Mobile

I was very happy that we were able to release the New Salesnet Mobile last week. I was even happier when we started getting feedback from our customers as to how much they liked it and how it saved them hours of work each day. It is tremendous to get this kind of feedback.

I was on the road this week and had my first chance to really use the new mobile application in a real live situation.  I had lots of meetings and didn’t really have the time to pull out my PC and update Salesnet.  During breaks I just logged in with my iPhone and did everything I needed to.  I never thought it would be so easy and fast.

That takes me back to a previous blog about our strategy for the new Salesnet mobile application.  We decided to go with a web based approach instead of having an application that resides on the smart phone.  This approach has many advantages and almost no disadvantages.  The biggest advantages are that you don’t have to sync up data with your phone.  You are logging into the system just as you would when using your PC, and this means everything is real time.  If someone else changes something you will see it.  If you make some changes or add some data it is instantly available to anyone who has access.

We have always had an offline product that allows you to sync your data to your PC, work offline and then sync it up when you get to a connection.  My issue with working with offline is that I usually forget to sync the data before I leave the office or just don’t have the time.  To use this product you also have to get the PC out and start it up.  This week for me was a perfect example of not having time to do this. I just pulled out my phone during a break and did what I needed to do.  It was wonderful.

The next advantage to our users has to do with the cost.  We are able to provide this at a much lower cost than an application that resides on the phone.  The security is also much better with our approach because none of the data is on the phone.

The only disadvantage that I can think of is that if you don’t have a wireless connection you can’t use it.  I will gladly take that disadvantage to get the above-mentioned advantages.  Maybe some day we will find a way to let you have your cake and eat it too.

Good Selling