http://www.GetMoreValue.com 

Today, companies face the challenge of using the Internet to build better relationships with their customers. These relationships benefit both you and your customer. Customers benefit by increased access to information, self-service, and customized information. Your business benefits from usage analysis to tune marketing and production strategies, reduced customer support costs, and an advantage to attract new customers.

YourVision.net

You need more than planning to reach this level of value from the Internet: you need a vision of how you add value to your customers. Without vision, you risk building something your customers do not want to use. To gain an advantage, you must invest in technology that gets used.

For example, two years ago I heard banks discussing how they would never want to put customer information online. They felt that their customers wanted to maintain personal contact with bank tellers. Then the explosion of online brokerages radically altered the bank's vision of customer service. After the fact, they realized that many customer transactions are more efficiently handled via the Web and convenience had been overlooked a major factor. In many cases entirely new types of on-line services have emerged that give forward thinking banks a competitive advantage.

Unless you are hoping to survive by following your competitors' innovations, you must formulate a customer-focused vision before you start spending on technology. You do not need a $5 million plan: start with a small vision, like posting order status, and then learn from your customers' responses and requests. Breaking your vision into phases make it more manageable and affordable.

The Balanced Approach 

Once you have articulated a vision for your on-line presence, it is time to take action. Putting together a winning web site is like publishing a book. You need to write a good story just like your business must produce valuable goods. Next you print the story on paper and bind pages into a book that a reader can comfortably use. The book is your technology. Finally, you need marketing to make sure people find out about the book and to wrap it in an attractive cover.

Let's look at each element in more detail.

Your Story: 

Business Processes Since customers are buying your products, not your technology, business processes integration is the most essential component for an interactive website. Your customers will quickly know that your business is serious about being on-line when the information you present is accurate and valuable.

If you are new to the on-line information game, then pick businesses processes that are easier to deliver for your first attempt. Easy transactions include: price lists, average lead-time, shipment status, invoice detail, technical support and knowledge bases, simple orders, and software downloads. Easy transactions generally have infrequent changes or single event notifications. Hard processes require much more up-to-date information or validation against a secure database. They include: complex order entry, inventory status, work order status, and on-line statistical data.

It is critical to keep your on-line presence manageable because a half-hearted attempt is worse than none at all. You will appear incompetent if you fail to answer customer service emails. You will appear reluctant if you are unwilling to display order status in real-time. Changing your business to respond to the information age can be challenging, but making the transition to interactive service will streamline your business processes.

For example, smaller businesses can jump in without any upfront investment since it is possible to sell through a third-party storefront web site. For a small percentage of each transaction amount, these sites manage the order taking process. They will display product information, take the order, and then inform you of a sale by email or fax. This is a golden opportunity for companies with inventories of commodity goods; however, these sites are completely blind to your business processes. You can easily be flooded with orders on out-of-stock items, caught unpaid in a three-way transaction with the site host, lacking control for pricing changes, or subject their storefront's outdated information or limitations. The pros and cons of using a third-party storefront will be addressed in a future Technology Corner.

My point is caution, not fear. The Internet is unexplored territory: your business must be able to deliver on its on-line promises. Any Internet venture's greatest risk comes from exceeding its goals.

The Book:

Technology The technology aspect of your Internet site is a manageable challenge. Interactive content means linking your current information systems to your web site. This sounds expensive, but many workable solutions do not require complex networking or integration. Much of your customer data, i.e.: shipments and order status, only need to be updated every six to twenty-four hours.

Find a solution without complex integration allows you to sidestep some technology hurdles to achieve immediate results; however, over the long term you will want to establish integrated links between your Internet site and your ERP systems. Good links between internal and external information will strengthen in your business processes.

The Cover: 

Marketing Successful Internet sites have a generous marketing budget. Customers, both existing and potential, must be made aware of your new capabilities. You should engage marketing in the vision phase or even give project leadership to your marketing guru.

Marketing your site requires a careful and professional plan. Your plan should include prediction of traffic, desired look and feel, expected audience, and potential web partnerships. You must also account for changes in all of your existing marketing collateral, announcements in traditional media, and of course, exposure on the Internet itself.

Be prepared to invest in marketing. Marketing is a major success factor and Internet marketing can consume half of the overall project costs.

www.TheBottomLine.com 

Growing your revenue on the Internet is not just a technology issue it's also business and marketing issue. You must have a vision of how to serve your customers and back that vision with business processes, technology, and marketing. If you have been struggling to grow, or even justify, an Internet presence, make sure you have covered all three bases before you write your company's next on-line chapter.

Sidebar: How to pay for your .COM?

Putting together or growing an Internet site can be expensive and the benefits may take a year or more to materialize. Most businesses choose to fund their sites out-of-pocket, but there are finally some viable alternatives.

I have found at least one company that lends for upgrading or establishing your Internet presence. This finance company, Internet Financial Services or IFS (www.internet-financial.com), focuses on loans for Internet related expenses. They expect both traditional collateral and virtual collateral. Virtual collateral can take the form of domain names or other intangible assets.

In addition to collateral, their lending strategy requires a plan for your Internet site. What makes a good Internet site plan? A plan must include technology components, delivery vehicles, and expected consumers. In must also include a marketing plan that discusses how your site will attract visitors. While a typical deal ranges from $50,000 to a $500,000, IFS expects marketing to consume 20 percent to 50 percent of the total budget.

Another approach for fast tracking an Internet site enhancement is to use an Application Service Provider (ASP). An ASP allows you to outsource all your technology needs including Internet site and eCommerce integration. In many cases, an ASP may already offer an Internet integrated ERP solution that you can customize for your business. If you're interested in learning more about ASPs, please review the March 2000 Technology Corner on my website at www.h-consulting.com.

Perhaps the most advantageous approach to pursuing an integrated website is to combine financing and ASP approaches. Combining funding for enhancements and marketing with rapid ASP deployment means that revenue generated by your site can pay the bills for the upgrade. After all, what good is a web site that cannot pay its own way?