Exitlog | Leaving Impressions

Integrating your services into a client’s website can be a headache that can threaten your relationship. But integration needn’t be a deal-breaker…

A client has agreed to use your software on their website, they’ve signed the contract and paid. For many businesses this is the hard part over, but really the successful integration of your product, service or web application onto a client’s website is the toughest part of the job.

A good web agency will work attentively with its client from sales pitch through to after-sales service. Businesses selling laptops to boilers do it and customers expect it – it is important the customers understand, know how to use and feel reassured about their new kit. That is not to say expectations are the same.

Every client is unique: they each want the integration to happen in a different way. They’ll expect it to happen with minimal impact on their day-to-day business or brand, and will be look for evidence or acknowledgement of this provision before they even commit to you. For example, if your product is a CMS, the client will expect you to build it into the website with no noticeable changes to the appearance of their site. If you’ve developed a new shopping trolley or checkout service, then they’ll certainly want it integrating without losing any sales. They like the look of their car, we’re only here to upgrade the engine. Nothing else.

Many developers fall short in their ability to respond to a client’s specific needs, and this often comes back to haunt them when a client is unhappy – not because the software is lacking, but because the delivery has interfered with their business. Your new, best-of-breed web application is struggling to compete with inferior competitors simply because the integration process isn’t intuitive.

This is where after-sales service is important, though its nature will depend on the type of software you’ve produced and how you sell it to customers. Whether you’ve developed a jQuery widget, full-blown Adobe AIR application or a new php framework, incorporating a feedback channel for customers to let you know what they think allows you to address issues which you might not have encountered during beta testing.

The client will expect integration to have minimal
impact on their business.

For a more labour-intensive product, a dedicated integration team can work with your clients on their websites should be a serious consideration. Happy customers should never be overrated. Particularly when stitching a CMS or shopping cart system into a client’s existing site, the process requires accurate communication between your business and the customer to work through the technicalities of integration.

The depth of experience of the customer can vary considerably. Some clients know exactly what to do with the new tools, while an equal number will have no idea at all. The latter can really test your patience as you try to over explain – read dumb down ndash; the integration process. Don’t forget that the customer’s patience will also be tested for the same reason, and tempers can quickly shorten. You must be ready to quickly soothe and alleviate problems. A customer at the end of their tether, ready to throw your contract (and invoice) out of the window, benefits no one.

Third party relationships can also be difficult. Those other suppliers who serve the client can also be an important part of the after-sales and integration experience. For example, your new e-commerce check-out system might have require input or communication with the client’s stock management service or CMS provider. Their participation might be the measure and ultimate test of success for the integration process. Poorly managed communication between a parties can reflect badly on everyone, usually with you suffering for the worse. Mutual and professional co-operation can often impact the process positively: it may even earn you new business through referrals from the other agency.

The process has to be easy, co-ordinated and effective. Successful software integration needs:

Good communication is vital; it will enable you to address problems and make an ongoing process out of refining the service you provide.

Originally published in .net magazine, September 2009

Advertising, marketing, PR and especially websites are essentially about messaging, story-telling. They each try to create and communicate messages which resonate with the public. As our media diet has become more diverse, from Facebook to downloading our favourite TV (hopefully legally at a reasonable price), the story told becomes more important. How the message is delivered becomes just as significant as the message content.

As such web design needs be connected to the same messaging, and as important, as other media in the communication mix. The official site for the Watchmen film is good example of connected messaging. The website offers behind the scenes content, a terrific iPhone application, wallpapers and more – as well as links to further film tie-in sites. It is successful because the site understands the fans’ wants and caters accordingly. The messaging is delivered with clarity; and works as an extension of the film both before the release and after.

A website offers a chance to interject a level interaction, a two-way dialogue, that traditional advertising and PR does not offer. Whether through user-generated content, shared experiences, downloads or give-aways websites have a gravity unto themselves. Websites can be both the messenger and message.

The importance of connected messaging cannot be underestimated. Think about the bright red, swash lettered Coca-Cola can. Consumers the world over have definitive feelings about what Coke means to them. Feelings beyond sweet, sugar fuelled or the even real thing. As such they expect to the same messaging wherever they experience the brand – from football advertising hoarding to the 25cl cans themselves and even the various campaign websites. Visual similarity is not enough. The message must feel like Coca-Cola. Any less and it wouldn’t be Coke (maybe Pepsi, we’re not supporting favourites here, but the point is consistency).

Many promise an integrated approach but the result is often a series of loosely aligned activities. Consider campaign-based offers with such dubious calls to action, “go online and find out more”, only to find a cheap website wedged underneath. Go online and what?

When a brand is represented online it must actively engage the audience; and match the standard set by other media. It doesn’t matter if the product is the ubiquitous, white-headphoned MP3 player or an expensive pair of trainers. What matters is the message. The audience has an expectation, an understanding, and as web designers and developers we have to fulfil this hope. Any slip up in its public portrayal and the engagement is weakened. Shame about the website, shame about the product. Poor delivery can often ensure failure.

Websites have the ability to extend and improve relationships. They have become an important part of the media mix for customers and prospects alike. And with websites, connected messaging should be the central approach. Successful TV and radio ads don’t end half finished or with the camera booms exposed and production runner’s foot in shot. Websites shouldn’t be any less finished. Get the narrative right, align the functionality with the message and inter-connectedness.

Websites are dynamic and as such can extend the narrative, the storytelling in ways other media can’t be. How the audience interacts will be the measure of the message. Staying connected is one sure way of ensuring better success.

Originally published on the STAN website, 9 June 2009