Linking the channel
Half the battle of having a Web site is finding the valuable content customers need
By Sara Procknow -- Industrial Distribution, 5/1/1998
The recent National Manufacturing Week held in Chicago was a convention immersed in technology. Exhibit after exhibit featured the latest software for engineers, bigger and faster than last year. Even more high-tech were the virtual reality demonstrations at many of the booths. Technology was everywhere on the show floor, including live demonstrations of the Internet.Perhaps the biggest reason for my technology-rush during the show was our own live coverage of National Manufacturing Week's events. ID Online, with its fellow Manufacturing Marketplace magazines, provided daily online coverage of the conferences, keynotes and booth highlights.
With the Web, we were able to provide the cutting-edge technology that no one else at the show was able to provide. An hour or two after a seminar on electronic commerce, for example, a story and digital photo were up on our Web site. Part of our reasoning for doing the live show coverage was to offer a "virtual" convention.
My purpose for drawing attention to our live Internet coverage is not meant to be a self-serving editorial. I bring up the daily updates and digital camera ideas for a very specific reason: You could do this -- or something similar -- for your business. Think about it.
What if you could update your site every day? Obviously, your subject matter would be different than National Manufacturing Week. But you could offer live Internet coverage of customers' orders: stock availability, status, shipping information, even the ability to expedite would be pretty cutting edge and valuable to customers, wouldn't it?
Who's going to get the order? The distributor salesperson who finally answers the customer's call after 30 rings only to roughly guess the number of hex-head screws available in the 3/4-inch length? Or, the distributor who's available 24-7 via the Web to offer customers (by way of a unique name and password), exact inventory levels and order status?
Two years ago Manufacturing Marketplace didn't do live coverage of conventions. Two years ago, most distributors didn't have Web sites. Couldn't be done. Wasn't needed. Customers didn't want it. But today, that has all changed.
The No. 1 complaint I hear from distributors revolves around the need to improve the quality of leads generated off their Web sites.
Seems as though many distributors get e-mails from literally all over the world, but it's not always economically feasible to handle the order (freight costs, too small an order, etc.). I have a suggestion, which echoes my sentiments above: Give existing customers reasons to visit. Put the pertinent information existing customers need on your Web site, like order tracking capability. Where's the value in providing too general information on your site?
And, as for manufacturers, send a little love your distributors' way. What about allocating some of that co-op advertising money to help get distributors' Web ideas off the ground? In exchange, maybe the distributor would place a banner ad, or create a link to your site.
The Internet remains one of the most inexpensive avenues for advertising. And, the more distributors you help, the more often your products are featured on the Web.
Additionally, manufacturers need to provide a distributor service on their own Web sites, something like Milwaukee Electric. Their site (www.mil-electric-tool.com) allows a customer to type in the zip code for a listing of local distributors.
Distributors want to know more than just what types of technologies exist; they want to know how it's being used before they dive in headfirst. With help from vendors and input from customers, distributors will be able to swim the expansive seas of the Internet.
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