Take a Virtual Drive Past Your Competition's Business

A remarkable, almost magical, transformation has taken place in the past few years in the business world ­ and, yes, it's the Internet.

The Internet has become a vital, vibrant and effective business tool for RV industry companies and every business executive and manager that understands the potential of the Internet is looking at his or her options to assure that this tool is as effective as it can be.

The days of putting up a web page designed by your barber's niece for $100 and then sitting back complacently thinking you're using the Internet effectively have long since passed. Like every other part of your business, it's a competitive marketplace and the Internet only intensifies that competitiveness.

A few years ago, an RV dealer, for example, knew who his competition was and probably drove by his competitor's place of business on the way to and from work everyday. If he put up a new sign, you knew it, if he ran a special sale, you would see his advertising in the newspaper, on television or hear his spots on the radio, and if he took on a new line of RVs chances are you knew it before the ink was dry on the dealer-manufacturer franchise agreement. You always knew instinctively what you had to do to stay ahead.

The Internet has changed that.

Now your competition isn't necessarily only that dealer down the road, it could be any dealer anywhere in the country ­ and they could be successfully marketing and selling products and services to your customer, and taking sales and the resulting profit and pocketing it.

That same vigilance that worked for you in the local market, now must be applied to the Internet. As a business owner or manager, when's the last time you looked at your competitor's web site, and not just the site of that dealer down the street, but also the dealer in the adjacent county that also sells the same brands you sell? And an even better question might be -- when's the last time you looked at your web site? It looked good to you three years ago when you approved the design, but is it up to par by today's standards? If not, it may be time to rethink your vision about how the Internet can augment your business. Just like the models of RVs you sell today are different from what you sold three years ago, or last year for that matter, the ideas on web site design and new technologies have changed the way people market on the Internet.

But let's say you have the best web site on your side of the Mason-Dixon line, do you ever ask yourself if your customer base is finding it?

Having a great web site is little value if potential customers never find it. And how does an RV company gauge whether or not all the potential customers who are looking for a product or service they sell are finding them? There are no easy answers and the choices companies make, like any business decision, have to be weighed against cost versus return. continued