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•Nine Greatest Selling Innovations 15

took it on with the service Pay as you Talk, a misnomer really since it is more
accurately Pay before you Talk.

The product is a telephone handset, charger and battery for a fixed price. Calls
and texting charges just get lower. A standard call at the moment is 25 pence for the
first three minutes and 5 pence thereafter. The call credit is kept on a card and
reduces as you use the telephone. When you are running low you receive a message
on the handset warning you to ‘top up.’ You top up on the Internet, or by telephone
or by visiting a Vodafone store.

For people whose children have run up huge telephone bills and, for example,
for students who want to keep to a budget, this method of payment prevents any
nasty surprises when the bills come in. Since it is soon to be possible to access the
Internet from a mobile phone this could enhance the benefits of the service. Every-
one remembers some of the bills run up by young surfers on their parents’ phones.

And from Vodafone’s point of view they are being paid in advance. Probably,
just as the mustard company’s profits are left on the side of the plate, some of
Vodafone’s profits will be left on unused cards.

Ask yourself

• When did you last review your terms and conditions for payment?
• Is there any way you could argue for some money up front. Don’t forget the

managers of many big companies are very interested in the price of what
they buy because it comes off their budget, but it may mean nothing to them
when your bill is paid.