I am blogging from the free WiFi access at Panera. As Glenn Reynolds points out, free WiFi can be a major differentiator among businesses. Consider that I am only a block away from Starbucks and Caribou coffee. I prefer both places, especially Caribou, to Panera. However, they do not have free WiFi. In fact, the access at Starbucks which is provided by T-Mobile and Caribou's access through SBC are quite pricey. The result is that I am at Panera. And I am not the only one. At least six other people have their laptops open and are working here as I type. Among the salespeople I work with, Panera is a regular stop to catch up on work between meetings. In fact, it is becoming a salesperson's hangout. In today's virtual business world of home offices and home-based businesses, I find that I have several meetings with my channel partners at Panera or Starbucks every week. And we are buying coffee and food the whole time.
If Starbucks, Caribou and the like want to capture this market, they need to jump on the free WiFi bandwagon or get left behind. It certainly influences my choice of which business to frequent.
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