No doubt this Christmas has seen even greater billions of pounds, Dollars and Euros spent on the internet.
But plenty of people will have had the same experience as me. Non-delivery, delays, request to be in between 9.00am and 5.00pm, no response to eMails and no contact telephone number. Sound familiar?
As consumers get more savvy they will not tolerate this approach to service. So it's no good spending every penny on the website and the payment facility and ignoring the backend.
The best companies are making sure that the process of getting goods to people is in the way that the customers want. Their warehouse systems are efficient, they choose reputable delivery companies and give customers choose about when and where delivery takes place, they provide order tracking and they provide on-line or phone based systems to deal with problems if they arise.
So eBusinesses everywhere take note or next Christmas won't be such as happy time for you.
Check out the Arrowsmith Business Book Competition and enter the draw to win "How To Have Kick-Ass Ideas".
Gareth
Wednesday, 20 December 2006
Sunday, 17 December 2006
How to set up an eMail Signature
If you want some help setting up an eMail signature and you need some persuading that it is worth while then check out the article that Arrowsmith has written for the NB2B Centre. Right click and choose to open the PDF in a new tab.
Gareth
Gareth
Friday, 15 December 2006
Business Networks are Businesses too!
I use a variety of business networking portals such as eCademy, Linkedin and Soflow and have attended some of the well known face to face networking groups like BNI and BRE.
They can be very useful. The benefit you get from joining is usually in direct proportion to the effort you put into them and it is worth researching carefully to make sure that the membership or style of operation suits you.
What I would like to highlight though is that they are all money making operations. That isn't always made very explicit. The marketing makes them sound like charities or some sort of chummy club. But at least some of the people involved are getting paid to organise the events or to try and sign you up.
Does it matter? Well I think that remembering that hard cash is involved probably makes the decision making process a bit sharper. It also gives you more imperative to demand the right level of service in terms of training or lead generation or referrals.
In Britain we have a saying "you pays your money and you takes your choice". Just remember that you are paying quite a lot so choose wisely!
Gareth
Only a few days left to enter the Arrowsmith Marketing Business Book Competition for December and win "How to Have Kick-Ass Ideas".
They can be very useful. The benefit you get from joining is usually in direct proportion to the effort you put into them and it is worth researching carefully to make sure that the membership or style of operation suits you.
What I would like to highlight though is that they are all money making operations. That isn't always made very explicit. The marketing makes them sound like charities or some sort of chummy club. But at least some of the people involved are getting paid to organise the events or to try and sign you up.
Does it matter? Well I think that remembering that hard cash is involved probably makes the decision making process a bit sharper. It also gives you more imperative to demand the right level of service in terms of training or lead generation or referrals.
In Britain we have a saying "you pays your money and you takes your choice". Just remember that you are paying quite a lot so choose wisely!
Gareth
Only a few days left to enter the Arrowsmith Marketing Business Book Competition for December and win "How to Have Kick-Ass Ideas".
Thursday, 14 December 2006
Realistic Objectives
A call from a recent B2B Centre client reminded me about the importance of setting challenging and realistic objectives when marketing planning.
"Gareth, I have optimised the website as you suggested and I have got telemarketers working on a list of 200 names to generate traffic. But I have only made one sale. How do I hit the consumer market"
mmmm. Did we not talk about the limitations of eMarketing (and marketing generally) when you have a new and innovative product and not much money and time to work with?
If you are trying to sell something equally new and innovative then can I suggest you stop, take a deep breathe and think about the situation you are in. It's OK to challenge yourself with a forecast of a million pounds (or dollars or Euros) by the end of the year or in two years. In the short term, and by that I mean today or this week, that sort of challenge can distort your thinking. The first week's challenge is to find one person to make a purchase and then leverage that sale (in terms of PR, case studies, credibility etc) to make two more, then four more and so on.
In other words, know your destination but break up the journey into easily manageable chunks.
Gareth
Win "How To Have Kick-Ass Ideas" in the December Arrowsmith Business Book Competition.
"Gareth, I have optimised the website as you suggested and I have got telemarketers working on a list of 200 names to generate traffic. But I have only made one sale. How do I hit the consumer market"
mmmm. Did we not talk about the limitations of eMarketing (and marketing generally) when you have a new and innovative product and not much money and time to work with?
If you are trying to sell something equally new and innovative then can I suggest you stop, take a deep breathe and think about the situation you are in. It's OK to challenge yourself with a forecast of a million pounds (or dollars or Euros) by the end of the year or in two years. In the short term, and by that I mean today or this week, that sort of challenge can distort your thinking. The first week's challenge is to find one person to make a purchase and then leverage that sale (in terms of PR, case studies, credibility etc) to make two more, then four more and so on.
In other words, know your destination but break up the journey into easily manageable chunks.
Gareth
Win "How To Have Kick-Ass Ideas" in the December Arrowsmith Business Book Competition.
Tuesday, 12 December 2006
Have a Kick Ass Idea on me
"How to Have Kick-Ass Ideas" by Chris Barez-Brown isn't just a great book it is an inspiration.
It sort of combines Monty Python with NLP.
There is an opportunity to win a copy by entering the December free prize draw at the Arrowsmith Marketing website.
The Arrowsmith Marketing Business Book Competition runs every month and suggestions for new books are always welcome.
Check it out
Gareth
It sort of combines Monty Python with NLP.
There is an opportunity to win a copy by entering the December free prize draw at the Arrowsmith Marketing website.
The Arrowsmith Marketing Business Book Competition runs every month and suggestions for new books are always welcome.
Check it out
Gareth
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