iPad and other technologies in the Enterprise.
As more and more C-level Executives embrace the iPad in the Enterprise, (they seem to sneak in the doors usually starting with the CEO) that adoption is beginning to rapidly flow down to the sales force. It may be in conversation only right now, but you can bet the tablet (iPad currently dominating, but Windows 8 can catch up) will be a topic of discussion in quite a few enterprises this year.
So what is this Blog and who is it for? The questions you may have from either a Sales Manager perspective, from a CIO or an IT Administrator, or simply from an “In the Trenches” sales person will all be addressed here on a weekly basis.
So what are my credentials to talk about these topics? Well, first and foremost I am in sales, and I use technology to the extreme. I also hold a MCSA certification and other technical certs so I am not just someone who has no idea what the “real World” of sales is all about, but I do understand the tech-eze. I also know how to teach people how best to use technology, as I live it day in and day out in my job. So whether you sell widgets or cars, services or software, my weekly series will address these topics from an Enterprise perspective of knowing the technology and what it can do to a sales person’s perspective of how to make this work for you.
I am planning on covering topics such as:
- Using an iPad for presentations
- Using the iPad to sign contracts
- Keeping up with emails
- Company research
- Sales automation
- Tablet PC versus iPad
- Getting Things Done with an iPhone or iPad
- Are i-devices really ready for sales?
- Technical adoption with a mature workforce
- Can I do real work on an iPad or Tablet?
- Tablet PC versus Laptop
- Remote access and the iPad
- Meeting documentation and remembering everything said in the meeting
- What does the Cloud mean to Sales?
I will also entertain specific topics that you may want me to address, so visit my Blog frequently and comment. Disclosure: I am not an expert, but I play one on a TV. But what I am is a sales guy just like you trying to make sense of technology and generating sales revenue. You interested? Leave me a post on what you would like me to address as I lay out my schedule of topics!
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9 Responses
Kirk,
I’m looking forward to your blog subjects. I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas. Michael Epping got me wired up for e-mail so I can get my bruss@fortresspartners.com e-mail. That’s cool. Apparently Microsoft will be providing us with an e-mail patch before the EOM so that I won’t have to pay the $20 Amazon wants for its e-mail patch. I would like to access my entire desktop from my Fire. Can I? The Kindle is $300 less than the i-Pad and doesn’t have all the functionality but when you consider deploying this technology over a larger number of employees, $300/unit really adds up.
Jon
Sounds like some good topics, Kirk. Look forward to reading your insights.
HI Kirk, Like it! thanks for thinking of us.
We are actually thinking about getting into Ipad or android tablets this year.
We look forward to your Blogs.
We are looking at iPads right now – the IT staff has them as well as a few of the Sales guys. That said, we are trying to leverage the iPad for note taking (OneNote and perhaps others) as well as for presentations. Once of the biggest things I would like to do as an administrator is provide the RemoteApp applications to the iPad. We’ve invested heavily in Hyper-V and Microsoft solutions and would like to provide those application to the iPad. What kind of work is being done in thease areas would be a great topic of interset for our organization.
Kirk, great idea. I look forward to reading you thoughts and experiences.
Looking forward to your blog Kirk!
Hello Kirk. Looking forward to some insight on this issue. I am going to be working with a pilot group of sales folks on testing and assessing the value of mobile CRM (MS Dynamics) on tablets (iPads likely). Ideally we have our eye on totally replacing their existing laptops with a tab and keyboard/case, as opposed to just adding another device to the arsenal. I suspect most of the work the team does is in CRM, email, with light to moderate work in Word and Excel. In your experience would folks like these be a good candidates for an outright laptop replacement? What have you found to be useful for Office docs on iPad?
Great list of topics. I have an iPad 2 with a Zagg keyboard. It’s great for meetings, presentations, on the go online research. I’d also add:
-Gap analysis – what doesn’t work well on a tablet/iPad. I know I could offer some opinions there. I’m not giving up my laptop or my home PC.
-Best of Breed – apps and accessories. Not marketing hype, what customers find to be truly useful.
-integration with other devices. I rely on my iPod Touch/iPhone as my main calendar/address book, but I want to add content from any device/source.
-security and lack thereof – I want to know my risks so I can make smart choices.
Thanks Kirk for including me. This is very timely since our corporation is dipping toes in the iPad pool with an eye toward lots of possible applications.