• How much information should be communicated through the Internet?
• How can we duplicate the personal relationships over the Internet now that we have customers that are no longer within our standard geographic territory?
• What is the most effective strategy to manage the conflict in communicating with customers through personal interaction and the Internet?

Amount of information to be shared

Look at these two scenarios:  

Scenario 1: Company A has a website that provides comprehensive information related to the company, its products, customer testimonials and all the other standard information that you would typically see.

Scenario 2: Company B has all the standard information but has also gone several steps ahead by including details on problems with products encountered in certain cases, limitations on product use and, most interestingly, a detailed comparative evaluation of their products with their competitors.  

Which one would you prefer? Most people tend to pick Company B. When you are trying to work with your Internet consultant, try to keep the following issues in mind.  

A website that appears to be direct and straightforward develops a sense of trust.
Warning about potential problems and highlighting limitations right away is helpful in making better decisions and preventing problems from happening.  Comparative assessment with competitive products saves time and promotes trust.

Managing long-distance relationships

While it would be hard to duplicate the relationships that are developed in person, it is still possible to duplicate a lot of other things. For instance, it doesn’t take long for you to acknowledge and help a customer who walks into your office in person. Why then does it take companies days or weeks to respond to e-mails?  

As long as companies can duplicate the fundamental principle of a business relationship — “acting in the best interest of the other party” — it really does not matter if you cannot shake each other’s hands. 

Managing information delivery channel conflict

It is not surprising that some of your privileged customers will be upset that information that they received, either on an exclusive basis or at least ahead of others in the past, is now available to everyone at the same time. This is a sensitive area for you to consider carefully and you should provide such information to your selected customers through a secure area on the website.

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