Put marketing to work on customer-related

technology initiatives

BY RICH SCHMITT
Management specialist

Last month I started a discussion about the need for wholesalers to have a web presence, to provide technology and support to their trade customers, as well as some general thoughts about marketing. As a reminder, while you are working to earn the role of primary supplier (first call, first stop, last look) with your trade customers, your goal is to be the one-stop-shop for your target customers. That one-stop-shop includes products and services that those customers need to operate their business. Ideally they shouldn't have to call a competitor unless you mess up the situation badly.

More and more trade customers expect you to provide some of that technology and support that they need in their businesses as a part of earning the right to be their primary supplier. While some contractors are quite advanced, most would like their wholesaler partner to help them with technology. Correctly or incorrectly, most contractors think their wholesaler understands technology because there are so many computers, printers and terminals scattered liberally around most wholesale locations.

I also want to reiterate one point that I made last month. Providing any technology or support services to your customers is a marketing activity, not an information technology task. As with any service you provide, the only reason that you provide any technology or support is to profitably sell more than you would have sold if you did not provide the technology or support. Said another way, customers must value your investment enough that they are willing, in the end, to pay for it.

It is marketing's job to evaluate technology the same way any other marketing investment's return on investment is evaluated. (Some of you might be saying to yourself, "We don't think about the roi for any of our marketing programs." I believe that every marketing investment should be measured to determine if it provides a proper return. I will say though that many marketing investments are difficult to measure and some have a lag in their roi production. Advertising is tricky in that most advertising doesn't create an immediate turnaround in customer buying patterns. While it would be cool if your spiffy campaign caused customers to immediately flock to your doors. Sadly it seldom works that way. Instead, most of us have to see an advertisement or campaign several (some of us 8+) times to really digest and understand it. I think web order entry also has a lag in roi. You make the investment and work to get the kinks out of your system over time. After it is cleaned up, fast and easy-to-use, some customers will start to use it and it will generate a proper return.

As I said before, the impact of many marketing programs is difficult to measure, but it is critical to determine whether the marketing activity is having a positive impact on sales or the customer's perception of your company.

As an aside, I am always cautious whenever I ask the sales force about any marketing programs. I have found that, in many cases, their response is contaminated with all sorts of biases and other issues like:

• It's the boss' pet project...the boss is awesome and always right...even when he is wrong
• The salesperson is threatened by the program since it makes the customer beholden to the company not the salesperson
• The salesperson said the program wouldn't work and he is determined to prove he is right.

There are many scenarios, but I have, over the years, found it difficult to detect and then strip off the complexities of a salesperson's agenda. The best approach is to get information straight from the customer's mouth using non-directive questions. (Non-directive questions don't insert a bias into the question like, "What do you think of our crappy counter service." The customer might have had great experiences at your counter but now he is questioning what his answer would have been. The idea is to ask, "How is our counter service?" Good. "What makes it good?" Your people. "How do they make it good?" "You said Good but are there any areas where we could improve?")

Back to the original point, customer oriented, customer-used technology is in the marketing department's bailiwick. They are the champions and drivers of these initiatives.

As I said last month, the sales team should be directly involved in introducing or training customers to use any marketing initiative that the company provides. That includes

• Promotions
• Catalogs
• Web-catalogs
• Any software that helps the contractor to run his business or complete his work
• Any training programs offered to the contractor
• Handheld barcode tools provided to the customer.
  
  

Catalogs are pretty low-tech, but your sales team should hand-deliver your catalog to each customer and prospect. I have seen pallets of catalogs sitting in wholesalers' counter areas for everybody and his brother to take. I can't think of a faster way to devalue all of the hard work and money you invested in your catalog than giving it away to anyone for free. Even your dumbest customer can calculate, in his head, the value of that catalog. Zip. Zilch, Zero. Contractors will be taking them home to level the table in their dining room at that price or to patch the hole in their insulation. At the very least, put up a sign saying, "The new catalogs are in!!!" Then have your counter people do an introduction. (Of course, when you are very busy, the intro is short but, when possible, a more detailed presentation is good.)

