Downturn in the economy – why spend money on new technology?

Downturn in the economy –  why spend money on new technology? Now this is a question I hear often. Closely followed by “this mobile thing will not bring me sales”. In my mind, this is the equivalent of a company who is doing badly and therefore they fire their sales team. Now they have no chance of getting any sales.

Business need to realise that it is not 'business as usual'. This is a new tough economy where business need to adapt in order to survive and now is the perfect time to introduce Mobi as a new service to your customers.

Why?

The answer is because Mobi  is new, innovative, distinguishes you from your competitors and it brings your business direct to your customers hands. It s all about 'top of the mind awareness' – when your customers think about your service, they must be able to have instant access to it.

The proof is in the pudding as they say (I wonder who came up with that one?)

We are going to examine a regular business – Papa Johns Pizza Takeaway. There are many fast food options, so this is a tough market to compete in. So how did Papa Johns Pizza increase its sales? By implementing a mobi site facility.

The company recognised that takeaway customers are usually people on the go. On the go from school, on the go between meetings, on the go between varsity lectures. Papa Johns created the ability for its customers to be able to access its mobi site, select what they want to order from their menu (which is easily accessible) and at a click of the button, place the order via their cellphone.

The mobi site made it even simpler, by having a 'Order what I ordered last time' and a 'Make a recommendation wizard' which allows customers to place their orders in seconds. The mobi site also offered clients the ability to find their nearest shop with a map and a clickable telephone number that uses the phone facility to dial the pizza shop to place the order.

Papa Johns now provides mobile-only specials, offering its customers enticing promotions they can't refuse – all with a click of their phone.

The latest initiative is the 'introduce a friend' facility. This allows current customers to tell their friends about the mobi site facility and should the friend place an order, the referrer is rewarded with a discount voucher. Now the word is spreading fast and the sales are increasing even faster!

The result: 175 000 hungry customers have registered to use the mobi site facility and continue to place orders via the cellphone. All this in just four months. This is just one case of how a business has embraced mobi site technology and by simply doing so has stood out from the masses of competing fast food outlets. Mobi has changed this business forever.

Liron Segev

CEO, Swift Telecoms