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2001 by Jobs and Money. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Trouble on the Internet
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Online Sales Need Additional Touch
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By Mark Heisler and Suzanne Baldino Jones
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Many companies approached Internet sales just like the movie Field of Dreams. "If you build it, they will come."
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Only customers didn't come.
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Not in 1999.
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Not in 2000 either, if the latest figures are to be believed.
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What could be the problem? It may have a lot to do with how customers were treated and if they were satisfied with the level and quality of service being delivered. Clearly, many were not.
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While the Internet will continue to be an emerging retail force, we suggest establishing an online presence as a complimentary part-not a means to an end-of the sales effort on behalf of your company.
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Good sales take planning and implementation of well thought out strategies.If you are like many business managers and owners, you probably have expertise in some areas and maybe less in others.
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Sales, however, drive a company. Without sales, you have no business online or anywhere else for that matter. You may need an expert, and that's where we come in. We help companies large and small establish bonds with customers that don't fade away after the deal is signed, the customer walks out the door or logs off the Internet.
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If you are a business in need of reassessing or devising new e-tailing strategies, we advise focusing on six key points to build a successful on-line presence.
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1. Determine the primary objective for online sales. The first thing you should do is determine the objective for your online sales component. Do you want to aid your sales force by generating new prospects? Or perhaps you are you looking at the Internet as a direct distribution channel. Or, should your Web site be a way to augment service to existing customers or give them the convenience to reorder your products and services?
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2. Consider technology as an enabler only. Too many firms have gotten sucked into the technology hype. It is not a magic elixir for everything. Human intervention must be built into your on-line processes. People want to know they can deal with a real human being should questions arise or problems occur.
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3. Solicit customer feedback early and often during development. Information systems tend to focus on the internal business needs to the detriment of the customers that will use the system. The only way you can make things easy for customers to use your site is to determine what they want. How do you do that? Ask them. Make certain your site is easy to navigate, that feedback is just a click away and really appreciated. If you need information, tell the customer why and what it will be used for. Respect their privacy.
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4. Test your site for speed using computer equipment customers' use at home. Potential customers do a lot of their surfing at home without the benefit of the latest and greatest hardware. A customer that is waiting for nifty stuff to load on their computer is no different than waiting in a long line or being placed on hold. You may wish to hold down on the elaborate graphics and concentrate on basic information delivery first.
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5. Focus on service delivery. Successful e-firms have built service delivery operations in much the same manner as successful brick and mortar businesses. Customer service telephone support, order tracking and fulfillment must be put in place to support your online initiative. And, if you have an existing service delivery infrastructure, integrate it with your online distribution. Having a separate process to deliver on the promises made to customers on-line is doomed for failure.
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6. Develop an on-line customer retention strategy. Once you get the customer, concentrate on devising tactics and strategies to keep them coming back to you. Sending periodic e-mails is not a retention program. Maintaining and using your customer base to offer special deals or to keep customers informed of new products or services isn't what you should be after. Reinforce customer loyalty with more than "loyalty or frequent purchase programs." Upgrade the quality and value of the customer's entire experience in the products and services you offer.
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We leave you this January with an additional point: the experiences of many customers (or prospective customers) during 1999 and 2000 "online" holiday seasons validate many of the six key points made above. In 1999, a great deal of press dealt with the fact that "name" Internet stores were not prepared in the "back office" to support and deliver the products they offered via the Web.
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While things were somewhat better this past holiday season, it is clear the bad experiences many customers encountered in 1999 will never be salvaged. And if that doesn't open your eyes, nothing will.
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Mark Heisler and Suzanne Baldino Jones are principals of Competitive Business Strategy Group, a management consulting practice located in Mount Laurel, N.J. For more information, call (888) 411-5800. E-mail at mheisler@cbsg.com or sbjones@cbsg.com.