Holding a web conference call has long been recognized as a valuable technique for online collaborations; however, the potential for using a web conference call as a sales tool is often overlooked. A web conference call, also known as teleconferencing, has many uses and benefits. In order to understand how to effectively use a web conference call as a sales tool, it is beneficial to gain an understanding of the traditional uses of teleconferencing and how a web conference call works.

Common uses for a web conference call include conducting training seminars and continuing education sessions, conducting market research, holding press conferences, and coordinating meetings including operational meetings, board meetings, and investor relation meetings. From a sales perspective, a web conference call can be used to hold sales meetings, to make sales presentations, to provide potential retailers or affiliates with information on new products or services, to provide press releases, or even to conduct a live, online auction.

There are many advantages to using a web conference call for such activities. A web conference call enables the sharing of real time data and web conference call tools make it possible to provide access to information used in the web conference call before, during and after the call. Web conference calls are easy to use and generally interface with other applications without the need for any special hardware. A web conference call can be held by either using a web conferencing service, or using web conferencing software that can be installed on your server.

When using web conferencing services or web conferencing software to conduct a web conference call, you generally schedule the web conference call setting the time, date and duration of the web conference call. Sometimes there is an option to reserve audio telephone conferencing so that the web conference call can also be accessed via telephone although with telephone access the sharing of files is not possible. Once the web conference call is scheduled and set up, you can choose which guests you want to invite to the web conference call and send invitations via email. Most web conference call solutions automate these steps.

When it is time for the web conference call, you present, collaborate and share information via the internet using tools provided through your web conference call solution. Most web conference call solutions use a voice-over-IP technology that enables conference attendees to talk back and forth if they have microphones and speakers. Some even have web cam features so the web conference call is "face-to-face" so to speak. During a web conference call, attendees can see what you are doing on your computer. They can view slides used in your presentation and so forth as well opening files or documents that you share throughout the web conference call.

Holding a web conference call for the purpose of conducting sales meetings, sales presentations and press conferences saves time and money because the attendees can attend the meeting from remote locations. The web conference call eliminates travel time and the expenses of travel. Furthermore, through a web conference call, hand-outs can be provided electronically rather than being printed resulting in even more cost savings. A web conference call enables real-time communications between attendees.

One of the greatest benefits of using a web conference call as a sales tool is that a web conference call makes it possible to make sales presentations to multiple decision makers in an organization first hand, rather than them relying upon the translation of the information from the presentation that may be necessary if they are physically unable to attend a sales presentation due to geographic barriers.