I was recently in a conference conducted by PMI. The organizers were tech savvy and they had strictly instructed that no one should exchange the cards, instead QR code is printed on the delegate ID cards and you MUST only scan the QR code with your smart phone's QR code scanner to exchange the contact details. It was repeatedly announced and it seemed like they were pretty serious about the so called 'green' initiative.
I was talking to a delegate who was sitting next to me, he is from a very popular mid-size IT company and he was explaining me what they were onto, how successfully they created a niche for cloud and mobility. When we were about to exchange cards, I promptly reminded him of the conference diktat that we are not supposed to. I had the QR code scanner on my 'SMART :)' Nokia C6, I scanned his contact details. His company web site URL was part of the contact details, I clicked the URL spontaneously.
It was a disaster because their web site was not mobile friendly. After shock, he gathered himself to say their marketing team must be working on it. He conceded that he never tried their web site in the mobile and I could sense his level of embarrassment as he was talking passionately about mobility a while before.
In the late 90's people used to say 'you should not start your marketing campaigns until your web site is done'
10 years later we must be reminding ourselves 'we shouldn't be starting our marketing activities until our web site for mobile is done'
It was confirmed by one of my 'sales' friends too. His story was more horrifying and had material damages as well. Their sales team was trying hard to have a crack into the IT of a prestigious MNC and they were struggling to get an appointment with the CIO of the MNC. They were not able to get beyond the board and the personal secretary of the CIO.
His Manager got a lucky break when he caught the CIO when they were waiting for the same flight. The CIO was relaxed, the sales manager was telling him how long they were chasing him and was trying to sell his company. The CIO acknowledged that he received a few of their general campaign mails and a few specific ones too. Obviously he didn't delete those mails, he was in a good mood that he took one of the recent mails in his mobile only to click the company URL link. The site was not designed for mobile and all that he got to see was a scrambled look and feel. The game was over, a lucky break was done in by their lame duck marketing who had more important things than getting a mobile friendly web site.
This is very important point for the ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) too, if they are starting a new venture they are better off by getting the mobile version first before getting done with the desktop peers. One big benefit is- when you focus on mobile, you always get the 'basic minimum' right first
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