The flexibility and mobility brought about with tablets such as the iPad, has begun to creep its way into the business way, in some interesting and creative ways.
1) Mercedes-Benz. 40 selected Mercedes Benz dealers are using iPads as an attempt to ease their car sales processes. By integrating a software on the iPad, Mercedes Benz sales agents can now directly work with the consumer to draw up a payment plan, check available promotions for the car model, and initiate the loan process to see if the buyer could be immediately approved. The auto company is so confident about this investment decision that they plan to expand their new technological approach from 40 to over 350 locations in the fall and upcoming year. For Mercedes Benz, the iPad has increased flexibility, efficiency, and speed of conducting credit checks, returning of leased vehicles, accessing marketing campaigns, and the overall financing process.
2) Torus. Torus is a global insurance company that operates from London. With the adoption of the iPad, Torus has been able to modify and improve many of its current operations. For instance, at a recent scheduled board-meeting to discuss the bringing on-board of this gadget, it was the first time ever, that the 29-executive board member gathering was paper-free. Prior to incorporating the iPad in a meeting setting,the firm was printing over 1600 pages of paper which had to then be shipped to the board members who live in diverse points of the globe. Nowadays, with the iPad, the company’s board members are able to review the materials from anywhere and at anytime–directly from their devices. What’s even better is that they are also able to make changes and suggestions to the documents without having to reprint additional sheets of paper. In the near future, Torus plans to broaden the scale of its iPad use to include policy administration and Customer Relations Management (CRM).
3) Hyundai. Hyundai has also began a very cool venture with the iPad. As part of a new campaign, Hyundai plans to give a complimentary iPad with each purchase of their Equus luxury sedan. Now what makes this promotion different from all others, is that the iPad will accompany a digital version of the car’s manual, as well as, an exclusive Hyundai iPad application pre-loaded with all the necessary information for customers who may want to schedule oil changes or regular maintenance checkups.
4) Global Mundo Tapas. A restaurant in the North Sydney Rydges Hotel has become the first eatery in Australia to change its traditional, paper-based menus, with the iPad. Not only will customers be able to order their food directly from the iPad to the kitchen, but they could also browse through pictures of the dishes, and have food-wine pairing suggested to them. Furthermore, the iPad is even offering a customization of the food-ordering process by enabling diners to make special requests such as how they prefer their meat cooked and what sauce they would like with it. The iPad has been extremely beneficial in making Global Mundo Tapas’ business processes more efficient and the employees more productive. In addition to assisting customers, the iPad also provides many benefits for the restaurant itself. One of the things that has been crucially helpful to the restaurant’s staff is the fact that the menu application also keeps tab on the store’s stock levels. This ensures that as soon as an item is sold-out, it is promptly removed from the on-screen menu. In addition, through a self-automation of the ordering process, the restaurant employees are now able to allocate their valuable time on other aspects of customer service rather than having to worry about taking orders, and maybe even making mistakes on them. In the future, Global Mundo Tapas hopes to add other features to their menu app such as options in which the weather influences the types of food people order and recommended dishes based on the guests’ moods.
5) Drain Rescue Edmonton. In order to to gain a competitive edge in their industry while also helping the environment, the executives at this company have decided to eliminate their paper invoicing to strictly digital-based using primarily iPads and iPhones. The main goal of Drain Rescue is to “efficiently service plumbing calls” and what better way to do this than to use the innovative iPad technology to cover a wide range of day-to-day processes including directing dispatch service calls, ordering materials, preparing invoices, and completing transactions all in a short span of time and through a single device.
Now that you have read about these creative business uses of the iPad, how do you plan to integrate this device into your day-to-day operations?