The real value of the Internet is in customer communication. Let us help you get to know your customers better. Control IT Yourself.com members are given all the tools they need to effectively communicate with their customers in ways most people never knew were possible. In addition to adding custom sections and pages, or subscribing to community sections and pages, you are also able to add "function sections" that will enhance your business in many ways. Some examples of current and potential function sections are: customer database, surveys, newsletters, discussion forums, job applications, credit applications, online accounts receivable, online store inventory, store Intranet, online giveaways, games, puzzles, etc. If it can be done, and is useful to our members, we will offer it. And thanks to our extensible platform, new functions will surface in a matter of months not years.
Your online success will take more than a great-looking Web site; this is just the first step. In order to make your site useful beyond that of a simple yellow pages ad, you must interact with your customers online and refine their Internet experience as you get to know them better. Ask your customers to visit your Web site, and then give them a persuasive reason to come back again and again. Keep your customers informed; always let them know what you are up to. As you interact with your customers online, you will gather targeted marketing data that will spiral over time into a wealth of invaluable information. Don't be duped by popular sources into thinking that you have to be selling online to have a successful Web site. The word Internet is synonymous with Communication, not commerce.
An example of a way your Control IT Yourself.com Web system can save you time and money is through enhanced employee communication. Once your staff receives their free store email addresses (Name@YourStore.com), you gain the ability to distribute timely information at the click of a button. Notify your employees of a staffing change, scheduling change, or an update in store policy. You can also save precious time by assigning employees to different tasks on your Web site, while maintaining full control over what actually gets published to the World Wide Web. You'll see first-hand how email communication greatly increases store efficiency, saving you time and money.
Your Web system will not only accommodate your customer's current and future needs, but also your business partners. As the Internet revolution continues to race forward, more and more of your vendors will be forced to embrace e-communication and all of its efficiencies. Things like claim forms, direct ship orders, and invoice requests will be transmitted at the click of a mouse, and processed in a matter of minutes not months.
You can attach a customer registration form to your site so your customers can register to receive newsletters and special offers. This form will help profile your customers, allowing you to send targeted marketing materials to specific groups of customers. It will also allow you to gauge who is using your site, so that you can tailor your content to fit the needs of your e-customers. Your site will include full-text searching capabilities. This will allow your visitors to search your custom content pages and any maintained content pages that you have subscribed to.
Ok, here it is. You knew it was coming sooner or later. We put it at the end, because that's where it belongs. Now don't get us wrong, we are big believers in e-commerce and a small businesses ability to leverage the Web to sell their products and services. But lets get our priorities straight and put the horse before the cart. Most small businesses will not be successful selling online until they have built and solidified an e-relationship with their customers. To be successful online, you must treat your Web site not as a stand-alone entity, but as an extension of your real world products and services. You have worked hard to establish a professional image in your community; don't jeopardize that image by offering your customers an e-commerce solution that is incomplete. Let us first help you build your e-communication foundation. Then you can profitably leverage your stores products and services through your Web site, directly to your e-customers.
So what kind of e-commerce functionality can you expect from Control IT Yourself.com? Rest assured that it won't be limited to 100 manually entered, non-searchable items. We will offer a complete POS integrated solution with all the flexibility and power you would expect to effectively control your margins, pricing, promotions, QOH, etc. Remember, participation in our focus group will ensure you a say in not only our e-commerce solution but in all of our future advanced functionality.
