 What
is Ron’s Website Really For?
I decided
to upgrade my website and contacted four developers
to get opinions and quotations. What an unsettling experience!
The first developer spoke at length about the need to
set up ‘links, links, links!’ to every other
service quality, professional speaking, teambuilding
and corporate training site on the Net. He was convinced
that ‘no site is an island’ and offered
to ‘link, link, link!’ and then send out
‘spam, spam, spam!’ in order to get more
traffic to the site.
An interesting point of view, although I am not sure
about all that ‘spamming’. I moved to the
second developer.
‘Your site has got to be sticky!’,
she enthused. ‘It’s not enough to get visitors
to come. You’ve got to keep them coming back!
Get your visitors to complete a questionnaire explaining
who they are, what they do, where they live and what’s
really important in their lives,’ she explained.
‘Then build a restricted area for members only.
And issue each member a special password allowing them
restricted access to limited domains.’
Restricted areas are not quite my style…and this
highly individualized approach would certainly add a
layer of complexity. Still, the range of ideas she offered
was indeed intriguing.
On to developer number three where the name of their
game is ‘e-commerce’. An intensive tutorial
updated me to the possibilities (and complexities) of
e-commerce. Secure servers. Encryption. Online credit
card processing. Integrated inventory and shipping functions.
EDI with real-time links the banks.
You can buy many video-based learning systems at the
Ron Kaufman website, so the need for e-commerce solutions
is real. But how enhanced should that solution be? And
how soon? And, by the way, how much does it cost? Hmmm…good
questions.
The fourth developer was the most graphically oriented,
promoting animations and ‘shocked’ presentations:
moving images, spinning objects and very little text.
They were clear in their minds that my entire site needed
a visual overhaul of substantial proportion.
I explained that all Ron Kaufman presentation
materials share the same visual identity. Brochures,
workbooks, video programs and even the website have
a common graphic ‘look’…carefully
created and developed over the years.
‘So if you Internet folks make a dramatic change
to the look of the entire website,’ I started…‘Exactly,’
they jumped in with excitement, ‘then all the
other materials will have to be changed, too!’
Not quite what I had in mind.
Each of the developers were deeply enamored of their
own expertise. Each was eager to ‘sell’
me on the importance (nay, necessity!) of implementing
their solutions. Though several queried me
later for a list of my specifications, none began
the conversation with a keen intent to explore what
I wanted to achieve at the website.
Key Learning Point
Sometimes we become
so expert in our own professions we forget that clients
may be less familiar with the domain. Think about being
a patient in a hospital. Don't you appreciate the effort
to educate you and set you at ease as much as the medicine
provided? What about a visit to the car mechanic or the
accountant? Isn't having a background of trust and confidence
as important as having the right work done?
Action Steps
Invest the time
and effort, upfront, to build your rapport with prospects
and customers on their terms. Don't just leap in
with your bold (and possibly brilliant) recommendations.
Explore thoroughly first. Suggest solutions later.
Next Article in Customer Service Improvement >>
An Upgrade is Usually Worse, At First
First Article in Customer Service Innovation >>
In the Spirit of Service
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Ron Kaufman is an internationally acclaimed customer service training educator for quality service.
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