Tech Central

Is Wireless A Winner?
The jury is still out on how handheld technology can benefit small businesses

Jan/san distributors are constantly looking for ways to unify employees and streamline the operations of their companies. Salespeople are often on the road; warehousing specialists work on site; and managers are trying to be several places at once. How does everyone stay on the same page, so that storage, sales and shipping run smoothly? Until recently, the solution has been a combination of phone calls and paper trails — aside from the occasional laptop-computer-using employee.

It’s said that necessity is the mother of invention, and new advances in hand-held communication technology may be just the answer for frenzied business owners. “Wireless” is a buzzword that carries with it a broad range of meanings, but it generally connotes handheld computers that allow off-site employees to access a company’s information structure with the push of a button.

Sales Made Simple
Howard Cohen, president of Columbus Janitor Supply Co., Columbus, Ohio, is one jan/san distributor who has found success with wireless applications, also known as personal digital assistants (PDA). In his opinion, the best time to equip salespeople with wireless applications is now.

“At first we gave all of our salespeople laptop computers, but they were cumbersome and you have to boot them up to use them,” says Cohen. “People in our business are mostly interested in our salespeople showing them what inventory is available and what price it’s being offered at. You can do all that and more with a PDA.”

So Cohen scrapped the laptop computers, and he purchased 20 handheld PalmIII models, made by Palm Inc. — one for each salesperson. “We went straight to wireless because we didn’t want our salespeople to have to drag around pricebooks all the time,” says Cohen. “At the time we did this, there was a big increase in the cost of our paper [for printing pricebooks], and after we switched to the Palms, we saw our margins increase immediately from about one point to one and a half points.”

The advantages of equipping sales representatives with wireless applications don’t end with mere savings on the cost of paper, adds Cohen. “It’s really separated us from the competition. We bought the 20 Palms for the price of two laptop computers when they were first coming out, and it’s just been so cost-effective in every way. Not only do the salespeople have all our inventory information available to them, they are a lot more organized as far as meeting with customers.”

Marc Hoffman, vice president of sales with Palmer Co., Waukesha, Wis., is another distributor who has seen wireless applications streamline business operations for the company’s salespeople. “You can beam up what each customer has gotten in the past according to product, units and sales dollars,” he says. “We had a goal at Palmer to completely eliminate the need for our salespeople to carry around pricebooks. The sales guys hate paper, and this just makes everything easier and more organized.”

Connection is Key
Charles Ojserkis, chief information officer for AmSan, headquartered in Cary, N.C., is also president of Sanitary Supply Specialties, Winslow, N.J., and a cautious proponent of wireless applications. “We use wireless in three distinct areas: exchange services between senior management staff and information technology (IT) staff, inventory control in our warehouse, and customer service for sales representatives,” he explains.

Of the three areas, AmSan has found great value in exchange services and is just beginning to experiment with networking possibilities for salespeople.

“The wireless application we use is made by Blackberry,” says Ojserkis. “The communication between employees is triple-DDS encrypted for increased security, and it was the only method of communication that continued to work around Ground Zero on September 11, when all other means of communication were shut down.”

Ojserkis explains that the Blackberry wireless technology has been invaluable to AmSan, especially when senior management needs to contact each other at a moment’s notice.

“We’ve had network outages and we’ve needed to contact all members of upper management. With Blackberry, we were able to do that without a problem,” he says. Like other jan/san distributors, Ojserkis’ company is researching the possibility of using wireless applications with its sales staff, but isn’t yet ready to make that kind of investment.

“We’re just starting to get into wireless as it pertains to customer service and sales,” he says. “The issue is that it would allow our salespeople to make inquiries of inventory through e-mail. However, I think that the technology may be changing too quickly, and that can be a limiting factor.”

Power In Hand
The most popular wireless applications are manufactured by companies that specialize in bringing advanced communication technology to small businesses — companies like Palm, Blackberry, Toshiba, Compaq, Casio and Sony.

Fortune magazine’s technology publication, Fortune c/net, recently rated handheld wireless applications according to a set of six criteria (each weighted differently):

*Price (15 percent of the total rating)


*Performance (20 percent)


*Features (30 percent)


*Usability (20 percent)


*Battery life (10 percent)


*Service and support (5 percent)

Based on this rating system, Fortune c/net determined that the Toshiba Pocket PC e570 (around $570) was the best wireless application available. Next in the ranking was the Compaq iPaq H3650, followed by the Sony CLIE PEG-N610CV. The Palm Vx also ranked in the Top 10.

Wireless applications are usually small enough to fit in a user’s hand, yet they possess enough memory to hold large company files and data on customer profiles. Advanced PDAs can keep employees connected via e-mail, regardless of location or time of day. In addition, the devices can have enough memory for daily planners, address books, client profiles and other vital data for business operations.

The price of PDAs usually ranges between $150 and $600, depending on extra features that may be available, memory capacity, Internet hook-up and how user-friendly the device is.

Measure Advantages
Steve Epner, president of BSW Consulting, St. Louis, says that jan/san distributors need to understand the realities of wireless and attempt to assess the overall value that is to be gained before making an investment.

“The only way a distributor is going to invest in new technology is if it is easier, faster, cheaper or more accurate than what he has been using in the past,” he says. “Wireless certainly isn’t going to be cheaper, at least in the beginning. It might be a little faster, and depending on the salesperson, it may not be easier. It’s probably more accurate.”

Epner says that there are a variety of applications available to the industry, and it will take time for distributors to find the PDA that works best for his/her sales staff. But when they find the right one, operations have the potential to become easier, faster and more accurate.

“The truth is that a lot of distributors in the jan/san industry are not doing much right now in terms of wireless application,” he says. “A lot of them have just started supplying their staff with cell phones. If I’m a jan/san distributor, and I’m already paying for my salespeople to use cell phones, then it makes sense for my salespeople to use the cell phones to call in an order, rather than going out and getting wireless applications that have e-mail.”

However, Epner states that wireless applications have a lot of benefits in addition to e-mail, and that customers do like to see price listings and inventory listings — something that is possible with PDAs, but not with cell phones.

PDAs have a lot of advantages for salespeople if they need to download contact information and profiles of potential customers, he adds. And even if distributors want to be cautious, they can’t wait for technology to become stable. “We tell people that if they want to wait until technology is stable, then they’ll never buy anything,” he says. The very nature of technology is that things change. But, hopefully, they also make things easier.

Columbus Janitorial Supply and Palmer haven’t made e-mail accessible to salespeople via their PDAs quite yet, but they’re thinking about it. “Already, we have a lot of customers Web-ordering, and I’m sure that down the road we’ll invest in Internet accessibility for our handhelds,” says Cohen.

Can wireless applications lives of jan/san salespeople better? “If it makes your job easier with more efficiency, there’s always room for technology in our industry,” says Hoffman. “Wireless takes the guessing out of sales.”