Strategies for Diverse Suppliers Engaging in Virtual Environments

ThisPhotobyUnknownAuthorislicensedunderCCBY-SA

3-Part Strategy for Engagement

HumanizingyourInteractions&Prospecting

MaintainvirtualBusinessEtiquette

Ready,Set,Prepare

Part I Humanizing Your Interactions & Prospecting

Stayengagedbyanymeansnecessary!

4

Humanizing our Interactions

Overcomingtheimpactofphysicaldistancing

•  MaintainFacetoFaceInteraction

•  Negotiation•  Criticalupdates

•  ContinuetoDeveloprelationships

•  Doyourhomework•  Replacenetworking

•  Realizethatoutofsitecouldmeanoutofmind

•  Stayintouch•  Anticipateneeds,reachout

Turntohelpfromtechnologysuchas…

Your camera is your gateway!

Close up Options of Virtual Platforms

•  Zoom(TopFreeFeatures)•  Zoomisideaforanyonewhoworksremotelyorhasremoteteammembers;yourownmeetingroom

•  Hostupto100participants•  1to1and/orgroupmeetings•  Unlimitedmeetings•  Privateandgroupchat•  Hostcontrols

Close up Options of Virtual Platforms Cont.

•  MicrosoftTeams(free)

•  IncludesMicrosoftTeams.Included.

•  Maximumnumberofusers.Unlimited.

•  UnlimitedchatmessagesandsearchinTeams.Included.

•  GuestaccesstoTeams

•  Fileattachmentsinchat

•  Filesharingwithinteamsandchannels

•  CollaborationonOfficedocumentsinTeams

•  250+integratedappsandservicesforTeams.

Humanizing our Prospecting

Whatneedcanyoumeet?Whatproblemcanyousolve?Knowingthebestmediumofcommunication

• Email• Phone• ChatorText• Virtuallive• Inperson• Printeddocument

I’mgladyouasked!

Digital Body Language

UseVerbalandnon-verbalcues• Pushbackfromcamera• Helpsbuildtrust•  Showhandgestures•  Ifyou’re“thinking,”displaythinkinggestures

DisplayActivelisteningtraits• Noddingyourhead• Tiltingtoside•  Smile• Chatinchatboxbutdon’tinterrupt• Umhm•  ‘Yeah,’or‘Ihearya’

• Use‘attentivebodylanguage’

Part II Virtual Business Etiquette

Remember,theycanseeyou,don’tcheckyourteethinthecamera!

Virtual Meetings vs. Virtual Face to Face

Virtual Business Etiquette

Howtomaintainourprofessionalisminavirtualenvironment

• Appearance&Physicalpresence• Businessorbusinesscasualattire

• Nojeansuptop• Nobusyjewelry• Not-shirtswithfancywording

• Waistupproperattire

Virtual Business Etiquette Cont.

• Backgroundnoise…• Dogsbarking• Childrenplaying•  Foregroundvs.background•  Internetconnection•  Lighting• Houseorcellphoneringing

Types of Noise

Internetconnection–buffering,poorconnection,droppedcall

Linguisticbarriers–languageaccents,useofidoms,slangetc.

Environmental–what’saroundyou

Physical–standingdeskcausesexcessivemoving

Paralinguistic–tone,pitch,rhythmelement&nuanceofyourspeech

Virtual Business Etiquette Cont.

•  Payattention—Beactivelypresentduringthemeeting

•  Muteyourmicifnottalking•  Don’ttakecallswhileinmeeting•  Don’thandleyourcellphone•  Lookingforwardatalltimes

Example:JoyReid

Be Prepared for anything •  Conferencecalls•  Videocalls•  Groupbusinessmeetings

•  Multipleattendeesononecall

Part III Ready, Set, Prepare

Thebestwaytocommunicateyouarenimble,agileandflexibleistocomepreparedforanything!

Ready, Set, Prepare Cont.

• Knowyourcustomer• Whatdotheypurchase• Whoaretheircurrentsuppliers• Whatchallengesarefacingthemnow;andinthefuture

• Whatuniqueneedsdotheyhave•  HowcanIaddvalue• Whatismycompetitiveadvantage•  Howyoucanimpacttheirbottom-line

Use virtual meetings to check in…

Whatshouldwestartdoing?

Whatshouldwestopdoing?

Whatshouldwecontinuedoing?

Whatisupcomingthatweshouldpreparefor?

Virtual Happy Hour

•  Have a ‘Virtual Happy Hour—it’s 5 o’clock somewhere’

•  enjoy a coffee and chat •  Have a glass of wine together •  Shoot the breeze •  Let your kids pop in the view of

camera •  Catch up on industry

developments •  Get to know one another •  Start a bucket list

Ideas for virtual engaging by any means necessary

Become a Virtual Conference ‘Baller’

Top6Rulesforvirtualpresence:

•  Beawareofyourvideosettings•  Makesureyourroomhasgreatlighting(Iusesidelighting)

•  Yourwallartanddecorationsshouldbeappropriateforwork

•  Muteyourmicrophone•  Besuretointroduceyourselfifthere’snocameraingroupmeetings

•  Becomeonewiththecamera—lookintotheeyelikeit’syourbestfriend

Mute your Microphone

Wheneveryounotspeaking

Evenifyou’realone

Backgroundnoiseis

disruptive

Allowsyouprivacy

Be aware of your video settings

Don’tforgetyourvideoison

Videoanglescanbedistracting

Besurethatcamerais…

Nottoolow

Nottoohigh

Thatyouarecenteredproperly

Rememberattendeescanseeeverything

Make sure your room is well lit

Overheadlightsaregreat

Lightingfromasidelamp

Naturallightingfromwindow

Brightenupyourself

Dressingappropriateattire

Ifwearingacollaredshirt—chooselight

pastelcolors

Becarefulwith‘waistuponlyprofessionalattire’cameracould

fall

Pay attention to what is behind you

Yourwallartanddecorationsshouldbeappropriateforwork

Doesyourcamerashowtoomanyitemsonyour

desk?

Limittheamountofclutterorcoffeemugsin

view

Meetingatkitchentable?Movedishesandothernon-essentialsfromview

Hint:Setupshopinaroomthatyouwouldn’tmindothersseeing

One-on-one & Group Video checklist

Inagroupcallwithoutvideo?

Introduceyourselfbeforetalking

Whileinagroup,turnoff

microphoneuntilspeaking

Lookintothecamera—makeeye

contact

Smile,andbeattentive—othersarestillseeingyou

Don’ttalkoverothers

Thechatboxisyourfriend,

considertypingcomments

Here are other ways technology can help

Freetoolsavailablenow

Improveyourvirtualpresence

Freeincentivesfrombusinessmemberships

On-lineResources

Stayintouchwithexistingconnections:*ConstantContact*MailChimp

Questions and Answers

Contact Us

The Supplier Diversity office is located within the Procurement Department in Suite 330 Harbourt Hall, 615 Loop Road, Kent Ohio 44242. General Office, Email: procurement@kent.edu Phone: 330-672-2276 Fax: 330-672-7904 Veronica Cook-Euell, M.A., MBA, M.Ed. Supplier Diversity Program Manager 330-672-9195 vcook3@kent.edu

Links to more information

• https://www.owllabs.com/blog/video-conferencing-tools10BestVideoConferencingToolstochoosefrom.

•  Freevirtualmeetingplatforms• MicrosoftTeams-https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software?

•  ZOOM-https://zoom.us/•  Slack-https://slack.com/• UberConference-https://www.uberconference.com/• GoToMeeting-https://www.gotomeeting.com/