Visio for Websites...

Microsoft Office includes four basic programs (1) Microsoft Office Word, (2) Microsoft Office PowerPoint, (3) Microsoft Office Excel and (4) Microsoft Office Outlook but what about Microsoft Visio? Microsoft Visio is a diagramming program that allows one to create professional diagrams to simplify complex information with shapes, collaboration tools and data-linked diagrams. Originally, my first thought of Microsoft Visio was “it creates a diagram, that’s simple; you can do that on Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint.” But after a little research and some experimenting, Microsoft Visio does more than that! The following is a simple swimlane created to show the Meeting Planner Process starting from when the client gives the meeting logistics to the meeting planner all the way till when the client makes their payment to the meeting planning company.  Notice the extra details in each aspect and the complicated process that is easily clarified with a simple flow chart.

Microsoft Visio could be a successful contribution to my company. We specialize in website registrations where we design websites for clients and track attendee registration through the website. Adding diagrams and flow charts to our websites can certainly have a great impact as it could emphasize important information in a simple image. A diagram is definitely easier to show complex or large amounts of material in a professional and simple manner. Having Microsoft Visio flow charts on client websites would keep the information neat, enhanced and impressive. Also, seeing as we use Microsoft Excel for many daily projects and reports we can import information from the spreadsheets into Microsoft Visio and create seamless diagrams. This would be a great added feature for our client websites and one I am sure our clients would always request. A perfect example would be expressing the travel process to our attendees. As many times as we explain the process in detail on the website attendees are always confused. Adding a simple diagram like the one below would avoid frustrated attendees, aggravated phone calls and irritated emails. And the best part about the illustration below is that it only took about fifteen minutes to create! That includes adding color and pictures.

Adding such a feature as Microsoft Visio diagrams to our services would benefit especially since the majority of our services are based on a la carte pricing. The price range could be anywhere from $150 to $800 depending on the level and simplicity of the diagram. This would be additional revenue added just for a diagram. That could be an extra $450 more to the client’s total charges and $450 more in revenue. Microsoft Visio would be a great addition to our company and would have positive effects and advantages. The thought of just adding diagrams to client websites is just one step to improve our services. We could create diagrams about our company and display them at tradeshows to better explain our company process and how we work to create great service for our clients. We can use them internally for training new hires about the how to’s of our business or express sales trends to the marketing team. The opportunities are endless with Microsoft Visio.