Suppliers have invested big bucks in building their Web sites to give customers immediate access to the information they want when they want it. And suppliers care about the customer's experience when visiting their site, because it is the customer's experience that establishes the value of the supplier's brand in the customer's mind. There's the fear that an engineer will come to my site and not find what he or she seeks and then go away-or, even worse, go to my competitor's site and find it. There's a certain word-of-mouth dividend that comes with creating a satisfying Web experience. Marketing 101.

Some suppliers believe they enhance the customer experience by letting an engineer browse their site without registering. Others require registration, figuring their site provides value and a customer ought to be willing to register to gain access to the family jewels.

I assume most engineers are willing to register to get something of value as long as they can request that they don't get hassled by unwanted e-mail blasts or phone calls. However, getting the engineer's name, company and e-mail address is often just the first step in an elaborate lead collection-tracking-feedback system. The leads are sent to the sales reps, who must follow up and report back to lead-tracking headquarters. The best salespeople often toss the leads into the wastebasket and then create a status report. It's creative writing at its best, almost as creative as the salesperson's expense report. But many sales folks, under threat from the lead-tracking police, do follow up, even at the risk of alienating a customer. Read on.

A couple of weeks ago, a principal engineer from Oregon sent me this e-mail: "I want to pass on one gripe regarding a certain manufacturer's Web site I visited. In the past, calling a distributor or a manufacturer's representative for product information was painful because once they know you have a passing interest in a product, they won't leave you alone!

"The Internet has provided me with a private means of browsing a manufacturer's site, allowing me to formulate exactly what I want before enlisting salespeople.

"Recently, I found out that my browsing wasn't necessarily so private. A few days after visiting one manufacturer's site, I got a call from the local rep saying he was told I had been on the Web site looking at a certain type of part and he wanted to know if he could come and talk to me about it. I was flabbergasted: I told him that I was just looking and that if I were going to get a call following every inquiry, I wouldn't use that manufacturer any longer! This is stepping over the line, and it is what gives salespeople a bad name." So much for creating a satisfying Web experience for the customer.

When Frank isn't working on his eventually to be published book, Don't call me, I'll call you, he can be reached at fburge@cmp.com.

Frank Burge is a contributing columnist for EE Times.

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