Dear Distributors, don’t over analyze, just START!

Most distributors are in the process of either starting an eCommerce initiative or improving an existing one.

However, in the midst of process and following a plan, many distributors are getting bogged down in the minutia.  The details tend to overwhelm and even paralyze them.

My summary of this article – you don’t have to get it all right from the beginning, so start as soon as possible.

This is what you need

The biggest problem that most distributors face is that without having done this before, how do they know what to look for?  How are you expected to decide which features are released when?  What should we customize?  What do we need to integrate?  What features give us the biggest return?

So, here is your baseline or benchmark:

• User experience / creative – the look and feel of the site should match your culture and your organization.  It should feel like walking into one of your locations.  That means you need a creative person or an agency design the look and feel of the site.  Keep it simple.
• Search and Navigation – if you have over 1,000 SKUs then you must have a good search box.  Guided navigation is also critical for them to refine the catalog.
• Good product data – it doesn’t have to be perfect or 100% complete, but you must create an ongoing process (which probably means forever) to continuously improve your product data (descriptions, attributes, images, specs, attachments)
• Customer pricing – when customers come on to your site they want to see their pricing, terms and conditions
• Simple checkout – the checkout should be intuitive, simple and as frictionless as possible.  That means you should probably take a hard look at your “new customer” onboarding process.
• ERP integration – pricing, inventory, order status, product information

I try not to solution without knowing you.  In fact I made fun of people that do.  However,  I want to give you a few suggestions, so forgive me:

Whatever software you choose, don’t customize it for the first 3 – 6 months.  Invest all your time and money into 3 things:

• Integration with your ERP
• Integration with your ERP
• Integration with your ERP

You get the point.  Only kind of kidding.  Now the for real list:

• Integration with your ERP
• Product data
• Creative look and feel

In that order.

Integration

You want to at least integrate the following from your backend systems (most of the time that means ERP and/or CRM):

• Product information
• Inventory
• Customer information
• Contracts, custom pricing
• Order status

Product Data

If your product data sucks, then you are normal.  So don’t stop your eCommerce initiative, simply pick the top 5 – 10% of your most popular products and invest in that product data.  Have your people build product data, invest in 3rd parties, buy your data, and import it from your suppliers.  Make some small percentage of your product data as rich as possible.

What do you do with the rest of your data?  Use supplier data and ERP data to make it “okay”.

Here is the hard part.  Create a continual data optimization process for the rest of your life to make product data better.  Every quarter get better.

HINT:  Use third party data providers and builders.  They will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Creative Look and Feel

Invest in an agency or designer to make your site look good.  Don’t let the developers do it. Please!  It matters. You know it does, because you have gone on sites before and said how bad they were.  And then keep them on retainer.  Designers are worth every penny because they will make you look professional.  They will help you build online trust with your customer.

One last note on software

I purposefully left software selection out of this.  I wrote a 50 page manifesto on how to select software.  My point in this article, is to pick software that provides those initial benchmarks (search, navigation, product data, customer pricing, integration into ERP) and don’t customize it – take it out of the box.  Because, let’s be honest  – you don’t really know what areas to customize that will get you a ROI, right?  Instead, invest in integration, product data, and creative.

THEN – just watch how your customers use it.  Let’s figure out ways to get more customers to use and adopt eCommerce.   Let’s watch it, then use our analytics to tell us what we should change, why we should change it, and what kind of return we will get on our investment.

If you want more

I don’t right hook (ie make a sale) often, but the Private Advisory Group for Ecommerce (cleverly named P.A.G.E.) was built exactly for this purpose.  I answer all of your questions.  I guide you, coach you, help you plan, even advise you on your decisions.  P.A.G.E. helps you start.  Check it out.

photo credit: Pallet Pick 1 via photopin (license)

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Looking for eCommerce or Digital staff members?

I have received a number of requests recently to help spread the word about open positions in all kinds of organizations. I would love to help you do that. I have a fantastic network and audience of really talented people – from contractors to full time.

Vice versa — if you are looking for new opportunities.

Reach out to me and we can chat about it.

