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THE TAKE-AWAY
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THERE WAS A TIME when many SMI businesses scoffed at the Internet and called it a passing fad. These enterprises believed that nothing could replace face-to-face customer contact, and that the Internet would eventually turn into nothing more than an online version of the Yellow Pages.
Well, they were right. And, they were wrong.
While it is true that customers still prefer to buy most things in person rather than from an online store, they are also infinitely more careful about where they make their purchases from. You can blame the Internet for that: with it, customers now visit the websites of you and your competitors before deciding to pick up the phone and call. They remain faceless and immune to all your personal selling skills until the very last moment. You don’t get to ‘pitch’ your service or product until they decide to let you. (And if you don’t have a website at all, well, then you’re in big trouble.)
It has become absolutely crucial that businesses build strong brands online in order to reach out to this generation of online window-shoppers. If your website is poor, the customer perceives your shop as being poor. But if your website is nice, well, then you’re in for a nice surprise.
Before you even start building an online presence, you have to put a lot of thought into what it is you want your online web presence to achieve. Is it merely a publicity tool? Is it a sales channel? Is it to gather customer information? By answering these questions now, you can save yourself a lot of pain later.
Cziplee, a book and stationery store with branches in Bangsar and Kajang, launched its website to terrific success. But Mr Alvin Chen, proprietor of Cziplee, says that a lot of research and preparation had to be done first. He first identified his target market and then decided how he wanted his company to look on line. And then, he began marketing his website to customers… before even setting it up.
“I did it the traditional way,” says Mr Chen. “I called my customers and asked them to spread the word. I wanted to build a critical mass before setting up the website so that it had a jump start as soon as it was on line.”
Building a brand online takes patience and continuous effort. You can’t just set it up and walk away. These days, websites have to be dynamic in order to generate the returns you want, else, they simply fall off the Web.
Mr Chen spends a lot of time making sure his website remains up to date and relevant. The products he posts on line have to be continually added-to and trimmed down at the same time. Deciding what goes and what stays involves continuous research.
“We identify the products that our customers want to know about and to restrict our website posts to those products,” says Mr Chen. “That way, we don’t overwhelm customers with product information, which can sometimes drive them away.”
Social networking has taken on a whole new meaning these days, with Facebook and Twitter being the two most recognisable names in the business. Companies that want to stay in touch with their markets have to get onto these networks, because that’s where their customers hang out.
“I use Twitter to stay in touch with my customers,” says Mr Chen. “I keep my ear to the ground and that way, I always know what products to offer.”
Mr Chen also believes that is important to a build a database of customer contacts by getting website visitors to fill up a form with contact details. This, combined with his Twitter updates, means that he can let his customers know about his new promotions via email.
Remember that the Internet puts your customers well and truly in the driver’s seat as far as your relationship with them is concerned. The important thing to remember here is that your online brand is very, very vulnerable. If a customer does not like the way she was treated, she may choose to tell all her friends on Twitter about it, before blogging about the experience on Blogspot. Before you know it, a thousand people will know all about the way your company promised a refund, then went back on your word.
The exponential rate at which bad experiences are relayed over the internet is amazing. That said, remember that online brands can also be promoted exponentially. As long as you do what you say you will do, you will build a loyal following that will give your website the backlinks it needs to become visible.
