more closed deals, less competitive pressure and great customer loyalty,” she said.

Flynn said the conferencing market has never been better for agents because the fastest-growing segment of the conferencing industry is SMBs, which are the bread and butter of agent sales. These companies, which are largely ignored by carriers and service providers alike, are the perfect targets for agents to build relationships and make solution sales.

“Clients are less likely to buy ‘one size fits all’ conferencing and [more likely to] base decisions on the features that are most important for their specific businesses,” said Camille Andersen, vice president sales, conferencing division – RollCall Business Conferencing Solutions, agreeing that a consultative sales approach is best. “Competitive conferencing rates are certainly a requirement, but value, reliability and service are becoming key differentiators when selecting a conferencing provider.”

Read more about the connection between the current economic slowdown and the increased need for conferencing in "Selling in a Slowdown: Conferencing Provides Travel Alternative for SMBs."

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Video: The Next Phase in Conferencing Sales

Whether video will kill the audio star in the long run remains to be seen, but in the meantime, video conferencing solutions promise to be lucrative sales for agents. Some providers said they’ve seen a reinvigorated interest in video solutions recently and they predict an increase in the future.

J.R. Vernick, president of agency RDS Solutions, agrees with Gene Foster, president of master agent Communication Management Services, that audio conferencing has become too much of a commodity to offer as a primary offering. But, he said, video conferencing is far from a commodity at this point. “With the introduction of HD and telepresence solutions, as well as the capabilities of IP-based services becoming more robust, the market is expected to increase 10-fold over the next few years,” he said.

Greg Plum, channel manager for The Conference Group, said “video” has become an industry buzzword, and customers want to know you can help them with it if they so choose. “When an agent can say ‘yes’ to their clients and or prospects when they ask for video conferencing, it positions them in a very favorable light going forward.” The Conference Group debuted its video solution, ReadyShow Video, a Flash-based video-over-IP solution, at the Spring 2008 Channel Partners Conference & Expo.

Some believe video can be a door-opener just like audio or Web conferencing. “Compensation for video conferencing solutions is on par with selling traditional voice and data services, [and it] can become extremely lucrative for agents by opening doors within companies that you previously have not had success with,” said RDS’ Vernick. RDS is an agent for Glowpoint, which offers IP-based video conferencing and is hoping to ramp up its agent program in the coming year to attract more