When reviewing the website to determine if Exceed could help, he told me the site is organically superior due to all the traffic he receives each month (apparently his site receives 20,000 unique visitors each month).  This conclusion came from him viewing the AW stats package which came with the website.  AW stats, good times, good times. 

My reply:

Dear John (fictitious name),

Do you have Google Analytics installed on your site; can you give me a breakdown of your traffic sources?  (There was silence.  No Google Analytics.)  You realise traffic could come from anywhere and can come in many forms i.e. branded, unbranded, direct.  The only way we would truly understand the traffic sources is if I had access to a more comprehensive analytics package. 

Your view of your website’s performance, at this stage is extremely limited and there are not enough insights for us to make recommendations on changes required to improve the financial performance of your website.

John, remember the old marketing saying, “50% of our Marketing worked, we just aren’t sure which 50% it was”.  Well, those days are now over.  With Google Analytics we can see everything.

Are you advertising on Google (Adwords).  (Yes he is)  Is that making money for you?  (John didn’t answer).  OK, the first thing we need to do before anything else is install Google Analytics on your site.  Then you can come back in one month and we can tell you exactly what is and what is not working. 

Exceed Online is 1 of only 40 companies in the world that holds “Google Analytics Accreditation“.  Our team can look at any website with GA installed and provide clients valuable insights into what is wrong with their website, and make recommendations to fix the problems.  This is a critical part of a continuous improvement process which builds the financial performance of any website Exceed Online gets its hands on.

If you are to remember one thing from this article remember this.  You can spend $10k on a Magazine advertisement, but when the issue is no longer current (typically one month later) that investment is gone forever.  When the Exceed team corrects a performance issue on your website, it continues to add value to your business forever.

“People go to Google searching for gift baskets and Zarbo does come up (on the first page of hits at Google New Zealand). Or if you look for “Liquid Glucose” on Google, Zarbo comes at the top of the list for that.”

My reply:

Have you tried to type “liquid glucose” into Google for NZ results?  I made sure “Liquid Glucose” was still available on the website, it was, when you type this term into Google (NZ results), Zarbo is no where to be seen.  What’s funnier is, when you type “zarbo liquid glucose” into Google, the case study article ranks higher than the Zarbo website.  Zarbo does not rank anywhere near the first page for the term “gift baskets”.  Either this article is extremely old or someone is not telling the truth.

For a website business to grow online it must be visible in Google for “unbranded” terms i.e. “gift baskets”.   If someone knows Zarbo and wants to purchase from them again, they will bookmark the website or type “zarbo” into the Google search bar.  That’s repeat business and is a good thing.  However, it is not growth.  Put simply, Zarbro needs to be visible for terms like “gift baskets” if it wants to grow.

Having an acquisition focus early in an online businesses life cycle is natural; however don’t be overtly fixated on this.  It is hard to acquire customers but just as hard (and some say harder) to keep them.  Customer Retention strategy is a great topic to cover for another day, but suffice it to say, a balance is necessary for the success of all online businesses.  Why is it harder? One reason is, Retention strategy includes customer experience/service.  Something many online businesses get very wrong. 

If you are looking to develop either an acquisition or customer retention strategy, the team at Exceed Online can help.  If you know of an online business which is doing a great job of acquiring and retaining customers, let me know.

In a sales situation presenting information properly is vital. You may be providing the right information but if the delivery is flawed then you could be losing business.

A handy tool to use when writing informative and effective copy is A.I.D.A - an old marketing formula which describes a series of phases that lead to the purchase of a product or service.

Let’s have a look at the phases in A.I.D.A [Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action] and how they can help in generating a sale on your website.

1. Attention: The first phase is attention. You need to grab the attention of the visitors browsing through your site. The first thing that people see will be the heading, so make it strong and follow it up with a short but effective product description.
   
   Don’t forget that people browsing the internet are likely to be doing other things at the same time. According to recent studies internet users have a tendency to multitask while online - engaging in everything from listening to music, talking on the phone or even watching a movie. Therefore, having unique and creative content is critical when it comes to grabbing attention.
   
   
2. Interest: Okay, now that you’ve got the consumer’s attention, what next? Well, you have to keep them interested. You’ll need to provide further information about your products/services such as features and specifications.
   
   
3. Desire: Desire ties in closely with interest. As you increase a customer’s interest, you also need to build on their desire for that product. We have listed the features of the product in the “Interest” phase, now we need to provide the benefits of those features.
   
