Part One: Build Your Customer Base by Building a Customer-Centric Site 

Q: My business sells products that are too large to sell online, and provides repair services that require us to be at customers' offices.

OR: I own a restaurant. People can't eat my food on the internet!

OR: I'm an attorney (or a hairdresser or a CPA or a massage therapist or…) I certainly can't provide my services online.

OR: We sell products through a sales staff and distributors. Selling products online would undermine our sales infrastructure.

… So what am I supposed to do with a Web site?

A. Businesses large and small ask themselves that same question everyday. The answer is probably simpler than it would seem, and most fundamentally may help you in the way you approach your business.

Good business begins with some givens:

• Your business is in the marketplace to: 1. sell things, 2. provide a service, or 3. both.
  
• Your business exists to make a profit. (If your organization is a not-for- profit, then most of this information will still apply to you.)
  
• Increased profits may come from either selling more products or services – and/or from saving money.
  
• Selling more products and/or services requires either repeat business from current customers or finding new customers.
  
• Saving money requires cutting costs.

Marketing, in general, is intended to help you with selling more products or services.

At its simplest, a well planned Web site will help you serve your customers and cut costs, too. This column deals with maximizing your customer base.

Increasing the number of customers you have or encouraging more business from current customers, requires you to put yourself in their shoes to understand what they want to find at your Web site. Approach your Web site as if it is all about your customer – not all about you!

Your customers want to know just three things:

1. That you can provide the goods or services they need
   
2. That they will feel comfortable about working with you
   
3. That they can easily contact you when they are ready to do business with you

You can support their needs by building a well-conceived, customer-centric Web site that answers the following questions:

• Can you help? Your site must focus on the perceived needs of your potential or current customer – not on you or your organization. Site visitors are initially more interested in how you will solve their problem. Once they think you can help, only then will they be interested in information about you.
  
• How can you help? Your site must show how solutions are provided by showcasing products or brands, or describing services or, in some cases, teaching the site visitor why your solutions are the right solutions as compared to your competitors'.
  
• What can your customer expect from you? Your site must manage expectations, thus providing good customer service, i.e. provide delivery timetables or information about returning items, or a service guarantee. This is where to tell them who you are, therefore reassuring them that you are “safe” to do business with.
  
• How can you be contacted? Your site must prominently display options for making contact with you: phone numbers, email addresses, maps, any information that makes it easy to do business with you.

There's an excellent chance that a review of your competitors' Web sites will reveal they have not taken this customer-centric approach – most don't! So you have a great opportunity to move yourself ahead of your competition by adjusting your site to make it centered on your customers.

Remember – no matter what kind of business you have, the goal for your Web site should be to enhance your profitability. Your best approach is to make it easy for customers to do business with you.

(Link to Part Two: Cut Operating Expenses and Save Money)

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