Tech Goddess

By Joe Mueller

 Getting the big picture of where your fleet is important for any business, but particularly for small businesses. One very interesting place to go to see this analogy at work is the war rooms of classic World War 2 movies.

These had the fun oversized maps with blond German girls pushing models of panzers around a map of France, Russia, or the Ardennes. While they might not have looked exactly like this (what in Hollywood looks like real life?) they do represent something that really did happen in real life. It makes sense why armies had these types of things - because it helped the leaders get a big picture of what was going on in the field to make command decisions.

Your small business can benefit from this type of information. By knowing exactly where your serviceman, package, or driver is at any given moment you will be able to get them exactly where they need to be at exactly the right time. You will be empowered to provide exemplary service to your customers that will help you generate return customers and word of mouth marketing, both of which are crucial to sustain your small business.

GPS fleet tracking will help you do this.

There a few different models for GPS fleet tracking that will empower you to do this. The primary one is through a web-based interface that allows you to interact with the raw GPS data transmitted by units in each of your vehicles. The can be regular GPS navigation units (like a Garmin or TomTom) if the manufacturer also supports GPS fleet tracking or it could be a GPS device made for GPS fleet tracking.

Either way, not only will you get information at your headquarters - but your drivers will have access to real time driving instructions that can be changed during travel to respond to new needs. This is critical for transmitting job orders to vehicles already out on call.

There is a report by the Aberdeen group that came out in March of 2008 that shows that small businesses see dramatic improvement in the number of work orders filled by implementing GPS technology in their fleets. If your fleet is between 1 and 10 vehicles the benefit is significantly more pronounced. You will see also see an increase of on time deliveries as well.

When you consider that as the boss you are able to see exactly where your fleet you can easily see why this is so. Your employees will know that you can monitor their progress at any moment and that they will be held accountable in everything. You will also will be able to apply your years of experience in advising your drivers how to best manage their routes or who to send to which jobs. The power will be in your hands with GPS fleet tracking to make the most of your small business and take it to the next level.

There is little reason not to invest in GPS fleet technology because the benefits are so pronounced that it would be silly not to invest in it if your company can afford it.

Joe teaches people about GPS fleet tracking and GPS tracking watches for kids.

Your Online Source For The Goddess Of Technology

Events — When to Conduct Yours
By Ramon Vela

 As part of our business we manage events for our clients. We do everything for them from event planning to event recruitment. Given this experience, I’ve developed 3 simple guidelines for deciding “if” to put on an event.

I am going to suspend, for now, the discussion of whether an event is a good idea or not. I will say this: I personally believe that if done correctly an event is a fantastic vehicle for generating leads and beginning/developing/nurturing new and existing customer relationships. However, my idea of an event is likely different than what you may be thinking — but we’ll touch on that later.

Let’s assume you are considering putting on a typical event with a speaker or two at a hotel or other facility about some technology solution. If I was your event planning company, here are the questions I would ask you in order to determine if an event is a right choice for your money.

* Are your reps committed to inviting new and existing customers? I mean, literally, are they going to spend time on the phone actually inviting people?

* Is your vendor partner going to actively invite people — and I don’t just mean that they are going to give you some half-baked list. I mean, are they going to *actively* invite new and existing customers and accounts?

* Are you and your reps going to follow up with each prospect?

An event planning company can do a lot to ease the workload for you but I have found that an event is only as successful as the involvement of you and your vendor partner. If you are not prepared to roll up your sleeves and get to work, then your marketing funds are better spent somewhere else.

*Sometimes I lose a project this way but also earn their trust*.

Recently, a Sr. VP of Marketing and Corporate Communications also shared this with me:

” I would add this question: How long have you been in the geographic area and how well known is your brand? Typically a prospect will not take off part of his/her day unless they have heard of you (you have credibility) and/or your content and agenda is compelling enough for them to take a risk and sacrifice hours of productivity at work for your event. People are too busy to leave the office and your event better be worth it.”

Absolutely correct. This is the *WIIFM principle* — What’s In It For Me ? Why should they attend? If they don’t know you, why should they spend their precious time?

Plus, the way many seminars are put together they are more like product pitches than actual information and knowledge exchanges. So, again, if IT executives can review a product presentation on their own and over the web, why would they come to your event?

This is when working with a vendor comes in handy because you have to answer the question — “Are you a known entity and would they come to see you?”

Ramon provides more marketing information, especially created for the IT VAR industry but also applies to everyone who wants to improve their sales. Stay up-to-date at StreetSmartVAR.com and while you’re there, don’t forget to sign up for Ramon’s popular, no-cost online marketing course!

athena

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.