   For example, take this statement: “This jacket is reversible.” Your customer is probably asking, “So what? How does that help me?” You can avoid your customer taking this train of thought by saying “Change styles in a matter of seconds with this reversible jacket.”
   
   
4. Action: Finally, you need a strong call-to-action. After making it this far, you have to tell your consumer what to do, whether it is to buy, download or learn more. Overlooking this step is a big no-no. Use powerful and confident words like “Buy Now”, “Add to Cart” etc. Try to convey a sense of urgency. For example, having “Buy Now” instead of “Buy” can subtly convince the consumer not to wait any longer to take action.

These phases form a basic guideline in writing effective copy. Using these simple rules should set you on the right track and once you become comfortable with this model, you can always try variations and create your own style.

It is the nicest and most accurate portrayal of what our Project team deals with on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis. 

Is this you?  If so, take care next time you put forward a request to your website project team.

Images play an important role in web design. They not only add an aesthetic appeal to your site but help in expressing ideas and thoughts.

They can influence buying habits, grab attention and create a lasting impression about your site on the customer. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

It’s little wonder that Avatar with its beautiful visuals, breath-taking imagery and eye-popping graphics has been so successful at the box office. But what would search engines such as Google think about Avatar? Let’s begin by analysing how Google views an image:

1. Alt attribute: Google and other search engines are visually impaired when it comes to images. So they look at the alt attribute to read the description of the image. If you have a picture of a man with a cheesy grin, put “man with cheesy grin” inside the alt attribute. Try to summarise what the image is about; don’t overdo it though. This will not only help search engines but is beneficial for visitors who disable images or use text readers. Note: The alt attribute is commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as the “alt tag”.
   
   
2. File names: Use a descriptive file name. If the name of your file is “0001.jpg”, then search engines don’t know what it represents. It’s much better to have “man-cheesy-grin.jpg” as a file name. As with alt attributes, don’t get carried away. Having a long file name such as “silly-looking-man-with-cheesy-toothy-grin.jpg” is a bad idea. Also, it is good practice to separate words in a file name with a dash instead of an underscore.
   
   
3. Relevancy: You should use relevant images for your website. Search engines examine the copy/text around the image and see how closely the two relate to each other. If you are selling car polish, then having an image of a gorilla will throw search engines off. Customers may get the joke but search engines don’t have a sense of humour.
   
   
4. Keywords: Now that you know about alt attributes and descriptive file names, try to use keywords in them. If you are using “cheap car polish” as a keyword, plug that keyword into the file name and alt attribute of your car polish image.
   
   

Although search engines place more importance on actual text than images, it is good practice to optimise images. This way search engines will be able to understand what your image is about and your page rank will increase in organic search results.

But coming back to Avatar, would Google enjoy it? Maybe if it had sub-titles.

The problem we now have is technology is catching up with the demand!  Loyalty functionality has become cost effective and more readily available which is actually a bad thing.  Why??  It is now easier for Online businesses to justify the expense in utilising this tool and rely more on this functionality in the attempt to build a locking mechanism for instead of focussing on an enriched buying experience.  My previous article explains what is required to achieve an enriched buying experience, even though it was written in October of 2008, it is still very relevant. 

Forsee Results has conducted a brilliant survey of large retailers in the UK measuring the level of satisfaction customers gained from buying online.  I will not spend time regurgitating the results, have a look for yourself if you are interested, however, the one metric I will mention is about building loyalty.

The study surveyed over 10,000 responses to customer satisfaction levels over the Christmas period of 2009 using a 100 point scale.  The survey asked questions about the website experience plus the delivery of the product once purchased.  Among other findings, the survey showed

highly satisfied shoppers are 91% more likely to buy from that retailer the next time they buy similar merchandise (which is a good proxy for customer loyalty), 83 percent more committed to the brand, and 75 percent more likely to return to the website

So put away your Loyalty functionality and focus on the basics!!  Only once the basics are firmly in place should you be considering a loyalty function for your online business.

The client question I am dealing with in this article came from a meeting I had last week. They asked a good question which we continually deal with about the creation of a Business Requirements document, the critical first step when beginning a new project.

This client has never put together a document like this before and asked for guidance.

Below is my reply:

The level of detail to provide for the Business Requirements document is up to you and your model, the more detail the better. In some instances we are provided Business Plans to work from; however we spend time distilling all the non relevant information which costs the client.