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Don’t think I’m crazy when I suggest that FaceBook should be one of your highest B2B priorities for the rest of 2015

FaceBook?? Seriously Justin??  Are you losing your way??  I know, believe me.  That is why this is one of the most important posts I have ever written.

One of my biggest pet peeves in B2B eCommerce is when newly B2C-turned-B2B consultants forget their audience and talk about FaceBook.  Sometimes they just forget about a retail social media logo on a slide and say something like “oh, FaceBook doesn’t apply to B2B.”  And yet, here I am — about to talk about why FaceBook should be one of your highest priorities for the rest of 2015 and all 2016.  Like everything else I do, I hopefully will turn this topic upside down for you.  Here is what I will cover:

• Why B2B marketers MUST use FaceBook
• How I use FaceBook in my B2B strategy
• How to start today

I have recently realized that I have become a B2B marketer myself — a practitioner, no longer a consultant or a software guy.  I have spent hundreds of hours reading, learning, and testing.  Testing is the key.  Everything I am about to say, I actually do every day.  It is an understatement to say I have tested it.  And it works incredibly well.

Why B2B marketers MUST use FaceBook

First of all,  this is not about good photos, cute branding strategies, promotions, giveaways, any of that.  You are not retail.  FaceBook for B2B should be about one thing.  Understanding your audience.  In the future, I will write about advertising on FaceBook for B2B companies.  In the community, it is hands down my most popular workshop.  By prioritizing FaceBook in your marketing strategy for eCommerce or otherwise, you will learn more about your audience than you ever thought possible.

If not ads, then how will I learn about my audience?

It is called a “Custom Audience Pixel.”  You put it in your website code like you do with Google analytics.  If the person coming to your website visited FaceBook on their computer at some point, they would be tagged AND tracked in FaceBook!  Have you ever wondered how you get ads on FaceBook from sites or products that you have visited recently?  I had previously thought that only big retail companies could do that.  I found that anyone could do it.  And it is FREE!  And incredibly powerful.

It is called remarketing, but we are going to start with understanding how this helps us understand our audience.

Once FaceBook has tagged over 1,000 website visitors there is an incredible amount of information immediately available to you about your audience, your customers, and your prospects.

There are over 100+ ways to segment, but here are a few

• Age and Gender
• Lifestyle (married, rural parents, suburban seniors, kids and clout)
• Location
• Education level
• Job Title
• Most popular likes
• Household income
• Household size
• Home market value (yep, crazy)
• What kind of car they drive (yep, it is getting crazier)
• Spending methods (credit card, ATM, Travel & Entertainment, Cash versus Card)

Pretty crazy – as a marketer, isn’t that Gold information?

But wait, I haven’t even gotten to the good stuff

• Interests – books, movies, sports teams, sports they like to play
• Purchase behavior – BUSINESS PURCHASES!!!

Take a look at a few of the purchase behavior insights

What does all of this mean?

It means I can understand my audience in ways I never have before.  I can see that my audience is 62% male, married with two kids,  lives on the east coast, and prefer golf over hiking.  My audience also likes Jordan Spieth, Dave Ramsey, and Seth Godin, drives a Honda, uses mostly credit cards, and buy training for their company.  And that is just scratching the surface.  I know a lot more about you.

If you had that type of information, could you put together the right headlines, engaging campaigns, and unbelievable product offerings?  Absolutely!

How I use FaceBook in my B2B strategy

I will save most of this for the workshops, but I use FaceBook heavily.  When you visit my website, I build an audience for you on FaceBook and Twitter (yes you can do the same thing on Twitter).  I know who you are, what pages you have visited, even which emails you have opened, and which you have clicked on.

I know who my audience is, what they like, and what they buy.  I show specific ads to only that audience that has visited my site.  I test ads to see which work and which do not.  I keep a swipe file.  And when someone buys something, I add them to a new audience.

I segment my audience by all kinds of things to test what works best.  If I am using an image of a car, and I know my audience drives a Honda, maybe I show them a Honda so we can relate.  But maybe I show a BMW because that is where they want to be eventually.

