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Creating Synergy with Your Web Site and Business Goals
Investing in a web site requires the same discipline as investing in any new business venture. When you invest in a web site, you should do so with the ultimate aim of increasing your organization's overall profitability and long-term viability. Your business goals for the web site should reflect your organization's overall business strategy and the nature of your existing competitive advantage.
The business goals that your organization strives to achieve by building a web site might include:
- reduce the cost of providing information about your organization;
- generate sales leads;
- improve customer loyalty;
- reduce the cost of processing orders;
- generate repeat sales.
Reduce the cost of providing information about your organization
You can reduce the cost of servicing repetitive questions and requests from your target audience by allowing them to access information about your organization from your web site. In doing so, you can be assured that your target audience is receiving a uniform message about your organization.
Generate sales leads
Your web site should enable potential customers to quickly and easily submit an inquiry. Ideally, you should offer your customers the choice of submitting their inquiry by more than one method, e.g. by online form, email message, telephone.
Improve customer loyalty
The Web provides a means for you to deliver valuable services to your customers that previously were not possible. You should aim to deliver at least one service via your web site that makes your customers' lives easier and saves them time. In doing so, you will increase customer loyalty and increase the likelihood of a transaction.
Reduce the cost of processing orders
It is more efficient and cost-effective to take and process orders over the Web than through traditional channels. Order taking is less expensive on the Web because customers serve themselves and can be channeled automatically through the ordering process. In addition, data validation is enforced at the time an online order is placed, which greatly reduces the number of order errors.
Generate repeat sales
Marketers in the offline world have known for years that it is far easier—and far more profitable—to sell products to existing customers than it is to recruit new customers. By establishing an online store, your organization can potentially capture useful information about customer needs, buying habits, and preferences. Correctly utilized, you can use this information to develop pricing strategies more effectively, provide better information, up-sell or cross-sell related products, and contact customers with personalized offers.