Your Business requirements document should focus on the following:

1. Key business functions you are creating which provides point of difference.

2. Business functions which are key to your operational effectiveness.

3. Key process work flows around your relationships with your customers. How do you want to interact with customers? How you would like to sell to them and what are the key selling techniques your model utilises to sell to new and existing customers currently. For example do you have a loyalty rewards system which is working effectively? If so, document.

4. Key process work flows around your relationships with your suppliers you will be partnering with. How do you want to interact with your suppliers? How will your supply chain be supporting you in the delivery of your products and services? What type of SLA (Service Level Agreement) is set up with your supply chain to ensure customer levels remain to a high standard. What information do you want sent to your suppliers (if any)?

5. Processes you will be managing manually to begin with and make a point of describing how in the future you will want to automate.

6. How third party software applications (i.e. inventory system, Accounting system) will be utilised to support your model. What are your philosophies around Inventory management? Will you accept orders for stock you do not have, if so then how will you manage back orders?

The best advice I can give you is do not focus on technology when putting this together!  Do not let your knowledge of technology influence your model.

Our job is to configure technology to compliment the model, not the other way around.  Never let technology influence your decision making on how your business should be conducted.  The establishment of business processes comes first because it supports business strengths, business philosophy, and business requirements. Once a business has defined the rules and steps, only then can the selection of technology take place.

This is a common trap many businesses (big and small) fall into, especially these days when complex eCommerce technology is now so readily available.

If the information can be presented in a way where it answers all of the above, we can create a Functionality Requirements document which can clearly identify how technology can be configured to align to your business, and meet all your business needs.

Good luck.

**Its important to note, even though Exceed can and does build Business Requirement documents, it is highly recommended clients put this together. It is your business, your strategy; you know your business better than we do.

From now on, if a new or existing client asks me a good question, I am going to throw it in here.  This is my first of many to come.

This morning a client wrote to me:

Since we are integrating our new website to our inventory software, what should happen when a product with a variation, is out of stock.  Should we show the item is out of stock and provide a date when it will come back in stock, or have it disappear and remain this way until stock is available?  For example, many of our products come in 60 ml and 120 ml sizes.  How should the products display when the 60 ml product is temporarily out of stock?

My reply:

There is no best practice approach in answering your question.  In many instances your supply chain should dictate your answer.  If your stock can be quickly replenished, I would always show stock as being “in”.  In your case, since your stock comes from overseas, this is not realistic.  When you have variations in a product and one is out of stock, it is best to hide that product.   People will automatically go for the size that is available.  There are a few reasons for this approach:

1.  By displaying a product variation with a due date you are potentially losing sale.   Why would you ask a new or existing customer to wait to do business with you?  In the physical retail world, if the Warehouse was out of a product, do you think they spend time putting up signs everywhere indicating which products are out of stock.  No way, they would be putting the next best option in front of the customer. 

2.  By potentially displaying a variation as being out of stock with a date when it will come in, you are unnecessarily cluttering the page.  The purpose of the product detail page is to close the deal.  Don’t put road blocks in the way of the potentially new or repeat customer.

3.  By displaying a date when the product comes back in, you are heavily reliant on your supply chain and internal processes to deliver!  The stock must be delivered to your warehouse on time; your inwards team must effectively receive the stock and hand over to your date entry team which must input the order into inventory so it can update the website.  If you commit a time to the customer, you better not be late!  This is a potential credibility killer and a burden on your operational team. 

4.   When people buy online, it is all about instant gratification.   Don’t think your brand will save you online.  If a customer wants one of your products and it is out of stock, they will not wait until it comes back in, or fill out a form so you can call them back when it is in stock.  They will go back to Google and find your products someplace else.

I hope this helps,

Greg

Whether businesses are trying to automate a part or the entire business, the concept of change is not the problem; it is the steps to get there which creates the stumbling block. 

How much of the business should be automated?  Where does one start and when do you stop?  The answer lies in the Pareto Principle, or 80/20 rule, where 20% of a client base typically generates 80% of the revenue.  This becomes the focus.  All business rules/processes which are in place to deal with this core customer group becomes the first priority in the attempts to automate.

Starting Simple:

The arduous step of documenting all processes in preparation for automation must happen, however there is something which can happen quickly to build momentum and deliver quick wins. 

Starting simple is about introducing small portions of automated business processes and technology to core areas of the business, as a trial.  One of the simplest places to start and usually the lowest cost to implement is a secure B2B eCommerce website for all distrubutors to purchase through.  For the sake of clarity, “retailer” is any business which purchases from a wholesaler, and represents the method for the wholesaler’s products to reach the consumer.  

