What the Web Can Do

No doubt about it, the Web can benefit your business. (That's probably why you're reading this book.) But before you dive into building a Web presence, it's a good idea to know the kinds of things you can expect the Web to do for you.

In this half of the chapter, I give you the good news: a discussion of the things the Web can do for your business, along with real-life examples from businesses like yours.

Provide Information 24/7

The Web never sleeps. It's available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, providing the information you think is important to anyone interested in seeing it. This is perhaps the most important yet overlooked feature of the Web, the reason so many people turn to it to answer questions and gather information.

Look at Me

I'm a good example. I wake up very early ( especially in the summer time) and am usually at my desk working by 6:00 AM. Fortunately, the Web is awake and working, too. I can access Web sites for the products I write about and get general information, technical support documents, and even software updates. I can use e-mail links on Web sites to fire off questions and feedback to product marketing people and technical support personnel. I can use forms on Web sites to report problems or request additional information. These are just some of the things I do on the Web.

Now look at the alternative. Say a company I need information about doesn't have a Web site. (Or it has a Web site but the information just isn't there and there's no e-mail contact information.) I have to wait until that company opens for business to call them. (That's if I don't forget; my memory isn't what it used to be.) I may have to deal with an automated phone system that has me pushing buttons for a minute or more. Then I have to hope the person I need information from is available, and, if not, leave a voicemail message and hope he calls me back when I'm available.

By providing the information that people want on a Web site that's available all of the time, you give potential clients , customers, or reviewers a great way to learn what they need to know when they need to know it.

Example: Coldwell Banker Bob Nuth & Associates http://www.wickenburgrealestate.com/

Bob Nuth operates the local branch of Coldwell Banker, a huge real estate company. Although Coldwell Banker has a Web site and offers its branches the ability to include information on its site, Bob wanted a way to reach out to folks looking for real estate in the Wickenburg area, including those folks who never heard of Coldwell Banker.

In deciding on Web site features, Bob assumed that people looking for real estate want to "shop" online ”that is, they want to see information about specific listed properties that meet their needs. Although Bob's staff can fax or mail property information to perspective clients, they can't handle requests for information when the office is closed. The Web site, however, can handle requests all the time.

Online shopping doesn't always involve a purchase or even a purchase decision. Like window shopping, all it requires is something for the shopper to look at and make some basic conclusions about.

The Coldwell Banker Bob Nuth & Associates Web site provides a searchable database of property listings. The site visitor enters criteria in a search form, then clicks a Search button. A list of properties matching the criteria appears. The site visitor can then click a property link to get details about that property, including (in many instances) a photo (see Figure 2.1). The so-called "property detail" page even includes a lead-generation form that the visitor can fill out if the property interests him.

Figure 2.1. The Coldwell Banker Bob Nuth & Associates Web site provides a wealth of information about currently available properties, as well as a form the visitor can fill out and send if a property interests him.

Reduce Marketing Costs

Once you realize how much information the Web can provide, it isn't hard to imagine how putting marketing information on the Web can save money. What Ben Franklin said in the 1700s still applies today: a penny saved is a penny earned.

There are two ways to increase your company's net profit or "bottom line": increase revenues or reduce costs. Your company's Web site may not increase revenue by much, but if it cuts costs, the net effect is the same.

Marketing vs. Advertising vs. Sales

I want to make some kind of distinction between marketing, advertising, and sales because they are related but different.

Marketing is what you do to attract potential customers and clients and tell them about your products and services. Advertising is part of marketing ”getting the word out about your company and what it offers. Sales is the next step: making a deal with the customer or client.

Think of it this way:

• Advertising is standing on a street corner yelling, "Hey! Here I am! Here's what I have to offer!"

• Marketing is saying, " Spend a moment with me so I can tell you how my products and services can benefit you."

• Sales is saying, "Here's the product or service that meets your needs. Here's how much it costs. Will you be paying with cash, check, or charge?"

While this distinction may not seem important now, it will later on in this chapter.

