CRM - March 2009 - (Page 32)

Mobile CRM has been around for years, but Apple’s handheld device has upended everything. Now vendors are rewriting applications, companies are rethinking the BlackBerry’s seeming stranglehold, and users are wondering what’s next. The answer may be nothing less than a CRM revolution, and a chance for Apple to enter the enterprise CRM AND THE our stomach growls. Anticipating the first bite of an expertly wrapped, fantastically stuffed, deliciously warm burrito is enough to make you salivate. But wait: As you open the glass door, and that chili pepper emblem meets your line of vision, you suddenly recoil.Your head sinks.Your shoulders sag. Is the line really that long? You start doubting the notion of “fast food.” Suddenly, a light-bulb moment: online instead of in line. You pull out that sleek and slender device from your pocket and re-engage on the path toward burrito heaven. Some software you had the prescience to download to your phone allows you to order your burrito on the spot. You customize your order, enter your creditcard information, bypass the 50-odd suckers waiting in line, and swoop in to pick up your swiftly ordered (and rapidly assembled) Southwestern delight at the register. You kiss the screen of your pocket device, thankful for the burrito miracle. Welcome to the new reality, made possible by your iPhone. (Or…maybe not. Turns out your burrito wasn’t immediately possible. More on that a little later.) 32 iPhone It’s no exaggeration to say the Apple iPhone has changed the way people think about handhelds. Your friend caresses her iPhone as if it were a pet. Your brother has given his a nickname. The sentiment seems to be that the iPhone is more than a phone. “The iPhone works the way you’ve always dreamed a phone would work,” says Dave Meeker, a user-experience strategist with Roundarch, a consultancy focused on providing businesses with solutions for portals, content management, and integration. Sure, users have fallen in love with the iPhone’s clean interface and its touchscreen capabilities—but what’s made the difference, Meeker says, has been the App Store, an online clearinghouse of iPhonespecific software, available for download at a predetermined price point—often zero. When Apple opened up the iPhone’s software development kit (SDK) to developers in March 2008, the company already had more than a nicely designed hunk of hardware—there was a customer-centric approach that CRM practitioners could immediately relate to.“Apple did an amazing thing,”Meeker says.“They didn’t build a better piece of hardware necessarily—the hardware aspect of it isn’t that revolution- | BY LAUREN MCKAY y ary. Where Apple really nailed it was on the user-experience piece.” Apple has set the stage for all future phones: Platforms are the new trend and touchscreens are here to stay. “Apple has done a masterful job of creating a product where users love the phone to the point that they have a personal relationship with it,” Meeker says, admitting that of the phones he owns— and there are several—he always turns to his iPhone for its ease of functionality. Despite the iPhone’s prettiness and its depth and breadth, challenges remain—as they would with any new technology, especially in a corporate environment. And while practically everyone loves the iPhone, some people still grumble about AT&T, the wireless provider that won the right to be the iPhone’s exclusive carrier. AN APPLE A DAY Despite the fever pitch of the iPhone consumer craze—remember people camping out in front of Apple and AT&T stores before the launch dates?—there hasn’t been quite the same buzz on the business end of the spectrum. Meeker says that, while some firms are providing employees with iPhones, the traction is nowhere near what www.destinationCRM.com CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT | MARCH 2009 http://www.destinationCRM.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - March 2009

CRM - March 2009 Contents Front Office Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point Stay Tuned Stimulating Citizen Experience CRM on Twitter Retailers Face Reality Making Relationships Matter Required Reading We the People Innovation Nation CRM and the iPhone Looking to Score The Virtual Welcome Mat A Tough Transition Made Easier A Training Regimen Gets Rigorous A Battle Fought from Afar Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Connect Pint of View

CRM - March 2009

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