What should you do when you “spark” an idea? Kimberly Kohatsu, director of marketing at CallFire, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based provider of an enterprise-grade VoIP platform that powers voice broadcasts, call centers, call tracking and text messaging campaigns, says you should get out and network at industry events.
In a blog posted late last week, Kohatsu described the experience she and CallFire Cofounder and CEO Dinesh Ravishanker had at an event they attended that was organized by the LA “Future Billionaires” where seven Los Angeles start-ups went to demo their ideas.
Stating first that the event attracted a lively crowd, Kohatsu made the confession that she and Ravishanker, while generally sociable people, both find attending such events out of their “comfort zone and generally awkward.”
So if attending networking events is somewhat uncomfortable for some, why should these people force themselves to go? Kohatsu says the reason is simple: “Almost every big deal we’ve ever landed, or important business relationship we’ve made, has come from a networking event.”
Kohatsu’s rationale for those results is that face-to-face interaction offers more than any marketing campaign, voice broadcast cold call or landing page ever could. That “something” is the ability to view the other person’s passion. It’s the ability to ask another person questions. And it puts a face to the idea you are considering.
Gaining the benefit of face-to-face interaction at networking events is undoubtedly something that can offer benefit to personnel at various levels of an organization. Getting the message out, though, can be a hassle, so many organizations rely on voice broadcasts to be sure everyone who needs to attend can schedule arrangements.
One-to-one interactions at networking events, even if they feel forced or awkward, also often foster new ideas and open new business paths, according to Kohatsu. She described meeting someone at the Future Billionaire’s event who is developing an iPhone (News - Alert) app that she and Ravishanker told the developer could easily be marketed to not only business people, but to a consumer market segment as well. There’s a whole new path for that developer that he may not have realized had he not attended the event.
“You just never know when you’ll encounter someone who will ignite a new idea, someone who wants to develop a partnership, or someone who needs exactly what it is that you offer. And the more people you meet, the more you up your chances of something amazing happening,” Kohatsu said.
It is that philosophy that has driven CallFire to sponsor and attend numerous events of late and to sponsor Dreamforce in San Francisco in August.
CallFire is also hosting its own conference called Biz2Beach, on August, 19, 2011 in Santa Monica, California. The speakers are said to include leaders from Klout, Myspace and BetterWorks. The event is described as “A day devoted to exchanging ideas with an exclusive group of business leaders.” Attendees, CallFire says, will be composed of “An invite-only crowd of C-level executives, business owners and entrepreneurs,” however; the blog encourages readers to request an invitation, which is in keeping with the philosophy that “each interaction is a new possibility.”
In other news, TMCnet reported that voice broadcast technology is bringing innovation and streamlined activities to call centers and other organizations throughout the marketplace.
Linda Dobel is a TMCnet Contributor. She has been an editor in the contact center space for more than 25 years, and has the distinction of being the founding editor of Customer Inter@ction Solutions (CIS) magazine. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by Jamie Epstein