As one of the earliest providers of mobile technology in North America, BlackBerry has become known in the business world for helping professionals stay connected via mobile devices. Since 1999, when Canadian-based Research in Motion (RIM) launched its first wireless technology, BlackBerry has ingrained itself in both the big business and small business communities.
In fact, the Waterloo, Ontario-based mobile manufacturer doesn’t differentiate between small businesses and large ones when it comes to the level of its service and support. Why not, you ask? Don’t we have different needs than big business? Turns out, we don’t, at least not when it comes to wireless.
No Segmentation in Service
There’s no difference to the communications company when it comes to the quality of services it provides a large corporation like Pitney Bowes Canada and what it provides to smaller customers.
“We have the unique ability to offer products, services, and solutions that have the security and reliability required by large enterprises, but with the flexibility and cost effectiveness that small businesses find so beneficial,” explains Bryan Lee, a Sr. Director in BlackBerry’s US B2B & IT Channel Sales group.
Many corporations are quick to create custom solutions for small business (read: limited solutions at a fraction of the enterprise pricing), so BlackBerry stands out in its policy to provide the same services to businesses of all sizes.
Aiming to Make Small Business Juggling Easier
It’s no secret that small business owners often juggle multiple roles and responsibilities. To that aim, BlackBerry strives to provide wireless solutions that make staying connected throughout the day that much easier. Its collection of smartphones and tablets, along with BlackBerry® Messenger, BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server Express, all work to make communication easier.
BlackBerry App World includes applications that help small business owners do more, like Mobile Conferencing 3.0, BlackBerry Travel and hundreds of other business-related apps.
Staying Connected with Small Business Customers
While BlackBerry might not see a difference in the products it delivers to businesses of different sizes, its marketing efforts tell another story. The company works to maintain visibility with the small business segment through sponsorship opportunities such as Small Business Influencer and SMB 150. Part of the BlackBerry website is geared toward helping small and medium sized businesses find the solutions they’re looking for.
Just as BlackBerry forged a path to wireless connectivity for business owners over a decade ago, the company has also gone to great lengths to adopt social media as a channel for customer communication early on. Lee says the brand strives to connect to small and medium sized business clients through its BlackBerry for Business Blog, LinkedIn discussion group, SlideShare page, and Twitter feed. With followers in the millions BlackBerry seems to be successfully providing additional small business resources through these channels.
“Small business owners are so passionate about their work, and it’s amazing to be a part of the experience by enabling communication, CRM, and all other manner of activity in their business,” said Lee.
Future Plans? Continuing to Deliver on Its Promises
Research in Motion (RIM) is publicly traded on NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange, and reported 2012 revenues at $18.4 billion, having grown from $3 billion in 2007. RIM has 78 million subscribers in 175 countries around the world, and has over 90% of Fortune 500 businesses as customers.
RIM plans to release its BlackBerry 10 platform in Q1 of 2013, which, according to Lee, will help “business owners be intuitively productive and stay richly connected to those who are important to them.”
BlackBerry is one of the key brands showing their support of small businesses by sponsoring the Small Business Influencer Awards.
[“source-smallbiztrends”]