A salesperson or counterperson should be coached on delivering the catalog. You cannot count on them to develop a polished presentation for your catalog. (Or for any product or marketing for that matter.) They should hand (as in put into his hands) a copy to the owner(s) and buyer for each active customer or targeted prospect. The salesperson should explain the value of the catalog. "This is what we stock. I bet you didn't know that we stock 11,257 products. Plus we have an additional 3,200 products in the catalog that we can get for you. They are marked as "non-stock" to help you know when we have to order it. He should thumb through the book showing the customer all of the great product lines and products that you have for sale. He should demonstrate the handy index(s) as a way to find products. He should use your catalog as he puts quotations together for projects. If the customer needs more copies to keep in his trucks, the salesperson should say that he may be able to get additional copies that he will being on his next visit. The catalog is a valuable resource to the contractor even though he may not know it. I know this sounds like too much theater but even if you do just a little of this, your great catalog will be more highly valued by your customers.

Some additional thoughts on your website:

• Your website should be high function from the customer's perspective. Gimmicks like movies, music, page-turn style web catalogs lose their appeal in a matter of seconds. For example, our rule of thumb for any introductory movie or slide show is that it must last no more than 3/4 of a second. I know that sounds very short but remember, you want customers to use your site several times a day and that cool movie or cute little song gets real old, real fast. You can make it a little longer if you change it often, like weekly, but I think short and sweet is still the best idea.
• Don't create more clicks than necessary to get to the heart of your site. I have seen way too many sites that have an opening that shows "loading" for what seems to be forever, then shows a pretty company logo then says "Click here" to enter the site. Why else would I have come to the site. I am certainly not visiting the site to view the company logo. Again, these things get old fast. I think most sites have these annoying features because nobody at the wholesaler uses the site on a regular basis. If the head of marketing had to endure the movie or "click here to enter" every day the way the customer does, he would understand the problem. (Another reminder from last month, your site should be the "home page" for every pc in your company so your people see and experience the good, bad and ugly of your site every day.)
• Streamline the most used features of your site. Getting to order entry, location information and other frequently visited pages should be easy and highly visible. This is one area that the site analytics software (that I discussed last month) can help you to adjust. These packages will tell you where your visitors go on your site so you won't have to guess which pages are important to your users. The only caveat is that some hard-to-find pages might be important but never visited because they are too hard to find.
• Some white-space is good. Some sites are so crowded and chock full of pictures, buttons and menus that a normal person might struggle to find the area they want. Remember that many contractors got into that business because they were good with their hands but maybe not the strongest readers. The idea is to have a clean look, limited number of choices on each page and to have consistency of operation throughout the site.
• Use good design principles. Regular web users expect your site to follow the rules like: If text is underlined, it's a clickable link to something. When there is a link that is shown as a picture with text beside it, you ought to be able to click on the text or on the picture to follow the link.
• Don't link to manufacturer sites if they help a visitor find a competitor. Many wholesalers' sites link to a manufacturer's site. When your customer gets to that site there might be a handy, "Find a distributor in your area" button on that site. They came through your site and now your manufacturer "partner" is showing them other options. You may think these are harmless but I don't. Also manufacturers often change their sites in ways that "break" the link that you set up on your site. Many of the wholesaler sites that I visited recently had broken links to internal pages and external pages.
• If you use a map company, make sure that their map is correct. You cannot assume that the map company accurately designates your company's location or that their driving directions are correct. Not a big deal, but you should check it.
• Get rid of your "Under Con-struction" pages. These serve no purpose and aggravate customers when they click down into nothing. Further, that "under construction" page with a 2005 date on it tells a visitor that your site is neglected and not a candidate for another visit. Having no page is better than under construction.
• Test your site using all the common browsers. Good sites can accommodate all browsers and don't use browser specific features.
• Consider registering your company with Google Local Business, www.google.com/local/add. It is free and it helps local surfers to find you on the web, then provides information about you and where you are located.
• Don't use free maps or free hosting that include advertising for someone else. Most sites are congested enough without adding a third party's distracting ads. Plus there are very cost effective ways to get maps and web hosting without the junk advertising.
• Always copyright your material. Sure some people might steal your good work anyhow, but it puts everyone on notice that you value the work on your site. This is especially important when you create or purchase product information and a competitor steals it for his web site.

I know I have ranged into a lot of topics in this column. To summarize:

• You need a web presence
• Create a professional looking site for each type of customer you want to serve
• Use common sense marketing principles in low-tech and high-tech marketing
• Measure your performance and return on investment.

Lastly have a great holiday season and great 2009.