FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET

I remember when the saying FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET was the first line used to describe Superman on TV.

FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET

MORE POWERFUL THAN A LOCOMOTIVE

ABLE TO LEAP TALL BUILDINGS IN A SINGLE BOUND

LOOK, UP IN THE SKY, IT’S BIRD, IT’S A PLANE, IT’S SUPERMAN!

(Those were the good old days. I don’t want anyone sending me messages telling me how old I am. I KNOW HOW OLD I AM and you need to respect your elders!)

Today, FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET doesn’t take super powers. We all agree that in today’s businesses more and more is being done by fewer and fewer people. How does all the work get done? Simple, one word, FASTER. Technology is allowing businesses to be more productive.

Making businesses go faster started years ago when the fax machine replaced the Post Office as the fastest way to send documents. It was amazing, push the send button and in seconds instead of hours (overnight delivery) your document was received. Then came the cell phone. This idea was part of a comedy show named GET SMART only a decade before. The star, Maxwell Smart (a spy) had a shoe phone. I remember watching and laughing so hard every time his shoe rang and he answered it. (Same as above, respect your elders). Next we were all amazed that Batman had a wrist communicator that allowed him to see who he was talking with. (I never understood how Batman saw Commissioner Gordon; the Commissioner didn’t have a wrist communicator…hummm oh well that’s for another posting). Then came the mighty computer! Every SiFi movie made in the ‘70s usually had a scene in it where there was this massive computer that was the size of Hugh Hefner’s master bedroom.

As the great poet, singer, songwriter, Bob Dylan said “THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANG’IN”. Are you changing with them?

As I work with reps, I hear them tell me that they WON’T get a smart phone just because their company has a program that uses one. They WON’T buy a laptop so they can use the latest software provided by the company. I still see sales reps with... are you ready...? PAGERS! HELLO, pagers weren’t even in the comic books!

Stop looking at technology as punishment; it is the best thing that ever happened to business. Let’s back up and remember we all agreed that business is moving faster today than ever before. Your customer wants their order in less time than ever before. Because the customer is in such a rush they lose some of the loyalty they used to have to a vendor or a rep. It comes down to this, the first rep they can contact, the first company they can get the order placed with, will usually be the rep or company that gets the order.

A smart phone and a computer are nothing more than tools to help you run your business more efficiently. The more available you are, the easier the customer can contact you when they need something, the more orders you will get, the more money you will make!

It all starts with you embracing technology and learning how to make it work for you. A call phone isn’t just a cell phone anymore. I have told this story before in classes; my daughter needed a new cell phone so I took her to the store to get one. When we walked in I told the young man there that it was for my daughter and she would need to pick it out I was ONLY there to pay for it. The young salesman started showing my daughter all the phone models. He talked about texting, MMS messaging, web browsing, taking pictures, calendar, alarm clock, note pad and some other things that I still don’t understand. Being the FATHER I had to add my 2 cents, so I looked at the salesman and said, “Can she make a phone call with it also”? He looked at me like I was a nut! With total disgust in his voice he said, “Yes”. I then added, well you never talked about the phone calls.

Back on subject, the better your technology equipment, the better you will be able to run your business and the easier it will be for customers to do business with you.

It’s amazing how FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET, seems so slow today. Maybe Superman needs to update his image.

FASTER THAN A LASER BEAM

MORE POWERFUL THAN THE SPACE SHUTTLE

ABLE TO OBTAIN ORBIT IN A SINGLE BOUND

That’s more like it!

Lorin