• And now that you know the actual dollar benefit of having more available time, what's the goodwill or PR benefit? If you're repairing something in half the time or showing up on a service call twice as fast, you're not only doing more service calls, you'll have more satisfied customers. Having more satisfied customers leads to better word of mouth, and that leads to even more customers.

• Finally, there are probably areas of benefit unique to your business. Really brainstorm to see what they are.

There are a few things I'd like you to remember. ROI is important before and after buying to justify a purchase. It's also very important because it'll help you see new ways you can take advantage of the new resource you're now using. Remember that if it takes awhile to do some serious benefit brainstorming, it's not just for a spreadsheet. It's a way of expanding your opportunities.

Finally, don't forget the quality-of-life benefits I mentioned earlier. Having an emergency number when necessary, being able to check your mail on the train, being able to get an important message while in a waiting room, and being able to get directions when lost are all possible with Palm computers. And, as you might imagine, there are many more quality-of-life benefits. You can certainly internalize how those abilities can make your own life better. Now expand that to all your employees issued Palm handhelds. Not only will you have happier employees, but we all know that happier employees are more productive and stay in their jobs longer. That means lowered recruiting costs, lowered training costs, and less opportunities and skills lost.

Wrapping it all up
We've covered an enormous amount in this article. It'll give you a lot to think about. Believe it or not, there's even more. While researching this article, I asked readers for their own ROI stories. I got such interesting responses that I put their responses into the article, "Investing in Palm handhelds: Readers tell their own stories of ROI results," located elsewhere in this issue of PalmPower's Enterprise Edition. Be sure to give it a read. You'll definitely get a pretty high return from your time invested.

Steve Niles is Senior Editor for ZATZ Publishing. He is also an independent filmmaker and freelance writer. For more information, visit http://www.sn-films.com.