Professional salespeople must stay connected to our world more than any other profession. With the technological boom of the last two decades we are more capable to do that. Cellular telephones and email have become the popular ways of communicating with everyone these days: from the immediate superiors to our clients themselves. Salespeople have also had to carry day planners or PDA's to coordinate appointments. All too often I see professional salespeople carrying three devices to coordinate their day-to-day activities. The cell phone takes care of the calling, the laptop computer takes care of the emailing, and the PDA sets the appointments. But how convenient is it to have to carry that laptop everywhere you go? How much of your money or your company's money are you spending every month when you could be saving that money? How really really professional do you look when you have to pull out your laptop or organizer to set the appointment?
Are laptops really that convenient? That inexpensive to use? While a necessity to the job in some cases, laptops are not the easiest way to email on the go anymore. Smartphone devices have emerged as the new leader in mobile email communication. You no longer need to have the laptop everywhere you go to be able to email. Many phone models have email capabilities that will keep you on-the-go and up to speed, and yes, they can be synched to your company's email server even if you are on an enterprise system. Also, how do you connect to the internet when you are not at the office or at a WiFi hotspot? Laptop aircard maybe? Those devices, while inexpensive to buy, carry a larger monthly bill. To have internet / email on your cellular device usually costs about half of aircard monthly fees.
We do call ourselves "Professional" Salespeople, right? Does it look professional to have dig around in the laptop case to find the PDA to make the appointment while your prospect waits on you? How professional do we look when we tell our client, "Wait a minute while I boot up my computer so I can email my boss about that concession." Is it really maximizing our time to have some information on one device and some on another only to have to remember which one is correct for the things we need?
Cellular devices have most definately become a necessity in most every aspect of life, especially for salespeople. We do not have the time anymore to wait until we get back to the office to speak with superiors about that 5% price cut or negotiate payment terms. The cell phone takes care of that. We depend on our phones every day to make calls to our clients, to our bosses, and to our families. Cell phones have become a part of the business attire as much as a necktie or jacket. The have become the lifeline to society as a whole. So why not have everything else that we need to perform our duties right there on the device that we have learned to depend on so much? The answer is that we can have all that and more on our phones and we should. The Smartphone should be every salesperson's new best friend.