Getting e-mail from anywhere in the world is easy. It's paying for it that's hard.

Though prices for Blackberries and “smart phones” are coming down, their data plans will still boost each device's bill by more than 50 percent. How can you justify that increase for your entire sales force and management? Will one salesperson be able to generate an additional $600 a year in gross profit with one of these devices?

More than likely, the answer is yes. The real question is, how can you give your sales people a mobile solution that returns $6,000—or even $60,000—in annual gross profit?

Let's start where your sales are generated: In front of the customer. Your solution should allow your salespeople to maximize customer sales calls while increasing service levels with improved response time and accuracy. Simply being able to receive and send e-mail is not enough; your salespeople are still forced to stop by the office to check orders, quotes and other mission-critical data inside your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

Your solution needs to go beyond e-mail, calendars and contacts. Bridging the gap between mobile devices and ERP is the logical answer. Here are six key characteristics that will determine whether your sales force mobilization strategy succeeds or fails:

1. Centralized data. This is the most important part of a successful mobilization strategy. Duplication will lead to failure, no matter what the system. Look at a new solution as an extension of your current ERP system, not an additional IT platform to maintain.
2. Business intelligence. The keys to capturing a quote are rapid response time and accuracy. The instant delivery of information based on your salespeople's criteria is crucial. Using “push” technology gives sales staff and management immediate access to the latest orders, quotes and invoices.
3. Automation. Your staff should not be burdened with the responsibility of manually sharing data. Automating the delivery of data will free up your work force and increase the accuracy and consistency of that information.
4. User interface. The user interface must be designed with the sales force and management in mind—they need a system that will display the information they need in a simple, intuitive format.
5. Wireless technologies. Stop synchronizing your PDA and ditch that laptop! The days of syncing your Palm Pilot with your desktop are history. With broadband wireless networks, real-time data can be delivered in seconds. And if your sales team needs to boot up a laptop, connect to a VPN, log on to your system and search for information, the initiative will fail—access time jumps from less than 15 seconds to more than five minutes.
6. Hosted solutions. Are you a small distributor who can't afford to add infrastructure and support personnel? Hosted Web solutions have low initial costs and minimal liability. Using a hosted solution will give you the latest software updates, support and functionality without additional annual investments.

So where's the ROI? It's in your sales force's additional capacity for sales calls, the growth of existing business through higher service levels and new business through fast response time and accuracy.