A Closer Look at Marketing Costs

The money your company spends on marketing can pay for a variety of things. Here are some examples:

• Brochures show off your products or describe your services in the most enticing terms. You probably want them to look impressive so the people who see them think the best of your company. But impressive brochures can cost lots of money ”for layout and design, writing, photography, and printing (especially if done in full color ). But what do you do if you add or discontinue a product or service featured in your brochure? Time to get the brochure production team back together!

• Catalogs, like brochures, enable you to show off your products. But they're usually bigger and can be costlier to produce, primarily because they include detailed information about each item. They may also include pricing. While it's great to have a big fat catalog filled with product information and pricing, what happens when the prices change? Throw out the old catalogs and print up some new ones!

• Direct mail is possibly the most costly marketing method. It requires not only printed materials, but a mailing list, prepared labels, and postage . The more information you send out, the more it costs to send. And you're never quite sure if the people who get those direct mail pieces will look at them.

• Print ads spread the word about your products or services in a relatively cost-effective way. By placing ads in the newspapers or magazines your market is most likely to read, you can reach potential customers. But the bigger, flashier, and more colorful the ad, the more it will cost. And what if your product or service can appeal to anyone? Which publication do you advertise in? All of them?

• Pens, mugs, tee shirts, and other handouts are a great way to put your organization's name in front of potential customers or clients. They're also a great way to reward current customers or clients. But they cost money and need to be designed so you get your money's worth.

I'm sure you can think of other examples of marketing techniques that cost money. If you're really smart and have a good imagination , you may even think of a few that are free (or almost free).

Example: Chrome Caballeros Tours http://www.chromecaballeros.com/

Dave Waddell's motorcycle tour business, Chrome Caballeros Tours, takes all the trouble out of motorcycle camping by carrying all the gear and doing all the work for you. His clients simply ride at their own pace through some of the best scenery the Southwest has to offer and let Dave and his team take care of the rest.

Dave described all this in a professionally produced brochure. But he realized that his growing business would be offering different tours on different dates and at different prices every year. A schedule that was up-to-date today would be out-of-date in a month. So he decided to keep schedule details out of his brochure and provide them on the Web (see Figure 2.2).

Figure 2.2. The Chrome Caballeros Tours Web site includes a full-color online brochure with up-to-date schedule and pricing information.

Dave's Web site is referenced on all his printed literature ”business cards, brochures, letterhead, print ads, and even the big banner he hangs from his support vehicle in camp. When someone calls asking for information, he points them to the Web site before offering to mail out a brochure. In many cases, that's all the caller needs. Dave saves on postage and printing and potential clients get the information they want within minutes. In addition, his Web site can provide up-to-date information about upcoming tours, availability, and pricing.

Example: Janet LeRoy, Original Artwork on Feathers http://www.wickenburg-az.com/feather/

Janet LeRoy is an artist who paints wildlife, Native Americans, and other western themes on turkey feathers. Her work, which is finely detailed and embellished with semi-precious stones and rare bird feathers, has to be seen to be fully appreciated.

Janet sells both original pieces and limited edition prints. The prints are available at wholesale prices to galleries, gift shops , and other retailers. Her selection of prints is constantly changing as old prints sell out and new ones are produced.

Like most artists , Janet is on a tight budget. Printing and mailing out a full-color brochure or catalog every month or so is simply too costly. So Janet turned to the Web to show off her work. Her online gallery of available prints shows thumbnail photographs of each piece (see Figure 2.3). A site visitor can click a thumbnail to view a larger image. Pricing and contact information is right on the Gallery page, making it easy for customers to place orders.

Figure 2.3. Janet LeRoy's Web site includes an online gallery of her available work. These color illustrations can change as often as she needs them to.

Reduce Support Costs

If you sell a product or provide a service that requires support, providing that support will keep your customers and clients loyal. You can save money by using the Web to provide support, even when staff is unavailable.

