Water Well Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/451364
How about your company marketing? What about your mar- ket capture rates? Your market share? Lots of questions. Today we live in a virtual world. It's no longer bricks and mortar; it's now also about search engines and clicks. Our transaction-driven world is finally about knowledge. We have entered a world that MIT professor and author Erik Brynjolfs- son describes as "brains not brawn, mind not matter, ideas not things." He states the computer age is running on a parallel path to the world of the electric engine. The first generation of management changed to electric en- gines from steam engines, but they didn't fundamentally alter how they used electricity's power. It took the next generation to make the changes to exploit the technological change the electric motor enabled. We have the same thing today regard- ing the computer and the Internet. Going Forward The world around you has changed. Your customers con- duct business on the Internet. They can search for products, get availability and pricing information, and place orders. There are electronic catalogs online with drag and drop order- ing methods in place. You can pay for nearly everything on- line with the use of a credit card. It's also about each company producing informative con- tent that draws prospective customers to their website because the site is filled with interesting, informative, and educational content. If customers can't find your site with Google, you're miss- ing a huge opportunity. To convert visitors into leads and leads into customers, companies need to attract the right visi- tors to their website with good quality content and blog posts written for their ideal customer. If your site is outdated, poorly designed, or doesn't work well on tablets and smart phones, you're in serious trouble. It's important to provide online catalogs, inventory, ordering, and more. Companies also need a marketing strategy that includes other key components designed to attract the right prospects and get found online. Our distribution methods and processes are old fashioned. Our business systems are challenged. Our thinking must change. This is an exciting time for those who grab a hold and go forward in this new reality. Your website needs to be so func- tional it ranks near the top in any search. You need to provide product availability and pricing on the Internet for everyone to see. You need to be able to allow orders to be placed and pay- ments made. You might have product configurators that would allow the customer to build their own products. You need to have content that attracts the right people. There is much yet to do. How are you doing? Are you ready? The time is now. WWJ Ron Slee is the founder of R.J. Slee & Associates in Rancho Mirage, California, a consulting firm that specializes in dealership operations. He also operates Quest, Learning Centers, which provides training services specializing in product support, and Insight (M&R) Institute, which operates "Dealer Twenty" Groups. He can be reached at ron @rjslee.com. WWJ February 2015 55 Twitter @WaterWellJournl