I was chatting with a VC friend of mine the other day. STOP! Yes, of all the VC's I know this one is actually a good guy! OK, back to the conversation. He knows the IT Solutions Provider space quite well and the differences between a VAR vs. MSP vs. CSP etc. and he has his fair share of opinions on what the right business model needs to be to achieve a good valuation and what those valuations can be. He's now interested in the this space as a potential investment area and he's had his research assistant look at and some typical IT Solutions Providers out there. He told me that both he and his assistant would go to some websites of these ITSP's and they could not for the life of them understand what they did, what their business models were and what value they provided to their clients. He went on to say a few other things that I thought were interesting to hear -
"they all look the same to me and by the same i mean that they sell technology to the world" and "they don't seem to care what their clients and prospects see on their website". Lastly he said "don't they know we are in a digital world today and showing the world that you are a digital company via your website is mandatory?".
So I thought I would jot down a few pet peeves of mine for when I visit the website of an IT Solutions Provider. Note: I'm not talking website SEO, navigation, color schemes, CTAs, content etc now - that's another blog for another time. I'm talking about when I go to a website what I like to see - and I don't think I'm alone.
1. Keep it simple, simple, simple. Far too many websites want to throw lots of words and pages at me with every conceivable technology description. Too much!
2. Educate me - and don't sell me (at least too much). I want to learn something - that's why I'm here! Selling = educating!
3. Tell me (in very simple terms),
- who you are. This is always the first page I go to. Who the heck are you guys?
- what you do. Not technology - tell me what business value you provide.
- who you do "it" for and don't say everyone. Tell me very specifically what types of businesses you cater to and what personas within the business you delight.
- how you do what you do. Not tech stuff just how you deliver your value.
- how well you do "it". Show me some successes.
- what's in it for me as the visitor. I'm here for a reason, tell me if there is anything for me or not.
- and what also would nice it to tell me why you are in this business. Think very hard on this one, and the answer is not to make your clients happy or to make money.
Am I asking too much? Just saying........................
Oh and one more thing - you never know who is going to view your website - so look great!
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