The Internet: A Powerful Marketing Tool-If You Add e-Service

    /24-7PressRelease/ - Minneapolis, MN, June 18, 2005 - If you are not aggressively using the Internet to build and grow your business, you're missing the success boat . You're also making a huge mistake, if you are using the Internet but not providing exceptional e-service. In order to successfully market your services and products throughout the world, the Internet and
e-service must go hand in hand.
What is e-service? It is speed, technology, and price built around service. While that sounds simple enough, it's amazing how many e-commerce companies just don't get it. Two of them are e-Bay and Semantic.
On the other hand, the folks at Amazon.com, led by founder Jeff Bezos, have mastered e-service and serves as a role model to companies throughout the world. The proof is in the numbers: Amazon went from $511,000 in sales during its first year of operation to $6.92 billion in 2004, a 31 percent increase over 2003.
Many firms turn to nerds and techies to run their Internet businesses. While technology is, of course, an important element—and one that these brilliant people fully understand—it is only a portion of the formula for success. If those nerds and techies don't understand the power of service—and don't build it into your operation—you will fail.
Simply put: e-commerce is built around technology—e-service is built around people. Carolyn Walton, vice president of Wal-Mart's information system division realizes that technology alone will not drive the company's business. "Wal-Mart relies on information to run its business and depends on technology as the enabler to meet the customer's needs," she says.
In today's marketplace, your web site is as important as your phone number. And it's cheaper and faster than any other type of marketing. Unlike printed brochures, for example, which can take several weeks, if not months, and a lot of money to design and produce, a web site can be updated daily at very little cost.
And yet, I'm amazed at how many firms have dysfunctional web sites. They don't include telephone numbers or e-mail or street addresses, making it impossible for consumers to contact them. There is no vehicle by which consumers can ask a question—or get an answer. Two-way communication is non-existent. If you want an example of this type of company, you need look no further than e-Bay.
I would also guess that lack of company contact information makes consumers and businesses a little leery, almost as if those companies are in hiding and don't want consumers to be able to contact them. Worse, it sends the message that whatever the consumer might have to say to the company is not important. An e-service driven organization makes it easy for consumers to contact it and to get an immediate response.
If you want to operate a successful e-commerce business, your web site must operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it must be backed up by real people who are available to immediately respond to e-mails and telephone calls from users. That does not include voice mail and automated voice equipment. Both are roadblocks to e-service. Many consumers like to do their product or service research online but prefer to make their purchases in person or by phone. If you aren't allowing them to do so, you are missing out on a large market.
Customer service role models are aggressively using the Internet to drive their businesses. To do so, they focus on e-service. They train their employees in the art of service so they ca instantly handle problems to the customer's satisfaction. They empower them to do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer.
Commerce Bank—a $30 billion operation that is growing at a rate of 39 percent annually— is a glowing example of a bank that has mastered e-service. Operating in Metro Philadelphia, New York and New Jersey, as of January 24 it had a 42 percent household penetration in those areas, with 521,349 customers. The bank's web site is http://www.commerceonline.com. Its success is due to its focus on service. Customers can pay their bills online, have access to free banking services, and can call the bank 24 hours a day, seven days a week and the line will be answered by a live and knowledgeable person!
JetBlue and Southwest Airlines—the only two profitable airlines in the United States—have made the Internet a key component of their business and, as a result, are realizing great success. They get most of their reservations online, which reduces reservation costs by some 90 percent.
John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, is a great champion of e-commerce and knows how to use it effectively. "The Internet waits for no one, no company, no country," he says. "So if you don't keep up the pace, you will quickly be overtaken."
Business to business e-commerce is expected to reach $4.3 trillion—yes, trillion—this year, up from $282 billion in 2000. That's a 73 percent compounded annual rate of growth. Use of the Internet worldwide more than doubled between 2000 and 2005, with 817.4 million users today compared to 400 million in 2000.
The Internet levels the playing field. It allows a small company in Iowa to compete with a huge corporation in Japan. To be successful, you must be ready to serve anyone anywhere in the world with incredible speed and service.
If you would to order a copy of my latest book, e-Service, and save $10 off the $24.95 price, call (952) 883-3311, send an e-mail to [email protected] , or log onto http://www.customer-service.com and mention this article and the code 3737823.

John Tschohl is an international service strategist and speaker. Described by Time and Entrepreneur magazines as a customer service guru, he has written several books on customer service, including e-Service, Achievin g Excellence Through Customer Service, The Customer is Boss, and Ca$hing In: Make More Money, Get a Promotion, Love Your Job. Johan also has developed more than 26 customer service training programs that have been distributed and presented throughout the world. His bimonthly strategic newsletter is available online at no charge. You can reach John at http://www.customer-service.com

The global leader in customer service
John Tschohl is a service stategist and customer service guru.

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