First and foremost, a website is a true marketing tool. Not only is your website a marketing tool, your customers expect you to have a presence on the internet.
Back in 1996, which was decades ago in internet years, the future of e-commerce was anybody's guess. In 2006 consumers now readily embrace doing business, buying products and services, doing research and many other daily tasks On-line.
First and foremost, a website is a true marketing tool. Not only is your website a marketing tool, your customers expect you to have a presence on the internet. Whether your website is informational, educational or selling your products and services; having a website improves the consumers' confidence in doing business with your company. Most businesses now realize the costs of not having a website can be devastating to their growth and longevity. Luckily, I saved the best news for last; designing and maintaining a web channel to do business is the least expensive marketing strategy.
Now that I have your attention, let me tell you how to have an effective website that will attract, influence and create lifelong customers. Your customers' first impression about your website can make a sale or lose a customer in an instant. You want your customers to say "Wow!" when they see your website for the first time. That way, you ensure that your customers will read about your business, learn about your products and services and be confident in doing business with you.
The "Wow!" factor is that first visual impression that lets a customer feel the beautifully and professionally designed website. To continue to impress your customer beyond looks, your website has to give them what they want in a very friendly and engaging way. That is what is called the functionality and usability of your website.
Functionality is simply what your website can do. Your first question should be "What do my customers want?" If you keep your customers needs and wants as the top priority, then the end result will be an important and time saving way for your customers to do business with you. That means happy customers and higher profitability to you!
Usability is how easy it is to understand and navigate your website. Easy? What does easy have to do with a website? Well, if you have ever walked into a store, looked around and thought to yourself; "Where do you think they would have hidden the widget I am looking for?" Easy is walking into the same store with a map, directions, flashing arrows, overhead signs and a personal assistant! If it is that easy for a customer to do business with you, then they will do it!
Now take a look at how two different businesses go about making a website. Let's call them Business A and Business B. Business A is a business that sells hobby items and Business B is a business that sells, installs and services furnaces and air conditioners.
Business A has been asked many times by their customers if they have a website, which they have had to tell them that they do not. So, they decide that it is time to create a website for their customers. They think about how they can help their customers do business with them and what their customers expect of them. They decide that their customers, both new and existing, could benefit from being able to purchase their products. However, they also realized that new customers don't know anything about their business and that they should include the history, staff and commitment to their customers. In addition, their customers need a way to communicate with their business through the website. They think about getting customer comment, testimonials, negative feedback and suggestions for improvement. Knowing that communication should not be one way, they decide to provide company and industry news and an e-mail newsletter that will keep their customers informed about new products, promotions and other important announcements. The website gets built and their customers start using the website, providing feedback and buying products. Business A uses the feedback to continue to improve the website and has overwhelming success and growth.
Business B has also been asked whether they have a website, which they also told their customers that they did not. After several years of resisting the thought of building a website while their business has decreased, they finally concede that they need a website. Knowing that they would need a lot of help in creating a website, they went out and found a website company. When they set down to discuss their need, they asked why they need a website. They gave the two answers that were the most painful for them, "Because our customers continue to ask for our website" and "Our sales have been declining for some time now". They discussed what their customers wanted and needed. The discovery was that their customers really needed to learn about their business to build confidence and trust. They tell people about their staff, history, products, services, maintenance plans and guarantees. They also discussed the need to have communication with their customers. On-line scheduling and product and industry news should get their customers involved and help keep them coming back. They build the website and advertise their forward thinking ability to schedule appointments on-line. Potential customers come to the website, read about the business and schedule appointments which lead to more sales and service calls for them. Business B continued to grow and become a national chain providing the best products backed by the best service and guarantees.
Why were both of these businesses successful? Because they made a decision to embrace the best marketing and sales tool available. Each had different needs and customers, but by keeping the customer in focus they were able to become wildly successful! Are you next to embrace the successes of the newest marketing tool?
- Steve Ferguson, VP - Sales & Marketing