What is E-Business?
It can take many forms from
a simple order capture system to a fully integrated sales
channel with all the marketing aspects one might expect from
such a system. Whatever the level of sophistication you choose
to implement on your site, remember that you should never
think of an e-business site as just another site in your company,
but as an enterprise in itself.
There are many good reasons
for putting your business on the web and some of these are
listed below:
1. Establish A Presence
Over 200 million people worldwide
have access to the WWW and this number is growing. No matter
what your business is, you can't ignore 200 million people.
To be a part of that community and show that you are interested
in serving them, you need to be on the WWW for them. You know
your competitors will.
2. Connect with Others,
to Smooze
A lot of what passes for business
is simply nothing more than making connections with other
people. Every smart businessperson knows it is not what you
know, it is whom you know. Passing out your business card
is part of every good meeting and every businessperson can
tell more than one story how a chance meeting turned into
the big deal. Well, what if you could pass out your business
card to thousands, maybe millions of potential clients and
partners, saying this is what I do and if you are ever in
need of my services, this is how you can reach me. You can,
24 hours a day, inexpensively and simply, on the WWW.
3. Make Your Company
Information Available
What is basic business information?
What are your hours? What do you do? How can someone contact
you? What methods of payment do you take? Where are you located?
What is today's special? Today's interest rate? If you could
keep your customer informed of every reason why they should
do business with you; don't you think you could do more business?
You can on the WWW.
4. Serve Your Customers
Making business information
available is one of the most important ways to serve your
customers. But if you look at serving the customer, you'll
find even more ways to use WWW technology. How about making
forms available to pre-qualify for loans, or have your staff
do a search for that item your customer is looking for, without
tying up your staff on the phone to take down the information?
Allow your customer to punch in sizes and check it against
a database that tells him what color of jacket is available
in your store? All this can be done, simply and quickly, on
the WWW.
5. Gain Public Awareness
With Web page information,
anybody anywhere that can access the Web and hears about you
is a potential visitor to your Web site and a potential customer
for your information there.
6. To Sell Things
Many people think that this
is the number 1 thing to do with the WWW. We made it number
six to make it clear that we think you should consider selling
things on the Internet and the WWW after you have done all
the things above and maybe even after doing quite a few more
things from this list and others we will present. Why? Well,
the answer is complex but the best way to put it is, do you
consider the telephone the best place to sell things? Probably
not. You probably consider the telephone a tool that allows
you to communicate with your customer, which in turn helps
you sell things. Well, that's how we think you should consider
the WWW. The technology is different, of course, but before
people decide to become customers, they want to know about
you, what you do and what you can do for them. Which you can
do easily and inexpensively on the WWW. Then you might be
able to turn them into customers.
7. Offer Wider Product
Interaction
What if your product is great,
but people would really love it if they could see it in action?
The album is great but nobody knows that it sounds great?
A picture is worth a thousand words, but you don't have the
space for a thousand words? The WWW allows you to add sound,
pictures and short movie files to your company's information
that will serve your potential customers. No brochure can
do that.
8. Reach a Highly Desirable
Demographic Market
The demographic of the WWW
user is probably the highest mass-market demographic available.
Usually university-educated or being university educated,
making a high salary or soon to make a high salary, it is
no wonder that Internet magazines have no problem getting
high-end marketer's advertising in their magazines. Even with
the addition of the commercial on-line community, the demographic
will remain high for many years to come.
9. Answer Frequently
Asked questions
Whoever answers the phones
in your organization can tell you, their time is usually spent
answering the same questions over and over again. These are
the questions customers and potential customers want to know
the answer to before they deal with you. Post them on a WWW
page and you will have removed another barrier to doing business
with you and free up time for that harried phone operator.
It can also serve to offer information about a product before
the customer seeks further information. Sun Microsystems saved
$4 million by switching to a Web based system.
10. Stay In Contact
With Salespeople
Your employees on the road
may need up-to-the-minute information that will help them
make the sale or pull together the deal. If you know what
that information is, you can keep it posted in complete privacy
on the WWW. A quick local phone call can keep your staff supplied
with the most detailed information, without long distance
phone bills and tying up the staff at the home office.
11. Open International
Markets
You may not be able to make
sense of the mail, phone and regulation systems in all your
potential international markets, but with a Web page, you
can open up a dialogue with international markets as easily
as with the company across the street. As a matter-of-fact,
before you go onto the Web, you should decide how you want
to handle the international business that will come your way,
because your postings are certain to bring international opportunities
your way, whether it is part of your plan or not. Another
added benefit is that if your company has offices overseas,
they can access the home offices information for the price
of a local phone call.
12. Create a 24-Hour
Service
If you have ever remembered
too late or too early to call the contact overseas, you know
the hassle. We are not all on the same schedule. Business
is worldwide but your office hours aren't. Trying to reach
Asia or the US is even more frustrating. But Web pages serve
the client, customer and partner 24 hours a day, seven days
a week. No overtime either. It can customize information to
match needs and collect important information that will put
you ahead of the competition, even before they get into the
office.
13. Make Changing Information
Available Quickly
Sometimes, information changes
before it gets off the press. Now you have a pile of expensive,
worthless paper. Electronic publishing changes with your needs.
No paper, no ink, no printer's bill. You can even attach your
web page to a database, which customizes the page's output
to a database you can change as many times in a day as you
need. No printed piece can match that flexibility.
14. Allow Feedback
From Customers
You pass out the brochure,
the catalogue, and the booklet. But it doesn't work. No sales,
no calls, no leads. What went wrong? Wrong color, wrong price,
wrong market? Keep testing, the marketing books say, and you
will eventually find out went wrong. That's great for the
big boys with deep pockets, but who is paying the bills? You
are, and you don't have the time or the money to wait for
the answer. With a Web page, you can ask for feedback and
get it instantaneously with no extra cost. An instant e-mail
response can be built into Web pages and can get the answer
while its fresh in your customers' mind, without the cost
and lack of response of business reply mail.
15. Test Market New
Services and Products
Tied into the reason above,
we all know the cost of rolling out a new product. Advertising,
PR and more advertising. This is very expensive. Once you
have been on the Web and know what to expect from those who
are seeing your page, they are the least expensive market
for you to reach. They will also let you know what they think
of your product faster, easier and much less expensively than
any other market you may reach. For the cost of a page or
two of Web programming, you can have a crystal ball into where
to position your product or service in the marketplace.
16. Reach The Specialised
Market
Sell fish tanks, art reproductions,
and flying lessons? You may think that the Internet is not
a good place to be. Well, think again. The Internet aren't
just computer science students anymore. With the 150 million
and growing users of the WWW, even the most narrowly defined
interest group will be represented in large numbers. Since
the Web has several very good search programs, your interest
group will be able to find you, or your competitors.
17. To Serve Your Local
Market
We've talked about the power
to serve the world with a Web page. How about your neighbourhood?
Web marketing applies to both the local, and global marketplace.
But no matter where you are, the importance of web marketing
cannot be overlooked, and is critical to your on-line success.
Top Webspoke
E-Business Guide - Part 2 >>
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