If I am promoting an event, I segment my audience to see what kinds of activities they want to do.  Golf?  Check.  Orioles game?  Hmm – maybe.  Hiking or mountain biking?  Not for my audience.

How to start today

If this sounds crazy to you – then first start with my simple eBook on using a LinkedIN hack in a similar fashion.  It is a fantastic concept.

If this doesn’t sound so crazy, then still get the eBook and then create your custom audience pixel, immediately.  It is simple to do.  You need to have two things.  A FaceBook fan or company page and a website.

1. Log in to that FaceBook company page profile, and thengo to FaceBook ad manager.
2. On the left-hand column select “”
3. Click Create Custom Audience
   When you create your first audience, it will give you a pixel or code for you to place in the <HEAD></HEAD> tags of your website.
4. After that is installed, you can create a Custom Audience.  See screen shots below.

Create custom audience by website traffic.  If you see the other options, your mind will start racing.  Hold off for now, we will get to that.

Facebook uses a single pixel to track everything.  But based on that pixel we can create many different custom audiences.  Again, as you see what the options are in the Website Traffic box, your head will start spinning.  Stay with me though.  Create an audience with “180 days” and anyone who visits your website for now.  Give it a name called “Visited WebSite” and then let it sit.

Don’t do anything crazy yet – just let your custom audience fill up to more than a 1,000.  Then we can talk about some crazy ways of using this data.

Like what you see?  We do deep dives in the community.  Join us – the ROI is instantaneous.

photo credit: Startup Riot 2009 via photopin (license)

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Test post

This is a test of the AgileRFP categor

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Every B2B sales person should have his own website

This is a bit off topic, but very applicable to my audience. I have learned a lot in this journey with eCommerceandB2B.com. I have learned the power of creating a personal brand that transcends my organization. I have learned that my personal brand helps my organization tremendously. In fact, by establishing my own brand (and my own website) I:

• am paid to speak at Associations my company would never have the opportunity to attend or even sponsor
• had the best keynote of my life at the B2B Online Summit
• create my own point of view on relevant topics which directly helps me in customer meetings
• developed a social following on LinkedIN and Twitter with more reach than my organization at times
• have met some incredible people and authors like Ted Coine and John Rossman
• have been introduced to incredible content from marketers like Jon Loomer, Michael Hyatt, and Jeff Walker. (no affiliate links – they are safe)
• have more credibility inside my organization  because of all the above

A side benefit of all of eCommerceandB2B.com is that I have learned a tremendous amount about internet marketing and social media as it applies to B2B sales and marketing.  I recently realized that what I have learned should be learned by everyone that is in sales.  EVERYONE!  I figured out a few hacks that are incredible.  The results have been mind blowing.

The basic tenets of the hack are the basics of internet marketing.

1. Create something of value
2. Give that thing of value away in exchange for an email address
3. Drive traffic to that thing of value

Every single sales person in the world needs to be doing some form of internet marketing.  If you are running your territory like your own business, then marketing has to be a significant part of your business plan.

Here is a crazy surprise.  I found a way to penetrate those named accounts that you have on your list.  There is a crazy hack that works so incredibly well.  I love how it works so well that I created an eBook walking salespeople step by step through the process.  I call it Crush Your Quota.  There is a lot more to know beyond this eBook that I will continue to share along the way.  So I guess we can call this Part 1.

Listen up sales people.  Get a website today – a single page, a blog, or something that you can test your own internet marketing strategies on.

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Grainger is looking for a Program Manager for eCommerce

Grainger is a fantastic company doing amazing things in eCommerce. You should know them as a leader in B2B eCommerce, truly defining what B2B eCommerce will look like in future. They have an exciting opportunity in their Chicago location for a Program Manager for eCommerce.

Here is what the job description looks like.  Grainger would like our community to know about this position, but I would very much appreciate you telling them that I sent you.  This is a new type of offering on eCommerceandB2B.com, and I would like to continue doing so.

Program Manager for eCommerce

Execute large, cross-functional projects or programs that have significant business impact and may span multiple business units/areas.

