As we design customer-facing Web sites, we need to keep our eyes on our goals. And those goals must be business goals–not technology goals. Banks began to invest significantly in automated teller machines some 30 years ago. At the time, it was a no-brainer–over the long haul an ATM was cheaper to own and operate than a human teller. Hence, banks could improve the bottom line by reducing transaction costs.

The unanticipated problem caused by ATMs was the disenfranchisement of the customer. If you interact with your customer only through direct deposit and ATMs, you lose a real relationship with that customer and you lose the opportunity to cross-sell other bank services. Many banks now charge a service fee when a customer uses an ATM. I'll warrant the transaction cost still is cheaper for the ATM customer, but the lifetime value of that customer is less, so the bank needs to make up the difference by imposing a service charge.

Let's return to our customer Web portal. How do we quickly and efficiently get customers where they want to be . . . and where we want them to be? The front door–the portal entrance–must be simple, and it must load in a heartbeat. Forget the fancy, time-consuming Flash intro movies. Forget a “rich” image-laden environment. If you are selling sunglasses, that might be an effective way to get your customer in the right “frame” of mind to purchase. But consider why the customers are even at your front door. They either need help with their policy or claim, they want to buy a policy, or they want knowledge about your product. That dictates you really need only three links from your home page–one to each area of focus. OK, I know you still need that link for all the other corporate stuff. So, you also have a link to “Corporate Information.” Everyone who doesn't fall into one of our three main categories goes there.

The most important Web site you will create is customer service. Make the effort to find out how much money your organization spends on sales and marketing per customer. Also examine the hidden costs such as the amount of time it takes to convert a potential customer into a signed check. Add up those costs, and you now have an idea what your “spending limit” is per customer for customer service.

Most organizations don't spend nearly enough money on customer retention. We call our sales staff “producers,” and we pay them big bucks. How do we take care of our customer service representatives? I suggest you first talk to them–not to the manager but to the people who actually man the phones. Find out what situations they routinely handle. Find out what the really hard cases are. Use your customer service people to help write the FAQs.

As you design the customer service site, you will start with statistics. We know the nature of the transactions we already perform with our customers. The customer service Web site must provide a mechanism for handling all those types of transactions. It must be easy to use. It must not intimidate an average user.

Those of us who live on computers fail to appreciate the anxiety many people experience when performing an online business transaction. Customers initially are dealing with their fear of identity theft and then their fear of “messing something up.” We also must think about why they are online in the first place. Most people have become totally frustrated with the seemingly endless menus encountered when trying to do business on the telephone. After pressing “one” three times and “two” two times and entering their account number, they are shuttled into a phone queue and forced to listen to Mozart on Muzak. People go online because it seems like it might be easier. And you better make sure it is easier.

It may not make sense for some transactions to take place entirely online. There is a very real threshold beyond which we cannot expect a customer to continue typing in information. For those transactions, get a screen full of information from the customer and then provide an option for the customer to be contacted by a customer service representative right then. Most people do not have an aversion to finishing a transaction over the phone if they are able to do so immediately. The customer fills in the basic information about the transaction and clicks submit. Bang. The phone rings, and a corporate representative says, “Hi, Ms. Jones. I can help you complete your claims submission in the next few minutes.”

Likewise there should be a “panic button” on customer service pages. If customers become hopelessly lost in a simple transaction, they should be able to type in their phone number and click “Help.” Once again, a service rep comes to the rescue. Your well-designed system probably will minimize the number of help calls, but you will plan for them if you truly are concerned about first-class customer service–and customer retention.

Web sites are one of the most cost-efficient ways of lead generation, but to be most effective, they must be focused. You don't want to send a potential customer onto a landing page with a laundry list of all the services you offer available through a drop-down list that scrolls on forever. Once again, you need to work with the business and marketing people and target the products you know you can sell in a particular demographic. It doesn't take a lot of effort to gather some small demographic information about your site visitor. You can determine the IP address of the visitor, and from that IP, you can identify a geographical region. That limited bit of information might be enough to help target a potential sale. You already may know in the L.A. market your biggest revenue producer is high-risk auto policies. You may know in the Tampa market you sell more long-term care policies than anything else. So, you first direct those potential customers to those areas. I am not talking about geographic redlining–just attempting to anticipate your customers' needs. If you can get one other piece of information, such as age, from your visitor, you can start targeting what information you want that potential customer exposed to. I guarantee your baby boomer-age site visitors from Phoenix might be interested in LTC.

Gather information on your site visitors. Keep that information–drop a persistent cookie on their computer. The next time they return to your site automatically direct them to where they last were. If you are hesitant to ask site visitors for information such as their age, be creative. There are many ways to discern information without asking for it–seeing whether users click on “Jimi Hendrix,” “Frank Sinatra,” “Christina Aguilera,” or “Fatboy Slim” in response to a “fun” online quiz actually could provide a lot of information. That may be a silly idea, but the point is there are many ways to determine information about your potential customers.

Be selective in the products you are pitching. At the end of the line, there always will be a place for the “laundry list” of the services your company provides, but your main marketing pages should be quick hits on the products you are targeting. Getting people to those pages in the first place is best accomplished by creative search engine optimization or paid search engine placement. Your brand probably is your most valuable asset. Branding certainly can be enhanced through Web sites and technology, but establishment of that brand is accomplished through more traditional marketing media. Bear in mind for most people insurance is a commodity, and your brand is the only differentiator they see. And that is another reason customer retention is so important.

The vast majority of insurance and financial service products do not easily lend themselves to closing the deal totally online–particularly with new customers. That should not preclude us from providing Web sites that allow the customer to bring the deal close to fruition. If I feel the need to apply for a term life policy at 2 a.m., I should be able to submit the application online completely and securely with the expectation and understanding I will be contacted within 24 hours either to close or nix the deal.

Let's face it–many people have an aversion to dealing with “insurance agents.” I know I check my caller ID, and I know when Bob the agent is calling me at 7 p.m. it isn't to talk about the weather. Let your Web site provide a mechanism for such people to “purchase” all their simple insurance needs online. This is another opportunity to offer immediate customer response. After a policy application is submitted, potential customers could be immediately called by a sales rep–should they so desire.

The real message here is a Web site should be just an extension of your business. If your bread and butter is selling property/casualty policies to corn farmers in Kansas, then design your Web site to do that. Above all, a Web site should make it easy to do business with you. Don't focus on the technology. Focus on the business, and bend the technology to suit those needs.