Business mapping software can have an impact on your career. In blogs and articles I write about features, benefits, and applications for business mapping. But there’s an additional benefit to mapping software that’s more personal. Bringing business mapping tools to your business can help you stand out in the crowd.
We speak with many businesses everyday that are looking for solutions to common problems. These problems could include business expansion challenges, increasing sales in a competitive market, franchise territory management, customer service process improvements, field service response effectiveness, efficient and secure information sharing, sales territory management, and a host of other real and significant business challenges.
Tech Procurement
Business mapping can put companies on a path to problem resolution by improving location awareness, providing location-based business processes, exposing positive or negative trends in sales, or by simply offering a map visualization of business and demographic realities. Business mapping software helps to solve problems by providing answers to key questions.
Many of our customers, the actual people we speak with, have been handed the challenge of securing a business mapping tool and determining how it can help resolve their business challenges. By simply researching business mapping options these people often become the default business map administrators in their organization. Completing these tasks adds two key skills to their resumes – technology systems research and procurement, and business mapping administrator.
The procurement aspect is not to be undersold here. Technology sourcing projects are a real challenge for businesses today. Who usually handles technology purchases in your company – purchasing or IT? Work with your groups controlling these projects. Make their jobs easier. Learn something. Pay attention to service cost versus the application value for your organization. Pay attention to SaaS/cloud services and security concerns. Handled carefully and diplomatically you will enhance your reputation by helping the company enter the business mapping world.
Drive Location-Awareness
Business mapping software at any price are not procured for fun. (Although they are fun to use.) These location-based visualizations are used to solve serious and sometimes complex business problems. By sticking with a business mapping project, helping your organization get trained and by learning to apply map solutions to tough problems you are increasing your value to the organization. Seek to become the map go-to gal or guy in your organization. Turn the loss of MapPoint into your own personal gain.
Look for more ways to apply business mapping tools. Sure, maybe you solved that huge initial problem the boss was worried about, but there are more mountains to climb. You may find other departments struggling to solve issues that could stand some basic location awareness. Perhaps your marketing or sales departments could use:
- Customer visualizations based on an address list
- Sales territory map creation or updates
- Demographic perspectives on key market areas
- A visualization of all of the [Pick a business type] businesses in your target markets
- Shared map editing through Map Business Online Team Edition – collaborative editing for the enterprise
In many situations business maps are quick to make and free to share. Providing a fellow employee or department with a customer visualization map seems like a pretty good use of your time. Better than Facebooking or Candy Crush anyway.
What will your next map be?
Be the Go-to Map Geek
Being the administrator of a basic mapping tool or even an enterprise level mapping tool means the boss is going to seek you out. We all know this can be both good and bad. Much depends on who your boss is.
I speak with many users who have bosses with vision. Business maps often excite that vision and inspire broader use of a mapping tool. Remember to keep map clutter under control and not to try to solve all problems with one map. Edit your maps to reflect your particular business vernacular. Maps that are concise and focused communicate concepts better than crazy maps. Be sure to tell your crazy boss that.
Business maps provide information that informs decision making, quite possibly driving the company forward faster through location-awareness. The boss will like and remember that.
So now you’ve got some technology procurement background, you’re the go-to map geek, and you’ve helped the company make important business decisions. In some companies, basic business mapping can lead to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) work. GIS is required to solve complex, big data problems like you find in epidemiology, political science, government work, statistics, and large fleet management. You may want investigate applying Esri.com tools to your business or perhaps pursuing a GIS certification.
Wow. You’ve come a long way since you created your first MapQuest route. Maybe you should consider a third party run for office? Oh wait. I forgot. You’re not the crazy one.
Find out why over 25,000 business users log into www.MapBusinessOnline.com
Contact: Geoffrey Ives geoffives@spatialteq.com (800) 425-9035, (207) 939-6866
MapPoint users – please consider www.MapBusinessOnline.com as your MapPoint Replacement.
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