Selling Wireless Data: It Ain't Easy

There's a big difference between selling wireless voice and wireless-Internet services.

Some say that sales is the oldest profession on earth, or at least the second-oldest. But that doesn't mean it's an easy job, especially when it comes to selling wireless-data services. Salespeople must be able to explain data minutes, wireless-Internet access and WAP. So, of course, selling wireless-data services requires more specialized training than selling wireless voice.

According to John Strand, Strand Consult analyst, wireless data and Internet services require a new approach to sales and marketing, and providers in the United States and worldwide have a lot to learn.

Most important, he said, providers must stop comparing the wireless Internet with the PC-based dial-up Internet. During the past six years, Strand Consult has analyzed the Scandinavian wireless market, including retail stores and salespeople. Its surveys have focused on the marketing and sales of wireless products and services. Strand's results show that providers and retailers have led a "single-minded search for new customers and higher penetration with little or no attention to value-added services," such as the wireless Internet.

And here's where you should pay attention: If one of the most technology-savvy, high-wireless-penetration regions on Earth is having trouble selling wireless Internet and WAP services, how are you doing?

Are your salespeople properly trained in selling wireless data and Internet services to general consumers as well as businesses? How do you keep them updated on changes in the industry that affect the handsets and services they're selling in your stores every day?

"The most obvious difference (between selling voice and data) is that wireless-data services represent the convergence of wireless voice with the computer industry," said Jennifer Bromley, Bell Mobility associate director, wireless Internet and data services. "It's a lot more complicated, and it's really pushing our sales team to learn about a whole new industry that before they didn't have to know anything about."

Training Your Team Several U.S. analysts have said that when they poll consumers, they are surprised to learn that many don't know about WAP, and some don't even realize that they can sign up for wireless-Internet service. Even more surprising is how little some wireless salespeople seem to know.

For example, Strand's research has led him to believe that salespeople may be partly to blame for WAP's unpopularity in Europe. He said WAP's biggest problem, in Europe at least, is "retailers' lack of understanding about sales and marketing."

Strand Consult recently surveyed 101 Danish retailers and found "depressing" results. The survey found that 89% of salespeople did not ask if the customer knew about WAP. Also, while 50% showed the customer a WAP phone, only 7% actually demonstrated how it works. (No similar survey of the U.S. market could be found.)

"When sales assistants don't know or don't inform about the products, how can you expect customers to buy them?" asked Strand. "Clearly, the sales assistants don't know the concept of value-added service. (Providers) have missed their wake-up call. They have forgotten to educate their retailers about the mobile Internet and its possibilities."

Back in the North American wireless market, Bromley would disagree.

"WAP's created a certain amount of confusion ... but it's not integral to the sales process," she said. "Issues sales reps are dealing with are: Is this going to make your business or life more productive, effective or convenient? WAP really is at development stage, beyond the sales rep."

According to Bromley, as the industry becomes more complex, training must improve.

"What we are training our sales reps to do is understand the services and understand how to identify the target market for their services, so they understand whether or not this is something (a customer) can benefit from."

The biggest challenge, she said, is pushing salespeople into a whole new industry.

"They're a little bit like fish out of water until they get the training," she explained.

For new, leading-edge technology like wireless data and WAP, most salespeople cannot rely on past experience. Before any of Bell Mobility's new products and services go to market, a manager is assigned and given the task of putting together a comprehensive training program for retail and corporate salespeople.

To keep its sales team apprised of those products and services, Bell Mobility publishes "Echo-Bell," a newsletter that goes out twice weekly to dealer channels.

Bromley called it a "Bible for everything going on at Bell Mobility. It's a single source for all communication," she said.

But if it's something that she can't communicate in a few paragraphs, teams visit the dealer locations and train them.

"We're in their faces quite often, actually," Bromley said.

Joe Consumer Vs. Big Business There's also a big difference between selling wireless-data services to consumers and selling them to businesses.

According to Bromley, selling out-of-box solutions typical to retail stores is easier, but Bell Mobility does regular training for its sales reps on a frequent basis.

"With Digital Data to Go, we take them through what the user experience will be, so we walk them through the settings for configuring using the wireless phone as a modem," she said. "Those solutions were designed to be fairly simple for the end user, which makes it easy for the sales rep as well."

Bell Mobility's corporate sales reps receive the most comprehensive training because they must be knowledgeable not only about the technology, but also about how it benefits corporate customers.

"When you're selling voice services, you're really just talking to the telecom buyer," Bromley explained. "Because wireless data goes so far beyond that, you have to be able to address the issues of business organizations - how to make their workers more competitive, how to make them more productive, how to allow them to save money."

Corporate salespeople also must address the IT organization in terms of how the wireless solution will impact networks and security. Other requirements include knowing the customer's industry, whether or not there are a lot of mobile workers, whether access to time-sensitive information is important and whether there is a remote-access system in place.

"They have to understand the requirements because there are certain things that must be in place in a company's network for them to be able to use something like Digital Data to Go (which allows mobile employees to use the phone as a modem for their laptop or PDA)," she said.

Most important, Bromley said, is to make training "as simple as possible, create clear channels of communications. Set up the backup-support process so that as the sale moves along, they can get more support as the questions become increasingly complex."

As for selling WAP in Scandinavia, Strand said that a recent full-page article in the Berlingske Tidende, Denmark's largest newspaper, has made providers there pay attention.

"The article has clearly opened the operators' eyes, and they are about to launch training programs for their dealers," he said.

Sure hope you're doing the same.