E-commerce is a large portion of the future of sales. In retail, it’s now mandatory to be able to let customers buy online if you want to keep up with your competition. E-commerce has become a way of life, and you need to take advantage of it. Billions are now being spent online — but soon it will be trillions. Almost everything can be purchased online in one form or another. Airline companies put travel agents out of business by the thousands, by simply offering their tickets for sale online.

• What are you selling online?
• What could you be selling online?
• What should you be selling online?

Those are probably painful questions for you because your Web site’s not too good, not user friendly, not sales friendly, and contains little more than your silly announcements, and your “self-talk.”

Here’s the test: Click on every page of your Website and print out any page that you think is valuable to your customer. Not information about you or your shipping terms or your business hours — I’m talking about things that your customer will profit from, and benefit from, in terms of them. The more value there is, the more they may want to buy something from you.

CHALLENGE: Click on every page of your Website that has something to sell. Would you buy? Have you tried to buy? How easy is it? Have you called customers that have bought from your site?

WHEW!: Take heart, your competition’s Website is probably as equally crappy as yours.

UH OH!: But if it isn’t, you’re in trouble.

FINAL ANSWER: Three key words: Make it easy. Three more key words: Make it fun. Three more key words: Make it attractive. Three more key words: Build customer value. Three more key words: Take credit cards. Three more key words: Save e-mail addresses. Three more key words: Have weekly specials. Three more key words: Do it now.

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Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Sales Answers. President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service at www.trainone.com. He can be reached at 704/333-1112 or e-mail to salesman@gitomer.com (C) 2006 All Rights Reserved