NFIB

Using the Internet to Establish Customer Loyalty
04/ 15/ 2002

As more and more small businesses ramp up their own Web sites, new uses of the Internet are coming into focus. One of these is using your site to stimulate customer ties by cramming a section of the site with extensive information about your industry and the products you sell. This hardly costs anything and can make your site a hot spot for enthusiasts. The potential result: monumental increases in site "stickiness" and customer loyalty. Jeffrey Moses explains in today's Workshop.

Whether you use your site to sell products or to provide information about services that you offer, you can use the site to help encourage customers to lock into you as a provider. By giving specific information about the products you sell, you provide a free resource that customers will find of enduring value--which means they'll be returning to the site over and over. Then they'll be very likely to contact you for their next purchase.

As an example, John Deere's Web site (Deere & Company) provides customers with detailed information about repairs and servicing of its equipment. The site even gives information about where to find spare parts for older equipment -- something that is extremely valuable to farmers and others using tractors, haulers and seeders.

You can do the same, no matter what product or service you offer. Once you've completed the information section of your site -- and directed customers to it -- you'll probably find that it's the most popular and widely used aspect of your entire web presence. It makes your site sticky and encourages customers to make purchases while they're visiting.

The more comprehensive and interactive this "Information for Customers" section of your site is, the stickier it will be. It should contain the following features (and any others that are pertinent to your particular type of business):

1. A FAQ section (Frequently Asked Questions). This gives customers the chance to quickly scan for general information.

2. Pages or sections about specific products. This is where the detailed information should be: product facts and features, repair information (including do-it-yourself info. and contact info. for repair providers), warranty information, troubleshooting information, spare parts and retrofitting resources.

3. Detailed information about products that you don't carry. This section can offer special value to some of your customers. It will establish your site as the place to find complete information.

4. Comprehensive general information about as many different aspects of your industry as possible. This section may or may not refer to specific products. You should think of it as providing general information for anyone strolling through your site.

5. Tip-of-the-day pages, interviews with experts (often you and your associates or representatives of products you sell) and comments from satisfied customers.

The Information for Customers section of your site should be upgraded whenever new information becomes available. And be sure to ask for e-mail addresses from visitors. Offer to e-mail them information about new products and special sales. Once you have their e-mails, send out information only when you have something valuable to offer. You can wear out your welcome quickly (and turn customers off) by e-mailing too often. In general, once every several months should be enough to distribute information that could attract customers to purchase from you either online or by coming into your store.

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