Internet Strategy - Web Presence Strategy
Stage 4 - Proactive and Seemingly Intuitive
In Stage 3, you provided the user with some "self-service" abilities. Similar to extending your customer service aspects of your web presence via the website. This allows you to provide solutions, answers, and status information to the visitor and customer. Very powerful, because, due to the 24 x 365 availability of the internet, and flattened global economy, it is not unheard of for a visitor or customer to be in a different time zone, on a different continent.
In review of the stages, part of this section should be the baseline of the entire project - the Design. The Design, layout and the categorization of information must be in a logical, and patterned layout, otherwise, the user can not find what they are looking for. Design and layout is crucial. It is assumed that the design is done upfront (along with the layout). This section is focused on additional "features".
In Stage 4, its time to marry any of the generalized metrics or collected data that you have collected (either real-time, near real-time, or bulk processed). For example, when you shop at some of the larger stores, you will see that as you add items into your cart, sometimes, they list a section of "additional" items or "other customers also bought..." This is a wise practice, as sometimes, your customer may forget that with their new camera, they may need film (or a digital card).
This method and mechanism is very low stress - as opposed to a conversation where it may appear that you are pushing the customer for additional purchases. This is especially the case when the purchase is a la carte based.
The point being, that the purchase experience appears to be intuitive by offering other examples, and samples of previous purchases. Another example of an "intuitive" type of solution is when the site recognizes the user (based on a criteria), and provides as much information as is necessary for them to solve their problem and answer their question or guide their purchase. An example, would be providing a store locator based on the users "source" IP address, or best guess. Some purchases are cut-and-dry, but sometimes, a "wizard" is helpful. If the wizard is built to understand the logic of the purchaser\vistor, then this logic could be helpful. This is where business experience is crucial.
By provding features and functionality that your competitors can't or don't provide, gives you an advantage.
Some concepts to ponder:
- How do I build a "wizard" ?
- How can I make my site more intuitive?
At Contraba Technologies, we will walk you through the technology, and we will partner with you until you are comfortable with the "technology". We will not pressure you into contracts, or high monthly expenses. We will not sell you something that is overkill or wil not address your concerns or provide the appropriate solution.
We will review your requirements, and will be honest with your expectations.
In response to the above concerns:
- Building a wizard is more about scenarios, than it is about programming languages or code. In order to properly build a wizard, one must understand the cycle and the questions your visitors are going to ask. After the workflow is laid out, and the input/output is defined, then you can code.
- Building a more intuitive website is more about process and understanding your visitor(s), than it is about code or operating systems. The functionalities that are desired are directly related to the services that the site\business currently should provide. Once these are identified, and worked out, then, the implementation of "making the vision become reality" will take place.
We hope that we have answered some of your questions.
Please check out the rest of the stages of our Internet Strategy.
Also, fill out the Contact-Us form, so that we can connect, and discuss a strategy for you.
Remember, Your business IS our business.
If you succeed - then we will succeed!
