John C. Harris, president and chief executive of ViewSource Media, thinks that it is time to unplug many company Web sites because they function as little more than online brochures.

        Mr. Harris, whose firm has provided integrated marketing and e-business direction for many local companies — including Mercy Health Partners, Graeter's Ice Cream and Magnode Corp. — brings his firm's expertise and perspective to a March 30 breakfast forum.

        Sponsored by the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, the breakfast at 7:15 a.m. at the Schiff Family Conference Center at Xavier University's Cintas Center will explore how smaller companies can create and maintain credible Web sites without an incredible budget. Mr. Harris was interviewed by business reporter John Eckberg.

HARRIS FILE

What: President of ViewSource Media, a West Chester Township company near Springdale that was founded in 1996.   Estimated revenues in 2000: $1.3 million.   Three books on the nightstand:   • The Bible.   • Creativity: Flow and Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.   • Strategy Pure and Simple II: How Winning Companies Dominate Their Competitors by Michael Robert.   Three CDs in the changer: • The Perfect Vivaldi.   • Mozart symphonies.   • Shaking the Tree by Peter Gabriel.   Five frequently visited Web sites: • Baptist Bible Hour (www.baptistbiblehour.org).   • Wall Street Journal Online (www.wsj.com).   • Industry Standard (www.thestandard.net).   • www.Audible.com.   • Communication Arts (www.commarts.com).

        Question: What is the most common error that you see companies make when they create Web footprints?

        Answer: There are basically three that I see. One, they tend to develop it in a vacuum. It becomes an Information Technology initiative rather than a companywide strategic change. They might say IT (information technology people) developed this, and it's cool and will make us more effective, but the rest of the company doesn't know about it. Customer service doesn't know about it. Sales doesn't know about it. In fact, I tell people that e-business is dead.

        I like saying that just as clients are signing their contracts. They say, “Excuse me. I thought you just sold me on e-business.” We tell our clients to drop the “e” because it is business. E-business is just a fad. The drive-through isn't anymore a new technology for a fast-food business as it is a part of their business. It's the same thing with the Web. It has to be integrated. Not a stand-alone item.

        Another thing — companies see it as a one-time expenditure, rather than a long-term investment. They say, “Let's develop a Web site.” They develop it with a huge spike in expense. There's a leveling off, but competition continues. We say you've developed an investment, but we say on a monthly or quarterly basis re-evaluate: How do you improve processes internally?

        How do you adjust your Web site so that it's reacting to market conditions? Serving customer needs? There's no way you're going to roll it out and right out of the chute, it's perfect. It's a continuous process of what we call the Four-M approach: measure, manage, maintain and maneuver. The final “M” is to maneuver in the marketplace to be more competitive.

        And last, companies may want to redo a Web site, see a competitor with something cool like Flash (a technology) and companies say we need that — rather than shaping the Web site around business objectives. We try to define business objectives and shape solutions out of that.

        Q: Most small companies have had a Web site for a couple of years now. Where are the greatest disappointments?

A: Companies launch a Web site — built it and expect all these people to come, and they don't always come. They build it in a vacuum. They don't say this e-business presence is fundamentally going to change the way we do business. But goals and objectives were not in place. So the site sits there and really does very little for the company.

        Except it's an online brochure. We encourage clients to not think of it as an online brochure. Take the next step. How do we serve customers better. How do we communicate with customers better? How do we anticipate their needs? A client brings you a problem, it's harder to counteract once it's a problem. But when you see it coming, then you can anticipate and head it off.

        In terms of management, we don't want companies dependent on us. We have one client, WGUC, whose receptionist manages the Web site. There is nothing she needs to know in terms of Web technologies to keep it maintained.

        Q: We're a couple of years into the Web now, what has been the greatest pleasant surprise for companies?

A: I think when clients have identified clearly upfront what they want the Web site to do and what they expect to get out of it. More often than not, they are surprised at the results of what they get out of it.

        We had a client who sold much more product. In fact, they didn't think they were going to do very well. They just blew away their expectations of what they thought they were going to do.

        We had another client who couldn't do e-commerce, couldn't take a transaction over the Web because it was so customized. It was a showcase online. However, people responded so positively, people would say forget about sending your salespeople out, I want this product.

        Q: Do you see an increasing Web presence for many companies as a threat to account executives and marketing divisions? Are jobs going to disappear?

A: No, I don't. And those who do see it as a threat are short-sighted on what it can do for them. Salespeople or account executives should see that the Web can help them to do their job better.

        They can service more clients. Call on more clients. Use the Web as an easier way to get in the door. Cold calls hit a wall. It's hard to do. But if you lead them to the Web site, then it's on the client's time, the client's convenience.

        You're not interrupting anything, and it's more of a soft sell. If they start using it that way, it can help salespeople be more successful and have a greater hit rate. I hate cold calls. I am going to probably put a barrier there for someone who calls on the phone.

        But send me to your Web site, it's another story. And there are other little vehicles — interactive PDF files, for instance. You're on the phone with somebody who doesn't have much time, and they say send me something.

        You send an interactive PDF file with layout and graphics and links and buttons back to a Web site and you send them that by e-mail and your prospective client now has something in his hands, right now to use it at their leisure and it gets more attention than “visit our Web site, please.”

        You can empower your sales staff with the Web.

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