The company also holds moderated chats for its consultants. Every Tuesday at 9 p.m., Hand convenes a one-hour "corporate communications" chat. Executives introduce new products and share updates on the business. They usually present for 20 minutes and field questions for 40 minutes. So many consultants have been attending the sessions that the company has had to fine-tune the agenda. "We've had to make the topics more specific," Wood says. "With so many people, chat gets unruly."
Talking Points
Hand has a leg up on most companies that are evaluating chat tools. From the beginning, its people have communicated almost exclusively over the Net. "Chat may be new and exciting," Wood says, "but it's a natural extension of how we work. Our consultants do all their business with us online." Still, the company has had to work hard to establish chat as a cornerstone of how Hand does business: "You have to tell people, 'This is how we're going to communicate. We are still going to have annual face-to-face meetings. But we are also going to use chat,' " says Wood.
Tech Talk
Hand didn't venture far to find the right software. It turned to ichat Inc., an Austin neighbor, and installed a Rooms server and Events software. "We're building a new marketing channel," Wood says. "We're a Web-based company, so we have to use Web solutions."
Coordinates: Dena Wood, marketing@handtech.com; www.handtech.com
Who's Talking?
1-800-FLOWERS, based in Westbury, New York, is the world's largest florist. The company generates annual revenues of $300 million, including more than $30 million off the Web. Sure, it sells flowers. But its real business is giving customers exactly the flowers they want, precisely when they want them - as it did 9 million times in 1997. Which means that there's always lots to talk about.
What's the Word?
Jim McCann bought 1-800-FLOWERS in 1987, when it was on the verge of bankruptcy. It has been an innovator ever since - even though its technology has wilted at times in the face of rapid growth. Norman Dee, 50, director of network services, jokes that the company's old "store-and-forward" network (which linked 2,500 florists through dial-up modems) "was one step above a telegraph line."
That changed in January, when 1-800-FLOWERS began rolling out a Web-based system for transmitting orders and scheduling deliveries. The system, called BloomLink, incorporates real-time chat. An open area "helps florists share information on finances, store design, and marketing," says Dee. Forums explore specific business issues. And the company is about to introduce a series of online seminars devoted to topics such as running a profitable operation and providing great service - a virtual business school.
Talking Points
The company's experiences with chat underscore a simple business principle: There's no time like real time. With BloomLink, florists can ask questions about an order as soon as they receive it: Can a delivery schedule be changed? Can certain flowers be substituted for others? "Half of our orders are for same-day delivery," says Donna Iuccano, 35, director of interactive services. "We don't really have the luxury of time."
Which is why the next item on the chat agenda is customer service. The company wants to create an "online waiting room," where customers with questions will wait briefly - and then get answers in real time. "If customers have questions," says Iuccano, "they should be able to use chat to talk to someone here."
Tech Talk
BloomLink uses software from eShare Technologies Inc. www.eshare.com to provide real-time chat capabilities. The Expressions Interaction Suite supports one-to-one chat, discussion forums, and moderated chats. It starts at $3,995 (for 50 users).
Coordinates: Norman Dee, ndee@800-flowers.net; www.1800flowers.com
Who's Talking?
Pristine Capital Management Inc., based in White Plains, New York, is an investment-advisory firm built around a simple proposition: Time is money. Founders Oliver Velez and Greg Capra often counsel their clients to operate in three-to-five-day trading cycles. Proprietary software scours 9,000 securities every day and hunts for profitable trading opportunities. And since launching the firm in 1994, Velez and Capra have tried every possible way of interacting with customers: fax, email, toll-free numbers. Their new tool of choice is chat. "We needed a real-time medium because of the timeliness of what we do," says Velez. "We've turned chat into a revenue generator."
What's the Word?
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