I Don't Need A Website
I Don't Need A Website
The small business owner who proudly claims he doesn't
need a website, because he doesn't sell anything online and his
"word of mouth" customer pipeline works just fine, is
misinformed at best or ignorant, at worst.
Why doesn't he just tell you to come back in a year
for the court-ordered liquidation auction? Hindsight will be 20-20
then.
The truth is, everyone needs a website. It doesn't matter if you
sell anything online or not, your prospects want to learn more about
you before investing the time to drive over, or making a call to
your place asking for more information.
We live in a cynical world that craves more useful information.
Online research is king. Informed customers are queen and you better
at least be in the court--and not as the jester.
The biggest "I don't need a website" offenders are doctors,
attorneys and smaller shops or service businesses. Individually
and collectively they are wrong. We are a fluid buying group with
little loyalty anymore. Someone presents a better idea and we jump.
Someone woos us and reminds us of why we were so brilliant as to
choose them, we stay put. Do the math, What does it mean to you
to stop customer churn?
Physicians point to a crowded waiting room and tell you referrals
and word of mouth work just fine. That may not be a premise you
want to take to the bank in today's world of very well informed
patients with health insurance plans in a state of flux. Here today,
gone tomorrow. Dust off the "accepting new patients" sign.
Lawyers have a built in indifference to any advertising save the
bronze "name of the firm" placard hanging near their front
door. Maybe personal injury and workers comp barristers killed marketing
for all practitioners of the law.
The problems are:
(A) those that shop for legal advice want to know more about the
attorney and the practice
(B) Lots of people still laugh (a lot) at the old joke that says,
"What do you call a lawyer found at the bottom of the ocean?
A good start."
Businesspeople, those that should be most open to at least studying
new forms of advertising, usually have illogical excuses for not
having a website. Statements like "it just doesn't work for
my business", "I don't even own a computer", "my
customers don't use the Internet", are a piercing death knell
for new business development or customer retention.
The truth is websites and the marketing and email campaigns that
go with them are here to stay. The statistics are irrefutable: Most
consumers, your consumers, are heading to the net to make buying
decisions. If they find you there with a well crafted site, they
are at least interested, and at best, buying. If not, your competitor
gets the nod.
Stake your place on the Internet. Get a website. Learn how to market
with it, how to increase word of mouth and referral customers and
you'll see new substantial new cash flow while cutting costs and
becoming a customer favorite. It's the way business is done now.
Get on board or get run over.
About the Author Brian Grinonneau is
the general manager of McMann & Tate Advertising a midwest agency
that insists its clients tell their story like it has never been
told before.
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