Entrepreneurs are driven by forces that make them do some unorthodox things sometimes. Their ambition empowers them to do whatever it takes to get the deal done, whenever they have to and wherever they must. The right tools are important. Recently, internet fax services eFax conducted a survey of almost 1,200 small and medium business players to find out some of the places that they’d closed deals. The results range from the bizarre to the mundane. Deals have been brokered from a Las Vegas Casino, a Paul McCartney concert, the dentist office, and even the department of motor vehicles. Check out some of the findings… On the Go About 84% of dealmakers have struck a bargain outside of the office. Of those, it turns out the bulk of them – 74% – get their business done at restaurants and bars. Other interesting locations include in cars or on trains (23%), at airports or on planes, and others at sporting events. The poll shows 20% say they've lost a deal as a result of not being able to sign a contract on the go. That sounds like a pain point in need of a fix. Faxing (it still happens) The fax machine is not necessarily the bulky machine in the corner of the office that pines for the days before email took over the majority of business correspondence. Faxing is not a machine, it’s a tool and it can be done over computer or mobile devices. eFax’s poll shows that some odd places business people have sent faxes are at restaurants and bars, on airplanes or on trains or in cars (hopefully not while driving). Tools for Business It turns out that almost third of polled dealmakers have closed half or more than half of their deals using a smartphone or tablet. The mobile features they use the most while working are: document scanning (37.3%), document signing (31.4%), accessing shared space for collaboration (13.8%), video chats (10.1%) and managing CRM (7.3%). Big Problems In the age of mobile, being able to work and close deals on the move is a must. When asked what irks them the most about mobile business and dealmaking, about 39% said waiting for a prospect to return a contract. Though that’s not something that one can readily control, other issues proved to be pain points that technology could solve. About 23.3% said bad cell reception and dropped calls often stood in their way, and 19% said legal approvals were a serious hassle. Another 19% said the inability to act fast enough cramped their style. Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever closed a deal? Comment below Follow me on Twitter @KarstenStrauss
Reported by Forbes.com 3 days ago.
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