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The most important part of your phone?
Largely unconsidered these days, the antenna is really the key technology in a mobile phone, or anything labelled as wireless. Without it no customer can get a signal. Bigger is better, but in the ongoing battle to cram more gadgetry into smaller phone cases, it’s often the antenna size that takes a hit.
Old-style mobiles made it easy, people could see the stubby antenna poking up. But styling and fashion now demand most antenna are internal and hidden. A broad rule of thumb is that small feature-heavy phones will have compromised on antenna size. In an area of marginal coverage, it’s probably better to recommend a functional business-orientated model, like the Nokia E series, or a trusty workhorse like the mid range Sony Ericsson W and T models.
The second thing that determines whether consumers get a good signal is distance from the nearest cell site or mast. Network design and build is a bit of a black art. Engineers and planners have to juggle where to put transmitters based on available land, interference from other masts, power consumption, public concerns, return on investment, plus and a host of other business drivers. When you then factor in the environment, the shape of the landscape, building materials, vegetation and the weather, it’s no easy task.
Mobile Science 101
The networks also broadcast at different frequencies. 2G signals travel at 900MHz for Vodaphone and O2 and 1800MHz for T-Mobile and Orange. 3 doesn’t have it’s own 2G network, so mainly piggy-backs on Orange where they have no 3G. All 3G signals broadcast at the 2100MHz range.
As the diagram shows, the higher the frequency, the shorter the wavelength. Longer waves travel further and take less power to transmit, meaning you don’t need to have so many masts to cover a wide area. But shorter waves bounce around more, reaching into dips and valleys and providing better coverage across a smaller area.
Pretty much everyone in the UK offers the same % of coverage. There have always been not-spots, and there always will be. Femtocells offer an innovative solution, allowing customers to fit their own mini transmitter where they need coverage, the signal is then piped back over local broadband.
Any competitive edge can drive sales. Antenna strength isn’t glamorous but it’s vital.
Ever had to split people into teams?
People on average can concentrate for about 12 minutes. In the same way a piece of writing is made easier to read by adding a picture or chart, your event will be more engaging by adding some movement or interaction. So, if you’re planning a team meeting or a learning event that will last longer, it pays to break the session down into chunks with a separate focus.
This can be as simple as moving onto a new topic or agenda item, but you can build in clever and more natural shifts with a little planning. Switching off an OHP, standing up and moving to present from a different area of the room, or sitting down to join delegates in an eye level discussions are really simple examples.
People also get a quick concentration-refresh if they adjust their focus, perspective or seating in a meeting room. This works if they’re getting twitchy, or equally concerning, getting too comfortable and distracted. A little prep and some tips can enhance your meeting and keep the environment interesting for everyone.
A deck of cards is a handy prop. Pre arrange a suit mix to fit the groups you want, and then get people to pick cards. If you’re there for the day, be clever about it and preset advanced groups for later by building in options. Matching cards (all 7’s over here please), matching suits (ok, one suit at each table corner), high cards, low cards, odds and evens all work well, you get the idea. There are stacks of ways you can divide into syndicate groups, a bag of coloured beads or sweets, or even coffee-stirrers broken off at different lengths all work, and are more fun than just counting people off.
When brainstorming, throw a small ball around as a device to get people involved and draw out opinions, whoever catches the ball gets to share their suggestions and choose to the next person. Make a ball anywhere from a couple of scrunched old flips with some tape around.
If you have someone over eager, or contributing too much (know what I mean!), use their energy in a positive way by inviting them to flip ideas for you. Never be afraid to give praise with one stroke, then ask ‘Who Else has an opinion on Jeff’s point?’.
These tips can go a long way in making your group time energetic and productive. But use them in your own planning rather than springing them in someone else’s meeting!
Removing SIM cards easily
 Reviewing phones, I have to swap a lot of SIM cards around between them and some can be pretty fiddly. Here’s my really obvious tip to make SIM removal less of a pain. Instead of struggling to get a grip or risking damage to the SIM tray, just use a small blob of Blu-tack to get traction on the edge of the SIM. Then it’s easy to slide out. Daft but true.
To do proper diagnostics before considering a repair, it’s important to check out the basics. Customers will get frustrated very quickly if they can’t do something they feel should be easy. This tip may help you to help them. Good for getting fiddly microSD cards out too.
Who’d want a stupid one?
There is no official definition of a Smartphone, so in a world flooded with choices we’re not helping consumers by using the name in association with any old tat. It’s becoming a meaningless buzz word you expect to see in propositions or briefing documents and customers will hear it repeated by sales agents or see it bullet pointed amongst the many other features of a phone. Have you ever see a makeup advert? Have you any idea what pro-retinol hydrating nanocapsules are? But they must be good to get a mention, right?
There’s no shame in upselling a product, that’s something we should all be doing. But to do it well we need to explain our terms and add real value and support to a customers buying decision.
The very first Smartphone (on the right!) was made by IBM in the early 1990’s. Beyond voice calls, it added a calculator, calendar, address book, world clock, email, fax and some games to the world of the mobile. At the time this was an amazing blending of the computing and wireless worlds. Now it sounds like the functions of the most basic model you can get on prepay for £30.
I would expect a current Smartphone to be powered by a recognised, branded operating system. Symbian, iPhone Os, Windows Mobile, Palm, and Android leap to mind. I want a big bright screen, the ability to type quickly and the fastest data services my network can offer me.
To sell with conviction I want to be able to explain to customers how the device I’m recommending will allow them to organise their life, plan ahead, share information and keep up to date with friends. How it will entertain them, allow them to play music anywhere, let them download applications or games and take videos they can post online.
Once a customer is interested I can borrow the power of other brands to flavour and entice – facebook, twitter, Co-Pilot, MS Office, Gmail, Google Earth or whatever I’ve learned will be of interest to my customer.
Having rich conversations like these, you could be confident of recommending a phone that was truly smart. Plus you’d have built real rapport and go into the next conversation with a feeling of a job well done.
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