Hello, all you fine people out there! Tuesday is back – and so is our weekly newsletter, AppBoard Tuesday (ABT). This week, we will be focusing on the overall advantages that a business can get – by switching from paperwork to using customized mobile applications (to the maximum possible extent). While gaming and entertainment apps, or even mobile apps for kids are pretty much self-explanatory as to what their attractions are – we get many queries from corporate houses as to whether they should go for apps, and if they did, what their advantages would be. Let’s here highlight some of these benefits:
- Familiarity – The app-culture is spreading at a rapid rate across the globe, in practically all walks of life. Last quarter, our company developed apps for gaming, shopping, tourism and instant messaging (IM) purposes. It has become almost a habit for most people to simply reach out for a smartphone and look up convenient solutions (regarding whatever they might be interested in) via apps. This feeling of familiarity would make it easy for professionals to start using apps for business purposes. Unlike other ‘new’ things, learning the operations of a business app would not be a time-consuming task.
- Employee performance tracking – Any company worth its salt has a HR department, or at least, a HR executive. However, it is a cumbersome (often impossible) task for these HR personnel to constantly track, report and give feedback on the performances of other employees. The alternative option of asking everyone to install a common mobile application and filling up details in it would be a lot simpler and time-saving. Appraisals would become a lot more objective, and workplace favoritism (admit it, that is a raging issue at many offices) would disappear.
- Reaching out to more clients – There used to be a time when CEOs could depend on only their websites to generate ample visibility and awareness about their companies. Those days have now been relegated to the pages of history – as more and more people have started to access the World Wide Web on their handsets, while on the move. Recent surveys have revealed that mobile websites are nowhere close to apps in terms of popularity. Distributing a free, user-friendly, easy-to-install app would make it easy for businesses to stay connected with customers, always.
- Facilitates two-way communication – What Facebook and Twitter pages can achieve, dedicated company apps can do too – in a much more efficient manner. Leading mobile application development companies include rating systems, feedback sections and (at times) live chat sections in their apps – which enable users to share their suggestions, recommendations and opinions about any product/service. The conventional method of sending email questionnaires is way more time-consuming, and elicits a far lower response rate. With regular, real-time feedback, improving product/service quality becomes simpler too.
- Spreading information on special offers – What do shoppers like the most? That’s right, discounts! An iPhone or Android app, which delivers e-coupons (with scannable QR codes) would give people the opportunity to save more. That, in turn, would give a boost to the overall download figures of the application. Ideally, the discounts offered should be small and regular. That way, customers would get updates at frequent intervals on the app – instead of a single update in a year or so!
- Visual branding – Right from the splash screen, to the user-interface and other elements of the mobile app development framework – everything can contribute towards the strengthening of the brand presence of any business. Developers emphasize on the importance of including logos, symbols, taglines, colors, and other such signature visual branding elements in a company app. If the application becomes popular, brand recall would automatically go up. No extra promotional expenses would be required.
- Simultaneous collection and processing of data – Maintenance of computer databases is not impossible – but it’s not a really efficient process either. Facts and figures need to be properly categorized and stored first, before they can be analyzed for preparing reports. Apps can do away with this unnecessary wastage of time, since they can simultaneously record new data and process the same (with a much higher degree of accuracy too). Our My Budget Tracker app is a classic example of this factor. Imagine having to monitor day-to-day expenses manually!
- Offsite inspections would become much easier – For companies which require employees to go on regular offsite inspections, mobile apps with GPS functionality can be of great help. For starters, they can reach the out-of-office locations without any confusions – since all directions would be available on the application. If the app has date and time stamp implementation options too, preparing inspection reports in accordance to company guidelines becomes a hassle-free task. Oh, and risks of any worker submitting mistake-ridden reports would be nil as well.
- Businesses need not come to a standstill in the absence of internet – Teknowledge has a high percentage of apps in its portfolio, which remain perfectly functional offline. Most other companies develop similar apps too. These apps can keep the mobile marketing/promotional drives operational – even when there is no internet connection at office (on the business side), or on the mobile devices of users (on the client side). Web support is essential to stay in touch with buyers, but apps can serve their purpose offline too.
- Giving people detailed local information – Individuals tend to do business with companies in their locality (city, town, etc.), and smartphone applications can chip in on this regard. A general business-oriented app can be designed to deliver information on the names and contact details of all the service providers located within a specified perimeter of the user’s exact location (once again, GPS-powered apps would be great for this). All that a company has to do is get itself registered on the database of the app – and local customers would start contacting it soon.
Via quick and ongoing customer service, upgrades and special deals, mobile apps can bolster buyer loyalty levels in a manner that no expensive banner ads and hoardings can. They also make it possible for corporate meetings and brainstorming sessions to take place on the cloud network – which is essential for decentralized businesses and/or the ones that offer services across various time zones. Having a responsive website only no longer cuts the ice – unless you make use of mobile apps for business, you are passing up on a great chance generate more profitable sales leads.
With these words of wisdom (!), we wrap up this edition of AppBoard Tuesday. If you have any further query about the importance of mobile applications for business, feel free to contact us for a consultation session. Remember, establishing a one-to-one relationship with each customer is important – and there is no better channel to do this than their personal smartphones and tablets.
That’s about it for the week. Let’s finish off with a bit of good news – one of our new apps, Stopover (created for an Australian client) has been shortlisted for the prestigious ‘Talent Unleashed’ award. Wish us luck on that!
Till next time then – stay zapped with apps!
Hussain Fakhruddin
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