Websites...like the Bible, creation is just the start...

My consultancy work brings me into contact with mainly small businesses and by small I mean that they typically employ less than 50 people and have turnover between £0.5m and £5m.  For all businesses  budgets are extremely important but the higher the percentage of revenue or profit, the more critical they become.  I believe that all businesses, regardless of size or target market should have a web presence given that the majority of consumers research everything before making buying decisions.  If I was looking for your business on-line and I find that it is only listed by free directory companies alarms bells would start to ring.  And let's say you DO have a website and I find it, if it's cheap and nasty looking with poor or out of date content and news you may have done yourself more harm than good, I'm clicking away!


So your website has to be of a certain quality, it has to be current and it has to be easy to find.  Assuming you can tick those boxes, have you actually worked out what you want from your site, what do you actually want back from the money you've invested?  Many will say that this is their electronic brochure, a source of information and imagery, others will want to actually transact business ie sell online and others still will view their site as a 'placeholder' in the whole corporate image which neither sells or promotes products but establishes the 'brand' and what that brand stands for.  This latter group is largely the domain of major corporates, smaller businesses want more measurable and tangible returns but what should those returns be? The very minimum you should expect to achieve is to grow your 'network of influence', that's to say you should be able to capture the details of visitors for future contact.  More than that your website should also enable visitors to connect to your Social Media - yes you need a Facebook presence, as well as LinkedIn and almost certainly Twitter as well.  All are great (and free) tools for enhancing your position and standing and enabling you to give your business a 'face' through which interested people can connect directly, simply and quickly.  We'll cover more Social Media in latter articles.

Troublesome vegetables!

In 2009 or was it 2010 Nestle found themselves in hot water on Facebook over a variety of things, as is usual for Nestle, but principally because they were buying Palm Oil from a company that was allegedly largely responsible for the deforestation of Indonesia and the destruction of the habitats of Orang Utans and Tigers.  They handled the backlash appallingly and suffered the slings and arrows of global media criticism and a probable loss of revenue.  It seems that our own Waitrose is about to make the same mistakes over their link to the GM company Monsanto who are largely reviled by anyone with an interest in healthy food and the environment.

Waitrose have been selling Broccoli produced by a Monsanto subsidiary and this has come to the attention of their customers.  They are seriously unhappy about the connection between a company they admired and one they despise.  The Waitrose response initially was to reaffirm that the actual product is not a GM product, which had never been in question, so their response was considered diversionary by some.  As momentum grew and the comments became more and more strongly worded it seemed that Waitrose started to panic.  Initially they moved all the comments to another page on their Facebook profile and periodically trotted out the stock answer about the product not being genetically modified.  They also said that they encouraged feedback and that all comments were being collated and forwarded to the buyers involved.  The number of comments increased with over 130 people 'Liking' their page per day at one point.  The problem was that people were only 'Liking' in order to read or add comments.

So, here we are on Saturday morning, there are over 115 comments on the thread on the Waitrose page.  I have been blocked from commenting at all, as have many others and then all of a sudden it's all gone.  The thread has gone and been replaced with a statement about what you can and can't say on their Facebook pages.  The ability to feedback is now gone and it could be that all the opinions have been covered off but the sense of censorship is overwhelming and I'm really not convinced that this is the best use of social media.  I'm sure there will be a media statement at some point soon...


See more here: http://shazzie.com/blog/monsanto-out-uk-shoppers-boycotting-supermarkets/

What are you trying to say, and how?

Communication is everything, but we all know that.  The thing is when it comes to businesses communicating to clients there is now a myriad of channels; phone, email, newsletter, ezine, brochure, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and whatever social media channel is going to spring up next.  Can you get benefits from all of those, manage them all and still get some work done?  You can if you plan it properly.


Expect over the next year to see even more web based and phone based apps that will enable you to better manage your communications, but first let's look briefly at how each channel should be best utilised.


Static, printed communications such as brochures and newsletters are a standard and predictable medium of consistently communicating a well thought out message.  They are NOT reactive and by the same token they are not flexible.  You have to reprint each time you want to change or update the messaging, or at least you need to have someone redesign the brochure if you use it as a downloadable file on your website.  The latter should always be part of your plan, let people download and print at THEIR expense rather than yours, the only risk is that their printer might not do justice to your high quality graphics but that's not the end of the world.


Primary use: Permanent or semi-permanent company literature that rarely changes year to year or product brochures that support products that will be available for a long period of time.


E-zines or email newsletters are by their nature that much more frequent and can be altered and tailored to the proposed audience very easily.  They require the sender to use some form of list management software so that people that choose to unsubscribe can do so easily and without annoyance and they will often require the sender to buy into a distribution programme, which can usually be paid for on a monthly basis.  E-zines should rarely be sent more than twice each month, and once a monthly is usually about right.


Primary use: Monthly updates, news, special offers that will be available for a period of weeks, new developments, business wins or to introduce new members of staff.


Even the different social media channels have different uses and purposes.  LinkedIn for example is a great way to create a company and individual professional profile, think of yourself being at a business networking get together, what would you say about yourself?  Whatever the answer to that question is what you would put on LinkedIn.  Facebook is slightly lighter hearted and less serious and can be used to create fan pages and groups of followers that like your company or its products.  You can post photos of the company outing or a party but bear in mind you are still showing yourself off to the world so use restraint and try to avoid anyone posting anything controversial!


Primary use: An easily updated online medium that portrays the human side of your business, the people involved, events you've attended, maybe even customer installations if appropriate. Best of all it's free!


Twitter is not for everyone!  Twitter is like a petulant child that loves you one minute and hates you the next.  If you are adept at putting a sensible opinion, comment or piece of news into 140 characters, including spaces, then have a go but it really requires constant attention and you shouldn't start with it unless you can devote a cumulative 30 minutes per day.  On the other hand, once you have a group of followers, you can send them details of immediate offers and deals and you can get traction and business.  It takes effort and thought so don't jump in until you've thought it through.


Primary use: Immediate news, great last minute deals and links to new web pages or anything that is very 'Now'!


Get in touch if you want more detail or a consultation/opinion on how best to proceed...Good luck!

Introduction

Whilst between employment contracts I have decided to create a blog about sales, service and customers and the inextricable links between them.  Many just don't see the links and are left scratching their heads as to what went wrong, or why their business isn't growing.  This blog will be written in everyday language, no airs and graces, no mysteries or technical terms and I urge you to contact me if something isn't crystal clear...

A bit about me  

I started in sales back in the early 80's having spent a few years working in a foundry where we made bits of planes and trains out of aluminium.  It was a great job that paid quite well, but I hit a ceiling at age 21 because I didn't have a degree.  The foundry manager at the time, a gent called Bill Stott suggested I look into 'sales' as a career move.  He could see that I could communicate, more importantly he knew that I knew how to listen!  So, a while later I began as an area sales rep' for a company called W&T Avery, they made weighing equipment in their factory in Warley, West Midlands and I joined just as the digital revolution began, the move from mechanical to digital scales in the retail world.  These were exciting times and I made good money whilst driving around my North Kent patch in my Hillman Avenger Estate.

I progressed into leasing with Xerox and then into leasing computers with Apple and Compaq.  From there I went into hardware and worked for Toshiba (laptops), Dell and IBM.  I have worked in large corporations and small businesses.  I have owned businesses, including a pub and I have helped smaller businesses take bigger leaps by marketing and promoting them well.

I have a good understanding of how to present businesses to consumers and business alike, I understand and am active in social media, have a good eye for design and am addicted to excellence in customer service.  If you have a question, please ask.