According to the book The Customer Revolution by Patricia B Seybold, customer relationships are driving how businesses should be run – and those businesses that are denying these relationships will soon be die. She lists twelve demands customers are making today. Though the demands can be met through all types of business processes and systems, the Internet accounts for a greatest means for achieving the customer satisfaction she writes about.
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Applying these principles to the web, here are 15 actions customers want to take online that are reflecting these demands:
| Patricia B Seybold’s 12 Customer Demands | Rebecca St. Martin's 15 Online Actions |
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To better illustrate how the Actions relate to the Demands, I have prepared a chart (below) with examples of businesses that are already providing their customers the means to take these Actions on their web sites.
| Customers Want To... | What | Examples |
| Track | Purchases | PayPal.com tracks all purchases & sales plus all transfers to and from your bank accounts and credit cards. Amazon.com allows you to see your purchase history from as early as 2001 and all of the order details. |
| Problems & Resolutions | Sprint.com has a trouble ticketing system that records your interaction with technicians and all open and closed issues. | |
| Status of order / delivery | Nebraska Furniture Mart allows you to type in a tracking number to find out where your order status is. Many systems can be tied into USPS / UPS / Fed Ex, etc. | |
| Buy | Products & services with credit card | Any site that allows users to make a purchase with a shopping cart using a credit, debit, or electronic check equal good examples where customers can buy. |
| Utility services with bill pay | Many banks offer electronic bill pay through online services such as CheckFree.com and MyCheckFree.com. Funds are automatically withdrawn from a customer’s bank account. This is a convenience to customers who want to avoid late charges, mail and processing paperwork. | |
| Trade | Products & services | SwapEasy.com makes trading easy by asking users to pay very modest fee for trade. Nebraska Furniture Mart allows customers to trade in used merchandise for credit toward the purchase of other merchandise. |
| Sell / Earn | Auction Goods | EBay.com is an auction system for all kinds of goods. SkyAuction.com is a site where travel agencies, individuals, brokers, and ticketing agencies can list tickets, packages and travel deals on auction. |
| Products & Services (Affiliate) | Amazon.com pays a commission for items purchased via a special affiliate link you place on your web site | |
| Access Securely | Records | Health Care: Because of current HIPPA compliance laws, many clinics hesitate to put private health records online. Education: The University of Minnesota allows students to access and order official transcripts online. |
| Test Results | Health Care: Because of current HIPPA compliance laws, many clinics hesitate to put private medical test results online. Education: Boy Scouts of America offers online educational classes | |
| Transaction Histories | TCF.com online banking, PayPal.com internet payment system allow users to see complete histories of the transactions they’ve made to their accounts – incoming, outgoing and transfers of funds. | |
| Usage Histories | Tmobile.com – check cell phone usage WebSitesThatFly.com hosting – allows you to check disk space used. | |
| Learn | Pricing | Sites selling products almost always show product pricing. BizRate.com, DealTime.com, NexTag.com all offer side-by-side pricing along with customer ratings on each company’s’ service. |
| Real-time availability | Sears.com shows real-time availability of specific items in stock and at how many are at each store. You also have a choice to pick up or have the item delivered after you’ve purchased. | |
| Express Themselves | Discussion Groups | Microsoft.com has discussion groups where users can help each other as an alternative to buying per incident / subscription support services. |
| Rating & Feedback Forums | Amazon.com, Download.com and CircuitCity.com allow customers to rate products -- and for visitors to rate ratings (how useful each rating is.) | |
| Surveys | IRS.gov asks for user feedback via an online survey. | |
| Entertainment | OfficeMax.com “Elf Yourself” campaign. Users can upload and crop photos of themselves and loved ones and have the faces appear on dancing elves to the tune of Jingle Bells. | |
| Research | Specialty Databases | Multiple Listing System for locating homes on the market. |
| Specialty Buying Systems | eTrade.com allows consumers buy and sell their stocks themselves. | |
| Schedule | Reminders for themselves | Hallmark.com has a web feature allowing you to have email reminders sent to you for remembering birthdays, anniversaries, etc. |
| Appointments with others | Balance U Bodywork & Massage offers the ability to schedule appointments with therapists online after enrolling in their system. | |
