WEBSITES ARE SELF-SERVICE NOT ORGANIZATION-SERVICE
by Gerry McGovern

The organizations that love to use their intranets and public websites to tell things to staff and customers will fail. Web success is about empowering staff and customers to serve themselves.

If the organization was an elephant and you warned that elephant not to fall into the big pit of self-promotion, unfortunately the elephant would fall in every time. The vast majority of organizations can't resist boasting and showing off. They can't resist telling people about all the wonderful things they've done.

The Web is self-service. You need to think about the words "self-service" very carefully. Great websites allow people to serve themselves quickly and simply. The essence of the Web is empowerment. It's about self-control, self-direction, independence of thought and action.

Organizations do not control the message on the Web. There is a shift. Consumer power is genuine on the Web. It is a giant wave and those who don't ride it will suffer.

This is not to say that organizations don't have power on the Web. Yes, they do, but only those who embrace the collective intelligence that the Web has brought about. Google and Amazon know this. Both embrace and channel word of mouth; Google by recognizing the importance of links to a website, and Amazon by facilitating reader reviews.

Let's face some facts. Much marketing is a form of happy lies; much public relations is a form of manipulation. Many organizations are simply not credible sources in the eyes of consumers.

The Web has empowered consumers to go behind the marketing slogan, and pull the curtain open. Who do consumers see as a truly credible source of information? Other consumers.

Many staff see the organization as separate from themselves. They see the organization as something that has its own agenda. They are put off by an intranet that is full of messages from departments and senior management telling them what they need to do to become good staff.

Staff like intranets that are for them, that speak in their language. They like intranets that empower them to do their jobs. The intranet is still the Web; still a reflection of a world where people have more control. They like that.

The website that works is the website that works for the customer. It is the website that genuinely, truly is customer-focused. It is the website that is always aware of the central weakness of all organizations: thinking they are the center of the universe.

Empowering people to do things for themselves should be the relentless focus of your website. Your success becomes interlinked with their success in completing the tasks they came to your website to complete.

Every minute of every hour of every day that you work on your website you must work against that deep desire all organizations have to self-promote. It is deeply, deeply embedded in organizational behavior.

The organization loves to boast about features. Customers want to hear about benefits. Organizations love positive reviews. Customers see more credibility if there are also negative reviews. Organizations love their own buzzwords and acronyms, but on the Web the customer controls the language.

Successful websites put the customer in control.

Gerry McGovern is a web content management author and consultant
www.gerrymcgovern.com