Giraffe Forum

Bravo! Well said.

As a webmaster for a municipal government, I have made many enemies within our organization to promote the cause of serving the customer first.

In my workplace, it is not the web team with their own agendas, but our department clients that want to look good to their peers, or justify their job’s existence within the organization by producing highly flashy websites with no content or strategic purpose.

Often, they propose a site navigation that starts with “About Us”, followed by “Our Committee”, and request a picture of their director on the home page with a corporate message. They want to promote themselves and SAY how great they are, instead of having an effective website which will SHOW how effective they are.

Saying ‘no’ and explaining why has become a daily ritual for me.

And thus, I have come to accept that my job requires a certain Machiavellian philosophy — that I may need to be loathed and feared by the departments in order to build effective and successful sites for our citizens.

100% agree.
The first question a web developer should ask, whether of a new external client, or an internal corporate department, is “What do your customers need?” Following the blank stares or the corporate Noddy ‘mission statement’ replies, the second question is “Who are your customers?” Point made; interesting discussions ensue.

It’s alarming how many ‘managers’ or owners can’t answer those questions, and it’s not surprising that so many ventures or websites fail to deliver, when an organisation can’t even identify their customers, let-alone recognise their needs.

And it can be very painful (and expensive) when an organisation realises that its 4,000 page website actually fails to meet the needs of the majority of its customers.

I’ve found that most customer needs can be defined by asking the fundamental questions: what (do you do? do you sell? do you provide?), when (are you open? can you deliver?), how (do I pay? make returns? contact you?), how much (is the product? is delivery? is VAT? special offers?), where (are your shops? are you demonstrating? is my order?), etc. Simplistic, but that’s what the web should be: simple. And any graphics, navigation or content should aim to assist that simplicity.

All we have to do is persuade managers that simple is good…

100% in agreement. I think that many companies really have lost touch with the basics of a company (i.e. who are you, what do you sell, and can consumers trust them enough to give them money)…its all about the spin aspect (or famewhoring a la Paris Hilton — no talent but somehow makes it into the spotlight).

I think the web is about bringing companies back to the basics. Its about authenticity and credibility. Its definately about turning the organization inside-out. And I hope that there are lots of web teams listening!

Fab post Gerry!

It’s so easy to get too self involved with designing something which visually pleases you or your peers (going one better than previous designs) - designing with your customers in mind is what communication is all about, and after all; website, print, video, podcast - its all communication.

Every design job should be undertaken with a fresh mind and goal to deliver what the user wants, not just what the client wants.

Strongly agree with the post and the comments. As a start-up software company just about to launch our first product, we are all hopping busy especially the web team. However, everyone on our eight-person staff is expected to take regular shifts in the customer email queues, be they software development engineer or CEO.

That kind of direct feedback is invaluable to the dev team and to our company. It helps that many of us are from Amazon.com, where the bar for customer service was set extremely high long before it was fashionable.

Thanks as always for a great post.

Gerry,
I want to thank you for your profound insights. I just subscribed to your newsletter very recently and I am already overwhelmed by the amount of profound insights I have to process. Sometimes I think its metaphorically necessary to hit a person on the head with a huge hammer, like perhaps might happen in one of the characters in a Bugs Bunny Cartoon! I am paying attention!
This newsletter and the blog post replies provides for me a significant amount of information to keep in mind with my own web site, and for the next steps to attracting further traffic and clients.

I agree that the Customer is the main reason we are all in business I also feel that customer engagement is not a ‘holy grail’ that can be reached; it is a process of developing and nurturing relationships.

We must realise that we won’t be able to engage everyone and we must accept that those who do engage will do so at different degrees and in different ways.

So as the Customer is our key to success we need to utilise every tool available both traditional & new tech. As you say this does not mean throwing together a site that is a jumble of the latest tech but identifying the benefits and working out the best fit. Something that I hope all WEB teams should do; after all as a new channel the commercial focus has to be priority number 1.

Technology should not be discounted as it can help with many aspects including usability and accessibility testing by using eye tracking, community forums and customer feedback all provide valuable information which can be used to assist the journey and help identify their needs and wants.

Yes the Customer is key and the site should fit their needs as best it can but as this arena is rapidly changing some widgets need to be considered as to how they may aid the process.

So if a WEB team gets a little excited about the latest widget or design then don’t discount it as a lot of them do have their benefits that may engage that one customer who you might have lost them.

It may be worth noting that the interactive experiences that digital media provide have transformed our ability to engage with our customers!