Wireless CRM

The beauty of CRM lies in its promise to provide the salesperson with all the right information at the right time. That’s what it does, too, provided the rep is one of those office-bound sales types, but it’s not so easy for the road warriors out there, who have often been forced to hunt up a telephone connection or return to the office in order to get updated CRM data. The solution, of course, was to make CRM support wireless communications. Easier said than done. The current wireless infrastructure, which is built on the voice-based cell phone system, has been notable primarily for being slow and clunky when handling data other than voice.

That’s all about to change, according to CRM pundits. A new technology, called WiFi (aka 802.11 wireless LAN), is rapidly gaining acceptance in the workplace and looks likely to become the standard for high-speed wireless Internet access. As more workplaces convert to WiFi, salespeople will be able to use their customers’ wireless networks to access CRM data across the Web. In addition, WiFi is quickly becoming available at restaurants, coffee shops, airports and gas stations, thus allowing salespeople to get on the Web when they’re on the road. In other words, the long-deferred dream of getting the right information at the right time is now on the brink of becoming an everyday reality.

Building the Infrastructure

While wireless cell phone coverage has become nearly universal in the United States, it hasn’t created the promised revolution in CRM. The problem with using cellular networks to access the Web is that cell phone technology isn’t designed to handle the large amounts of data required to make full CRM available wirelessly. This is not to say that some salespeople haven’t benefitTED from such technologies as wireless email. However, when it comes to the Internet, cellular-based networks at best provide dial-up modem speeds that are simply too pokey to handle the display demands of a full CRM implementation. “Customers have been wowed by the promises of wireless but will not make a commitment to it until North American wireless providers improve the reliability, bandwidth and coverage of the wireless networks,” explains John Todaro, head of marketing for THE Applix suite of CRM products.

By contrast, WiFi is built upon high-speed landlines rather than the cellular phone network. The technology uses low-cost wireless base stations that create “hot spots” – areas where wireless-enabled PCs and handheld PDAs can connect to the Internet. WiFi has quickly emerged as the standard for wireless networking in the home, as evidenced by Microsoft’s entry into the market with a Microsoft-branded line of products. At the same time, corporations are embracing WiFi as a relatively inexpensive way to offer high-speed wireless connections. “The availability of next-generation carrier networks, and the huge number of hot spots that are starting to come on line are really change the ways we think of and use the Internet,” says Keith Waryas, an analyst at Framingham Massachussetts-based market researcher IDC.

WiFi hot spots are also becoming increasingly common at retail outlets, according to Rod Keller, executive vice president of Toshiba’s Irvine, California-based Computer Systems Group (CSG). When the salesperson pulls into the retail establishment, the WiFi-enabled laptop picks up the signal from the local wireless hub, at which point the network asks the salesperson for an identifying code that provides Internet access. The salesperson can obtain this access code either with a credit card or as part of a subscription service or even as an in-house perk. In one test program, salespeople were offered an hour’s worth of Internet with the purchase of a hamburger.

While WiFi coverage in retail establishments is just beginning, there are a number of companies committed to accelerating the pace of installation. Another company, T-Mobile, is already offering WiFi access at thousands of public locations including airports, coffeehouses and bookstores. Even laptop PC manufacturer Toshiba is getting into the act and recently signed an agreement with Circle-K to roll out hot-spot locations in 350 Circle K convenience stores in the Phoenix and Tucson market, with plans to expand the program to more than 17,000 retail locations operating under the Circle K, Phillips 66, Conoco, Union 76 and Mobil brands.

Connected on the Road

The one area where WiFi falls short for salespeople is accessing the Internet while actually driving down the highway. The problem is that WiFi hubs work over a very small radius, typically around 100 meters, which is not strong enough to create the kind of continuous access that’s required to provide service to a moving vehicle. However, it’s not clear whether sales reps should be updating screens and accessing CRM data anyway, when they should have one hand on the wheel and both eyes (hopefully) on the road.

Beyond the updating of CRM data, one of the anticipated uses of the Internet while driving is to obtain driving instructions, often a critical requirement for salespeople making multiple sales call. Fortunately, another wireless technology, the GPS (Global Positioning System), is now providing this capability. GPS is a satellite-based radio navigation system run by the U.S. Department of Defense using 24 satellites for identifying earth locations. By triangulating signals from three of the satellites, a receiving unit can pinpoint its current location anywhere on earth to within 20 meters.

While GPS has been available for several years in luxury cars and in expensive hand-held GPS units, the technology has now been miniaturized into standard cards and connectors that support portable PCs and PDAs. Software comparing GPS readings to standardized roadmaps can now route sales folk to customer sites, providing real-time driving instructions. For example, the Pocket GPS Navigator (priced at a little over $200) from Pharos Science & Applications Inc. (Torrance, CA) gives driving instructions in a voice reminiscent of the computer voice on the Star Trek TV series, even warning when the salesperson is driving in the wrong direction. “We are increasingly seeing sales professionals improve their individual performance by taking the most efficient route to customer sites – as well as plotting their day with multiple stops along their route – which maximizes customer service by effectively managing time spent in the field,” says Pharos chairman James Oyang.

Devices and Desires

Of course, none of this will work for laptops and PDAs that lack a WiFi capability. Upgrading a portable device to support WiFi currently costs around $100, but even that small expense will soon become unnecessary. Intel – the company that makes the “brains” inside most PCs – recently announced Centrino, a new mobile chip technology that extends battery life while providing an integrated WiFi capability. Some laptop manufacturers, such as Toshiba, are already including a built-in WiFi capability along with the now-standard built-in dial-up modem and Ethernet port. “Within two years you will not be able to buy a notebook without WiFi,” promises Ken Dulaney, vice president of mobile computing at Stamford Connecticut-based market researchers Gartner.

The coming pervasiveness of WiFi technology will have a major impact on mobile CRM users, specifically field sales, according to Joe Galvin, a Gartner vice president whose group studies CRM implementations. “Through high-speed anytime-anywhere wireless networks, mobile salespeople will have the same speed connectivity as inside, networked sales professionals,” he explains. Mike Doyle, CEO of Boston, Massachusetts-based Salesnet Inc., a global sales force automation (SFA) subscription service, concurs. “With the development of WiFi, salespeople can ‘get connected’ between meetings while sipping coffee in Starbucks,” he says, “They can gain access to critical and real-time sales data, which could mean the difference between closing a deal and losing business.”

The fact that most CRM applications already run across the Internet will also speed the adoption of wireless CRM, according to John Roberts, product line marketing manager for enterprise CRM vendor E.piphany Inc. of San Mateo, CA. “Because our applications are based upon open, Web-based standards, a salesperson can automatically connect his or her laptop either to a retail hot spot or to a WiFi network at a customer site,” he says. Clarence So, the director of product strategy for Salesforce.com agrees. “WiFi is going to be a huge enabler,” he says, “Ubiquitous wireless broadband to the laptop is not far away.”

Of course, not every sales manager needs to worry about buying wireless laptops or PDAs for the sales force, at least not just yet. While WiFi hot spots are growing exponentially, “WiFi coverage on a par with today’s cellular service is still a ways out,” says Galvin. However, it’s only a matter of time before wireless becomes de rigueur for companies with sales teams that spend a great deal of time on the road. “Wireless is going to be the default instead of the exception,” according to Erin Kinikin, a vice president who studies CRM at Forrester Research, a Boston Massachusetts-based research firm.

In short, as WiFi continues to collect steam, it will soon result in the super-connected and super-automated sales environment that the CRM vendors have been promising us for the past few years. It may not happen immediately, but it’s going to happen. And CRM will never be the same.