| Many companies agree that a website is a
very strong sales vehicle resulting in increased sales. However, after investing a
substantial amount of money in building an elaborate website, the disappointment settles
in when they begin to realize that their website does not produce the results they hoped
for, and that it does not match their needs and expectations.
What people fail to realize is the fact that having a
beautiful website does not guarantee an increase in sales, and will not improve efficiency
or customer relationship management effectiveness. Yes, I will agree you must have an
attractive, professional looking website, otherwise you will immediately lose credibility
with your prospects. However, your website also needs to be:
1. Informative –
Your website must speak to your prospect’s needs,
wants, desires, and address their concerns. If your website is not informative, and if it
does not sell to your prospects, then you are dramatically reducing your chances of
closing the sale.
2. Traffic directive –
Your website should lead clients easily through the sales
funnel. If you do not have an easy navigation system, and if your sales prospects are
getting lost – they will easily become frustrated. Frustrated prospects do not become
happy customers.
3. Marketable –
Sales are rarely completed upon the first introduction,
whether it is in person, over the phone or on the Internet. You have to gain your
prospect’s attention and keep their attention. If you go to http://www.smcdata.com, you will notice that I
continually update my site, and add new articles and case studies to entice prospects to
visit my website often. You may want to add an e-newsletter, or a special report, or offer
a free e-Book, or e-Course as a lead generating strategy to capture your prospect’s
contact information. Once you have their information, you can then email them or snail
mail them, or make follow up phone calls that will eventually close the sale.
A Fourth Factor That Is Frequently Overlooked
Not meeting the goals mentioned in the above paragraphs,
can lead to not achieving the results anticipated. But a successfully designed and
marketed website that results in a substantial sales increase can also create business
disruption when the e-commerce system is not integrated in “real time” to the
“back office” system.
For example, I recently received an inquiry about our ERP
software solution from the president of a small fastening company who had read my previous
article “how to choose the right software for your company” which was published
in a popular trade magazine. When speaking with her, she told me that she recently
“turned off” her website despite the fact it was extremely successful in
producing a substantial amount of new sales. The reason for “turning off” the
website was that the “back office” system did not produce the proper inventory
status information.
Not having this data resulted in severe business
disruptions. Realizing that she would lose customers and her company’s high rating on
the web, the president decided to “turn off” the website until she could find
suitable new “back office” software for her company. As a result of the high
level of stress created by the business disruptions, many of her staff members decided to
leave the company, increasing her business disruptions.
Another Example Of How A So-Called Successful Website Can
Create Unnecessary Business Disruptions:
Recently, three presidents of very successful electronics
e-commerce companies told me they have excellent e-business retail stores that enabled
them to grow their businesses substantially. When I asked them how good their inventory
control is in the warehouse, they all admitted that this was one area that required great
improvement as:
1. Misplaced inventory was “collecting dust” and
was not found until the next physical count took place in the warehouse. Quite often, when
the misplaced inventory when found, it was obsolete. The inventory that could have been
sold became excess inventory since new inventory was ordered while it was misplaced.
2. Incorrect shipments resulted in a high rate of returns,
and double freight bills.
3. Credit issued for returned inventory resulted in
additional workload for the accounting department results in the loss of vendor early
payment discounts.
Make Your Website A Success With An Integrated Computer
System
While selling on the web can be a very powerful tool, as
you can see, it can also be a “double-edged sword” resulting in severe business
disruptions. With an integrated computer system, the web, the “back office, and the
warehouse information will be updated in a “real time” mode without the danger
of data being corrupted or lost. An automated warehouse will insure shipment accuracy,
prevent inventory from being misplaced, and the company website will always reflect an
accurate count of the inventory available in the warehouse. This will your company’s
customer relationship management effectiveness and encourage customers to become recurring
clients.
If your website is attractive, informative, marketable, and
if it has traffic direction and a integrated computer system in place, it will then enable
your company to go to the “next level.” You will then only be limited by your
imagination and your budget. The question is, “What is your destination?” |
