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NEWS - PLANNING
Websites that maximise sales
8/24/2004
The biggest mistakes small businesses make when they put up a website is failing to consider where it fits into the overall strategy and then not reviewing its performance once it's online.
"The two important things are what they do before they build it, and what they do after it's up," said Manlio Capobianco, an owner and web designer with e-commerce solutions company Binarex.
As simple as that advice sounds, Mr Capobianco's experience with nearly 95 per cent of his clients who are into their second or third website upgrade is that they don't have a strategic reason for needing a site in the first place.
The main reason most have a site is because their competition does. But that's not reason enough, MrCapobianco said.
For instance, does the business know where the site fits into the sales and marketing process? Is its function to generate leads or is it a sales support tool the team can refer customers to?
"It's like any other asset that a business uses. How does the piece of equipment fit into the production cycle?" Mr Capobianco said.
Businesses that do take a strategic view also set measurable goals. They have a usage indicator to analyse what pages are popular, which then feeds into its product or business development plans.
"It's a powerful tool, but most don't put the effort aside and review the performance of the website,"Mr Capobianco said.
For those who want to, the NSW Department of Regional Development has a seminar on September 7 in Sydney with the ambitious title of "Websites that work to create wealth".
In July's Sensis report on 1400 small businesses and 400 medium-sized businesses, 45 five per cent had a website compared with 36 per cent the year before.
Did it increase their effectiveness? You betcha. Fifty-three per cent believed it improved their business.
The main reason for this high level of satisfaction was that the website gave customers instant information about what the business had to offer that was translated into an increase in inquiries.
"Growth-oriented businesses were more likely to feel that their website had increased the effectiveness of their business," Sensis said.
Other reasons included the fact that it made them accessible to more clients, and enabled them to reach a wider audience.
Which is one reason why a Sydney-based firm of accountants, Chan & Naylor, developed a web-based product for its accounting clients.
Most of C&N's clients are accountants employing one to 10people. Six years ago, C&N started using technology to systematise what it was doing with clients.
"By having the processes, procedures, checklists and letters on the electronic system, we were able to ensure that every one of our staff were using the most efficient method of performing a job, and accessing it in the most efficient way," the general manager of Chan & Naylor Business Intranet Systems, Mike Muskens, said.
"It also cut training costs dramatically. Instead of having to spend hours answering the 'How do I do?' questions, we were then able to say 'You will find the answer in the system. After you have read it, if you still have questions come back to me and I'll be happy to answer them'."
C&N's BIS operation started in late 2001 after the introduction of the GST, when most accounting firms were being buried under the increased workload.
When accountants asked what electronic system C&N used, people then started asking if they could buy it. The firm created BIS to handle the development of a marketable software system (the business intranet system) and the after-sales support.
After its launch in February 2002, six versions of the software were produced until the soft launch of the web-based version in June 2004.
Initially BIS's main product was an intranet system that it loaded internally on a client's server , which was backed by practice management support. Up to four times a week BIS sent out emails with procedures, checklists or processes adding to or updating what was in the system.
After linking up with eknowhow three months ago, C&N will launch its web-based product, eknowhow accounting solutions, to the market next month. In the past six weeks BIS has signed up 50 clients.
The service has a client manager feature that allows accounting users to set up profiles of their clients, who are then sent personalised emails with links to articles and information relevant to their needs.
"It reduces the calls from clients wanting information on, say, superannuation changes," Mr Muskens said.
Clients with one to five employees pay an upfront fee of $695 for design and installation of the website, plus a monthly fee of $99 that includes hosting the website, updates, articles and practice support.
Reproduced from the Australian Financial Review - 24 Aug 2004
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