February 21 2008
A GPS! FANTASTIC... BUT THEN WHAT?
or
Technology Is Great but Is There a Pilot On Board?
The Context
GPS has certainly been one of the most publicized technologies in 2007, it was predicted that by the end of the year, 63 % of all mobile phones would incorporate a GPS. Nonetheless, according to Direction informatique, most users ignore that their mobile phone has a GPS processor. They also mention that 240 million mobile phones will be delivered in 2008 and more than 550 million mobile phones with GPS functionality will be in use by 2012. Many car manufacturers (Ford, Mazda, Audi, etc.) have integrated this technology to a few models or offer it as an option. Likewise, many phone manufacturers integrate it now into their “Smartphone” lines such as the Nokia N810 or the new BlackBerry Pearl 8110 and 8830. GPS technology has emerged from its traditional niches (aeronautics, aerospace, transport) to become a commercial mass application. The Service industry has most benefit from it with multiple application developments in Sales, Security, and Clientele Service and delivery services.
Representatives from all fields (technicians, counsellors, salesmen, account directors, etc.) servicing a clientele distributed over wide territories wasted no time in asking for a GPS-equipped mobile phone or a GPS unit for their car. A GPS! Fantastic but then what? Before agreeing to such a request, one must proceed with a good analysis of the security and confidentiality laws related to the usage of GPS technology and also of the potential legal impacts of such laws on your business. Also to be carefully examined are the estimated usage frequency, the value added it will contribute, the issue of integration into your technology environment and finally, if you really need GPS technology, will you have to invest in the development of a specific application in order to truly benefit from it?
The Why and the How of the When!!!
Why Use a GPS In The First place?
The key concept here is « time ». Do you operate over great distances or in major urban centres? Do you service a large clientele? If so, a GPS will certainly be of good use considering the sheer volume of trips or the length of trips, the time gains the GPS will provide just by eliminating route errors will rapidly exceed the investment! It’s the rule of great numbers. Of course, you must access accurate data in the first place! A few softwares update regularly their maps and add new data about key locations upon which your GPS can feed, for Europe as well as for the USA and Canada. (Moreover, in the USA, you can access routes and traffic real-time data in mostly all great areas.)
Another key concept is « cost ». If you operate a large fleet of vehicles, a GPS can easily optimize your trips, thus reducing greatly your exploitation costs. Let’s recall that a good autonomous GPS unit costs around $250-350 while GPS-equipped mobile phones are getting more affordable than ever. Security is also a key concern among businesses, considering the investments made both in terms of equipment and human resource (training, benefits, etc.), it’s important to be able to know in no time and at all time where both vehicles and personnel are. Thanks to your GPS, you may recover a stolen vehicle in no time or find out that an employee spends a lot of time everyday… at the same spot. But that’s a different story!
Last, but not the least, key concept: « productivity ». Your business has a database of thousands of clients and you consider integrating GPS technology to the Management of your Sales Force. Your goal is to improve its Productivity since you evolve in a highly competitive and constantly mutating business environment: some bill amendments have impacted your business offering, new opportunities frequently emerge in the market, you regularly proceed with the launching of new products/services, new business rules must be implemented after discovering that your Sales Force devotes only 12% of its efforts to 21% of your clients which generate 72% of all revenues while another 53% clients are contacted only once a year although they represent a potential 39% business increase! There is no doubt a GPS will bring some benefits to your Sales Force but it will never compensate for poor Planning. If you are looking to improve your Sales Force Productivity to ensure that all your clients and prospects are contacted at the prescribed frequency with an appropriate business offering in an optimal time frame; you should consider investing in the development of a new Sales Force/Service to Clientele Activity Planning and Optimization Web application which may benefit from the integration of GPS technology.
How to Use a GPS?
With very strict and unambiguous instructions since the GPS can rapidly become the new toy many employees waste a lot of time on, if not their car, while driving and playing with it. In fact, 2008 is supposed to be the year mobile phones usage while driving will be restricted, with or without GPS. You can optimize the efficiency of your GPS by regularly updating it, collecting and transferring new data to your new Sales Force/Service to Clientele Management application to enhance it; reversely, your GPS will display these new data and routes fed by your new application.
When to integrate GPS technology?
If you think your fleet has a poor ratio « exploitation costs vs. exploitation revenues » or if a test, with a GPS for example, clearly shows unjustified time loss or high frequencies of repetitive trips, these are good reasons justifying the investment in GPS technology. However, if Sales Force Productivity is a top priority for your company because you have a hunch that your clientele may not be properly attended to; well, you will have to take it one step further to really enjoy the benefits of this technology! Now strictly in terms of navigation, whether an autonomous GPS unit is preferable to a mobile phone equipped with a GPS, this article by Benoît Solivellas at ZDNet.fr gives a brief but sound analysis of the topic.
CONCLUSION
GPS technology is certainly worth the investment if your fleet has a poor ratio « exploitation costs vs. exploitation revenues », if you experience unjustified time loss or high frequencies of repetitive trips or your company’s security demands knowing at all time the positioning of both vehicles and personnel. But if you have a poor ratio « clients seen / clients not seen » or your Sales Force misses many business opportunities; then GPS technology (geo-localization) on its own won’t solve your problems and investing in the development of a Sales Force/Service to Clientele Activity Planning and Optimization Web application may be necessary.
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