Consumers and the Internet

These days more and more consumers are turning to the Internet as the first place to look to find out if a business is legitamate. With new services such as the BBB online reliability program, and with other consumer protection organizations the Internet increasingly suggests that a company is reliable and here to stay.

That being said, it is still astounding to know so many companies have no website. After a quick bit of market research, performed internally to local auto shop businesses we discovered something very interesting. It seems that almost every one of the companies that didn't have a website, had a "great" excuse for why they didn't have one.
Let's examine three examples, that we heard over and over again in our search for answers.

COMPANY A
Our first example, Company A is the classic answer we hear across every industry. "It isn't worth the investment." During our little probe we tried to dig into our contacts minds to try and see how they arrived at this belief. Most of the time we discovered they had been quoted previously on a website, and in some cases had already started to develop one. We saw case after case where they felt they needed thousands of dollars to start, and some on-going amount of money that was just too expensive.

For this type of company, there are MANY answers. One of the simple answers is a template based website. These sites begin at around $9.99 a month, and can provide a simple entry point to get your business on the Internet. The next step up, a much better value, is something like the EasyWeb package from Desert Rain Software. With this package, starting at $250.00 a company can get a custom designed website that was made for their business, with their details. This type of deal allows the company to pay for the website only once (as opposed to many template deals, where they pay a fee each month to continue using the template), and allows the customer to host the site anywhere.

Let's assume that a business such as our example, the auto shop, only produces 5 new customers a month from their website (or in the case of our suggestion, 5 retained customers, or 5 customers who find them on the Internet and build a trust relationship) that produce income of only $30.00 per customer. In the case of the starter EasyWeb package, the site would have paid for itself in two months. I would say that makes it an EXCELLENT investment!

COMPANY B
Our next example seemed nearly as common as the first. This type of company had started a web project, or had one that went bad, or already had one that cost too much. With putting a website out on the Internet you learn very simple lessons, and one in particular. The Internet is not the field of dreams, there is no "if you build it they will come." The reality is that a website by itself is not much of a start. However by leveraging your website with such services as local.com, local.yahoo.com, or merchant circle, you can help consumers find your company, and then present them with your website which shows your stability.

COMPANY C
Our final example company was the hardest to rebut. They had a genuinely good argument, though we found it hard to believe. They simply stated,"we have enough business." I myself have used this line from time to time when I thought someone wanted to sell me something. I truly believe that no business has "enough" business and that there is always room to grow. That being said, it is true sometimes that businesses have more business than they can handle, but this doesn't mean there is "too much" business. This just means it is time to approach efficiency and better management. For these types of companies a website couldn't be more important. A great deal of businesses believe a website is just a marketing tool, and just something that sits out there on the Internet and looks pretty. Few realize it can be the most powerful business building and business growing tool a company can own.

Imagine if Cox Cable had no website. Thousands of consumers would be interacting with that company very differently. They would be wasting much more money on stamps, envelopes, and checks than they are now with e-bill, e-pay, online ordering, online scheduling, and online customer service. Any company can have these great features added to their website, and it doesn't have to cost thousands of dollars. Often times simple services like this can be added to websites for very low entry cost. Remember, designing a website doesn't have to be re-inventing the wheel, firms like Desert Rain Software can use website code that is already written to handle many of these advanced features.

The bottom line of this examination is that every company should have a web presence, and that it should be designed and applied correctly. It must be advertised in its own right, and can be one of the best tools a company has for growth.