I am sitting on board QF94 flying from Los Angeles to Melbourne as I publish this blog post. I’m using the on air WiFi service being trialled by Qantas. It’s terrific. No, not because I am obsessive about being online but because I have spent most of the day today travelling and having internet access has helped be take care of a day’s worth of emails and therefore make life a bit easier when I land Wednesday morning.
The need to be connected grows every day, especially for those in business. Customers expect us to respond to tweets and Facebook comments.
An airline offering WiFi on board will get my patronage ahead of one which does not. It’s a bit like retail businesses. I have chosen coffee shops and cafes with free WiFi over those without the service.
Accessibility is key in business today – both outbound from premises where customers gather through to inbound where customers want / need to contact you.
Businesses, especially cafes and coffee shops, calling for shoppers to like them on Facebook and not offering free WiFi are less likely to be liked. The photo is from a store I saw in New York – their promotion of their Facebook presence is more visually prominent than their business logo. I’d expect them to offer WiFi when they open for business.
It makes me wonder what my ‘WiFi’ service could be, the thing I could do to get more shoppers choosing my business over other businesses selling what we sell.