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Masters of the [Mobility] Universe

In a previous blog, I stated what I believe to be the keys to getting mobility right. As I reviewed the post closely, I realized that I merely stated "what" and "why". However, I never stated "who" must ensure that the organization gets mobility right. The answer may surprise you.

About a month ago I received a message from an account manager asking why we don't sell one of these:

Linksys-Router.jpg

instead of one of these:

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In the message the person stated that this access point is less expensive than anything in our portfolio and there is no way any competitor would beat us on price. The person is absolutely correct. There is nothing in our portfolio that is as inexpensive as this residential wireless router. Now I could use this post to rattle off a million reasons why no mobility service provider should offer a residential access point to an enterprise customer, but I would be preaching to the choir.

Our organization's mobility offering has been in existence for more than a few years. That is why I struggled to understand why anyone in our organization would even consider using a residential wireless access point in a commercial environment. Then I came to the realization that IT WAS MY FAULT. In our organization I am the main mobility professional. I am best qualified to engage and educate others within the organization. I am best equipped to identify our organization's strengths and address our organization's weaknesses regarding mobility. I should have provided members of our organization with the proper training and resources to information relevant to mobility and mobility services. In other words, THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN.

Some of you may wonder why this bothered me. I should have just answered the person's question and moved on. Consider the role of sales account manager. In the eyes of the customer this account manager is the face of an organization. Imagine that you have an entire sales force (the face) that does not believe that the organization is providing a viable offering to its customers. Because they do not believe that the will sell, you will have an entire sales force that is reluctant to lead with or even mention mobility services to customers. Many "would be" and "should be" customers will never purchase mobility services from our organization.

At that point I understood that I must evolve from being a mobility professional and become a mobility leader. For some organizations, being a mobility professional is more than enough. Within those organizations, the sales force may just "get it." However, within my organization I must do more. I must illustrate the importance of understanding how mobility hardware, software, and services relate to every customer that we serve, every market that we target, and every other solution we offer. There should be no question that we are offering the right service to the right enterprise with the right product.

In conclusion, [if you have not already] I encourage mobility professionals to become mobility leaders and take the initiative to engage and educate others within your organizations. Do not hesitate to empower other team members with the proper resources. This will enable your sales force to properly illustrate, and when necessary, demonstrate the capabilities of the mobility solution that you will eventually design, architect, and/or deploy. For many of us, engaging others within the organization is outside of our area of expertise. But if we expect our organizations to get mobility right, we must become mobility leaders that are willing and able to guide our organizations to mobility excellence.