How us Technology People Should be Treating Customers

After my last blog post on finding a trusted advisor, I ran across the blog I have linked below. This was posted from a company called, Ultimus, and discussed how sales representatives from software technology companies treat and should treat customers. The writer of the blog discussed how we need to communicate differently to our customers by not using the technology lingo that only the people in our office understand. I thought this was a good addition to my previous post and wanted to share it with you.

Ultimus Blog Post – BPM…Huh?

Automating the Road

I need to make this statement – I hate wasting time! So now that I’ve gotten that of my chest, here is my issue; I spend way too much wasted time behind a wheel of a car. I probably have traveled to every city and town in Georgia and Alabama. That’s a lot of time going down the road doing nothing but driving. This drove me crazy for a long time. Finally, I’ve changed my ways using technology. I would like to share one road warrior’s tools while on the road.

First and foremost is a GPS. Nothing says wasted time more than being lost. As I mentioned, I am all over the place and many visits are first visits. Yes, there is Map Quest, Google Maps, etc., but nothing beats a talking voice (mine is an Australian women) telling you exactly where to turn. I can’t tell you how many times my Garmin saved me from being late. Now with traffic alerts, speech recognition and other new features, a GPS is a must.

My next goal was automating my phone calls. I make my living evangelizing the benefits of using technology to automate work processes. This means I need to talk to the right people who want and need to hear my message. I am real funny about making calls from the car. Frequently when you’re talking to someone travelling down the highway, you can’t understand what they are saying. This is not a good first impression. I try to make the bulk of my calls when I stop for gas or food. So that I don’t waste precious time, I need to be organized about who I am calling. I have a spreadsheet attached to a clipboard which was produced from my Sales Force Automation system. This includes present customers, prospects in the pipeline, referrals, and cold leads. You would be surprised how many people I can touch this way in a week.

This next tool is more addiction than technology, listening to podcasts. I am a knowledge junkie and nothing feeds my addiction more than the thousands of podcasts that can be downloaded for free from the Internet. Any subject that interests you, I guarantee there is a podcast out there. My favorites cover technology, sales improvement, running a business, blues guitar and cooking. Whether you want to learn a new language, strike it rich in the stock market, learn to grow a garden or just fill your brain with totally useless knowledge, it’s out there for the downloading for free. It is a great way to educate your self.

My final tool is a Verizon Internet card. Yes, you can check email or surf the internet from your phone, but there are times I need to get a proposal out when I am in the middle of nowhere. I have actually sat in fast food parking lots and preformed software demonstrations using my wireless card and GoToMeeting. My prospect on the other end never knew that I wasn’t in some high rise in downtown Atlanta. The key here is that I can do anything on the road that I can do in my office.

So now you know what I use when exploring the countryside in search of workflow bottlenecks, I would love to know what other road warriors use to keep them productive while out conquering the world.