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ONLINE
MONTANA
WEB SITE CREATION SERVICES |
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HERE'S HOW IT WORKS
- You send me the text you want,
preferably on disk or by E/Mail, together
with some marketing material showing what
you currently do, and your ideas on what you
would like to see on your website
- If you have not already done so, I can
sign you up as your ISP to host your site,
and help you install Internet Explorer,
Mozilla Firefox or other browsers.
- I will prepare a site plan, and give you
a firm quotation if required other than the
initial startup fee.
- We discuss this and you give the
go-ahead
- I prepare the pages and upload them up
so you can look at them and ask for any
changes
- I will submit the pages to the top 25
Search Engines
- You publicize the site to your business
and private contacts
- When necessary, inform me of any
changes you require from time to time
and I execute them.
- The initial startup
cost is $295.00 for sites requiring up to 5
pages. This includes all items above as well
as up to 5 email addresses plus the
registration of your domain name for 1 year.
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INTRODUCTION
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Selling a product or service is
a prime objective for many
websites. If selling is your
thing, this topic is for you.
There are other valid
objectives: directories and
resources, promote enthusiasms,
company advertising, customer
support, part of the product,
prestige advertising. But for
selling we should take this page
seriously. In order to capture
new prospects, and turn them
into customers and then into a
repeat customers requires you to
do more than just advertise.
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THE CUSTOMER IS KING
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When selling products on the
Internet, the product comes
second. Yes the product has to
be of merchantable quality, to
actually work, and be easy to
use. But what the customer wants
first is an easy way to buy, and
near-instant fulfillment. The
customer chooses you because he
trusts you, because you have
security in handling his credit
card and the information about
him. Price comes third, but
there may not be much in it when
you have added the fee for
delivery.
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Make the customer feel you care.
And make shopping with you an
enjoyable experience.
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And the ground rule of
advertising still applies:
Good Advertising should be
centered on a single thought,
rooted in simplicity -
uncomplicated, and reduced to
its essence. (FRANK FITZGIBBON)
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THE FIRST VISIT
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In
brief - no one ever buys on the
first visit to a website. They
may, if you are lucky, bookmark
the website, or make a note of
the phone number and phone you.
If they phone you must always
ask, how did you hear of us. It
is likely that they have visited
you and were sufficiently
impressed to take a next step.
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Follow-up
is essential. And it works if
the follow-up is useful and
meaningful to the customer and
not just spam. Statistics from
the National Association of
Professional
Salesmen
say:
. 2% of sales are made on the
1st contact
. 3% of sales are made on the
2nd contact
. 5% of sales are made on the
3rd contact
. 10% of sales are made on the
4th contact
. 80% of sales are made on the
5th-12th contact
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Interestingly,
banner adverts on the Internet
are often worthwhile because
people make a note of the URL
for access later when they have
more time. So if you use
banners, always show the name of
your company, and always show
the URL.
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How
to make this happen more often.
We suggest you should offer a
small gift in return for the
MINIMUM amount of information,
perhaps only a name and email
address.
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And
by the way, send Emails now to
everyone for whom you have got
an Email address and and tell
them of your new generosity.
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START TEACHING
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A
response form arrives. You now have
permission to respond. You must
immediately send a reply with the
gift and can ask them a couple more
things, perhaps phone number and
line of business, and you can take
the opportunity to teach them more
about the products on offer,
referencing the specific pages on
the website. Offer them another gift
if they will please reply.
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The
third Email from them gives more
permission, and triggers the gift
appropriate to their line of
business. You can tell them more
about the product as applied to
their specific line of business. You
could give them the option of
phoning you with an 0800 number.
This could lead to having a
consultant/salesman come and visit.
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And
then keep in touch; building the
relationship, telling them more each
time and highlighting new or
improved products.
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A LONG TERM VIEW
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Softly
softly catch the monkey.
Establish a dialogue with a
Prospect. Sell to a
Customer. Make a Friend and
establish a long term
Relationship to sell
associated products every
month from now on.
