Resources for Cell Phones

While business cell plans are useful for employee supervision and connectivity, there are other ways of turning cellular phones to your business' advantage. Instead of focusing on the cell phones in your employees' pockets, consider how to put the phones your customers are carrying to work for you.

Making the most of cell phones requires thinking outside the box. Cell phones are more than just telephones; they're high-priced, high performance accessories that offer an ever increasing variety of features and gadgets. Here are just a few of the ways in which your customers' phones can serve you:

1. Many consumers consider cellular phones to be a necessity, so offering high-end cell phones as promotional products means adding significant value to your current products and services. offerings.

2. Your consumers are already using cellular phones to share information with their friends--give them a reason to share with you, too.

3. Each cellular phone is a mobile information station; use your customers' cell phones to remind them that you stand ready to serve.

Use cell phones to draw your customers in

Use products from big name cell phone suppliers as incentives to encourage purchases and service contract renewals, or to attract new customers. You can offer high-end cell phones as door prizes, raffle items or bonuses with purchases, contract renewals or membership buys.

Let your customers use their cell phones to get something for free

Contests and giveaways are a fast and easy way of attracting new customers, or at least garnering their attention. When you give customers a chance to win something, they feel like they're getting something for nothing--but the truth is, you'll come out of the deal with the most precious thing of all: their attention. Cellular phone-based contests, an effective marketing tool, are a growing trend.

Use cell phones to keep your customers coming back

The cell phones in your customers' pockets offer you a ready-made solution for contacting them, no matter where they are in the world. Offer clients a chance to sign up for instant alerts when services or bills are due or when contracts come due for renewal. You can also create brief text-messaging newsletters to distribute information about new products or special sales.

• Keep in mind that some cell phone plans charge for both sending and receiving text messages, and some plans, particularly prepaid cell phone plans, may block them entirely. Some cellular phone plans also limit data transfer or charge extra for it. You'll score points with your customers if you're well informed and prepared to address any questions or concerns they may have about charges incurred or problems encountered while using their cellular phones to partake of your business services.