When the economy started to tank, we brainstormed how we could better serve our customers in a down economy. One idea we came up with was to offer a cost-effective way for people to have meetings and include their team members in other cities (without the travel costs).

Video Conferencing!

We had explored this idea in the past, but it was way too expensive to rationalize installing video conferencing capability for the 2 or 3 guests who asked for it each year. (FYI: we always referred them to a facility that already had the capability. We never leave a guest hanging with no options.)

We decided to explore the idea again and found that the technology was much more affordable and reliable than it had been in the past. We found a great service provider, tested the system, and loved it. We launched the capability immediately. One of the cool things about it is that we can hook it up to a projector and project a video conference larger than life-sized!

Why this is one of our favorite sparks:
Rather than desperately try to sell more of our product during the down economy, we shifted our focus to our customer to figure out what might help them. This thinking resulted in a great new service offering for us that will last long after the economic downturn is over.