We’ve all had this experience; we know that there is a local company that provides some service that we need. We search online and find almost nothing, or worse, nothing local at all. It’s sickening for us because we can’t find a local service provider. It’s worse for that company, because they have lost a sale, and possibly a recurring customer. If only they had set up a public website with some basic information to tell us who they are, what they do, and how to contact them.
Recent information published by Silicon Republic states that:
Some 73pc of Irish SMEs without a website worry they are losing potential business and are aware their competitors are already online … More than half of those SMEs said the reason they don’t have a website is because they lack the time, funds or knowledge to get one up and running …
I’m no business guru but that smells like an opportunity to me. If only there was some unified messaging, collaboration, and online presence solution that could connect small/medium businesses with partners and customers. Oh …
Earlier this year we ran a series of Office 365 education events with MVP presenter, Kerstin Rachfahl. Kerstin’s core customer base is the small/medium enterprise in Germany, who has similar challenges and opportunities as similar companies in Ireland. Kerstin stressed the importance for partners to find opportunities to:
- Provide customization services
- Differentiate from the competition
Are you implementing Office 365? If so, have you ever asked if your customer has a website? If they didn’t have a site, did you offer to build them even a simple brochure site using the public website feature of Office 365? Even a simple site can be optimized for search engines, and that will:
- Give you an additional installation opportunity
- Make the customer’s company appear in search results, hopefully increasing businessProvide an opportunity to give the customer an on-going service, thus maintaining the customer relationship
- Create a possibility of service differentiation
It doesn’t take much to become a presence online. An SME doesn’t need the next great site; they just need to present the essential information and be listed by the big 2 search engines. This can open up a world of opportunity for the customer and for you.
