The UK's Liveliest Small Business Newsletter
Old archive | New site
|
|
Brick No104: Why the web isn't a level playing field
By Matt Weston, Tuesday 19 October 2004 What an incredibly stupid idea I'm going to share with you a few lines borrowed from across the Atlantic. The source is Seth Godin, smooth-headed marketing celeb and author of page-turners such as "Permission Marketing" and"Free Prize Inside!" The experience Seth describes is one I'm sure you, like me, have lived dozens of times in your other life as a customer. You barely need to put yourself in your customer's shoes here, let alone teeter in her strapless stilettos. Seth, the floor is yours: " Many companies have decided to use the web and automated phone systems to decrease their costs. What an incredibly stupid idea. " How many clicks is it from your company's website to your phone number? At Sprint: Welcome to the Sprint Customer Center, the phone number is four clicks down. Then, once you call them, you have to go through dozens of hoops and presses and pound signs before you reach a human. " Isn't having your customers and prospects talk to you a profit center, not a cost? Isn't the best outcome of a visit to your website a phone call? If it's not, how can you change things so it is? " What a warm up act! My take: First, Seth's on the money. Complex, diversified businesses have to use the web to put more and more distance between themselves and customers. They can't figure out how to make money out of every phone call, every enquiry, and every conversation . . . so they bury away their contact details in favour of unwieldy Frequently Asked Questions (AKA Don't Waste Our Time, We'll Waste Yours). Second, opportunity knocks. Some say that the web is a great liberator: Small business owners can compete on a level playing field with our big business competitors. Why, if we pretend hard enough, and disguise ourselves as a big business, the customer might even be fooled into thinking we're professional! But I don't say that: As big businesses cut costs by putting hoops in between themselves and the customers, we (as small businesses) can do the exact opposite. The playing field isn't level: We have the upper ground. Seth's last paragraph says it all. Today Google indexes over 4,285,199,774 pages. So surely every visitor you get to your site should represent a primed, qualified lead? Simply: If you can't make a profit out of somebody contacting you from your website then either your niche is poorly-defined or your prospect-to-customer conversion process isn't working. Remember to sign up: back to top |
|
|
Link to us | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | ©2005 Business Bricks Ltd
Designed by Mint Digital