Wireless Rules: New Marketing Strategies for Customer Relationship Management Anytime, Anywhere

Rating:
Summary: Don't Disconnect from Wireless Opportunities!
Review: Just when you were starting to get comfortable with using the Internet as part of your business model, along comes wireless electronic communications to complicate matters! Much of what you learned about working with the Internet will not work with wireless electronic connections. For example, the amount of information the a screen holds is tiny. Also, a cellular telephone message can be more intrusive. Those who receive the messages can more easily be overwhelmed. And on the problems go.

Before you start to think that all of this will be something that others will have to deal with, think again! Wireless connectivity already reaches tens of millions of people in Europe, Japan, and the United States. The numbers will swell to hundreds of millions of people within five years. So, wireless communications for business will expand faster than the Internet did. Are you ready? Probably not.

This excellent book explains the likely shape of the new technologies, the practical problems that businesses will have, and how customers and consumers will probably react to the kinds of offerings that people routinely make on the Internet. In many cases, the reaction will be negative. Do you really want to get a discount offer for life insurance while traveling on a highway trying to make a plane?

Although no one knows what forms of business will work best on wireless devices (cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, and devices yet to be designed), whenever these are created there will be a tidal wave of opportunity for the early innovators that will make dot-com mania look small by comparison. This book won't answer that question either, but it will help you avoid making many of the worst mistakes as you conceptualize, design, test, and implement.

Clearly, business-to-business applications will work pretty well. Adding information to mobility will usually make it easier to do your job. On the other hand, it will be harder for business people to get away from serving their clients . . . unless they provide great ways for the clients to serve themselves.

The dicey part comes with consumers. Imagine getting hundreds of e-mails daily on your cellular phone, trying to sell you something you don't want, each one of which costs you money. The cellular carriers can make a bundle, but consumers will be steaming!

Clearly, the solution will be all kinds of more elaborate permission marketing that give consumers more flexibility about receiving and responding to communications. Etiquette and consideration will become more important, as will ease of interaction.

Anyone who works in a business or uses a cellular telephone will find this book valuable. Read it now to reap the best of the immediate future, or weep as you are victimized by these changes! The wireless business model is about to land like a 8000 pound gorilla on your wireless device!

After you finish this book, I suggest that you think about what tasks you can do better with wireless communications than in any other way . . . and how to make those communications pleasant and welcome for you and the recipients!

Get straight to the point that the hearer or viewer greatly cares about!

Rating:
Summary: Don't Disconnect from Wireless Opportunities!
Review: Just when you were starting to get comfortable with using the Internet as part of your business model, along comes wireless electronic communications to complicate matters! Much of what you learned about working with the Internet will not work with wireless electronic connections. For example, the amount of information the a screen holds is tiny. Also, a cellular telephone message can be more intrusive. Those who receive the messages can more easily be overwhelmed. And on the problems go.

Before you start to think that all of this will be something that others will have to deal with, think again! Wireless connectivity already reaches tens of millions of people in Europe, Japan, and the United States. The numbers will swell to hundreds of millions of people within five years. So, wireless communications for business will expand faster than the Internet did. Are you ready? Probably not.

This excellent book explains the likely shape of the new technologies, the practical problems that businesses will have, and how customers and consumers will probably react to the kinds of offerings that people routinely make on the Internet. In many cases, the reaction will be negative. Do you really want to get a discount offer for life insurance while traveling on a highway trying to make a plane?

Although no one knows what forms of business will work best on wireless devices (cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, and devices yet to be designed), whenever these are created there will be a tidal wave of opportunity for the early innovators that will make dot-com mania look small by comparison. This book won't answer that question either, but it will help you avoid making many of the worst mistakes as you conceptualize, design, test, and implement.

Clearly, business-to-business applications will work pretty well. Adding information to mobility will usually make it easier to do your job. On the other hand, it will be harder for business people to get away from serving their clients . . . unless they provide great ways for the clients to serve themselves.

The dicey part comes with consumers. Imagine getting hundreds of e-mails daily on your cellular phone, trying to sell you something you don't want, each one of which costs you money. The cellular carriers can make a bundle, but consumers will be steaming!

Clearly, the solution will be all kinds of more elaborate permission marketing that give consumers more flexibility about receiving and responding to communications. Etiquette and consideration will become more important, as will ease of interaction.

Anyone who works in a business or uses a cellular telephone will find this book valuable. Read it now to reap the best of the immediate future, or weep as you are victimized by these changes! The wireless business model is about to land like a 8000 pound gorilla on your wireless device!

After you finish this book, I suggest that you think about what tasks you can do better with wireless communications than in any other way . . . and how to make those communications pleasant and welcome for you and the recipients!

Get straight to the point that the hearer or viewer greatly cares about!

