| ’s workforce is truly mobile. Most of us now | | | | Secondly, even though it is not true, companies |
| work at the office, from home and on the road. | | | | percieve the cost associated with mobile solutions to |
| ‘On demand access’ to critical | | | | be greater than the benefits gained because they |
| customer information from anywhere is becoming a | | | | can't immediately identify how to apply mobile data to |
| ‘must have’ facility. | | | | improve competitive capability. A mobile data delivery |
| Now customers demand CRM access using a remote | | | | solution must be cost effective and allow organisations |
| desktop or laptop accessing data through the Internet | | | | to experiment with mobile technologies and to gain |
| or on a handheld device. Suppliers are expected to | | | | insight on how to gain a competitive edge from the |
| have all the information at their fingertips at the | | | | technology. |
| moment of interaction. The same insight into their | | | | It should have the following: |
| business and affairs are expected in a one-to-one | | | | * Access to information from any remote location |
| meeting is expected when they phone into a call | | | | covered by a mobile network. |
| centre. | | | | * Low start-up costs allowing development of mobile |
| Remote access is a genuinely useful tool that can help | | | | strategies through experiments. |
| your company to reduce duplicate entry, administration | | | | * Simplified user interface making it easy to administer |
| time, travelling time and costs for remote workers. It | | | | data. |
| will also enable you to improve your customer service, | | | | * Quick search and find. |
| and improve the quality and usefulness of data input. | | | | Success can be measured by: |
| Staff want the technology. Surveys have shown that | | | | * Improved cycle times in providing a customer with |
| sales management and field representatives both felt | | | | accurate information. |
| strongly that providing PDA access to CRM systems | | | | * Efficiency increases for buyers and sales people |
| would drive increase productivity of the sales force. | | | | free them to focus on developing key account |
| Eighty-three percent of sales representatives felt that | | | | relationships |
| a PDA sales solution would make them more | | | | * Empowered sales people and buyers with |
| productive in the field and 90% said they would use | | | | information when they enter negotiations through |
| their CRM system more if they had handheld mobile | | | | remote access to data |
| access. Sales management agreed: 82% believe PDA | | | | * Allowing management to be up to date with |
| access for sales representatives would drive field | | | | information where ever they are engaging with |
| usage of CRM and 91% believe mobile CRM software | | | | suppliers, customers, partners or shareholders. |
| on PDAs will become an important sales tool for their | | | | * Experiments with mobile strategies to define ways |
| organization. | | | | of improving current business processes and prepare |
| Two factors have stopped many companies from | | | | for new wireless technologies that will reshape the |
| adopting mobile technology to improve their business | | | | business environment. |
| functions. Firstly, companies are just inexperienced | | | | Thanks to broadband and 3G technology this is no |
| when it comes to applying mobile technologies. | | | | longer just the preserve of large companies. |