There’s no question that if you are running a business today, no matter how small or large it is, you need to have an online presence. This is true whether you are selling consumer products that can be purchased directly online, or are in the business-to-business arena utilizing a sales force or distributors.While there are many reasons to have a website in today’s digital environment, there are two basic reasons. First, it adds credibility to your business. It wasn’t too long ago that the Internet was considered a transient form of communication. The prevailing attitude among many businesses and their customers was that you needed print brochures, catalogs and other physical materials to show you were a real company. Now, people question the existence of your business if they can’t find you on the web. Also, your website can be a non-stop promotional tool. Websites are visible 24/7, and they don’t ask for vacation or take a sick day.
Beyond these very elementary reasons for having a website, B2B companies have another compelling motivation to make sure they have a strong web presence. The Internet has brought about a sea change in buyer/seller relationships. The availability of information and greater pricing transparency has shifted power to the buyer. At the same time, the Internet has created new methods for marketers to have one-to-one dialogue with customers rather than relying on mass marketing methods. These changes have transformed the way B2B companies target customers and communicate with them, as well as often altering the role and approach of your sales force.
There’s a report on our website that you can link to here that discusses this new paradigm for sales and marketing relationships. This shift is one of the many reasons to give careful thought to how you create, design and maintain your website. I’ll discuss some of the reasons, along with examples of the website success achieved by some of our B2B clients, in a future blog.
