Cisco WebEx Suite Helps MetricStream To Keep Customers Tuned In

MetricStream, which implements, supports, validates, hosts and trains for a broad-ranging portfolio of compliance solutions, likes to keep its customers abreast of ever-changing market trends and new advancements. To do the same, MetricStream often organises hi-tech analyst webinars and events. Most often, these are followed by extensive training sessions, which require sophisticated resources for successful organisation. To meet the various resource needs involved in conducting these webinars and training sessions, MetricStream decided to deploy Cisco’s WebEx solution.

“If we wanted to deploy a newer version of a hosted solution or in case of an upgrade process involving the customer, it proved to be an exhaustive task and a major drain on the company’s resources. Keeping all these issues in mind, and after careful evaluation, we decided to implement the Cisco WebEx Enterprise Edition, which would serve as an enterprise-wide Collaboration platform,” says Sujeet Sankar, Program Manager, MetricStream.

The Cisco WebEx solution delivered content, best practices, templates, access to compliance training programs, and integration of business processes with regulatory notifications and industry alerts to MetricStream. “The Cisco WebEx Enterprise Edition gives MetricStream access to the WebEx Meeting Center, the WebEx Event Center, the WebEx Training Center, the WebEx Sales Center and the WebEx Support Center,” says Balaji Kesavaraj, Head-Marketing (India), Cisco WebEx.

MetricStream now carries out its sales and marketing drive on a more real-time basis, as WebEx’s Sales Center Suite shortens the sales cycle with online team selling. It efficiently handles presentations and demonstrations in online meetings, instantly bringing together decision makers and subject matter experts – and as questions get answered quickly, the sales cycle gets shorter. It also helps to stay connected between meetings with the respective sales portal. This solution of WebEx also enables generation of reports and pipeline forecasts needed to maximise the efforts of the sales force and meet organisational goals effectively.

With WebEx, the number of leads generated by MetricStream has increased by about 750 per quarter and the company has seen about 10 fresh opportunities being added to its client base every quarter.
“Using WebEx has not only helped us in generating new business, but has also significantly reduced our business operating cost. There has been a reduction of about 1,000 man-hours per annum and a considerable saving on travel and lodging costs for customer service and sales meetings,” says Sankar.

MetricStream, on an average, conducts 45 sales meetings per quarter through the WebEx solution. With WebEx, the company brings in different domain experts into a call and accomplishes resolution within minutes. “Although cost savings are important, it’s not just about saving the money, it’s about customer service too. Each time we can’t fly or send our experts to a customer location, this solution comes to our rescue,” says Sankar.

After all, as rightly put by George Gissing, ‘Time is money says the proverb, but turn it around and you get a precious truth - money is time’. MetricStream has made sure that it follows this advice from both angles.