PESTECH2001.COM SUPPLEMENT: Customer Care

A well-designed Web site can provide many benefits to your company, however, simply posting a site on the Internet is not enough. It is vital for pest control companies to know how to manage online customers for a Web site to be successful, according to Mike Ayars, president, Marathon Data Systems, who spoke at Pestech2001.com.

GETTING CUSTOMERS. "The biggest benefit the Internet offers a company is that it removes the cost of communication as a factor in the cost of doing business with your customers," Ayars said.

This cost reduction works on several levels. For example, when a traditional pest control company markets and sells itself to potential customers, phones, fax machines, mail and travel costs for customer service representatives must be factored into the cost. But a company with Web presence is vastly different; it can gather leads simply by offering a place where visitors submit their names and e-mail addresses. "Offering the visitor extra information if they submit their e-mail address is the easiest way to get their name," Ayars said.

KEEPING CUSTOMERS. Marketing and selling to existing pest control customers is also easier over the Internet, Ayars said. In traditional companies, postage, phone and printing costs can often be the biggest expense in keeping existing customers informed of the its offerings. "E-mail and a monthly e-newsletter are simple solutions that take away virtually all of your company’s costs in keeping your customers," Ayars said. In addition, most transactions can be made over e-mail via credit card, relieving the cost of billing customers through "snail" mail.

EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS. Armed with the knowledge to manage customers on the Web site, the next important step for pest control companies is to exceed their expectations. "Any business wishing to retain its customers will build and nurture relationships with them," Ayers said. "But unlike traditional relationships, which can withstand an occasional disagreement or miscommunication, a relationship with customers on the Internet is virtually nonexistent and can end quickly if another company is just a mouse click away."

Therefore, the most challenging part of an Internet business can often be building relationships with customers. An effective way establish and sustain relationships with online customers is through personalization of your company’s Web site. Through personalization, your customers can tailor your site to fit their individual tastes and needs. "If all of their information is already conveniently on your site, their visit will be more pleasurable and they’re likely to return," Ayars said.

Personalizing the site can be as simple as having the visitor imput his or her name and e-mail address on the site, so that on their next visit, their name will be prominently displayed on your home page. Or, personalization can be more in-depth and offer a profile form for the visitor so that products and services relevant to his or her area (like local news or weather) will be displayed.

BEING AVAILABLE. Once your site has been launched and relationships have been formed, it is vital to be readily available to customers. "The convergence from ‘brick and mortar’ companies to ‘click and mortar’ companies gives customers a wide variety of business touch points or ways that can communicate with you," Ayars said.

In traditional pest control company, important touch points include phone, fax, in-person visits, the company’s physical structure and acknowledgement through media such as newspapers, television and other Web sites. However, Internet companies automatically add e-mail and Web site to that list for even more possible touch points.

Five years ago, most company Web sites were mysterious, impersonal and provided little contact information if problems arose on the site. In order to have a successful Web site and company today, it is crucial to provide excellent, consistent customer service through every touch point. "Provide contact information on the Web site, in every piece of advertising and on facsimile cover sheets," Ayars said. "There should be no question as to how a customer can get in contact with your company."

CONCLUSION. At first glance converting a traditional business to one that’s Internet-driven may seem daunting because it’s relatively new and can appear complex to some. "But if you take the time to understand how the Internet works and see what a Web site will do for your business," Ayars said, "it will take your company to places unheard of in traditional businesses."