Issue 29, February 17, 1997

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Welcome to Issue 29, February 17, 1997, of Web Marketing Today, which goes out to 16,955 subscribers around the world.

In this issue:

• Save Money with Customer Support on the Web
• Legal Audits of Web Sites by Michael Overly
• Nice Words about Wilson Internet Services
• The Voice of Experience on Our Forum
• Odds 'n' Ends

Save Money with Customer Support on the Web

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

They say it's five times more expensive to get a new customer than it is to keep an existing one. Growing your business on the Web isn't just attracting visitors to your Web site. It requires a holistic approach: doing business on the Web in a way that customer needs are being met. Customers -- and potential customers -- need to know you care enough about their business to provide support when they have problems. Customer support spells the difference between a loyal customer base and losing them to your support-savvy competitor.

How much should you spend on your customer support function on the Web? First, determine your company's budget for all customer support. Then decide what proportion of your customers are likely to have Web access in the next year or two. Or ask how much you will save in printing, mail room, and postage costs, and telephone support time by making your customer support available via the Web. Businesses with a national or global customer base will find Web customer support extremely cost effective compared to traditional media.

Technical Documents

It's a high-tech age, and access to technical information is vital. Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQs, are probably the simplest kind of technical document. When your customers call, what questions do they ask most often? Frame a simple answer to each and you have a FAQ document. Post these questions and answers on the Web and you will save hours of phone support each week. You might also want to compose a series of brief e-mail replies to each of these common questions so you can respond quickly to e-mail inquiries.

For many years Microsoft has excelled in providing a "Knowledge Base" comprised of thousands of papers describing how to diagnose and solve various software and hardware problems. While Microsoft uses a database to store such information, today a company on the Web can provide a wealth of technical papers indexed merely by a Web site search engine. I have found Matt Wright's Simple Search Engine adequate to search up to 300 Web pages or so. Faster and better search engines employ indexes and allow more sophisticated searches. While search engines may sound complicated, a CGI-wise Web site designer can install one fairly easily and inexpensively on all but the largest or highest traffic sites.

Troubleshooting decision trees

The next level of support might be a troubleshooting "decision tree". You've seen these. "Is the product plugged in? Yes? Go to next Web page. No? Plug it in." Web pages with hypertext links are a natural for this type of step-by-step problem solving, but don't underestimate the time it takes to develop such a comprehensive "expert" or "wizard." It's plain hard work! To see an example of how this might be used, take a look at Microsoft's "Troubleshooting Wizards".

Extra Information

Why not make your customers appreciate you by going the extra mile to help them get the most out of the product or service you are offering. Consider:

• Cheat-codes for challenging computer games
• Checklists for their next camping trip with your Acme tent
• Links to helpful articles and resources in your field
• Software downloads which add to their existing product and extend it.

You can afford to pamper your customers given the low costs of doing this on your company's Web site.

Community Interchange of Knowledge

Do you want to build a loyal customer base? Then offer ways they can discuss your product or service with other users. You'll find this very cost effective, and not nearly as much work as you might imagine.

Chat rooms are not difficult to implement, but businesses beware. In my surfing trips in search of good chat models, I've been to lots of empty rooms punctuated by an occasional plaintive "Is anybody there?" message from sometime last week. A much better strategy is to offer scheduled chats every month or two on a particular topic of interest, or to feature a well-known industry guru. Then publish a transcript of the chat for those who couldn't make it. Most of the successful chat centers have lots to do with making contacts with the opposite sex and not much to do with real business. To see a good business model, stop by Richard Seltzer's "Business on the World Wide Web" chat sponsored by The Boston Globe each Thursday at noon. You can also find resources on business uses of chat at our Web site.

On the other hand, electronic bulletin boards can be a wonderful customer support tool. For many years I maintained a CompuServe account solely to have access to software support forums which helped me fine-tune upgrades and new purchases. Today, Web sites can host a bulletin board which offers these functions and more.

Last week updates to McAfee Virus Scan 95 caused my computer to crash. What was wrong? I checked the McAfee Internet Support Forum, found a user who described a problem identical to my own, read the answer posted there by a support engineer, and solved my problem within minutes without having to contact McAfee at all. Over a period of months, a bulletin board system can grow into a powerful and dynamic FAQ on its own, and provide a valuable information support source for your company. ZD Net University uses a custom-designed bulletin board as the centerpiece of its online software training classes.

Our own Web Marketing Forum uses HyperNews, an excellent freeware program. It also offers an e-mail feature which alerts those who have "subscribed" to the forum of a new message. Such bulletin board systems always come with an administrative function to allow removal of trivial or undesirable messages, but I haven't found that much of a problem. Bulletin boards are a great untapped support resource which work extremely well in a Web environment.

