As the Web Turns
No longer just online brochures, today’s websites allow true integration with your business.
Jul 01, 2005
bizAZ Magazine – bizAZ Magazine
The evolution of websites from electronic brochure to complex, transaction-processing workhorse is real. The sites of yesterday are being replaced with new solutions that not only communicate a company’s brand, but act as true lead- generation machines that connect directly to mission-critical business applications. The result: integration that delivers increased sales and savings to the business.
Sound too good to be true?
I’m here to tell you that the rumors are true. Side effects of integration can include: increased responsiveness to customer requests, fewer errors in processing data, the ability to handle larger volumes of business and, of course, bragging rights at your next CEO power breakfast. However, as with all things in life, these benefits come at a cost. Depending on what you’re trying to integrate and the age of those systems, this can be an expensive venture. The good news is that with every new day systems become more open and integration costs drop.
Take, for example, an auto dealer running the quintessential circa-1988 “green-screen” terminal application. Your daddy better be Trump if you want to throw leads directly into your system.
Conversely, if you’re a more nimble, enlightened company of the next generation using Quickbooks Online for accounting and SalesForce.com for CRM, integration nirvana could literally be a day and a few dollars away. Integration means capturing leads from your website, profiling their interests, and more efficiently servicing customers—all from your site directly connected to CRM.
Now, just because you can integrate doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. Before embarking on your integration adventure you should weigh the costs against the potential benefits of integration and ensure that a return on your investment is going to be at the end of this trip.
Back to our auto dealer example: say the dealer’s site generates 4-5 leads for vehicle sales in a day and e-mails the leads to the dealer. At the dealership Bob the customer service lead takes 15 minutes a day to transcribe the e-mails into the dealer’s old-school system. Given Bob’s loaded cost to the organization of $18 an hour, this process is costing the dealer roughly $32 a week. This is not a significant number.
Given the potential cost of integration for the dealer being in the thousands of dollars range, they might as well take the 6:45 flight to Vegas and throw their budget on red–they’d have a much better chance of achieving the ROI they’re looking for. Or better yet: put the integration dreams on hold (just for a bit) and invest in effective marketing techniques that drive results through their site. Then, when their site’s results trend towards numbers of significance (say 40-50 leads a day), revisit the ROI calculation and see if it’s integration time.
Chris Johnson (chris@terralever.com) is founder and CEO of Terralever, a leading Tempe-based interactive firm that delivers a range of integrated technology-driven online marketing solutions.
Media Contacts
Celeste Johnson
Sacks Public Relations
direct: 602-619-4444
celeste@sackspr.com
Andrew Richter
Terralever, Managing Partner
direct: 480-839-1080
sales@terralever.com