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2009-05-10 BACK
My customers have a cell phone . . . so what?
My customers have a cell phone. . . so what? This article originally appeared in the Texarkana Gazette on May 10, 2009 Dr. Charles L. McDonald, Jr. Professor of Management Information Systems, Texas A&M-Texarkana College of Business A king observed his people leaving his castle and said, "I must discover where my people are going so I can lead them". Today, this king could send his people a text message or perhaps an e-mail. Possibly, his people would answer a mobile call if he attached his picture or perchance he could track them using a GPS application. While recharging his cell phone, he could search a few blogs or check the latest postings on Youtube and Facebook, or maybe Twitter to discover where they are going and what their needs are. If he could determine their location, needs, and desires, they could be better served. . . as if they were customers. In these difficult economic times, the wireless industry is thriving and users' expectations for services, purchases, and communications are changing. As a whole, the traditional brick-and-mortal sales and services are declining; whereas, activities via wireless media (e-commerce) are rapidly gaining acceptance. In some areas of business, users expect full-featured mobile access. According to CTIA's Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey, the U.S. gained 15 million subscribers in 2008 to finish the year with 270 million wireless users representing about 87% of our population. These users are now averaging over 100 billion text messages each month. The average teenager in the U.S. sends or receives more than 1,700 text messages each month and they represent about 58% of text messaging traffic. People in the 18-toᆶ age group represent 30% of text messaging traffic; whereas, the 35-toᇊ age group represent only 10% of text message traffic. In addition, texting appears to be replacing voice calls; in the first quarter of 2006, users averaged 198 calls and 65 text messages each month, but by June 2008, users averaged 204 calls and 357 text messages. So, why should business care about the trillion messages that will be sent before Christmas 2009? Bernice Ross believes text messaging is a critical element for success in today's business. Bernice is a real estate speaker and author that promotes texting to be "in tune, in touch, and connected with today's home buyers, sellers, and agents". She reports, that because ". . . the number one complaint about agents is that they don't stay in touch. . . you must text to do business with the most active buyers in today's market". The need to communicate with customers is critical across all areas of business. Texting provides a fast and efficient means to contact a customer or coworker while reducing paper consumption and postal expense. Nationally, newspaper sales are receding as the use of mobile devices to read online newspapers and real-time news announcements have doubled in the last year. According to Mark Donovan, comScore's senior vice president of mobile, "Over the course of the past year, we have seen use of mobile Internet evolve from an occasional activity to being a daily part of their lives". Donovan believes that applications such as maps and text-based searching have "contributed to the rise in popularity of accessing news and information via a phone". According to Cellsign's blog, more than 22 million people access news and information daily via their mobile phone; while, about 9.2 million users access a social networking site or blog daily. Other categories of daily usage include trading stocks or accessing financial accounts (3.2 million), accessing movie information (3 million), accessing business directories (2.4 million), and accessing entertainment news (5.4 million). Interestingly, gaming via cell phones represents trivial traffic and is declining. Based on a survey by ChangeWave Research, there were 4.6 million mobile banking users in the U.S. last year, which are expected to number over 40 million by 2012. Presently, banking transactions represent about 3% of weekly mobile content. This includes balance transfers and inquiries, loan payments, alerts (e.g., notice of a low balance), and the ability to pay bills from your phone. Financial organizations are competing to offer full-featured mobile banking services because the group that prefers to use a cell phone as their primary transacting mechanism is composed of the most active buyers and loan makers. About 87% of our population uses cell phones to send 100 billion text messages each month. In addition, they utilize cell phones to read news, view the weather forecast, check the movie times, and utilize banking services. This is our population's chosen media. Organizations that utilize this media to present their offerings have the opportunity to do business with this population. Does your organization support mobile users? Your customers are mobile. Charles L. McDonald, Jr., Ph.D. Professor of Management Information Systems Texas A&M University-Texarkana
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My customers have a cell phone . . . so what?
My customers have a cell phone. . . so what? This article originally appeared in the Texarkana Gazette on May 10, 2009 Dr. Charles L. McDonald, Jr. Professor of Management Information Systems, Texas A&M-Texarkana College of Business A king observed his people leaving his castle and said, "I must discover where my people are going so I can lead them". Today, this king could send his people a text message or perhaps an e-mail. Possibly, his people would answer a mobile call if he attached his picture or perchance he could track them using a GPS application. While recharging his cell phone, he could search a few blogs or check the latest postings on Youtube and Facebook, or maybe Twitter to discover where they are going and what their needs are. If he could determine their location, needs, and desires, they could be better served. . . as if they were customers. In these difficult economic times, the wireless industry is thriving and users' expectations for services, purchases, and communications are changing. As a whole, the traditional brick-and-mortal sales and services are declining; whereas, activities via wireless media (e-commerce) are rapidly gaining acceptance. In some areas of business, users expect full-featured mobile access. According to CTIA's Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey, the U.S. gained 15 million subscribers in 2008 to finish the year with 270 million wireless users representing about 87% of our population. These users are now averaging over 100 billion text messages each month. The average teenager in the U.S. sends or receives more than 1,700 text messages each month and they represent about 58% of text messaging traffic. People in the 18-toᆶ age group represent 30% of text messaging traffic; whereas, the 35-toᇊ age group represent only 10% of text message traffic. In addition, texting appears to be replacing voice calls; in the first quarter of 2006, users averaged 198 calls and 65 text messages each month, but by June 2008, users averaged 204 calls and 357 text messages. So, why should business care about the trillion messages that will be sent before Christmas 2009? Bernice Ross believes text messaging is a critical element for success in today's business. Bernice is a real estate speaker and author that promotes texting to be "in tune, in touch, and connected with today's home buyers, sellers, and agents". She reports, that because ". . . the number one complaint about agents is that they don't stay in touch. . . you must text to do business with the most active buyers in today's market". The need to communicate with customers is critical across all areas of business. Texting provides a fast and efficient means to contact a customer or coworker while reducing paper consumption and postal expense. Nationally, newspaper sales are receding as the use of mobile devices to read online newspapers and real-time news announcements have doubled in the last year. According to Mark Donovan, comScore's senior vice president of mobile, "Over the course of the past year, we have seen use of mobile Internet evolve from an occasional activity to being a daily part of their lives". Donovan believes that applications such as maps and text-based searching have "contributed to the rise in popularity of accessing news and information via a phone". According to Cellsign's blog, more than 22 million people access news and information daily via their mobile phone; while, about 9.2 million users access a social networking site or blog daily. Other categories of daily usage include trading stocks or accessing financial accounts (3.2 million), accessing movie information (3 million), accessing business directories (2.4 million), and accessing entertainment news (5.4 million). Interestingly, gaming via cell phones represents trivial traffic and is declining. Based on a survey by ChangeWave Research, there were 4.6 million mobile banking users in the U.S. last year, which are expected to number over 40 million by 2012. Presently, banking transactions represent about 3% of weekly mobile content. This includes balance transfers and inquiries, loan payments, alerts (e.g., notice of a low balance), and the ability to pay bills from your phone. Financial organizations are competing to offer full-featured mobile banking services because the group that prefers to use a cell phone as their primary transacting mechanism is composed of the most active buyers and loan makers. About 87% of our population uses cell phones to send 100 billion text messages each month. In addition, they utilize cell phones to read news, view the weather forecast, check the movie times, and utilize banking services. This is our population's chosen media. Organizations that utilize this media to present their offerings have the opportunity to do business with this population. Does your organization support mobile users? Your customers are mobile. Charles L. McDonald, Jr., Ph.D. Professor of Management Information Systems Texas A&M University-Texarkana
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