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It
may well be that you do not
handle a full range of
goodies that the customer
may want. So a network of
affiliates would be useful,
so you can pass orders to a
friendly, quality,
organization to deliver
whatever it is that the
customer wants.
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A
lot of work. Maybe some of
it can be automated. But to
start up it has to be manual
from pre-written Email
responses. Someone ought to
be doing this for your
company.
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THE RULES
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Your
Emails must be anticipated; the
customer looks forward to hearing
from you.
- They must be personal; messages
directly related to the individual.
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It
must be relevant; the marketing
pitch is something in which the
customer is interested.
- Intravenous
The
ultimate where the customer trusts you
completely - like a doctor or a hospital
- and covers Just In Time deliveries to
factories and supermarkets, no day to
day decisions are necessary, just
deliver perfect quality so I never run
out.
Also
subscriptions to magazines and record
clubs, pay once a year in advance and
get a monthly delivery.
Or
discount clubs where you pay in advance
for the privilege, and then get
discounts whenever you buy. Like
extended warranties on domestic
appliances.
Buying
peace of mind.
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- Loyalty Cards
Build
up points, or green stamps, or air-miles
every time you buy
Lottery
entry, maybe with huge prizes.
Self
Liquidating Offers, send $3 to cover
postage and packing. (but in fact this
covers the total cost).
Coupons
off your next purchase.
Note
that straight discount offers are crude
and have problems; the customer may have
been willing to pay the full price for
quality and service, but if he hears of
someone else getting a discount and he
hasn't, he will be very upset.
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- Personal Relationships
Excellent.
The customer trusts you as a person.
Dentists, gardeners, plumbers and all
such trades and professions. Depend on
the particular person, and not saleable
as a business.
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- Brand Trust
Becoming
less relevant while people increasingly
buy on price, availability, quality, and
service. But it worked for a long time
and companies like Guinness depend on
it.
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- Situation
The
shopping experience. May I help you?
Will you have chips with that Sir?
- Spam
Advertising
by junk mail, Email, cold calls at
the door, phone calls while you are
having dinner
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Comes
lowest in the set, and may be
counter-productive. At least people have
learned to live with newspaper and TV
advertising, and appreciate it as the
price you have to pay to see the media
free or at low cost.
FULFILLMENT OF THE ORDER
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When
you receive an Email message
or response form then it
must be acknowledged
immediately, and if this is
an auto-response then there
must be a human response the
same day or sooner. Many
websites fail on this and
they probably, and well
deserve to, lose the
business.
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Best
is a product that can be
delivered over the Internet.
It costs nothing to
duplicate, and nothing to
deliver, and there is not
much lost except for your
reputation if it screws up.
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Service
products require time, and
no one has any time. And
there is a lot of spinning
of wheels before you can ask
the customer to pay. You may
have to make a house call,
and an earlier date is
better than one next month.
In this case the immediate
objective is to get the
appointment. Then it is down
to you, eyeball to eyeball,
to clinch the sale.
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Solid
products have to be
delivered. If goods are to
be delivered then the target
is 48 hours. If you promise
'within 28 days' again the
customer may well go to a
rival Internet website, or
walk down to the shops.
Instant-fulfillment means
that you will have to sort
out your supply chain. What
is the fastest way to get
the product to the customer.
Maybe the manufacturer or
wholesaler, way up the
supply chain should dispatch
the goods direct. In which
case the manufacturer or
wholesaler must be ready to
handle orders sent to them
electronically. A team,
sharing costs, risks, and
profits, and serving the
customer.
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I
have a list of delivery
companies you can use, some
worldwide. Best is your own
van if you can, but failing
that choose one that can
leave the parcel in a
convenient location if the
customer is not in to
receive it. One organization
is able to divert to the
local sub-post office and
this sounds good from all
points of view.
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And
send progress Emails all the
time, and then a follow-up
asking whether he was
satisfied; and selling
follow-up products.
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Call
728-0050
(local) to talk with a
live
representative!
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Copyright ©
2006
Online Montana
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