The Fish Wont Bite If The Waters Murky
| Category: E-commerce | Date: 2001-08-31 |
When last did one of those pesky web sites walk into your office to sell you a copy of the latest Readers Digest?
If youre one of the unlucky few who have spent large sums of money on the latest ecommerce technology only to watch orders trickle in, youve probably been racking your brain trying to figure out what went wrong.
The first step to a successful e-business is understanding. You need to understand what the Internet is, and what it isnt. It isnt about technology. Thats old news already. Technology has been used in organisations for years. Whats changed is that the technology is beginning to extend out of the organisation. Suddenly your customers have direct access to your back-end systems, which means that they bypass your traditional business channels.
And thats where the problem occurs - an e-commerce site takes the place of the sales, marketing and customer support staff of an organisation. Think about it. If we realise that visitors are in actual fact potential customers, whos only method of interaction with our company is via our web site, we realise that how we communicate with them is more important than how the site looks. If a visitor leaves without you knowing who they were or what they were looking for, you have no chance of following up in the future.
In the same way, products will not be sold by simply providing customers with a one line description and a price. You need to provide tasty commentary about each and every product so that customers can picture themselves owning it. Dont just describe the appearance of the item, describe the benefits of owning it. And provide colourful pictures to assist the customer in visualising the item.
If visitors arent buying, it could be because youre not selling right. And Im not just referring to products. You need to actively sell your company to each and every visitor. In the world of e-business, there is no preferred browser or operating system. If youre excluding visitors because they dont have the latest software, you could be excluding potential customers from finding out about your company.
Many companies feel that the Internet is a complete replacement for business. In actual fact, its exactly the opposite. The Internet is a new business medium. A new way of doing business. Perhaps even a better way.
About the Author
John Ginsberg is a senior consultant for Net Brothers, an e-business strategy consulting firm. He is also the editor of EyeBiz Magazine, a popular Internet strategy publication. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to: see details below.
eyebiz-subscribe@listbot.com.
If youre one of the unlucky few who have spent large sums of money on the latest ecommerce technology only to watch orders trickle in, youve probably been racking your brain trying to figure out what went wrong.
The first step to a successful e-business is understanding. You need to understand what the Internet is, and what it isnt. It isnt about technology. Thats old news already. Technology has been used in organisations for years. Whats changed is that the technology is beginning to extend out of the organisation. Suddenly your customers have direct access to your back-end systems, which means that they bypass your traditional business channels.
And thats where the problem occurs - an e-commerce site takes the place of the sales, marketing and customer support staff of an organisation. Think about it. If we realise that visitors are in actual fact potential customers, whos only method of interaction with our company is via our web site, we realise that how we communicate with them is more important than how the site looks. If a visitor leaves without you knowing who they were or what they were looking for, you have no chance of following up in the future.
In the same way, products will not be sold by simply providing customers with a one line description and a price. You need to provide tasty commentary about each and every product so that customers can picture themselves owning it. Dont just describe the appearance of the item, describe the benefits of owning it. And provide colourful pictures to assist the customer in visualising the item.
If visitors arent buying, it could be because youre not selling right. And Im not just referring to products. You need to actively sell your company to each and every visitor. In the world of e-business, there is no preferred browser or operating system. If youre excluding visitors because they dont have the latest software, you could be excluding potential customers from finding out about your company.
Many companies feel that the Internet is a complete replacement for business. In actual fact, its exactly the opposite. The Internet is a new business medium. A new way of doing business. Perhaps even a better way.
About the Author
John Ginsberg is a senior consultant for Net Brothers, an e-business strategy consulting firm. He is also the editor of EyeBiz Magazine, a popular Internet strategy publication. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to: see details below.
eyebiz-subscribe@listbot.com.
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