| Try / Experience | Demos / Trial Versions | Download.com features thousands of trial and demo software. The creators generally have this availability on their site also. Demos can also be provided with step-by-step photos, PowerPoint presentations, flash presentations and video. |
| Samples | About.com lists companies that offer product samples for free. ThePaperMillStore.com has swatch books of paper you can buy before committing to the cost and shipping of reams of paper. AnchorBayTile.com similarly offers tile samples for sale at a nominal price. Author of JoinTheConversation.us allows readers to download a free chapter before committing to buy the whole book. | |
| Customize | Interface (Personalize) | My.Yahoo.com allows users to specify what content they want on their screen (weather, comics, etc.) and where it will be located. Users can choose color schemes / themes. Users can also import contacts from their phone book and appointments from their calendar. The calendar can be set to be public or private. |
| Communication Experience | eInstruction.com customers can choose to communicate via live chat, email or phone. Many chat systems allow customers to save the dialogue for future reference. | |
| Design-Your-Product (Wizards) | Diamond Rings at aDiamondIsForever.com Kitchens at Merillat.com Patios at ConcreteNetwork.com M&M’s at MyMMs.com/customprint | |
| Calculate | Amount of a project / solution | Insulation at PriorityInsulation.com can be estimated based on measurements users have taken from their homes. |
| Amount of monthly payment | Many lending and financial organizations, in addition to MLS distributors provide a mortgage calculator so that borrowers can see how much their monthly payments will be based on interest rate and other custom factors. Some will also display amortization charts. | |
| Receive | Expert Advice | Content on DIYnetwork.com gives step-by-step instructions with photos and sometimes videos on how to do a project from sewing a Valentine pillow to adding accent lighting to your living room. Nuskin.com has a questionnaire, or digital consultation, that narrows down product selections based on customer inputs. eTherapistsOnline.com offers real time counseling services via chat.
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| Support | Epson.com has interactive help programs to assist you in uncovering and solving the problem you’re having with your product. | |
| Alerts | Symantec.com, makers of anti-spam desktop software, allows users to subscribe to receive alerts on new worms, viruses, spy-ware, etc and receive instructions on how to solve the problems the invaders cause. Expedia.com & Travlecoity.com allow you to sign up for destinations you wish to travel to and receive an alert when the price has dropped to a level you specify.
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| Manage / Change | Email Subscriptions | WebSitesThatFly.com > put on / take off email list |
| Relationships | LinkedIn.com and Ryze.com provide platforms for business people to meet online, request and receive introductions and prospect for new business. Users can see who is linked* to whom so that they can request introductions. Match.com and eHarmony provide a platform for singles to screen prospective dates and make a romantic match. | |
| Mix & Match Products & Services or Just-the-Part-Desired | WebSitesThatFly.com professional services with someone else’s’ hosting. IChapters.com allows you to buy single chapters of books. | |
| Data from system to system | PayPal.com features the ability to download your transaction history and import it into Quickbooks or Quicken software. | |
| Itinerary | NWA.com allows users – not just travel agents -- to select flights based on time of departure, partner carrier, and number of stops/transfers. You can also change any aspect of your air travel online for $25 per ticket. | |
| Your Own Information | Every site that offers the ability to create an account also allows the ability to update that information. | |
| Physical Direction of an Item | UPS.com and FedEx.com allow senders and receivers of packages to stop and change the direction of a package. | |
| Customer’s Contact Information | Plaxo.com provides a platform for users of contact management systems (a.k.a. address books and CRM – customer relationship management systems) to allow the contact to change their own contact information. When the information has been updated, the system owner can import the data back into their system | |
| Brand as Own | Intellectual Property | WebSitesThatFly.com Workbook > other designers can have their logos imprinted on the book and resell or use as a giveaway to prospective clients. MLS makes their system available for real estate agents to build into their web sites. BuyersRealEstateGroup.com refines MLS searches to only the areas they serve. Blogging systems like Blogger.com & LiveJournal.com have made it easy for you to incorporate someone else’s articles into your own web site. |
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