SELLING on the NET ‐ the Complete Guide

Citation

Jamthe (sudha@web‐net., S. (1998), "SELLING on the NET ‐ the Complete Guide", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 299-301. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.1998.15.3.299.2

Selling on the NET ‐ the Complete Guide lives up to its name and serves as a practical guide to the entire process of selling on the Internet. The authors bring 50+ years of experience in marketing and technology and cut through the jargon and hype. They list tips and techniques on how to sell successfully on the Internet.

The authors begin on an exciting note: “Welcome to this new, fascinating, and absolutely incredible electronic jungle”. In Chapter 1, the authors describe technical jargon such as Internet, Web, e‐mail and ftp. They are always aware that the audience of this book are not technical people and always stay with the reader with warnings such as, “We’ve included some technobabble in chapter 1”, “Warning! Technical stuff follows! Brace yourself!” and they explain the jargon in simple English with clear analogies such as “Think of the Web as the Mall of America in Cyberspace”.

Chapter 2 picks up speed and talks the language of a marketer. The chapter is titled “Your Communications Goal” and starts with “Is a puzzlement” and brings in a reality check about the need for an Internet communication goal. The best part of this section is that it is loaded with tons of pictures showing examples of real Web sites, explaining what is good or bad in them. The authors list business models in evidence today and show the potential and limitation of each strategy.

Chapter 3 compares the Internet with traditional direct marketing media. They show how the Net is different but we can draw parallels to traditional media.

Chapters 4 and 5 focus on unique Web site‐related techniques to make your site successful. The authors narrate what you can do to make your site visible to your potential customers. Then, they explain the things to do to seize the visitor’s attention the minute they enter your site.

Chapters 6 and 7 are loaded with tips of what always works. The authors discuss the basics of targeting customers. They describe five types of Web visitors and discuss what each of them looks for and what is the best approach that we can follow. Then, they focus on the information content and list some “copy rules” to remember when developing what to communicate to our prospects and how. They remind us of these rules many times and bring home the message. The three copy rules are:

(1) Substantial copy length within a single copy‐block is a negative factor.

(2) Don’t be afraid to sell.

(3) With every headline ask yourself: if I were reading this instead of writing it, would my interest level stay high?

Chapter 8 talks about tailoring your offers to the Net. It shows how the Internet is not “just another medium”. The authors highlight the unique strengths of the Internet such as its global nature and timeliness to reach customers today. They take the example of posting a catalog on the Web site and explaining how the catalog has to be done differently for a mouse click. They also show how to exploit the medium to create a sale quickly.

Chapter 9 focuses on the layout of the site that will make customers buy immediately. The authors give a list of home page guidelines without any technical jargon:

(1) Introduce your site.

(2) Grab their attention.

(3) Serve as Table of Contents (home page should link to all major information points).

(4) Point to new stuff.

(5) Download quickly.

As with all other chapters of the book, they teach by examples of good and bad sites.

Chapter 10 talks about electronic commerce. The authors explain the various techniques available today. They talk about making a sales transaction on the Internet and explain about taking orders, accepting payment and possible payment types on the Web. They also constantly reiterate the point that “For a marketer, technique is less significant than salesmanship”.

Chapter 11 closes with a note about the future of the Internet. The authors talk about what they foresee as the future of the Internet to make it a professional medium. They list some upcoming technologies and how they can impact posting information and ordering on the Web. They focus on these changes as they will affect marketers. Women and seniors are big unexploited targeted customers on the Internet. Newsletters on the Web are brilliant marketers’ tools. They close by reminding us of the need to always remember to create the desire to buy and not be carried away by the technology.

This book is very much a must to be read for both experienced direct marketing people and for companies looking to learn without jargon about selling successfully on the Web.