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The
fact is that the Web has not only changed the way we do business, but
also where.
Thinking back only a few years most small to medium island businesses couldn't
have considered doing business, particularly service-oriented business,
with the other side of the world. The costs and logistics involved were
just too impractical to make it worth considering.
By using the Internet, however, we don't have to be with our customers
to provide a good service; we don't even have to have someone on the
end of a phone when they want to call. No good doing it half-heartedly,
as a poor site can do more harm than good. Not communicating
with customers in their language and along their cultural guidelines
can lead to mishaps
or patronizing content that results in distrust and dislike of your company.
If you're not already a global business, be aware that times are changing
and it soon may not be just a case of tapping new markets, but one of having
to globalize to survive. As the term suggests, globalization isn't just
a phenomenon affecting your own backyard, but one that's happening worldwide.
In a year or two it may be a competitor in Hawaii that is taking away your
faithful local customers.
The potential markets are everywhere, wherever people use the products
or services you sell. The Web isn't a geographically specific medium, but
certain factors remain static, such as language, culture and physical distribution.
The Web offers no quick fix to these problems, and they must be overcome
traditionally.
Globalization: The key factors
- Localization is essential. A market must be understood
before it is exploited - this means understanding the culture within
the market and
the nuances of customers within that marketplace.
- Translation is
essential. Forrester Research Group estimates that you
have a three-times better chance of converting visitors to
customers
if you speak to them in their own language.
- Centralization makes
the whole process much more cost-effective. By locating
data centrally or providing a framework for local markets
you
can create a cost-effective Global Web Presence.
- Consistency
in messaging is paramount. Content management is crucial
to attaining consistency across websites.
- Delivering on promises,
as with any transaction, is vital
to long-term success. This can be achieved through
partner companies that can help with
order fulfillment or customer inquiries, but the key is
to make sure delivery is not too expensive, unpredictable
or time-consuming.
- Make sure that you have representation in each market that
you operate within, even if it is outsourced.
If you have a customer in California
that isn't happy, they may not want to wait on SXM office
hours
to complain.
- Make sure that you can fulfill your customers
requests 24/7/365. Remember, it's all about
immediate satisfaction. If your customers
in Europe want
to book their hotel room, that it's 3am for
you and 9am for them should not hamper fulfillment
as it could
result
in a lost booking.
Just because we're a small island in the tropics doesn't
mean we can't compete globally. Globalization does not stop at our borders. <BACK or TOP
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