It's common nowadays for businesses to use computers, the latest digital gadgets and even satellites to stay a step ahead of the competition. But many also employ a decidedly low-tech approach: wall maps.
Nextel, T-Mobile and Lowe's are among the companies who rely on Maps.com to provide them with wall maps that help them better target customers and determine where to grow next.
"I believe tough economic conditions are forcing companies to work smarter, as well as harder," says Maps.com President John Serpa. "Businesses need to know more about their customers, prospects, and competition. Geographic information like wall maps help companies visualize and analyze business opportunities and threats."
Indeed. Maps.com saw its annual wall map sales grow 42 percent in 2003. While some of that stemmed from the war in Iraq, Serpa says demand stayed consistent throughout the year.
Closer to home, Nextel and T-Mobile used Maps.com to produce large-format wall maps showing call area coverage, which helped both companies identify opportunities for expanding their reach and services. Lowe's has an aggressive expansion plan and turned to Maps.com to produce maps that are given away to customers to help them locate other Lowe's.
Maps.com provides custom cartographic services for businesses and its web site has both free and for-fee services. There are the usual driving directions, etc. A new offering, NavPro, helps business people to set up their travel day to make the best use of their time. By entering the customer or prospect appointments for the day, a list is generated that details the most efficient way to get to all appointments in the least amount of time.