Alta Vista Business Services Blog

I was mortified in a meeting with a client today when she said she and her staff thought the Web site overhaul project was frivolous. (I can hear the gasps from here!)

My first though? I think I need to make a few points here! Why is newspaper circulation down so much that papers across the country are laying off and closing their doors? Why do businesses list on Google, Yahoo!, and Bing for free when they can pay a fortune to list in the yellow pages?  Put simply, many people use the Internet to find the things they want or the information they need. Okay, well, not everybody. I’m not saying stop all your other marketing initiatives. But, there are real important facts about Internet usage. For example, 72% of Americans use the Internet. If you want to find new business, the Internet gives you a tremendous opportunity.

Okay, I can rant on these points forever, but I’m going to make a confession instead. I am an Internet professional. Period. It is my job to point out these facts to my clients or potential clients. Explain why their site needs an overhaul. Explain the tools and analytics I’m going to provide to keep them abreast of who is finding them. 

In some parts of the country, or certain circles, people simply don’t know these things. Suppose their old brochure style Website just sat there, no updates, no analytics. No way of knowing if it does their business one bit of good. One can see why they might have these perceptions. What’s the point of having a site? Alternatively, Some clients know there are problems with this and they hire me to fix it. Still others think they should just have a site because everyone else has one.

So, I have a bit of work to do with this valuable client. It’s called education. I seriously missed an opportunity by assuming she knows why she needs a Web site overhaul and failed to drive home those reasons in my initial presentation.

My vow to myself—and my profession: When I present a project to a client, my goal is to educate first. To make sure I don’t go away before she knows the facts and understands the service I provide is not to just provide a pretty, online brochure. In a nutshell, I don’t design Web sites. I provide Online Business solutions that help her promote her business products or services on the internet. Then I will do what I normally do, and that is make that new and improved site do what it’s supposed to do-- bring in new business! Then, I will prove it with leads- captured by forms, provide analytics, and go the extra mile so that site isn’t just like a very pretty printed brochure sitting in a drawer. 

I can just hear them now, “Ahhh, I get it!”