Make way for the Web
Big or small, distributors need to acquaint themselves with the Internet -- and fast
By Michael Shatto -- Industrial Distribution, 11/1/1998
E-mail, the World Wide Web, Internet, Server, Java, Cookies, HTTP, ISPs, HTML, URLs, Search Engines, Meta tags and Keywords. Confused? Dazed? Don't know which way to turn? Well, as an owner or executive of a distribution company, it's time you get educated. The future is here and the success and growth of your company is depending on it. There is no doubt you will be left in the dust if you don't take action now.I'm talking, of course, about the Internet -- the World Wide Web. It is not just a new medium, but a new kind of media. To my knowledge, the last time a new type of media was created was when broadcast (radio and television) emerged.
It's time to recognize the Internet as the future of our industry -- as a powerful marketing and communications tool. When comparing the similarities and differences in the Big Four --Print, Broadcast, Direct Mail and Telemarketing -- it is apparent that the Internet has more in common with telemarketing and direct mail, which are forms of direct marketing that our industry relies on for success.
What is direct marketing? It is an interactive system which uses one or more mediums to effect a measurable response or transaction at any location. Key phrases in this statement are "interactive" and "measurable response." This does not mean that the Internet is strictly a vehicle for direct marketing. The Internet does all that and more -- a Web page, for instance, can provide image advertising, company background information, product information, engineering information, and employment opportunities.
Now I ask you, don't we all want to hire a sales force that can do all that? Throw in 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week on the job and you have the ultimate employee -- and he won't question any changes that you implement. Add to that his salary -- essentially the cost of the site -- which is less than a dollar a day, no benefits, no car allowance, and a territory that includes the entire world. I've hired him already!
I may have made it sound unbelievable so far, but there are many things you have to do to reap the rewards of the Internet. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.
A site on the Web does not mean immediate sales. You have to complement it with strong in-house support. Take e-mail, for example. Fast response to customer e-mail is critical -- the customer wants a reply just as quickly as he sends the request. So it is critical to stay on top of the e-mails or literature requests that you get. Answer all literature requests and you might be surprised who calls you six months later and orders from a piece of literature you followed up with. It's the law of percentages.
We have all been beating ourselves up over how to become more efficient and reduce our costs at the same time -- and the answer to that question is here. The Internet allows companies to reach a wider audience, at the same time making it easier for that audience to do business with them.
Ask yourself how much industrial literature you take home for light reading at night. I hope, for the most part, none! Now ask yourself how much time you spend on the Internet searching your competition's new site or looking for new products in the industry. The answer to that is probably many times more than you would ever bring home a catalog to read. Engineers, purchasing agents, and MRO buyers do the same thing and they are more apt to e-mail you while on the Internet than call you the next work day. It's the way we do things now -- the path of least resistance. That customer doesn't have to sit through a long, pressured sales call from you. He searched and found enough information from your site, so he is impressed, or at least intrigued, with what you have to offer.
In short, the best way to describe the Internet is like this: The world has just become your next door neighbor and you didn't even see him move in.
MS Industrial Enterprises is a power transmission distributorship based in Etters, Pa.
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