Cell phones began as a way to communicate while on the road.
Today, the handheld device is a portal to access the Internet, a communicator, an entertainment center with the capacity for music and audio content, and a handheld portable computer with GPS. As a shopping and advertising vehicle, the device has the capacity to become an electronic wallet. There are applications being developed to provide even more power and access.
"We haven’t even scratched the surface,"' said Russ Weldon, CCO and founder of Wireless Zone, in the industry since "day two" of its deployment.
Growing In Turbulent Times
In the midst of the current economy lies opportunity. Demand drives innovation, and change creates market niches.
"Where this device is heading? That’s why our business is just not existing, it's growing at a rapid pace," said Weldon, who directs the company's “big picture” strategic planning. A respected authority on the wireless industry, retail sales, customer service, and store management, Weldon speaks to the overall success of the sector.
"Nothing in the electronic nature has market penetration that exceeds 100%, even television. Yet cell phones in Japan exceed 100% market penetration."
Every year there are advancements in technology, smaller phones, longer battery life, improved cameras, vivid color screens, MP3 players, and more.
"People have access to everything," he said. "Nowadays we have to have immediate contact with our children, our family, our customers, our vendors. People have little tolerance if they cannot reach who they want immediately."
Industry Evolution
In 1988 Weldon saw the enormous potential of going mobile and wireless.
"I believed that this would become a mainstream business, but what I didn’t see that it might be every single person on the face of the planet to be 8 years old to 88 years old would have a phone," he said. "I thought it would become a broad-based product and that we could run a store dedicated solely to the cell phone. Competitors told me that I was crazy, there was no way to support a business selling just phones. I guess we disproved that.
What made his belief was that he viewed wireless communication as so important that prices would fall as it gained popularity. He was right.
Now many people go wireless and will never have a telephone number based in a house.
Back in 1983 the cellular telephone came to Washington, Baltimore, and Chicago as the first rollout in a nationwide plan. In 1984, it reached Buffalo N.Y.
Weldon's first contract was NYNex telephone company in that city.
"Cellular was projected to be sold at two-way dealers, municipal two-way radios and such were the first points of distribution. Even the phone companies didn’t have stores that sold phones; they had an office and a direct sales force. The direct sales force called on the very top of the pyramid of people, corporate executives. Why? Because it was expensive."
He recalls selling the early technology as for as much as $2,500 in the early 1980s.
"A phone bill of $1,500 a month then was not surprising. You had to be in an elite group to be a cell phone customer."
Yet Weldon quickly saw the potential for his own business.
In 1988, he and his partner, Mike Geer, opened a single store in Wethersfield. They named it The Car Phone Store. The idea quickly gained clients.
As the business grew, Weldon and Geer chose to sell franchises based on a simple customer service philosophy - "don't make customers, create fans."
Weldon formed a parent company, Automotive Technologies, Inc. (ATI), to provide support needed to help franchise owners succeed. ATI is a Connecticut corporation, which owns the trademark for Wireless Zone.
After more than 20 years, that one store has blossomed into a network of more than 300 nationwide. Co-founder Mike Geer is executive vice president. Kevin Sinclair is company president and CEO.
Wireless Zone vs. Verizon Wireless
When Weldon started, there were two brands in the Connecticut market. Lynx was a division of the Southern New England telephone company, and Metro-Mobil was the other licensee, both granted by the FCC.
"When we started, the store was The Car Phone Store, because I didn’t have an advertising budget and had to express what we did as succinctly as possible. It worked, customers knew our brand, knew what we were doing. Today, times have changed. Metro-Mobil became Bell Atlantic Metro-Mobil, Bell Atlantic Mobil and NYNex joined in, and companies from all over the country formed Verizon Wireless. Companies like Southwest Bell and others formed Cingular, then became AT&T.
"We often debate how to differentiate ourselves. We work with those companies, they are our best friends, they are our best supporter . . . and our largest competitors.
"Service providers have direct corporate locations, direct sales, in-bound telemarketing and national retailers like a Wal-Mart or Best Buy and agents. The Wireless Zone is an agent. All will agree that the only way you can capture the marketplace is by providing authorized retailers. The blend makes the business to reach all customers. And ultimately, the customer is going make the choice."
Owners Who Walk The Walk
Matt Penzia owns a Wireless Zone store in Middletown Conn., located steps away distance from a Verizon Wireless location.
Penzia is a business owner who oversees and understands, answers any questions a customer might have.
"Matt is not a corporate employee who has a sales quota," said Weldon. "He owns his business. That’s the success of Wireless Zone. When it’s your business, you pay attention to your customers.
"The franchises have their own corporate identity and they use their own licenses to run their business," he said. "Recently I read a sign 'Market share is not our goal, it’s the reward for doing the job right.'"
