Web Site Can Facilitate Company-Client Interactions

Don’t think of your Web site simply as a place to attract customers and conduct business. Try using it to help build long-term relationships with customers, clients and vendors.

Strengthening those ties can help ensure success for your company.

Roger Parker, author of “Relationship Marketing on the Internet” (Adams Media Corp., $17.95), says a Web site should be a place for you, your customers and your clients to get to know each other better.

“Ideally,” says Parker, “the business explains its products, services and philosophies as well as explains the benefits of its offerings.” That kind of relationship marketing, he says, is based on “customer retention versus customer acquisition.”

That means satisfying and reselling your current customers and prospects instead of doing what most Web sites do--attempt to attract new customers by using cutthroat pricing incentives. Instead of satisfying people who have already expressed a strong interest in the company, these businesses “expensively attempt to recruit a constant stream of new customers to their Web site to buy products at extremely low margins,” Parker says. Aim instead to create a loyal repeat customer out of a one-shot transaction.

Don’t forget service after the sale. If you make a product that requires a manual, try to put a copy of it online in case your customers lose their documentation or need to review it while on the road. You can also put up an area with “frequently asked questions” (known as “FAQs”) and allow people to ask questions of your staff via an online form or an e-mail link. Some companies go so far as to include a live chat area so that they can interact with their customers in real time.

Put your warranty information online as well as your phone number, address, directions and business hours. Make it as easy as possible for your site visitors to do business with you.

Parker suggests that you use your Web site not only to introduce your business but to give visitors a chance to introduce themselves. He encourages sites to invite a two-way exchange of information with visitors rather than to simply broadcast information.

There are a variety of ways to get visitors to provide you with information: You could post a registration form where they can enter their e-mail address. You could create a place where visitors are encouraged to ask questions or make comments. Neither is difficult for an experienced Web master to implement.

Be careful about how you solicit and use customer information. Don’t make registration a requirement for entering your site because you’ll lose visitors. A shopkeeper wouldn’t require a prospective customer to fill out a long form before letting him or her browse the aisles, and a Web site should let people visit anonymously if they prefer.

However, you can encourage people to fill out a registration form by offering them freebies, discounts, useful information and other incentives. Whatever you do, be sure to respond to any questions or comments and never bombard visitors with e-mail unless they agree to be on a mailing list.

Be sure to establish and post a privacy policy so visitors know exactly what you will and will not do with the information. You can learn more about privacy policies at The Truste Web site (https://www.truste.org) and from the Federal Trade Commission (https://www.ftc.gov/privacy).

If your site does enable customers to make purchases or other transactions, Parker recommends that you always follow up with a thank you message. Even better, he suggests enhancing that message by offering a premium, such as coupons worth special savings on future purchases. He also recommends that you invite your customers to fill out a satisfaction survey. And finally, consider offering them rewards for recommending other customers.

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Technology reports by Lawrence J. Magid can be heard at 2:10 p.m. weekdays on the KNX-AM (1070) Technology Hour. He can be reached at larry.magid@latimes.com. His Web site is at https://www.larrysworld.com.