| Advertise
More Effectively
We have
all had the experience of seeing an advertisement
on the weekend that perhaps piqued our interest.
We intend to respond to the ad during "normal"
business hours. Often, however, we never get
around to it. Don't let this happen to your
customers and potential customers. The best
time to give them more information is RIGHT
THEN, WHEN THEY WANT IT! The information they
want and need will be on your Internet Web Site,
24 hours a day and 7 days a week. The customer
may read your ad or see it on TV at 2:00 a.m.
on a Sunday morning. If you display your Web
Site address with your ad, they will be able
to immediately call up your site and get the
information they want, and have the ability
to contact you or your sales staff. Your Internet
Web Site address on all of your advertisements
and promotions will do two things for you. It
will give your company a cutting edge corporate
image and it will encourage the viewer to take
a look at what you have to offer. Since you
are already paying for the advertisement, the
addition of your web address increases your
exposure without adding any cost.
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Easily
Provide World Wide Documentation at Little Cost
Distributing
a traditional printed catalog can be very expensive.
In addition to the high cost of production and
printing, mailing costs can be enormous. Besides
the fact that all too often mailed pieces can
quickly become "junk mail". On the Internet,
no matter how many people view your catalog,
you will never run out. Printed catalogs quickly
go out of date and have to be reprinted. Incurring
all of the costs over and over and over again.
On the Internet, when you have a change in your
product line, offering, or pricing, you simply
make a change to the site. Then instantly every
customer has a brand new, up to date copy of
your catalog. Perhaps best of all is that your
entire product line is available worldwide without
ever spending a cent on printing and distribution.
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Give
Your Company a Cutting Edge Corporate Image
Try this
simple experiment the next time you are at a
social function. Ask any business person or
professional if their company is on the Internet?
If it's not, they will likely be uncomfortable
about the question. There is a sense of urgency
about getting connected to the Internet. Most
small business people act as though they feel
guilty, and like they are the only one left
not yet on the Internet. This pressure will
only increase with time. Think back to just
a few years ago when fax machines were thought
of as amazing technology, but far too costly
for most companies. Today a fax machine is not
a luxury, but a business necessity. Your customers
automatically assume you have a fax machine.
Soon the same will be true of a Web site.
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Make
It Easy For Clients to Reach You
Your
clients can instantly request more information.
All they have to do is click one simple link
or icon. This inquiry can be as simple as a
request for more information or to have their
name added to your mailing list. But it can
easily be an extended survey of client opinions
and feelings. An E-mail link puts you in instant
contact with your client database. By capturing
their E-mail addresses you can easily and automatically
let your entire E-mail database of customers
know about special offers or situations in seconds.
Sending an E-mail broadcast to your targeted
E-mail list can be done at virtually no cost.
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Create
an Effective Employee Information Site
Increase
productivity and decrease branch office miscommunication.
Your offices and employees anywhere in the world
(and while on the road) can easily view up-to-the-minute
changes in corporate policy or recent additions
to your policies and procedures. This information
can be secure, private information, or more
general in nature. Every office can have up
to date human resource policy information. Every
office can be working on the same set of rules.
This could prove invaluable as a guide to a
manager in a new and potentially sticky situation.
Since it's on-line, your entire policy manual
could be searched within seconds. You would
never face the problem of a remote manager or
employee making a decision based on a policy
that had been discarded long ago but is still
"in the book".
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Provide
a Common Location for Emergency Communications
You can
instantly communicate with your employees worldwide
with last minute changes and instructions. This
instant communication can be directed to your
entire company, or to just a few select individuals.
Most importantly, it can happen in seconds.
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Support
Different Platforms from Multiple Branch Offices
No matter
what computer platform each branch office uses,
you can easily communicate with all of them
at the same time. The Unix-based data processing
center on one region can easily communicate
with the Apple-based graphics department on
the other. Both of them can communicate with
the Windows-based main office. The internet
offers easy, inexpensive inter-office communication
regardless of platform.
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Long
Distance Training Center
You can
train or just update all of your remote branches
and offices. The training can be received via
weekly E-mailed sections. They can also be instructed
to view the training section of your Web Site.
The training can be done in conjunction with
CD-ROM discs or just from the Internet.
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Download
Software and Updates
Dramatically
reduce update times and avoid costly overnight
express deliveries. As soon as updates are placed
on the Internet, they are available for multiple
users to download at the same time. The end
user is happy because he or she can get the
update within minutes of it being made available.
You will be pleased when you see the savings
on your overnight delivery service bill at the
end of each month.
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Remote
Sales Force Tracking
Your
sales force in the field can upload their client
contact lists as fast as they can type them
in. This can be done in the form of E-mail or
you can have a template on your site. Each salesperson
can fill out their information on line and with
the click of a button insert it into the database.
If security is important, passwords or encryption
can be used to protect and authenticate information.
You receive the information much more quickly
and in a usable format. The sales representative
can avoid unnecessary paper work by simply printing
out their completed form prior to transmission.
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