Make the Connection With Your Markets - International Business Development

When I got my first business websites I spent several weeks looking for the right hosting service. Of course, I wanted to sign up with a host with great service and reliability.

There were two other issues buzzing in my head:

A Business Hosting Solution

I had used an American company before because they have a good after sales service and great technical support.

They also have a 24 hour telephone customer support service, with American style customer service. This means you usually feel like they care about trying to help you.

I can call North American phone number for free with my telephone service. So a service with an American phone number is not an issue for me.

But I just did not like the idea of setting up an international online business with a company whose sole branding campaign is to flash a pretty young woman's big boobs all over the place.

Pictures do speak a thousand words. What if they are the wrong words?

My online business has nothing to do with another type of online business - in the "get rich quick" or "easy money" categories.

Did I really want my company to be associated with these photos and these types of online businesses?

A French Service

I live in France after all. So I wanted to try to find a French hosting company with good service. It is always a challenge to find any company with good service in France. I did some research.

I contacted a few companies clearly stating what I was interested in and that I wanted to sign up soon. Of course the responses were slow. But my initial questions on reliability and customer service were not appreciated.

Final Decision

The tipping point for my final decision was the limited customer support offered by French companies. 35 hour work weeks? In addition, I felt like I knew more about website hosting than the French people I had on the phone.

Besides my new French company already had a very bad customer service experience with my French Bank. I decided to stay with my American Host.

When I signed up I told myself I would change to a more professional company later down the road.

Service Experience

It's been over six months and the service I have received has been great. I have appreciated the 24 hour phone service and used it several times for help.

The first minor hiccup happened when the server hosting my websites had a glitch and they moved my websites on to another server. Technically a good move. Nothing went wrong. Except they did not notify me beforehand.

I found out about the move when I tried to upload photos for my business blog and could not get into my accounts. I was about to get on the phone, when I took the time to read the error text. This told me my accounts were being moved someplace else and that it might take 24 hours.

24 hours? When my water company or electricity company shuts down their services for a couple of hours they give me at least a day or two notice.

I'm still making adjustments on the business blog and I really would have appreciate if my host had given me advanced warning.

In the end I did get an email from the host a few hours later. But it alarmed me and added to confusion more than anything else.

Please note that it can take up to 24 hours from the time the update was completed for any newly-published content to be visible on your Web site.

Uhh...I've been working and making changes to my website for several hours now. When did you guys start your process? Are you telling me that I might have lost several hours of my time? Do you realize how precious I value my time?

While every effort was made to ensure that all of the content was moved, please take a moment to review the content.

Gosh... when was the last time I created a backup of my content? In any case, I've been spending a lot of time on this new theme since my last backup.

There was nothing to worry about in the end. I got full access to my accounts early that afternoon and everything appears there on the websites.

The Value Of Connecting With Your Clients

Are you saying what you want to say to your clients?
My hosting service is great. They are a reliable company. But their communication can seriously be improved. I'm not the only one who has noticed this.

I recently listened to a couple of CD's included in The Ultimate Desktop Copy Coach - The Makepeace Method. Clayton Makepeace and Brad Peterson spent several minutes going into detail why my hosting service's advertising does not work.

My first thought, when I came across my hosting service the first time, is that they only want to communicate with:

• Computer geeks who spend so much time in front of their computer they become socially handicapped and consequently frustrated.
• All of the internet marketers in the online sex industry.

But as Clayton and Brad say on their CD, the company in question spends a fortune on their advertising. And to a wide audience. So I was wrong. Who are they trying to communicate with? And what do they want people to take from their advertising?

Most American males remember the ad this company ran during a Super Bowl game, but they only remember the pretty girl...not the company name or what they do.

Would this company communicate with their clients better if they listened to Clayton and Brad?

These are two of the best copywriters in the world. Of course they would.

Better copywriting could also increase their market share even more.

Or I should say, it would help them keep their current market share.

With this company and their current communication, there is a big door for competitors to walk through. It is only a question of time before someone will be able to provide equivalent service and speak to clients like me in a meaningful way.

Now I usually remain loyal to good service providers. But this host is not talking to me. Not through their advertising and not through their emails.

Their service is great so I'm not going to do an active search for another host provider more suitable to my business.

But as soon as a host company comes on my radar,

• With top notch reliability
• Great customer support,
• And who communicates with me,

I will want to be associated with that company.

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Cindy King is a Cross-Cultural eMarketer & International Sales Specialist, aligning businesses with different cultures. She has over 25 years field experience in international business development.