Web Interactivity and Customer Focus

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
Web Marketing Today, Issue 20, August 25, 1996

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This article contains older information. Go here for newer information on conversion and testing.

Why does a given commercial Web site exist? "To meet customer needs" is the only logical answer. Too many Web sites are constructed to meet the business person's need -- and fail miserably. If we truly meet customer needs, then, and only then, are we likely to meet business needs. Let's look at interactivity from this perspective.

interactivity adj. 1: mutually or reciprocally active. 2: of, relating to, or being a two-way electronic communication system (as a telephone, cable television, or a computer) that involves a user's orders (as for information or merchandise) or responses (as to a poll). (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10^th Edition, 1993)

From a business standpoint, a Web site is interactive if it allows the customer to select actions which will provide answers or help. Avoid a "bells-and-whistles-wow-'em" perspective. Customer need is central, not pizzazz. A site bulging with trendy gimmicks will have an extremely brief half-life on the Net. So what are customer needs? While we can't begin to be exhaustive in a single article, these include:

• Information retrieval, and
• Social interaction

If you can meet these needs, you are likely to be successful.

Information Retrieval

Hyperlinks. The most basic level of interactivity is by means of hypertext links, blue underlined clickable words which take you to underlying information. Take note: the Web is a point-and-click rather than a linear environment; the user, not the designer, decides the route he or she will follow through the site. Most sites have moved away from sentences with hyperlinked words to a menu-driven system, just to make it easier for the user to find her way.

Search engine. An information-rich Web site needs a search tool to cut the customer's time finding what he's looking for. A search engine is indeed interactive: he types in a word or two and then makes his selection from a resulting list of matching document titles or database records.

Downloading. Perhaps you haven't thought of downloading large files or programs as interactivity, but it is. You've put your customer in control and given her the means of obtaining information and tools large and small.

Getting questions answered. Last week I sent a question to info@offendingwebsite.com. What I received was an immediate but irritating automatic message which answered questions I didn't ask. Your customer won't warm up to a robot unless it is very well-trained!

Hyperlinked e-mail addresses ("mail-to" links) provide a quick way for customers to contact you. Even better for many uses is a simple form which allows your business to solicit valuable information -- name, e-mail address, topic, company name, phone number, etc. -- so you can respond more quickly and precisely. Interaction is all about answering your e-mail promptly and in a helpful manner. "We want a Web presence," one company told me, "but we don't want to give out an e-mail address. We just don't have the staff to respond." Honest, maybe, but not very customer-focused. Meeting customer needs is what successful business is all about!

Q & A bulletin board. I've kept my CompuServe subscription over the years for one primary reason: forums afford me solutions for problems I encounter installing and configuring new software. As I survey the various topics for which there are postings, I often find someone else has already asked my question and received a helpful answer. No reason to ask again; I just read the answer, and go about implementing the solution. When I do post a question, I'll often receive an answer on the forum or via e-mail within a few days. This type of forum is now available for Web site owners at relatively low cost.

If you haven't already seen it, take a look at how a freeware/shareware bulletin board program can be used to support customers: HyperNews ver 1.9 by Daniel LiLiberte. Perhaps a Web board's most valuable use is for customer support. When a customer posts a comment or question, an e-mail copy is automatically transmitted to you, the bulletin board owner. Your e-mail response to the question can even be posted to the board without ever cranking up your Web browser. You can also re-arrange questions and answers into more meaningful categories and sequences, or delete them all together when they have outlived their usefulness. This is high level interaction, which brings us to a related customer need: social interaction.

Social Interaction

Is social interaction really a customer need? you ask. Probably. Customers want to be treated as individuals, and all but nerds enjoy conversation. This means our Web sites must glow with humanity and flexibility: our e-mail is answered promptly, our writing style is personal and chatty.

But social interaction? Yes! The most popular features of CompuServe and AOL are their real-time chat groups. I've never been a great fan of either CB radio or chat forums, but my preference isn't too important: it's the customer's preference that counts!

So what can chat do for your business? One inexpensive tool makes chat between groups possible on the Web without any special plug-ins: WebChat ver 0.2, a freeware chat program developed by Michael Fremont of the Internet Roundtable Society. Chat programs have progressed a good bit since then. You can see more about business use of chat in our Web Marketing Info Center. The granddaddy of casual WebChat rooms is the huge WebChat Broadcasting System. What you want to avoid on your Web site is an empty chat room that people only enter to ask, "Is anybody here."

Ultimately, the Internet is the ultimate global forum for interacting with customers and potential customers. Take advantage of all the medium has to offer your organization's customers--for information retrieval, social interaction, and much more.

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You may find it useful to refer to our on-line Web interactivity chart.

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