Handling Objections: Handhelds

Jane Cage is a partner in Heartland Technology Solutions, a solution provider based in Joplin, Mo., which, among other things, provides IT products and services to small and midsize customers. She shares some ideas about talking to customers about the reality of what smartphone and handset technology can accomplish.

On how she engages customers about the pros and cons of using handhelds in a networked world:
Certainly, whenever a customer sees me with mine, they're interested in the process and how it works. I've had a handheld for a long time and probably even a year ago many of our customers would think it's too technical for them [to use across a network]. It was the kind of device only a geek could use. It's not that way anymore. People realize the advantages of being connected. We don't meet resistance now too often to the idea of mobility.

On partnering with a technology company to provide the full benefits of connectivity via handheld:
We've recently been working with Microsoft to become a Unified Communications go-to partner. That's going to take the whole mobility piece to a whole, new level. I was driving to a customer a couple of weeks ago. I went to the communications server, set it to forward my calls to my cell and while I was on the road, anyone calling me at the office—through the communication server—rang straight through to me on the road. It can even read my e-mail to me over the phone. I don't think customers even have an inkling yet of what they can do.