{"id":1380,"date":"2012-04-24T17:23:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-24T17:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/projects\/horsesforsources\/dreaming-website_042412\/"},"modified":"2012-04-24T17:23:00","modified_gmt":"2012-04-24T17:23:00","slug":"dreaming-website_042412","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsesforsources.com\/dreaming-website_042412\/","title":{"rendered":"Providers: Stop giving Deb Kops a headache and sort out your websites"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Deborah<\/a><\/p>\n

Deborah Kops, Research Fellow, HfS Research (after a couple of aspirin)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Not many people have marketed for providers, bought from providers and negotiated with providers as much as Deb Kops over the last 50 years or so. \u00a0She has heard more vernacular, more puff and fluff than anyone… and now it’s time to answer her plea:<\/p>\n

I’m dreaming of a great provider website<\/span><\/p>\n

When I\u2019m trying to keep up with the latest sourcing trend, I take a look at provider websites. While I always learn a thing or two, and get a good sense for where the industry is going, I generally come away with a headache, not only trying to read what\u2019s on the page, but more important,\u00a0 grasping the message. I\u2019d like to think I have at least an average intellect, but when some of these sites are written to try to impress someone with three PhDs in applied logic, I move onto the next search. And that\u2019s not good. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

It bollixes me that the best thing to hit outsourcing marketing since offshore locations is the advent of the website \u2014 inexpensive, flexible, interactive, data-rich, with worldwide reach, and offering the potential for clear differentiation. Yet why are outsourcing providers\u2019 websites such an abysmal lot when, for many, they are buyers\u2019 first introduction to a provider?<\/p>\n

After a casual perusal of a variety of websites, and a blinking headache, I\u2019d thought I\u2019d share the website sins against mankind that our industry regularly commits. They are such simple-to-fix transgressions that they are almost comical. But when a website is the front door for many buyers, it\u2019s a serious matter. Read my list of most egregious transgressions:<\/p>\n

Plain English. <\/strong>No, you don\u2019t get extra credit for sentences that ramble on for ten lines, with a liberal sprinkling of every word ending in \u201ction\u201d that\u2019s currently found in the dictionary. And this is not just a diatribe against websites written in so-called Indian English. Many other sites \u2014 British, American, you name it \u2014 are equally guilty.<\/p>\n

Speaking of plain English, if as a provider you have global aspirations, the lingua franca is American English spelling and syntax, just as it is for most global businesses. I know it\u2019s hard to give up s<\/em> for z<\/em>, and use the term batch<\/em> for class<\/em>, or know more<\/em> in place of learn more<\/em>, but Americans are a parochial lot. If you are putting up only one website, it should be targeted to American readers. After all, rumor has it that we are the most aggressive outsourcers.<\/p>\n

And since we\u2019re on the topic of plain English, please don\u2019t coin new words. I cannot find re-devising<\/em> in the dictionary \u2014 or thoughtsharing<\/em>, for that matter.<\/p>\n

No jargon.<\/strong> If I were queen, I\u2019d make it a criminal offense to use the following words: \u00a0enhance, enable, transform, partner, passion, <\/em>and innovation.<\/em> They are used so liberally, they either become meaningless or the reader automatically redacts them. Whatever happened to simple words such as improve, fix, change, speed, deliver<\/em>? Do the writers of these sites really believe that the use of big words impresses the reader?<\/p>\n

Many provider sites also manufacture acronyms as code for new nomenclature in order to appear more sophisticated. Does the reader take the time to understand an alphabet soup that is best used internally?<\/p>\n

Fewer adjectives.<\/strong> As a corollary to the use of big words, look at the majority of outsourcing sites and you\u2019ll see a liberal sprinkling of adjectives in an effort to impress. Please understand that all firsts<\/em> are pioneering<\/em> by nature, or that a 14-year continuous period<\/em> is by its very nature sustained<\/em>, or that if you are committed to excellence<\/em>, then truly<\/em> should go without saying. Marketers pushing pioneering firsts<\/em>, sustained continuity<\/em> and truly committed<\/em> should truly be committed.<\/p>\n

Unsubstantiated boasts. <\/strong>How many sites start out with \u201c[company] is the leader in outsourcing?\u201d And then the reader hunts through the site to find that mysterious third party that says it\u2019s so. Suffice it to say, leadership is something that is not self-proclaimed, but recognized by the industry. If a third party says you are a leader, or superior to the industry in any way, it holds water. If there\u2019s no independent attribution or accolade, tread very lightly. Braggadocio (an unfortunate big word) does not go down well with good clients.<\/p>\n