Another way to allow customers to talk to one another is through an e-mail discussion list powered by majordomo or a similar mailing list program. When a member sends a message to the mailing list program it "echoes" the comment to every subscriber in the group inviting response and ongoing discussion. Some companies allow customers to discuss between themselves how to set up this application or that, perhaps monitored by a company employee, perhaps not. If you want to foster company loyalty, just making this forum available may be enough. Don't feel you have to censor it (unless your service is consistently bad and you don't want anyone to know it). Other companies use one-way mailing lists to alert customers of impending changes, new products, or service problems. Of course, newsletters focused on customer needs are a natural and valuable extension. Carefully-written newsletters are a powerful tool to build company or brand loyalty. Distribution cost of an e-mail newsletter is far below its printed and mailed cousin.

Tracking Orders

However, enabling customers to track orders via the Web is not inexpensive at all. FedEx offers dynamic tracking of package locations which UPS was forced to duplicate. But maintaining a live database integrated with the Web, and providing the kind of security needed to keep hackers out, is extremely expensive; you'd better look long and hard before you implement something like this. It's one thing to upload an on-line database daily or weekly to provide up-to-date information, but a live database is something else altogether. Perhaps, however, you'll find the cost is worth it. Order tracking does indeed provide welcome customer support.

Product selection guides

Let's say you have a very complex line of parts, automobile brakes and oil filters, for example. Customer support to your distributors now merges into an on-line ordering system as well as detailed product information regarding replacements, model numbers, etc. Customer support may require a detailed on-line catalog attached to a shopping cart system which enables purchase orders from your distributors. Inexpensive? No. But you may well find this worth your while to provide a competitive advantage in a global marketplace.

However, if your products are not nearly so complex, you may provide simple product selection guides with charts and tables on a series of Web pages. If you make it easy for your existing customers to become repeat customers, your business will flourish. Perhaps you need to supply your existing customers with a way to purchase supplies or add-ons for the products you've already sold them. Customer support and product sales merge once more.

Questions via E-Mail

Of course, you'll want to provide a list of contact options on one of your Web pages: phone, fax, snail mail, fax back directories, publication lists, and publication order forms. (Better yet, make your publications and fax-back content available on the Web and save money month after month!).

You may want to provide a way for customers to ask specific questions via e-mail. You can set up Web page response forms so that specific classes of questions are directed to specific e-mail addresses. You can also ask questions about the customer's context, model numbers, etc., with a space for the customer's description of the problem. I've found that many questions can be answered by merely sending the inquirer the Web address of a company document which addresses this very question. When you consider how long it would take to answer a common question over the phone compared to sending a prepared e-mail reply or URL reference to a document on your Web site, you can see how much money customer support on the Web could save you.

Merging of Intranet with Internet

But what if you don't everyone in the world to see what can go wrong with your product or service. You don't have to. Some or all customer service information can be hidden in a password-protected area. You e-mail current passwords to your customers each month so they and they alone have access to sensitive data and proprietary information. Password protection may seem exotic, but it is really very simple and inexpensive. While Wilson Internet Services' philosophy is to provide lots of free information to the Internet community, we use password protection to limit certain trade secrets for the exclusive use of our clients and Development Partners. When you think about it, a password-protected Web site is nearly the same as a corporate Intranet, though it uses the Internet rather than a expensive private network for connectivity.

Will customer support via the Web cost you money or save you money? Both. You'll need to set up new systems, and such as assigning specific employees to check for e-mail inquiries each day, and make sure they reply promptly. New systems are always expensive to implement in terms of planning, creativity, time, training and sometimes cash outlay. (Perhaps you'll charge for immediate response to questions like Microsoft does, turning customer support into something of a revenue center.) But in the long run, I believe Web-based customer support will save companies significant money while providing a higher level of customer support than can be offered by other means.

We also believe that if your company implements significant and obvious customer support systems on your Web site, you will attract new customers impressed by this support mechanism, as well as retain loyal customers who know you care about helping them out in a jam. While customer support via the Web is a competitive "leg up" in 1997, a year or two from now it will become de rigueur for companies that wish to be taken seriously in the national and global marketplace.

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Legal Audits of Web Sites

by Michael Overly

Operating a Web site is not without its perils –- particularly legal perils. Web sites involve unique and, in many instances, unresolved areas of the law. Familiarity with the particular laws of the state in which your business or Internet server is located is not enough. Liability for the operation of a Web site can arise under federal laws, the laws of other states, and even the laws of other countries.

Some of the more important areas of potential liability for businesses on the Web are summarized below. Although the list is by no means exhaustive, it provides an excellent starting point for a legal audit of your Web site.