The Cost of Support

To get an idea of what you can save by offering Web-based customer support, you need to know some of the costs of providing support. Here are a few of the costs you may already be incurring:

• Support personnel are folks that sit around waiting for the phone to ring. When a call comes, they answer questions. The more people you have, the more your personnel costs are. But if you don't have enough of these people, your customers will have to wait too long for answers to their questions. (And those poor support people won't get any rest at all!) Some balance needs to be made. And what if you want to provide 24/7 support? What will those support people be doing in the middle of the night when they only get one or two calls per hour ?

• Telephone systems are required to connect your customers or clients to your support staff. Depending on the size of your staff, the system you need could be very costly indeed. And if your company generously offers toll-free telephone support, add in the cost of all those toll-free calls. Whew!

• Fax-Back and fax-on-demand systems offer another way of getting support information to customers or clients. These systems can also be costly, especially if the system calls the customer's fax machine to send the information.

• Manuals, user guides, and technical notes are documents you pay writers like me to produce. (And some of us don't come cheap.) Preparing these documents is only part of the cost ”printing and distributing them adds to the cost. And if you decide to include only the basic manuals with your product, you might find yourself mailing or faxing more advanced documents to the people who need them. That increases costs, too.

• Updates are revisions that make your product work better. They're especially common in the computer industry, where software products are often released before they're ready and bug-fixes are required. But other products ”or product manuals ”could require updates, too. In most cases, you'll want your customers to get updates because they can solve problems customers may already have.

Example: TriGeo, Inc. http://www.trigeo.com/

TriGeo, Inc. is a small Idaho-based company that develops and sells weather, Internet, mapping, and environmental software. It also acts as a retailer for weather stations , which it bundles with its software at competitive prices.

TriGeo may be small, but it's big on technical support. Its management understands that in a narrow yet competitive market, providing good technical support can make the company stand out. (It certainly worked for me; I bought my weather station and software from them after their prompt and friendly responses to my pre-purchase questions.)

TriGeo doesn't have a big staff or a fancy telephone system. Instead, it provides a wealth of technical support information on its Web site. The main support page (see Figure 2.4) offers links to pre-purchase support documents, such as product briefs, as well as post-purchase support documents, such as user manuals, application notes, and FAQs . The same page also includes telephone and fax numbers and an e-mail address for technical support personnel ”just in case you don't get your answer on the Web site. TriGeo promises to call you back within one business day and they haven't broken that promise to me once yet.

Figure 2.4. The TriGeo, Inc. support page includes links to many support documents.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Question)

A list of questions and answers often asked by customers. Answering questions before they're asked is a good way to minimize support costs.

Give Your Organization a More Modern Image

If your business has been around for a long time, you may already have success with traditional methods of marketing, spreading information about your products or services, and providing customer support. Great! But you may also realize that although the old-fashioned way of doing business may work, it also may look...well, old fashioned .

A Web presence can help make your company look more modern and up-to-date. Just put a "dot-com" after your business name and throw around your e-mail address, and folks will realize that your business has moved with the rest of the world into the 21st century. But if this is the only reason you want a Web presence, take some time to think about whether that's enough of a benefit to justify the costs.

Make Your Company Look Impressive or Important

Like a fancy office with expensive furniture, a nicely designed Web site can make you look good to potential customers or clients. But you can take this concept a step further if the site also includes positive product reviews, customer praise, or examples of your best work. It shows your company off, making it look impressive or important to visitors . If done right, it can even make your company look bigger or better than it is.

Example: The Chicago Safe Company http://www.chicagosafe.com/

C.A. Hall owns and operates The Chicago Safe Company, which is based in Phoenix, AZ. (The name is a long story; don't ask.) C.A. has been in the business for years and has designed and installed standard and custom safe solutions in banks, businesses, and homes all over the United States.

Although a sole proprietorship, The Chicago Safe Company's Web site (see Figure 2.5) is professionally designed, using images that seem to make the company look big, professionally run, and...well, safe .

Figure 2.5. The Home page for The Chicago Safe Company seems to make the company look enormous .

The Other Side of the Coin

Of course, a poorly designed, amateurish, or incomplete Web site can have the opposite effect on your company's image. Unfortunately, most low-budget or home-grown Web sites fall into this category. These sites do more harm than good. The way I see it, if you can't do it right, don't do it at all.