Why Strategy?

What is the purpose of your website?  Without addressing what we believe is the elephant in the room, namely your business’ core strategy, you may find yourself spending money and time on tactics that may or may not work.

The dictionary defines strategy as:  “A plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result.”  In military usage a distinction is made between strategy and tactics.  How the battle is fought is a matter of tactics; whether it should be fought at all is a matter of strategy.

Optimizing your conversion is just a tactic looking for a strategy.  We cannot do a really effective job of helping you improve the conversion and usability of your website until we have determined a clear value proposition for your site (why should the visitor deal with you and not your competitor).  Once your value proposition is established, the next steps become obvious.

An example might help clarify the strategy/tactics difference:

I recently bought a Sennheiser telephone headset from a site (which will remain unnamed).  The headset arrived in good shape, but there was no way to connect it to my phone.

To use the headset, you must also purchase a headset connection device which connects the headset to your office phone, mobile phone or computer.  Sennheiser makes several connection devices depending on the type of connection needed: 2.5 mm phone plug, 3.5 mm phone plug, telephone jack or computer connection.

I went back to the website to see if I’d just missed a something when I ordered the headset.  Nope, there were some vague references to a headset connection device, but nothing that caught my attention, or that said “Don’t buy this product without also purchasing a connection device.”

I called customer service for the website, got the correct connection device, and  they mailed it out for free (so unhappy customer becomes satisfied customer).

What will this website do in response to my complaint.  Tactics to the rescue.  They will probably change the product description to alert customers that they’ll need to purchase a connection device,  in addition to the headset,  and then provide a way for the customer to determine the correct connection device for their situation.

These tactics will solve the problem for this product, but what about future products?  A change of strategy is needed.  The new strategy could be: before we introduce a new product or a new line of products to our website, the staff tries them out.

The new strategy provides several benefits:

• Your product descriptions will be more accurate
• You can personalize product descriptions
• You can post staff reviews of new products
• You’ll be able to advise customers on any accessories required to make the product perform as expected
• Your checkout process can be configured to alert the customer to any unusual/unexpected product details prior to ordering

If you have no strategy, or a flawed strategy, you are depending on luck (roulette) to get you where you are going.  Getting to the heart of your company’s strategy allows us to focus on your true goals.  Now the time, effort and money you put into conversion and usability will really work for you and your customers.