Rating:
Summary: Wireless CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
Review: The ultimate 'holy grail' of the marketing world is 'anyone at anytime at anyplace. The authors, a consultant and academic (and also it appears father and daughter) refer to this phenomenon as "Madison Avenue meets Main Street out for a walk. Mobile commerce is their focus along with how to incorporate that opportunity into your corporate customer relationship management (CRM) campaign. The biggest challenge of this book and many of the new wireless books is that if you don't know the lingo you might be left out. No glossary is included although there is an extensive 'endnotes' section to see where they got the info from.
In 31 chapters they cover lots of ground from the future of marketing to advertising-on-the-go to retailer advice. They tell us that more than 1 billion web-enabled phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants will be in the use worldwide (300 million in the US, compared to about 120 million today). They cover examples in b2b(business to business) and in direct-to-consumer marketing. So many chapters, so many topics, if there is any criticism it is that they set out to cover it all. How does wireless fit into the new multi-channel approach to marketing, sales and advertising? What's the new business eco-system that is evolving? Would have loved to have had more of an overview in the beginning. Alas, also no photos or screenshots of the ads and alerts leave us wondering what wireless will look like. Talking about 3G without seeing a phone or a screen is challenging. They do a nice job. Good book to give you an overview. Read with a yellow marker in hand so you can underline what's relevant to your background/mandate. Good reference book. One of the earliest wireless marketing books out there. Would have loved to see a full CRM plan for sample business arenas is retail, franchises, hospitality etc to see how wireless fits into a complete customer relations program. They do mention many applications but are not always specific about what technology, service and integration is used to complete the wireless apps. Would be fascinated to see a review by someone not deeply entrenched in the wireless world. Kudos to the authors for covering the ground they did...

Rating:
Summary: Wireless marketing, a development in progress
Review: Wireless Rules challenges the reader to consider the marketing and customer service strategies and applications of wireless connectivity. The authors demonstrate that, while relying on the backbone of the Internet, wireless commerce will permeate the consumer's life to a far greater degree than the Internet ever has. Newell and Newell-Lemon rely upon the theme that wireless commerce is "the world of anytime, anywhere."

As the authors reviewed the technologies behind wireless Internet access, it became clear that while significant technological advances have been made in the area, there are still a number of hurdles to overcome, including security, hardware limitations and legal enforceability of wireless transactions.

Wireless Rules touches on the important topic of wireless etiquette, which could also be described as using wireless technology to reach the customer without offending them or overburdening them. Rules, either formal or informal, will have to be adopted to facilitate wireless commerce, particularly advertising. The authors propose five "wireless location-based marketing rules."

Wireless Rules discusses, at length, the marketing and customer service possibilities of wireless technology. By virtue of a location-based connection to the consumer, marketing efforts can be tailored to that customer's physical surroundings and likely needs. This pervasiveness can also lead to technology being misapplied. For example, a customer may not respond positively to advertisements for life insurance while they are waiting for a delayed airline flight. The true power behind wireless commerce is its ability to provide marketing and response contemporaneously with the needs and desires of the consumer. Correct utilization, or rather the avoidance of incorrect utilization, of that ability will be critical.

Though the authors' information is now two years old, Wireless Rules demonstrates the sizeable lead that international firms and customers have in wireless technology over the United States market.

The premise of Wireless Rules is that wireless technology is coming and will have a tremendous impact on the relationship between business and consumers. The underlying rhetorical question is "Are you ready?"

I am involved in many aspects of the commercial and retail banking industry. The banking industry has explored the implications of wireless technology on its customer relationships. The paramount concern to the industry is the security aspects of wireless transmissions and transactions. Virtually all of the date that a financial institution could impart to the customer is subject to numerous state and federal laws regarding secrecy and confidentiality. Banks are concerned with the potential liability if customer data were intercepted and misused.

Coupled with security concerns are concerns for the necessity and profitability of wireless banking. A recent report by Celent Communications shows that bank customers demand for wireless banking services has significantly waned. Accordingly, financial institutions have decreased spending on wireless technology.

The banking industry has, to a degree, developed wireless capabilities. However, the availability of that technology will be limited until the marketplace demands it and the security issues can be solved.

Wireless Rules discusses the emerging application of wireless technology on financial institutions and their customers. Despite a spirited defense of the need for banks to go wireless, the premise relied upon by the authors, "[t]he customers (should) rule", has proven out the caution of the industry to exploit wireless technology.

The authors provide an interesting discussion of the difficulties arising out of establishing a payment system for the consummation of wireless transactions. This discussion is reminiscent of the challenges faced when the payment systems for stored value or "smart" cards was were established.

The message of Wireless Rules will resonate for the near future. As time passes, though, technology will develop and adapt to the needs of the marketplace. Unforeseen developments, whether economic, political or scientific, will continue to shape the development of wireless technology. I do not foresee Wireless Rules, at least in its current format, being a significant piece of marketing literature in five years.

That said, Wireless Rules does provide a contemporary insight into the commercial possibilities and potential pit falls of wireless technology facing American business. I would recommend this book to managers faced with long term strategic planning. IT professionals will find it self-gratifying, however I believe the practical significance of Wireless Rules is limited.