Responsibility for directing teams consisting of typically >15 people, diverse backgrounds and skill sets, likely to be geographically dispersed.

Manage dependencies between program’s projects; shepherds team on integration points and upstream/ downstream implications within and across projects and/or business activities.

Mentor business leaders and project leads on technical project leadership skills and best practices and ensures project life cycle frameworks are employed to deliver effectively and efficiently.

• Single accountable party for defining, planning, orchestrating and delivering one or more projects, programs or strategic initiatives. Accountable for one or more initiatives that encompass business, IT and operational deliverables.
• Ensures end results are of the highest caliber with a clearly articulated scope and clarity on the desired qualitative and/or quantifiable business benefit or outcomes.
• Directs large-scale, complex projects often involving multiple internal and external constituents and matrix partners.
• Structures the project/program/initiative in such a way that clear accountabilities are established and ultimately the PM bears accountability for delivery and satisfaction of the key stakeholders.
• Is an effective team builder who promotes team effectiveness by utilizing each person’s unique talent and skills, motivates performance, fosters communication and mitigates problems. In the interest of effective team operations, may recommend and take actions to alter team composition.
• Directly manages the application of a standard project life cycle methodology and ensures plans and actions executed by assembled business and IT teams are coordinated and delivered in accordance with that methodology.
• Rigorously manages scope to ensure commitments are achieved and expected outcomes enabled within agreed upon time, cost and quality parameters. Takes the initiative to make and/or propose adjustments in project/program aspects and makes recommendations to leadership.
• Responsible for the financial planning and management of the project/program/initiative. Validates financial forecasts and provides on-going reconciliation of resources and other related project expenditures.
• Directs the development of deployment strategy and plan that encompasses project communications, training and change management plans and personally assures that appropriate contacts and relationships are developed and maintained.
• Chairs weekly Core Team and monthly Operating Committee meetings to review progress with key constituents as well as provides regular status reporting to all stakeholders.
• Ensures that project milestones are identified and tracked to proactively identify and resolve issues and mitigate risks that may threaten project/program/initiative delivery.
• Ensures that key project/program/initiative deliverables are appropriately managed that support successful project delivery using project management best practices, methods and tools. The resulting evidence of this may include the following artifacts: project charter, integrated project plan, resource plan, risk management/contingency plans as well as a deployment plan that factors adoption to change.
• Represents the initiative in various project governance and inter-departmental forums.

Grainger Program Manager Requirements

• Bachelor Degree and 7+ years relevant work experience in program and project leadership. MBA a plus.
• Able to see big picture yet deal with significant complexities and ambiguities, especially as related to orchestrating changes to multiple business processes and/or supporting platforms/ technology changes for 1+ organizations or the Enterprise .
• Strong analytic and problem-solving skills on complex matters.
• Proven leadership ability that manifests itself in quickly earning sponsorship and key stakeholder trust; mobilizing and motivating teams; setting direction and approach; resolving conflict; delivering tough messages with grace; executing with limited information and ambiguity.
• Demonstrated, applied expertise organizing and delivering complex projects.
• Proven relationship management skills that enable effective navigation in a highly matrixed organization and incorporates and fosters appropriate customer focus.
• Solid negotiation, influencing and conflict resolution skills.
• Sound business, technical and financial acumen.
• Big picture thinker with an entrepreneurial bent who combines those qualities with a proven track record of results orientation.
• Focused and versatile team player who is comfortable under pressure.
• Strong communicator with polished presentation skills. Ability to communicate at all levels with clarity and precision both written and verbally.
• Demonstrated strong sense of urgency with laser-like focus and command of issues and risks. Track record of proactively anticipating problems, avoiding them and/or leading effective barrier removal efforts to maintain team focus on delivery.
• Excellent problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
• Exemplary core project management knowledge and skills and expertise in the use of various project development life cycle methods and tools, such as Agile/Scrum and Waterfall.
• Accomplished in and fosters the use of Continuous Improvement (CI) methods and tools.

Click here to apply, but don’t forget to tell them I sent you!!!!

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How to select a new B2B eCommerce Platform? 6 Ways to Plan for Your New Project.