SoKy Local Business or "SoKybiz"

I have a keen interesting in telecommunications having some experience at least using the technology but even so far as designing and installing a very small custom system in my travel agency. I have studied the latest wireless technology and internet phone products and I get really excited about this new stuff. Sure, I have a cell phone (actually 4 on the family plan), a business phone system, and recently reduced my lines at home down to one line from the three lines I had previously. I have ear buds and headsets, multi-line phones, speaker phones and even recording devices. I even installed my 3 line phone system in my home so I considered myself adequately familiar with telecommunications technologies.

Recently, my wife and I opened a travel agency and I decided to grab the telecommunications bull by the horns. I was real excited about the new internet phone stuff I read about online and knew this was the coming thing. When I was researching the internet phone systems (VOIP) that might be available in our small town, I found that even the vendor had trouble communicating the technology or worse, failed to understand its capabilities and limitations themselves. Sure, they new the lingo and the terminology but when faced with comparing analog, digital and hybrid systems most vendor front line sales people are confused. When I contacted national vendors, they understood the technology okay but they did not understand the limitation for a small business in a small town. It took a great amount of research to determine that VOIP was not the way to go in Bowling Green Kentucky.

Note: I ended up piecing together the "perfect" plan but invested a considerable amount of time installing the system to make it work. Perhaps I'll write on that at another time.

Then today I was reading a few small business blogs and technology news sources and I found out that this communications issue is not as remote as our small town in south central Kentucky. ZDNET reports that small businesses are "baffled by telecom terms." They write; "Mention 3G, Wi-Fi or VoIP to the manager of a small business and you'll get a baffled look, according to a study that calls on the telecoms industry to raise its game." I would have worded that a little differently to say, "call on telecoms to dumb down the terminology to get your message across."

When I was trying to explain to my wife and partners about the advantages of the current VOIP systems, I had to present the technology in terms THEY understood. I would use basic phone references and expand from there. I think too many times the "Sales Engineer" tries to wow the customer with their vast knowledge of the English alphabet, (well that's all it is with WI-FI, VoIP, 3G, XYZ, ABC and MOUSE) and most small business owners are going to feel inadequate, inferior or just plain intimidated by their own ignorance. If the person is not comfortable with the technology, it's going to be much harder for them to embrace it much less spend thousands of dollars on it.

The ZDNET article reads: "Just 16 percent (of small businesses survey in the UK) were able to accurately say that 3G was a high-speed mobile technology, while 17 percent gave a wrong answer and 67 percent said they hadn't heard the term. Wi-Fi fared even worse: just 8 percent understood that Wi-Fi was a wireless technology that provided fast Internet access at hot spots, with 7 percent giving an incorrect answer and 85 percent not able to give an answer. And awareness of voice-over-IP services was lower still, with only 3 percent defining VoIP accurately, another 3 percent giving a wrong answer, and 95 percent admitting total ignorance."

So what's all this mean? It means that technology sales people need to learn to communicate more effectively. They need to remember when they didn't understand the terminology or technology itself. They need to become proficient enough in their specialty to be able to present it as though to a child and allow the customer to understand and thus comfortable. From my personal experience, the sales force needs to truly understand the needs of the potential client and ask a lot of questions first before trying to offer a solution. Sure, this applies to selling most anything but with technology it's even more important because through the interview process you can determine the level of technology the person understand. In other words, do you call it VoIP or "Internet Phone?" or "Network Phone System?" Or really cool magic?"

It's not a question of whether or not the technology is coming because it is, it's a question of whether or not you want your company to get the business or someone else who is willing to be so good at what they do they can sell it in the language of the common business owner. Don't wow me with your vast knowledge of technical terms, wow me with all the ways the technology will help me more productive, more organized, more profitable or in a word happy.

In my own business as web developer, I deal with people who have various levels of knowledge about the internet. From corporate system administrators to end users, I modify my 'language' to effectively communicate. Recently, I was on a conference call with one of my editors and we patched in a systems administrator. I explained the situation with the administrator in an entirely different language than I did the editor. Why? Because it was necessary to use specific terminology or language in order to help each truly understand the situation. It was only because of my experience in dealing with people as a sales/marketing professional as well as my years of experience with technology that I am able to switch gears so easily. It's a valuable lesson that I am simply trying to share. If you have chosen to market a technology such as telecommunications, it only makes sense to learn how to effectively communicate.

Well this turned into a dissertation; I think I'll share it with a few friends in the telecom industry.