Don't "Do A Little Bit of
Everything" with Your Web Site
By Mary A. Sicard
Years ago, Peter Drucker wrote: "Concentration is the
key to economic results. Economic results require that managers
concentrate their efforts on the smallest number of activities
that will produce the largest amount of revenue...No other
principle is violated as constantly today as the basic
principle of concentration...Our motto seems to be: let's do a
little bit of everything."
If you've violated the basic principle of concentration with
your bricks-and-mortar store, here's a simple process to avoid
doing the same with your Web store or Web site. Ask yourself:
"Why am I building this site?" If your answer is,
"Because everyone else is on the Internet," you're
better off investing those dollars elsewhere. If your answer
says something about marketing, sales, internal communication
or customer service, you're on the right track.
Now, narrow your focus. Ask: "What holds the best hope
for my company's future?" This might be a single product,
service or idea. Or it could be recruiting high-caliber
employees, decreasing internal costs, enhancing customer
service, addressing internal communication issues or generating
new business.
Your answer to this question will help you come up with a
Raison d'ętre Sentence, a single sentence that states the
reason your site exists. (Yes, your site can have other
purposes, but limit them to two and do not allow them to take
priority over your site's raison d'ętre.)
It's not enough to say, "The main purpose of my site is
marketing." What does "marketing" mean exactly?
Will the site serve to:
* Increase visibility and market exposure?
* Generate leads?
* Offer pre-sale and post-sale customer service and product
information?
* Strengthen investor relations?
* Re-inforce corporate identity?
* Secure new dealers, representatives or distributors?
* Reduce fulfillment and print costs for marketing or technical
materials?
If the site is for sales, what kind of sales:
* Business to business?
* Business to consumer?
* Business to representatives or distributors only?
* First-time sales?
* Repeat sales?
If the site's main purpose is for internal communications,
what kind of communication:
* Low-cost connection between headquarters and sales offices or
subsidiaries?
* Reduced cost of long-distance phone calls, faxes, overnight
deliveries?
* Employee-to-employee communication?
If the site's main purpose is for customer service, does
that mean you want the site to:
* Delivery information?
* Offer instant updates?
* Lower 800 number usage and associated labor cost?
* Reduce mistakes made on request for proposals?
* Enable customers to provide feedback?
Now, fill in the blank: The main purpose of my site is to
_______.
This single sentence is one of the most important you'll
write for your Web efforts. It becomes the criterion by which
you judge everything you put on the site and where and how
you'll market the site. For example, if you think the best hope
for your business is new business and decide that the main
purpose of your site is to generate sales leads, every page on
your site should have a link to your "Contact Us" or
"Request More Information" page.
If you insist on devoting space on your site to "The
President's Message," make that message something that
will generate an inquiry. If you can't figure out how to do
that, the page doesn't belong on your site. If you have a
favored photograph and want to post it on your site, ask
yourself, "How will this photograph help generate sales
leads?" If it won't help generate sales leads, get rid of
it.
Your site's Raison d'etre Sentence also forces you to think
about what you can do on the site to fulfill that purpose.
You'll find yourself thinking about what kind of contests or
incentives you can offer to increase the likelihood that
prospects won't leave your site without submitting
qualification information.
Although you'll be tempted to "do a little bit of
everything" with your Web site, don't. Be merciless.
Concentrate — make less dilute, bring or direct toward a
common center or objective, focus — your Web efforts (and
dollars) into one area that promises the best hope for your
company's future.
Mary A. Sicard is chief interactivator at i-Genuity, the
click-here strategy and services firm. She rarely violates the
basic principle of concentration because she's too busy to
remember it. For more information, call 706.737.6546, e-mail mailto:msicard@i-genuity.com
or visit
http://www.i-genuity.com