Parity across offerings.<\/strong> Ok, 50 percent of your revenue is in utilities, while most of your solutions revolve around finance and accounting. But you want the world to know that you also have expertise in banking, higher education and retail; visitors should also be aware that you have an HR gig or two, and that you know your way around a trading platform. But your site is overwhelmingly devoted to your strengths, with a full complement of solution descriptions, white papers, customer accolades, webinar podcasts and other artifacts, often on a microsite, while the other industry or service solutions have a scant one or two paragraph description.<\/p>\n

Convince me that you are serious about growing other verticals or horizontals by taking the time to invest in putting something of import on the site: some thought leadership or perhaps a webinar. Let me know you have some insight, or at least a point of view into the industry\u2019s challenge \u2014 that if it\u2019s important enough to invest in the target market, you\u2019ve taken the time to invest in solutions and opinions.<\/p>\n

\u201cLopsided\u201d sites persuade no one. Don\u2019t purport to be a full service, multi-industry provider when your website reads, to paraphrase the movie \u201cFour Weddings and a Funeral,\u201d like \u201cFour Hobbies and a Business.\u201d<\/p>\n

News I can actually use. <\/strong>Now I am very pleased that xx company won the Silver Pigeon award (which I\u2019ve never heard of), and very happy that they have the dosh to exhibit at the upcoming Source to Us symposium. I\u2019m also delighted to know that the chief executive looks smashing in cricket gear, or that the company is sponsoring the gold cup at the World Mud Wrestling Finals. But I\u2019d much rather know about the fact that the provider found a way to link a retailer\u2019s order to cash process with that of his supplier, cutting out 10 days of AR, \u00a0featured prominently on the home page, or that there is a corporate initiative to bring more diversity into the management ranks.<\/p>\n

Original branding. <\/strong>While I\u2019m banning jargon, I\u2019d also like to ban the use of iStockPhoto. Yes, it\u2019s easy to use and free, but when I see the same graphics over and over again (you know which ones I am referring to \u2014 the one with the flow chart drawn by a hand on a transparency, and those Gumby-like creatures that either hold hands or march in formation to scream \u201cteam,\u201d or various iterations of a spreadsheet.) If your brand is worth promoting, it\u2019s worth thinking through a graphic idiom and investing in iconography that really encapsulates the brand.<\/p>\n

White space and large print.<\/strong> There are no extra points awarded for packing 10,000 words in a remarkably small font onto one web page. And given the fact that digital is an inexpensive and flexible way to communicate, the cost should never get in the way. Give our eyes a rest, and invest in a little white space that frankly highlights some of the words of wisdom on the page. Regarding fonts: it may be my advanced age, but I cannot fathom why providers are so attracted to fonts that require someone with 20\/20 vision to take out a magnifying glass.\u00a0 It detracts from the message.<\/p>\n

Easy navigation.<\/strong> Less is more when it comes to navigation. It\u2019s not uncommon for outsourcing sites to have such a complicated wireframe that has enough dropdowns to fill a small stadium. By the time one has clicked five times, they\u2019re finished \u2014 and may be missing out on something you really want them to know.<\/p>\n

About Us sections that actually are about you. <\/strong>Locating a page describing the leadership is sometimes like looking for a needle in a haystack. For the life of me, I cannot find a friendly face on many outsourcing websites.<\/p>\n

Like most of us, I\u2019d like to know more about the people I am dealing with \u2014 in addition to CEO, the CFO and the chief counsel. After all, it\u2019s not executive management who do the work, it\u2019s the business line leaders and the solution heads. And when the provider is of offshore heritage but purports to be global, I\u2019d love to see a roster of leaders that does not look like an IIM yearbook, with a stray foreign exchange student or two. And for those of you who think your brand trumps all, and it\u2019s not necessary to post pix and bios, think again: we learn a lot from the type of people you hire, their level of experience, and how they complement each other. Ultimately, propinquity (another sesquipedalian noun, sorry) rules: people do business with people who are like them, so we look to see if there are leaders we can relate to.<\/p>\n

Dynamism and currency. <\/strong>Don\u2019t think websites are just a \u201cput \u2018em up and forget about it\u201d task. A good website must be managed each and every day. Take off the archives of events that features webinars back in 2007. Solvency II may be last year\u2019s issue, not front and center this year. What the CFO thought about the future of finance and accounting outsourcing in 2009 is no longer of general interest. If Joe is no longer with the company, take his title off your artifacts. Keep it current, make sure it\u2019s relevant.<\/p>\n

The Bottom-line: \u00a0This is easily fixable. \u00a0Now fix, please<\/span><\/p>\n

The good news is that all of this is easily fixable \u2014 if management starts thinking about how the reader perceives the site. A wise partner of mine once told me that it\u2019s not enough to focus on what you are saying \u2014 it\u2019s how the listener hears you. Taking a cue from him, it\u2019s time for the industry to start looking at their websites as buyers do.<\/p>\n

Deborah Kops is Research Fellow, HfS Research (click here<\/a> for bio)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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