Increasing Sales with Enterprise Mobile Applications
More than a year ago, the yet-to-be-released iPad was used at a German trade show by Medtronic, a giant in the biomedical industry. The company used the tablet to display sales figures and other business information. Medtronic still uses mobile technology, and in fact created an application which delivers critically important real-time patient status updates to doctors. Apple noticed Medtronic’s efforts to use mobile devices and recently featured the company on its website. Obviously, this is good PR for both Apple and Medtronic, but are there any advantages for a company that implements mobile technology, when looked at from a purely business perspective? Removing or reducing the barriers between a company’s sales force and its potential buyers through mobile technology can improve business-to-consumer and business-to-business interactions.
Clients can enjoy an improved experience when businesses provide interactive visuals on a mobile platform. A visual representation of sales materials can lead to more pertinent discussions and improve the way clients perceive the company’s organizational methods. When a prospect can see these visuals, trust and a more unified business-to-prospect interaction is created. Clients who have smartphone access to this content are able to view it whenever they wish. An Apple Store, where the sales counters have been eliminated and the sales force interacts with potential buyers while standing in their midst, illustrates how a company could appeal to consumers via a mobile platform. The sales experience is completely transformed in that scenario.
A company that implements enterprise mobile applications can improve its internal operations and thereby potentially impress its prospective customers. Picture the usefulness of an application that is capable of determining the appropriate prices for products through a real-time analysis of pertinent business statistics. This type of mathematical, logical process is much more impressive to potential clients than any seemingly-arbitrary estimate regarding the right pricing. The ability to combine pertinent back-end information with a mobile platform lies at the heart of enterprise mobile technology.
Issues related to logistics can often frustrate potential buyers and result in lost sales. By using enterprise mobile applications, a business can interact with its prospects in real-time and eliminate unnecessary delays in communication. The customer can be kept satisfied and the business benefits as well.
Enterprise mobile applications should use an interface that is as simple and easy to navigate as possible. An overly complicated, flashy layout will only confuse and frustrate users.
A company’s entire sales force should receive training on the correct time to use enterprise mobile applications with prospective customers. Although the functions provided by enterprise mobile applications are important, so is the timing of when these applications are used. If used at the wrong time, enterprise mobile applications simply will not produce the results that are being sought. They must be used both correctly and at the right time in order to produce the desired results.
