A lot has changed in the workplace, especially in the 15 years we’ve been in business. And while office trends come and go – think standing desks, bringing your dog to work, and flexible schedules – letting people work from home is proving to be more than just a fad. It’s a viable option that helps people do their jobs happily, healthily, and effectively.
As you talk to your customers about cloud business phone systems and UCaaS platforms, you can help them understand the way this technology fuels working from home and sets their business up for success.
With insight into business trends and customer personas, here are a few PBX sales tips on which customers you’ll want to talk with, why, and how.
The who – your customers
There’s a good chance many of your clients allow employees to work from home at least one day a week. But that doesn’t mean they’re ready to embrace it fully. In a pretty significant study, 2017 State of Telecommuting in the U.S., Global Workplace Analytics provides a clear picture of the clients you’ll want to talk to about cloud business phone systems.
According to the study, companies in the professional services industry have the highest number of telecommuters (17%). In second and third place are healthcare and finances industries, 12% and 10 % respectively. The study also found that relative to their share of the total workforce, telecommuting is most common in management, agriculture, real estate, information and mining industries.
The size of the company also matters when it comes to telecommuting. According to the same study, large companies with more than 500 employees are twice as likely to allow people to work from home than smaller companies with under 100 employees.
But if you do work with small and medium-sized businesses, there’s good news. The study reveals that the greatest growth among the offering is seen in mid-size companies, between 100 and 500 employees – the numbers are up 75% since 2010.
Telecommuting, working from home, and a mobile workforce all rely on phones, chat, and email to stay connected to their teams and clients. Identifying the differences between these types of work forces show that you better understand their business needs. A remote workforce is reserved for companies that let their employees work from home.
Companies with mobile workers, on the other hand, refer to jobs done out on the field. When talking about mobile workforces, have a conversation with companies in-home services, IT, utilities, construction, and healthcare industries. With the need for real-time communication and visibility, mobile workers are an ideal fit for flexible UCaaS platforms like b-hive that come with a mobile app as a standard part of the package.
The why – cost savings and other benefits
Some pretty large companies (including IBM, Bank of America, and Yahoo) jumped on the remote work trend only to scale the programs back when it didn’t work for them. The lesson? Small to midsize companies might not fully grasp the tangible benefits of letting people work from home.
What are the benefits?
The first and most important is cost savings. According to the Global Workplace Analytics study, employers can save over $11,000 per half-time telecommuter per year. The study reveals that companies save money in the form of increased productivity, absenteeism, voluntary turnover and continuity of operations.
In addition to saving money, letting people work from home allows companies to increase their talent pool, increases employee engagement, lowers employee stress, and increases work and life balance.
Educating your customers on these advantages will further support their need for a business phone system that supports these benefits.
The how – phone plus online marketing
Your digital marketing efforts go a long way. Write and share digital content about how to empower a remote workforce with the right technology. By writing a blog post about this topic and sharing it online on your website, blog, and social media platforms, you are educating your clients on the topic as well as positioning yourself as a trusted communications partner.
If you are already a Broadvoice partner, sharing your content online has now become easier. Our Channel program has launched a pilot program that offers marketing kits for partners, including blog posts and other high-end content pieces to share with your customers online. To learn more about our partner program and get details on our marketing kits, please fill out our short form.
Embracing cloud communications
We live in a time that allows us to communicate and collaborate no matter where we are, which allows more flexibility than ever before. As companies consider moving to the cloud, providing their employees with flexibility and freedom with the right technology is just another reason to move to say yes to the cloud completely.
