Creating a Billable Experience

You’ve heard of GoToMeeting? It allows you to hold a meeting online with audio and screen sharing. It’s great (so is WebEx, another competitor). The only problem is that it costs $49 per month. It also doesn’t support streaming video.

An alternative, and it’s free, is DimDim. DimDim allows you to share your screen with others. You do something on your screen, they see you doing it on their screen. DimDim is really easy to use. There’s no software to install, you can communicate using audio, video and chat plus you can share documents as well as your desktop.

Most people use a service like DimDim to do webinars for training or sales, some use it for computer support, and some use it as a communications tool to do things like design a website, shop together or play a game.

So what’s this about a billable experience? By “billable experience” I mean helping a client understand and “experience” the effort expended to achieve the result they desire. I hate it when a client gets a bill for hundreds of dollars for the drafting of a document and says something like “why’s it so expensive? It’s just a form”. They imagine you poping the document out of the computer in thirty seconds and they’re offended by the charge. Yes it may be a form but it takes time to tailor it to the specific use. Some clients don’t really appreciate the time taken to get it right.

DimDim to the rescue. Set a phone appointment with the client. Invite them to a DimDim meeting and bring their document up on the screen. Then work right in front of them, edit the document, ask questions, fill in the answers, do what you need to do to get it customized. Let them watch and participate in the drafting process. They can ask questions, get answers, help you make changes and proof read as you go. They will feel involved and they will have no doubt about how much time and effort it took to create “the form”.

In the end you’ll have a better document created through collaboration. You won’t have to make numerous calls to the client to clarify and correct things and, most importantly, the client will appreciate the effort involved.

That way, when the bill comes, the client will gladly write a check. Try it. And remember, DimDim is free*.

* The free account works great but DimDim also offers paid accounts with added features. Try the free edition and you may have all you need. If you want more then consider the upgrade.

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Post written by Lee Rosen on May 29, 2009 in Technology