Progressive Distributor - Selling in a cyber world

Selling in a cyber world

Its time for a timeout. Distributors need to make business sense out of the Internet.

by John Graham

When the crowd is racing headlong in one direction, common sense says it's time for a timeout. This is the way it is with the Internet. It is impossible to pick up a business publication without
a major story touting the promises of the Internet's possibilities. It all points in one direction: there are no limits to the potential of the Internet.

At the same time, there is reason to be somewhat cautious. While the Internet offers business an enormous new marketplace, many of those fueling the current frenzy, the countless Internet vendors, are also the ones who have the most to gain. Not wanting to be left out, it appears that many know little more than their customers. The Internet is still a learn-by-doing enterprise.

If nothing else, the Internet has established a new pecking order. Companies without a home page are looked down upon by those who have a home page; and those with simple Web sites are viewed with disdain by those with glitzy graphics. While company presidents often take inordinate interest in their companies' advertising and marketing, it's doubtful that many have seen a home page.

Clearly, e-mail is the major reason for getting on the Internet for most businesses. In fact, this is the one reason why every company, large or small, should have it. It is the way to communicate effectively today.

Without question, e-mail is the most powerful, flexible and convenient business tool to come along since the arrival of the telephone itself. There is no acceptable reason for being disconnected from the communications loop.

E-mail aside, the rush to having Web sites and being on the Net deserves a timeout. Whether making plans for a Web site, reviewing an existing one or simply taking time to decide the most appropriate strategy, there is no valid reason for taking precipitous action. What is needed is a checklist for thinking through Internet issues. Here are several useful guidelines:

1) Be prepared to make a continuing investment. A Web site isn't just a non-hard copy of a brochure, document or newsletter. It is more akin to television than it is to print. If you have had trouble getting a quarterly newsletter out on schedule, you will have even more difficulty making sure your site has new information regularly. While it's relatively easy getting a site up and running, keeping it fresh is demanding, frustrating and time-consuming. Because a Web site is out-of-sight, it can easily be ignored, even forgotten.

2) Get ready for upgrading your Web site. There was a time when only Fortune 500 companies issued full-color brochures. Not so today. Color is everywhere. Competition keeps pushing the envelope. It's the same with Web sites. First, it was plain copy. It didn't take long for graphics and photos to be added. Now, it's sound and movement. First, it was enough to include a telephone number and perhaps an e-mail address. Now, the site visitor expects to find an interactive environment.

3) Develop a plan to gain high visibility. High visibility has long been the linchpin of successful marketing. Nothing has changed when it comes to a Web site. Obscurity is a curse for most businesses. Even though they may be excellent at what they do, if they are unknown, they have trouble being taken seriously by the marketplace. A Web site budget must include a carefully crafted program for directing visitors to the location. While being listed with the major search engines is essential, it is a company's responsibility to promote its Web site continuously.

4) Make information the primary Internet product. Using the Internet to make sales is here. Customers are buying term life insurance products, reserving airline reservations, banking, and buying and selling new and used cars. Virtual catalogs are ready to replace hard copy counterparts. There's no better example of using the Internet to make sales than Amazon.com. While bookstores will survive, the ability to research books, read reviews (and write them as well) and then order books is here. Will it be long before the physical book disappears and the file is simply downloaded, eliminating the need for bookshelves?

The Internet's primary role, however, is making it possible for anyone to access information quickly and efficiently. This is the way the real estate industry makes its inventory accessible. This is why a company like The New England built Web sites for each of its general agents with active links to its corporate site. Those who provide thorough, helpful information, capture customers.

According to a report by NetSmart ("What Makes People Click?"), some 97 percent of Internet users access the Web to become better educated consumers. The survey by the advertising research firm indicates that 81 percent go online to research new products and services and 84 percent feel the Internet helps them make better decisions.

The key to making a Web site "attractive" is not just graphics, but the quality of the information available. Just as the customer - whether consumer or business-to-business - knows the difference between fluff and puff and solid data, the Web site visitor may be even more critical, a situation that is certain to have an impact on the quality of information on Web sites, as well as with hard copy. Wasting time is not tolerated today. When the visitor arrives at a Web site, expectations are quite high. Being disappointed can only tarnish a company's image.

5) The essential issue is ease of access. The Internet is changing the way we do business. A small, storefront retailer in Marion, Ohio, can do business in California and around the world using a Web site and a competitor down the street won't even know it.

Just as important, customers have total freedom since they can decide when and where they want to do business. This is perhaps why more companies and customers are concluding that a Web site can offer the best customer service. Saving money by having customers download their own MSDS sheets or get information without involving a live person is obvious. But it isn't just the dollar savings that are significant. It's the fact that the customer is in control, rather than being dependent upon others. This is a crucial element in Web site thinking.

In "The Internet: A Guide for Business Users," KPMG management consulting partner Paul Baker notes that business is undergoing a transition to a "direct age," where the customer is in charge of the process. This reinforces the need for companies to provide both sound information and interactive capabilities on their Web sites.

A good example is a listing service of available rooms and meeting facilities for last-minute planning. Instead of wasting time making stab-in-the-dark calls, information is available online. It's another example of making better decisions, faster.

6) The Net is one more element in an overall marketing and selling strategy. A Web site is one more tool available to companies to communicate their message and to draw prospective customers to their door. There are those, of course, who continue taking a wait-and-see attitude, perhaps much the same way they responded when personal computers made their appearance. Some waited for PC prices to come down, others waited for the products to improve. Still others waited until their competitors passed them by.

Building the Internet into a company's marketing mix is essential today. It cannot be avoided. The first step may be as basic as reserving a domain name. But the danger is thinking in either/or terms. Abandoning all other forms of marketing in favor of a "big splash" on the Net is nonsense. Even with the computer and the Internet playing a crucial role in marketing and sales, the task is to maintain perspective by getting ready to be an effective Internet player, while maintaining a well-rounded and compelling overall marketing mix.

The major mistake is to misinterpret what the Internet means. A life insurance agent in White Plains, N.Y., fell into the trap when he said, "I don't really see the opportunity to make sales over the Internet" at this time. He's missed the point. The Internet issue isn't making sales. The opportunity it offers is one of creating customers, people who want to do business with your business no matter where they may be simply because they have connected with you.

The operative word with the Internet is "connected." When there is a connection, there is also a sale, whether it is next door or 2,000 miles away.

Anyone who still thinks of the Internet as just fun and games isn't listening. According to CommerceNet and Nielsen Media Research, 9 million people 16 years of age and older in the U.S. and Canada have used the Web for business purposes. While buying products and services ranks last (13 percent), gathering information is at the top of the list (77 percent). Collaborating with others, providing vendor support and communications and researching competitors are other motives for using the Web.

Once again, a paradigm has changed. Today, the issue is information for making informed decisions, and the primary distribution channel is the Internet.

John R. Graham, president of Graham Communications, can be reached at , or at .