Success in business takes using your smarts . . . but in this case, “smarts” means using your smartphone.  Whether your company focuses on products or services, you can use your phone to run your business.  What are the advantages of doing so?  Are there any disadvantages?  What tips and techniques do the experts offer?  Let’s learn more.

Using Your Smarts – Advantages

First of all, the statistics are convincing.  Pew Research Center tells us that 97% of Americans have cell phones.  That’s up 12% since 2011.  Most of those cells (85%) are smartphones, and their owners are rarely without them. In fact, one source indicated that 47% of those interviewed said they couldn’t live without their devices.  So how much time does the average person spend using their smartphone?  Nearly 3 hours a day!  Get this.  Another statistic tells us that these users tap, swipe, or click their phones more than 2600 times a day!  It sure does seem smart to use your smartphone to communicate with your team and your customers with these stats in mind. You’ve got easy access to them, just with a push.

Not only that, but your team will find this mode of communication convenient.  After all, we’ve seen that most people use their smartphones to get in touch with others.  Why not add a business component to that?  If need be, team members can use business-only phones, but often they are comfortable combining business with pleasure.  

Lastly, most people don’t have landlines anymore.  Why should offices?  It’s an unnecessary added expense.  An answering service to field the calls and forward them costs much less money.  Or instead of a phone service, you can use VOIP – Voice over Internet Protocol.  That way team members can convert their voices into a digital signal that travels over the Internet.  Either way you look at it, extra costs can be cut.  Sounds smart to me.

Using Your Smarts – Disadvantages

These are relatively few, especially since consistent and reliable cell phone coverage seems to be everywhere.  Back in the day, calls didn’t connect in more rural areas.  Also, cell phones now have improved batteries and technology that basically make a smartphone a small computer you can carry around in the palm of your hand.

It’s hard to type, it may be hard to see, and it makes it more of a challenge to print, but nowadays, most applications now have a mobile-enabled version. Some folks will use a tablet with their phone to multitask, but it can be done. 

Your smartphone lets you be anywhere to take or make a call.  No longer are you required to be anchored to your office desk in order to communicate with your team and clients.  With that freedom, though, we need to set parameters for ourselves and our team.

Using Your Smarts – Tips & Techniques

• You are always available.  That’s not necessarily a good thing.  Be sure you are not too available to your business.  Family gatherings and hot dates are probably less conducive to sealing that deal.  Turn out the light and lock the office door before the evening or the weekend begins.  Sure, you may need to work through some of those, but make it fewer than not.
• It can be noisy.  Be aware of background noise wherever you are.  Sometimes we may be able to tune out whatever is around us, but others may not be able to do that.  Steer clear of making those calls in honking traffic, at rowdy Little League Games, or near the chit-chat at the checkout of the local grocery store.  Find a place more quiet to make your call.
• Less privacy, more access.  You and your team may not be keen on giving out your personal phone numbers.  You don’t  have to.  Consider using a service like Grasshopper that converts your phone number to an 800 number.  The appearance of a dedicated business line makes your business seem bigger than it is and more established.  

Others Are Doing It

In fact, Forbes Insights surveyed over 500 executives and discovered that 9 out of 10 use their smartphones for business.  It gets better.  One out of ten use their smartphones solely for their business, even if they are in the office.  When you’ve got a phone that has your contacts, your emails, and your sales pipelines, using your smarts to run your business just makes good sense.

What’s needed though is a super simple and sexy platform.  Train your team, send push notifications, and hold your team accountable.  The Business Glu mobile app is a better way of delivering training and real-time communication to your team.  Right to their phones.  
Curious?  Intrigued?  Book a demo to see how using your smarts will grow your team.  Business Glu.  It’s the way to keep your business together.