Anyone who deals with customers on a day-to-day basis understands they’re all different and all have different needs.  There’s the normal customer who we don’t see until they need something.  The needy customer who calls with every issue.  Clingy customers are some of the most annoying.  Creepy customers hang around just a little too long.

This week I’m writing about the impulsive customer who makes decisions on the fly without giving any forethought to outcome.  One of my impulsive customers is a salesman out of the eastern part of the state.  An hour after our first phone call ten plus years ago, he showed up at my house without me offering my address.

I’m going to call this guy Jim.  One day last week Jim called me to say he was purchasing a new laptop, Android phone, and iPad.  Though Jim is impulsive, he bears all the marks of a type A.  Hearing he was purchasing three separate pieces of technology threw me for a loop because he can’t afford a spare second.

He had good luck with his PC and iPad; working around the quirks of file sharing using Dropbox, a free cross-platform file sharing utility.  Rather than stick to similar technology and purchase an iPhone, he made a decision to introduce a new platform into the mix and purchased an Android device.  Jim figured investing in top rated products in each category would be beneficial.

My ‘too little too late’ advice for Jim was to stay with one platform for his portable devices and save future headaches.  Because he primarily works from his car and hotel rooms I suggested he pick either Windows 8, Android, or Apple for his phone and tablet.

Synchronizing different platforms requires marrying different technologies and hoping they connect without a hitch.  His software publishes separate plugins to allow Android and Apple products to update and mesh with the computer database.  Jim’s software currently contains all of his contact information, sales history, and appointments.

Here’s a scenario:  During a sales meeting he decides to take notes on his iPad and adds a follow-up appointment.  At the end of the night Jim syncs his tablet and phone to his computer.  Here’s the problem:  If he doesn’t connect the two peripheral devices in order of tablet and then phone, his contacts and updates from the tablet will not synchronize correctly.  If there are differences between the Android and iPhone plugins then Jim also runs the risk of two separate compilations.

One of the beautiful features of using Android, Windows 8, or Apple products is they can be set to sync when not plugged into a computer.  In other words, my iPhone, iPod, and iPad will synchronize when in the presence of a wireless network.  However, an iPhone will not automatically sync with an Android device.  I only need to update one device with iTunes and as long as I’m connected to a network everything else will happen automatically.  I don’t have to give it any thought.

Late last week I received a call from Jim asking me to setup a convenient method of bringing all his gear current at one time.  After listening to his buyer’s remorse, I suggested he bring all his stuff to my store and I would work with him to figure out an easier method.  When he showed up, he had an iPhone, iPad and Android phone.  Apparently my little conversation with him about how he could possibly lose data sank deep into his impetuous head.  Come to find out, the iPhone was his fourth phone purchase of the week.

(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner.  You can text him directly at (978) 413-2840 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)