helped a Canadian two-person startup [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/solutions/small_business/resource_center/articles/connect_employees_and_offices/primer_building_a_small_office_network/index.html] beat the competition and become the market leader.
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Next Steps

Learn about Cisco IP communications solutions [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/solutions/small_business/products/voice_conferencing/index.html], including Internet phones [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/cisco/web/solutions/small_business/products/voice_conferencing/SPA_500/index.html] such as a wireless desktop phone with Bluetooth capabilities.

Find an experienced local Cisco reseller [LINK: www.cisco.com/partnerlocator] that meets your specific business applications needs.

Join the Cisco Innovators Program [LINK: www.cisco.com/go/innovators] to continue receiving small business-related articles, videos and offers. Already a member? Refer a friend [LINK: http://www.cisco.com/web/solutions/smb/programs/innovator/newsletter/refer_a_colleague.html?sid=195077_20]

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