July 12, 2007

UPS - Getting the Edge in Business: Technology's ONE of the Keys

When you work in an industry wherein everyone's at pretty much the same level - you need every edge you can get to be ahead of the game and keep your competitiveness.

Maybe you're a local seller of flowers. I'm sure there's local florists with a few blocks of you - and for sure a few clicks of you. How can you differentiate yourself?

How refreshing it would be for your repeat customers if they didn't have to repeat the same information to you - again and again. Using a simple database would help (check out FileMaker).

What if you invited customers to send you a list of their top customers (most likely 20% of all their customers) and you would make it easier to order flowers from you?

Using technology as a tool to GROW your business is how you leverage technology for the growth and competitive edge in your business.

Conventional radar asks airplanes every 12 seconds where they are at - and the airplane responds. Imagine, however, that you were a shipping company and knew where a plane was every second? That's a lot of time saved, reports IHT in writing about UPS.

Sure, UPS is a giant company, but following giant companies and mimicking their success is the way to go. Maybe they've spent millions on a new CRM system. You can spend hundreds to thousands and get the same benefits for your own business.

Think of your top 5 competitors and consider how their business operates and how they interact with customers. How can you use technology to beat them at their game in one or more areas?

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