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Vendor Relationship Management (VRM)
This post continues where this one, which gives a bit of background on VRM, leaves off.
In a December, 2006 SuitWatch piece in LinuxJournal, Doc Searls writes that there are a number of parts of VRM, which include Data Independence - "Individuals needs to own and contro their own data, independent of vendors". Customer...
Google Customer Feedback Form For Ranking WebSites
As I was doing my regular (track orders) reports I've clicked through a URL to see our company's Order Thank you page (the one customers see when they hit SUBMIT at the end of their order process). To my surprise what I saw was a little visual line of text on the bottom...
Cheapskates The Best Early Customers For Startups?
So, do cheapskates make the best early customers for a startup. In a word: No. But, since you've already interrupted your busy day to read this, let's take look at this a wee bit deeper and explain why I don't think cheapskates make the best early customers.
SEO Improves Customer Service
A group blog I write for on occassion is hosting a carnival of customer service and invited the group to contribute. This is a business blog directed towards small and medium sized businesses on issues ranging from legal considerations to SEO. The invite made me think...
What To Do When Customers Complain
The ability to manage customers is one defining factor that separates your average worker from someone with management potential. Regardless of how careful you plan to operate your business, customers will always complain. So what can you do to help meet or exceed a customers expecations? 1. Don't Lose Customers...
Problem Customers: Fire Them
Problem customers and clients plague every business large and small. You know who they are after they show their true nature. Usually, however, that discovery of toxicity is made much too late. Fortunately, you do have a powerful option. You can fire those problem...
Prime Your Customer List For A New Product
Are you going to introduce a new product or service to the market place? Do you want to know how to introduce this new product or service to your well established customer list? What is the best way to prime your customer list when it comes to a new product or service? The answer is that there are several things you can do to...
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01.22.07
Branding Your Customers
 By Jason Collins
Branding your business is simply giving the public and your customers an image of your company.
By knowing how your company is perceived by the rest of the world, you can use your image to instill trust, loyalty, and stability within your customers. When you think of Lowe's Home Improvement you should think of a hardware store that focuses on low prices. When you think of Home Depot you should think of a hardware store that focuses on customer service. Lowes customer base is more interested in finding low prices for their hardware and supplies while the Home Depot customer base is more interested in having help finding what they need for their projects.
Most of all companies have a logo and a slogan which is also part of their branding strategy. Typically a company will use their main theme in their slogan. Domino's Pizza promotes themselves as the delivery experts while Papa John's Pizza promotes themselves as the pricier Better Ingredients, Better Pizza. Again the conclusion is simple; the Domino's customer base orders from Domino's for a speedy delivery while Papa John's customer base orders for the quality and taste. Business branding is a marketing strategy used to promote your companies goals which attract customers.
Your Branding Strategy
Choosing the right business branding strategy for your ecommerce business will help in attracting customers that share a common need. Some people feel that providing great customer service is what they want to focus on. This is by far the most popular and attractive branding method used to this day. Then you have businesses that focus on providing the lowest prices possible. This also works very well, especially in a market with expensive name brand items. Taking care of your customers is very important because they are the source of your success. There will always be customers who want to find the best deal while there will be customers who will want help.
The Web Marketplace
Selling products on the internet is different than selling products in a brick and mortar store. There are still a lot of people who refuse to buy anything over the internet because of the inconvenience of waiting for the product to be shipped, payment methods, and the possibilities of fraud. The number of people becoming comfortable with buying products online is growing everyday and a lot of people are using the web to research products and prices before they go shopping.
The Informative Presell
The soul of the internet is information and this is what most people use the internet for. When consumers walk into department stores they already have something in mind they want to buy and they don't need much if any information about the product. I have found that on the internet it is much better to provide good informative content about your products to make sales. The main reason people are online is that they are looking for information about the products they want to buy so it is important to provide everything you can about each and everyone of your products no matter how known or trivial they are.
Business Branding With Product Information
No matter what you choose, a good customer service policy or a low prices theme, you can use information to make sales. A good strategy I have seen is to use information as your companies branding strategy and combine the low prices and customer service themes. Set your store up to compare products with the information you provide for each product side by side. This is really useful to the customer who can then decide which one they want, the product that is cheaper or the product that is of better quality. This is the road that a lot of successful ecommerce businesses have taken because it provides a solution for each type of customer you may receive.
Conclusion
Having a targeted business branding strategy can eliminate any mystery your shoppers may feel when browsing your store. When you give your business a theme and show your customers your goals, they will be more willing to buy from you. Your business will have a direction and once you have established trust among your customers repeat sales will come. Your company will have morals to grow with and you can brand your customers into loyal buyers.
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