Your phone is probably the most powerful piece of technology in your life and it isn’t because of any one application. Don’t get me wrong, applications have the incredible ability to take a simple task in your life, digitize it and make it infinitely more accessible. But the power of mobility comes from having it all in one place. Your phone isn’t just a phone, it’s a daily hub.
Think about it. You might set an alarm on your phone, jot notes down throughout the day, check your email, text friends and family, use an app to check your bank account balance, use a fitness app to track how far your run is, keep track of events on a calendar app.
That concept, creating a hub of valuable information,can also be a value generator for enterprises. Employees in the field can bring the way they work into the age of the digital transformation.
This means creating a mobile app that integrates existing enterprise applications into a hub of valuable data & analytics (tailored to the specific needs of various mobile users) rather than simply improving upon individual applications, such as a CRM app. Here are just a few benefits that could be realized by the mobile workforce if an enterprise mobility strategy is adopted:
1) Increased Aftermarket Sales
A mobile app enables you to get a detailed overview of a customer in real-time. This means that if you are on the road and stop for coffee (or want to brush up on a client’s sales history in the parking lot), you can easily access a treasure trove of information. Seeing open orders, quotes and opportunities will let you know which products they’re already interested in. Increased visibility to open service requests will make your field staff more informed and responsive on-site.
This means that you can enter the conversation knowing where the customer needs help and specific areas in which an upgrade or replacement would benefit them. You also maximize the use of your own time by being prepared at any given moment, and you minimize the work required of your client.
Time is precious—even more so when talking about a customer’s time. With an easy-to-use and intuitive user interface (just like consumer apps you use on your phone), you won’t waste any time searching for information. You can access exactly what you need to know, at any time, from anywhere, as long as you have your device (but let’s be honest, when are you without one?).
2) Unprecedented Customer Service
When students learn that their class will allow them to use a “cheat sheet” they always burst forth with sleep-deprived cheers and smiles. Even if it was a 5×7 notecard, students fill every square inch of white space with notes, formulas, and review questions, happy to have easy access to vital information when it matters most.
Well, being a field service employee isn’t being in school, but access to information is still perhaps the most critical element of providing exceptional customer service. Instead of being buried in textbooks you are now a student of your customers, and a mobile app is your cheat sheet. It provides you with an entire customer history (service orders, purchases, Install base, contacts, etc…) all right there in your pocket.
This allows you to shift your service model from being reactive to predictive. You’ll arrive able to diagnose what’s wrong, offer solutions and show that you’ve done your homework, something every client will appreciate.
When you are knowledgeable and prepared, value customer’s time, and have the cutting-edge tools to be responsive, they’ll leave every interaction beyond satisfied.
Beyond these two specific benefits, the overall benefit of a mobile solution is quite powerful. It allows your business to “close the gap,” turning your employees loose on both the information they need and the information they lack in order to elevate their service.
“The Gap”
Right now, your sales staff might have mobile access to a CRM tool, Salesforce for instance. Your field service employees might have access to a few reporting capabilities, while also managing most of their information on paperwork. Other members of your staff may have access to a back-end inventory management app, while others use a shipping and payment module. However advanced that solution may sound, the lack of interconnection cannot be ignored. You see there are gaps inside of your solution, areas where information is valuable to more than one team falls through the cracks.
Imagine the different areas of your ERP solution as individual towers, all built closely together but with a gap between them. Monarch Mobile Solutions uses a mobile app to construct secure bridges, connect the various towers and push that information down into intuitive pre-built apps, tailored to the specific needs of your users. A strategic deployment of mobile technology unites your business, connecting your field staff to sales to customer service to warehousing—it empowers your staff with the valuable information that would otherwise get lost in the gap.
