Read part 4 of The Website Challenge

Are companies taking the view that the internet and other forms of sales and marketing are intrinsically linked?

Phil Page, Managing Director, Compass Contract Hire: “We are certainly marketing electronically rather than sending out paper these days. But I think the danger of relying entirely on the internet is that you become reactive, rather than proactive. Something has been lost between the supplier and the customer in terms of communication. You can become more remote from each other, and that isn’t good for building and sustaining relationships.”

Felix Bolger, Managing Director, Homelodge Buildings: “I take a holistic approach; you can’t have one without the other – if I do a mailshot, it will give people a certain amount of information and is designed to prompt them to come to our website. But there’s got to be a strong brand identity across everything that we do.”

Richard Sawney, Finance Director, Micheldever Tyre Services: “It has become intrinsic – and it has to be. There are more and more avenues for expenditure though, so you have to decide whether to spread yourself thinly, or channel your approach. We’re still in Yellow Pages for example, and from tracking our customers, we know it’s still a good market for us.”

Rick Munro, Partner, Lamport Bassitt: “My view is that the internet is just one of many tools. Sales and marketing haven’t changed, but, in the modern era, the internet is a means of obtaining information fast, rather than doing tedious research. At the end of the day, if you’re looking for a company to do business with, the internet can only be a shop window. Initially, it’s all one way, until you start using the ‘contact us’ section – so that element needs to be promoted more. We want to get more information from the people visiting the site – names, emails and phone numbers, so that the internet becomes less of a shop window and more like meeting someone at a drinks party and exchanging cards. We’re also using it increasingly as a recruitment tool and will get the trainees to post a report in their own words about what a typical day here is like. We’ll get hundreds of applicants who will check out the website first.”

Louise Moir, Head of Marketing, Haskins Garden Centres: “Any marketing should translate easily to the website because all your marketing materials should be a reflection of the business. Now, whenever we are planning anything for a store, it will also have a home on the website. All our press releases for example, will be put straight onto the web too, and queries to staff in the store will be posted as FAQs on the web.”

Ross Breckenridge, Director, B&V Digital: “Internet presence has to be linked to all the other forms of sales and marketing. If you were to launch a new coach service for instance, then your website would have to be of the same standard as National Express - they set the height of the bar. A company would struggle to compete in that market with a website which doesn’t have an on-line timetable, booking facility and payment on line, with the customer printing off their own ticket. It’s an example of how the website has to be intrinsically linked to so many different many facets of the company. But it comes back to the purpose of the website, and I’m not sure companies have always thought this through. For example, if I go to a hire company’s website, I want to see prices and availability, and then have the option of making a booking, paying for it by card, and receiving confirmation of delivery. Instead, you’ll find a lot of sites will just have reams of product information.”

References:
www.bvdigital.co.uk - internet marketing consultants specialising in web design and development, search engine marketing, email marketing, audio and video services, online PR, social media, viral marketing, digital marketing strategy; part of B&V Creative, a full-service marketing, design and public relations firm established twenty-seven years ago. wiseguys@bvdigital.co.uk

www.compassleasing.co.uk - Vehicle funding specialists.

www.haskins.co.uk - family-owned garden centre business with four outlets.

www.homelodge.co.uk - modular timber buildings for domestic and commercial use.

www.lamportbassitt.co.uk - business and personal lawyers.

www.micheldever.co.uk - the country’s largest independent tyre wholesaler, distributor and retailer.

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Please do feel free to comment on any of the issues raised. The second part of this report will be published in the second quarter of 2010.