The benefits to this approach:

1)  It represents one of the core values of any B2B model, “simplifying the ability for customers to do business with you”.   If this can be done right, and buy-in results with the retailer, it justifies the growth of change, and further expense. 

2) It is one of the more cost effective areas to implement in a relatively short period of time. 

3) It is one area which can make an immediate impact on operational efficiencies.  One of the more common drains on B2B models is managing the transacting relationship with retailers.  Orders come via fax, the phone, and other manual methods in various formats, which apply strain on the B2B team to translate the order into a consistent format which is suitable for processing.  By introducing an online order taking channel, many operational gains can be quickly made.

4) Allows for some early wins on the board.  Early wins help in facilitating internal buy in and maintains forward momentum.  It is common to have ambitious goals to integrate and automate the business, but it is best to take it slow.  The plan of moving online for product ordering,  and integrating to inventory and CRM systems takes time to get right. With a portion of the project live and working, it helps keep the project on top of mind and keeps Management focused.  Other than operational gains mentioned in point #3, the savings in not having to create print catalogues alone, can justify capital expenditure for a Phase 1 approach.

5) Learning by doing.  One of the best ways to gain a feel for how to evolve online channels is by doing it.  By creating a B2B website, business can begin to better understand the needs of key clients as orders and feedback comes through.

6) Create a feedback loop around the newly formed channel.  This is where customers should be given the opportunity to provide feedback around the newly formed B2B channel once they have had the opportunity to use it consistently over a period of 3 to 6 months.  These learnings can then be applied to the next phase.

7) Start simple.  Success for online ordering is heavily reliant on the retailer networks using this channel.  By starting simple, this becomes a “baby step” for these groups to try things out.  If the retailer groups are not in favour of this approach, a significant investment has not to be made and changes can occur to ensure the evolution of the business continue to meet retailer’s needs.

If this simple “Phase 1” approach is unsuccessful, then nothing progresses further until it becomes successful.  There is no point in investing in integration of business systems if the core element (automating transactions) is not adopted by the retailer network. 

Many Organisations get ahead of themselves and want the end solution as quickly as possible.  This is brought on through impatience and inexperience.  Don’t be either, take your time, and do it right. 

Looking for some guidance on how to move your B2B model online?  Seek out the Online Experts.

Successful online businesses are those who are strategically mining their customer database, always communicating, delivering value, and facilitating new sales with the same customer.  New online businesses will be growing a database through sales, and email opt-in opportunities.  However, do not rely heavily on the email opt-in opportunity in the early stages.  Your website will need to build credibility with visitors before they will consider providing their email address. 

Quickly growing a database will be one of the keys to help in achieving financial targets in a websites first year of life.  In order to aggressively grow a database of potential customers worth talking to requires two primary approaches:  purchasing a database, or partnering with existing businesses and conducting dual direct marketing campaigns. 

Purchasing a database.   Smile City is a business which contains a database of over 125,000 New Zealanders and has the ability to filter a database under any requirements.  For example, you may only want to speak to “cat owners”, this may reduce the captive audience however, your business proposition becomes far more relevant.  Smile City only charges you for the emails sent out, so the more targeted, the less it will cost you. 

Even though this push marketing technique is not heavily relevant when compared to pull marketing, if the standard push success rate of 2% is applied, it could equate to some early wins on the board and send a considerable amount of cat owners to the website. 

Dual Direct Marketing.  This approach only works if you know of a business which has their own database of customers who would greatly benefit from your product/service offering.  If there is a potential to gain access to a database such as this, it could become a very cost effective method to build sales and your own database. 

At this stage it is important to note, to avoid spam law implications, there are codes of conduct which must be followed.  To make this work for you and to comply with spam law, the campaign must be seen as originating from the database owner.  Aside from spam law, it is important for the database to first recognise the email has come from a business who they recognise.  If they don’t recognise the business they will instantly assume the email is spam and unsubscribe.

Once you find a database which can work for you, the other challenge is building a commercial arrangement to benefit the database owner.  The database owner can be incentivised on the financial performance of the campaign, but as I mentioned in my Affiliate article just the other day, you only need to pay to acquire the customer once.  When they are on your database, the direct marketing approach becomes yours to control.

If you have some examples where this approach has worked for you, let me know.