Considering Mobile?
By Scott Jordan, Founder & CTO

Now may be the best time to invest in mobile Smartphone devices. If your staff is on the go frequently, stretched thin, and doing more than ever, mobile Smartphone handhelds are the best way to keep everyone on the same page, wherever they happen to be working. Mobility technology is better than ever and now it is more affordable than ever. Many cellular providers such as Verizon and AT&T are currently running promotions that give you great deals on several available devices.

So What Device is Right for Me?
The Mobile Smartphone market is booming. There are currently five major platforms for mobile users to choose from. Apple has its stylish iPhone, which has been very successful. Microsoft has their Windows Mobile platform, with many device manufacturers on board providing equipment. Palm continues to offer some good devices, but has abandoned their Palm OS, and now offers the Pre with webOS through several carriers. RIM offers their popular Blackberry line of devices, with their own, made-for-mobile operating environment. Google has also recently jumped into the fray with the Android and Nexus One. Each offering touts their vast array of form-factors, apps, and features to attract your attention.

But which is the best platform for business? With all of the marketing-hype, it is sometimes difficult to choose, but in my opinion there are three clear front-runners. From a tech-chic point of view, the Apple iPhone rules the day. With more and more business apps becoming available, it has become a viable business tool in its own right, although the lack of a keyboard detracts from faster messaging and email work. For a familiar interface and easy integration with other Microsoft products, look no further than Windows Mobile devices. The biggest complaint with these platforms is sluggish performance due to the resources required by the Windows OS, although that should be improving with the release of Windows Phone 7 his year. Finally, the venerable RIM Blackberry still offers the best overall business platform and a host of application support from several providers to make it most like an extension of the office. Perhaps I’m old-fashioned, but I’ll take mine with a keyboard please. The Blackberry Storm is a cool touch-screen device, but being able to type on a real tactile keyboard makes on-the-go messaging a lot easier.

Read On

The E-Mail You Save Can Be Held Against You
By Kim Komando
Reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

When it comes to e-mail, I'm a packrat. No, it is not true that I still have the first e-mail I ever received. But I probably have my first e-mail from the year 2000. In fact, I probably have all my e-mails from the year 2000. So of course, I have everything since then, too.

Why do I have all this stuff? I'm not sure, frankly. Maybe I was concerned that I would be sued over some imaginary transgression and would need an e-trail to prove my innocence. Or maybe I was vaguely concerned about some legal requirement to save this stuff.

I'm not the only one doing this. Some of you have thousands of e-mails, too. And you probably don't know why you're saving them, either. Maybe you're worried about going to jail over some stupid e-mail you can't find.

I'm hardly an expert in what e-mail documents and records to save. So I talked to Donald Skupsky, the president of Information Requirements Clearinghouse. He modestly describes himself as the world's leading expert in this area. I also talked with Charles Fine, a Phoenix attorney.

Here are some things to consider when you wonder whether or not to save e-mail, particularly in light of the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which imposes more requirements on mostly public companies to preserve records. Obviously, if you still have questions, talk to a lawyer.

1. Save important records. But e-mail is not always considered a record. Companies should save records of business transactions.

Read On

You're In Sales No Matter What Your Title
by Debra J. Schmidt - used with permission

If I ask you right now whether or not you are in sales, chances are you would say, "No, I'm in accounts payable or customer service or marketing." You might even say, "I'm the CEO."

No matter what your job is, you are in sales. Every time you interact with a customer, you are selling your professional credibility, the company's products or services, and the company's image. So, even if you don't work in the sales department, read on.

When a customer has a bad experience in shipping, in accounting, in technical support or any other department in your company, you can bet that negative word-of-mouth will follow. That word of mouth reduces sales in the same way that customer testimonials increase referrals and sales. You are selling all the time, so it's important for you to recognize what your customers want from you.

Regardless of who your customers are, there are 5 key actions they want from you:

1. To have you spend more time listening than talking
Who do you find more interesting to talk with; the person who rattles on and on sharing their wealth of knowledge, or the person who asks you about yourself and then listens to your response? Your customers do not call in order to be impressed. They call because they have a need or a problem and believe your company can offer the solution. But before they decide to do business with your company, they are going to decide if they like you and can trust you. Asking your customers intelligent questions and, then, actively listening to their responses is the best way to build trust and get at the heart of what your customer really needs.

Read On

Phone: 765-286-5639
  www.deltecsolutions.com