Part 2: Value existing customers and customer feedback

Let's move to getting more customers, most of us are focused on getting NEW visitors, but you think this is a mistake. Why?
There are two ways to grow your business, get more customers or get more business out of your existing customers. I'm not against getting new customers, I just don't think it's the place to look first when using the Internet as the tool.

The web is a lousy place to find and talk to people you don't know (i.e. new visitors). It's scattered, it's random, and it has no center of gravity. Look, a telephone can reach the whole world too, but if that's not ringing off the hook, why do people think that building a website will suddenly drive people to them?

On the other hand, the Internet is the best tool ever invented for developing and growing relationships that you already have. It has no variable cost, it's two way, it's easy to personalize, it's trackable, etc.

One of the first areas I focus on with client companies is their existing customer base. Almost without exception, I find that most companies are ignoring significant portions of this group, if not the whole group entirely. Companies that take the time to engage the relationships they already have, whether customers or just interested prospective customers, find that they can generate more sales, reduce client turnover, increase visit frequency and create friend to friend referrals (the grand slam of relationship marketing).

This is so much more cost effective than the mass market advertising that we're all so in love with that it's literally a no brainer.

Another of your "heretical" notions: "everything doesn't have to be perfect." Can you elaborate?
When you work in the physical world, there are a lot of forces pushing for perfection. As anybody who has ever managed the development of a brochure or CD or direct mail piece knows, the more pieces you produce at once, the cheaper the per piece price becomes. Also, if you find a mistake, you need to throw the whole thing in the garbage.

Both of these offline realities, production economies and the inability to make changes after the fact, encourage perfection and therefore waiting ("Let's proof it one more time to make sure we included everything and that it reads just right.")

In the online world, neither of these two factors exist. There are no production economies, and you can (and should) make changes constantly. That suggests a bias towards getting going, and learning along the way. It's counterintuitive to a lot of seasoned professionals, but it's the way to be successful in the digital world.

Give us your thoughts on encouraging customer input, (again not for the fainthearted)!
I worked in an industry for twelve years (the cable television industry) that was expert at discouraging and dampening customer input. Our implicit motto was: "When I want your opinion, I'll ask for it, and please don't call me because I don't want to hire any more people to pick up the phone."

In the phone based environment of most traditional businesses, there is no easy way to track customer input, disseminate it internally, or have an ongoing two way dialogue between customers and the business. In the physical world, customer input quickly becomes viewed as an expense to be managed and minimized, and the only time it is solicited is under very controlled conditions such as focus groups and quantitative market research.

Offline, it's the rare organization that encourages input when the costs of interaction are so closely correlated with staffing expense.

With email however, the cost of interaction with customers goes down, and the value of interaction with customers goes up, so the decision to encourage input becomes a lot easier.

Customers can now easily engage the company in real conversations. A record of the conversations exists which can now be measured, tracked and saved; and many more people inside the business can be connected to the customer (not just the people who pick up the phones).

This has a profound effect on the way customers feel about companies they deal with, as well as on how the voice of the customer makes its way inside the company. The opportunities for relationship building, cost savings, revenue generation and product development to give just a few examples, are enormous.

Companies that do not actively encourage real time input from their customers will be swept away by competitors who do. It's that simple.

When it comes to building a company's first site, you advise: Do It Now! Why the rush?
One of my favorite quotes is, "It takes nine months to make a baby, no matter how many women you put on the job."

Some things just take time, no matter how smart you are or how hard you try. For a traditional businessperson trying to learn how to use the Web as a tool, it's very reminiscent of living in a foreign country. It's not inherently more difficult, just different, and to a large extent, the only way to pick up the culture is to live there for a while.

You need time in the culture, and I haven't found a way to rush it. That suggests taking action now, BEFORE your customers demand it, so that you can learn early while nobody is really looking. There is a huge opportunity cost to waiting.

Where do you see BluePenguin in five years?
I started Blue Penguin Development, Inc. as a way to combine my fascination with the efficiencies of the Internet, with my belief that existing customer relationships are the place to focus in building a business. I look for ways to combine the two wherever possible.

I feel like I'm at the front of a movement among traditional businesses that is just starting to see the connections, and I hope to continue working to educate experienced business people in this regard. I like to think of myself as the American who's been living in a foreign country for many years, who helps you get acclimated to the new culture when you come over later on.

Ultimately, I'm working on building a career for myself that allows me to be completely location independent, so that I can define the where and when of my work life in whatever way works best for me and my family.

Lastly, if you could change one thing about the Web, what would it be?
Well, if working in this industry had the side effect of curing baldness, I have to admit I'd be even happier. Other than that, I wouldn't change a thing.