• Do any of the states in which you do business impose restrictions on the sale of goods over the Internet? For example, in California businesses are required to display information regarding return policies on their Web pages.
• Does your Web site collect consumer information that is protected by a privacy law? The European Union, Japan, and the United States all have pending legislation directed at consumer privacy in on-line transactions.
• Does the name of your business or its domain name infringe the trademark or service mark of another company?
• Do any hyperlinks on your site infringe the trademark or service mark of another company?
• Do any hyperlinks on your site improperly imply a relationship with the linked site that does not exist? For example, links that falsely imply that the linked company is a customer or that the linked company has endorsed some product may be actionable.
• Is your business the owner or licensee of the copyright in all of the material included in the site? Web sites are a combination of text, graphics, and, in many instances, sound. The site will also likely contain proprietary software (e.g., Java applets or CGI scripts). Your business should make sure it has the right to use all of this material in its site.
• Have you obtained model releases for all persons whose images appear on the site?
• Does the site contain material created by or involving a member of a trade association or union (e.g., Writers Guild of America, American Federation for Radio and Television Artists, or Screen Actors Guild)?
• Does the site contain material that is critical of a competitor’s products? This type of material can give rise to a claim of trade libel.
• Does the site contain any defamatory material?
• Is sexually explicit material included in the site? Although the material may not be obscene in the jurisdiction in which your business or Internet server is located, it may be obscene under the community standards of another state or, possibly, another country.

A Web site can give a business the potential to reach new customers, to provide greater service to its existing customers, to expedite orders, and to substantially reduce its marketing and sales costs. By reviewing the site periodically to ensure it is in compliance with applicable laws, a business can go along way to ensuring that this asset will not turn into a liability.

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Michael Overly is an attorney with Call, Clayton & Jensen in Newport Beach, California. (moverly@concentric.net). Mr. Overly also has a master's degree in electrical engineering. His practice focuses on Internet and online law.

This article is intended to provide the reader with an overview of certain legal issues. It is not intended to take the place of legal counsel. You are strongly encouraged to engage competent legal counsel or other professionals to review the particular requirements of your business and to make recommendations based on that review.

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Nice Words about Wilson Internet Services

We were gratified to notice that NetGuide Online gives us their 4-star rating in all areas (content, design, personality, and overall) and says, "Wilson Internet Services offers a multitude of Web business services from this sharp-looking site with clean-cut American flavor. Free subscription to a marketing e-zine is offered, as well as informative, well-written articles about effective Web sales techniques and technical requirements. If you are putting your business on the Web, this is an excellent place to begin."

Alfred and Emily Glossbrenner in Making More Money on the Internet write: "Don't select your Web master until you have visited Wilson Internet Services and taken a look at that company's description of service and price list for 'Standard Web Site Packages.' The information is clearly presented and offers a range of options for businesses and professionals looking for affordable Web design services.... We suggest you print out all the information and use it as a yardstick for evaluating other Webmaster fees."

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The Voice of Experience on our Forum

Our readers are constantly posting ideas, comments, and questions on our Web Marketing Forum bulletin board. Scott Perry shared these recently:

I have a business that sells furniture on the Internet. I recently spent a whole day researching and trying these bulk e-mail programs everyone hears about. Here's my conclusion. Don't do it!

I spent an entire evening "scooping" e-mail addresses from news groups. In one hour I had 5,000 addresses, it is really quite amazing how the program retrieves, sorts, deletes duplicates, and prepares the data to be loaded. Then I set it up to shoot these 5,000 e-mail ads out. It took about 3 hours.

After I was done, I checked our corporate e-mail box and there were 1,000 "undeliverable" messages, as well as hundreds of complaints about sending the unsolicited e-mails. We got call after call, and tons more complaints the next few days. Not to mention we were "flamed" ... we were e-mailed 8,500 pages of the word "remove", 17MB that crashed my POP mail server! The only good thing is that we got a few thousand in sales directly connected to the e-mails we sent. Not worth the price we paid in complaints.

Scott Perry, Owner
Advanced Furnishing Concepts

In another posting Scott wrote:

My company's web site, http://www.furnituredirect.com, uses a monthly drawing for a $100 gift certificate to lure customers, and it keeps them coming back too! Also, it opens the door to promote your site in the appropriate news groups and be listed on other people's "Contest and giveaway" links sites. Trust me, this works great!

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Odds 'n' Ends

The URL for last issue's sponsor, Web Advertising '97, is http://www.thunderlizard.com/wmt.html

Have you wondered which books on Web marketing are worth buying? Take a look at our recommendations in our new Web Marketing Bookstore. You'll save 10% on orders made through our store.

I will be at Spring Internet World 97 in Los Angeles March 12 - 14. Perhaps we can arrange to meet there; I'll be hanging around the Mercantec kiosk at the HP booth, and will be speaking at a no-host Web Marketing Today dinner on Thursday evening, March 13, at 6:30 pm. I would like to meet you. Please send us e-mail if you would like to attend the dinner. Final details early in March.

Our Development Partners are a talented group. On our Graphic Artists and Special Effects site this month you see custom 3D Animations as well as Shockwave to enliven clients' Web pages. Keep watching this site to see the breadth of specialized graphics Wilson Internet Services is able to offer.

Would you like to get the word about your product or service to over 17,000 Web marketers and Webmasters? Consider sponsoring an issue of Web Marketing Today. You'll find full details about prices and open issues at http://www.wilsonweb.com/ads/