Thursday, July 9. 2009The End Of Fact And Reality For Exetel....John Linton ........the time for half truths (why isn't that phrase "half lies"?) and prettiness and vomit inducing weasel words to replace bluntly phrased and unadorned facts is almost upon us. I had an interesting meeting yesterday with a company that is setting up in Australia to provide various communications services and was looking for 'partners' who would be able to provide access to their customer bases either via their own marketing processes or by giving this company some forms of 'direct access". The nice young American "development manager" cited this recent article: http://www.misaustralia.com/viewer.aspx?EDP://20090708000031323274§ion=news as a 'must do' reasoning for why Exetel must forsake its dinosauric ways and either change it's business directions immediately or face certain oblivion within two years. I had to admit to the charming American lady that I was unaware of that particular article (or the three others that I couldn't find in electronic versions I can reference here). I have never heard of the two authors of the referenced article and have no idea who the "experts" who are pronouncing "the death knell for companies like Exetel" but the charming lady was certain it would happen if we didn't give her company the chance of saving us from our misreading of the new directions the NBN2 would determine. As she had been in the country (on her first visit) for all of three days I decided to keep to myself my personal views that Krudd's NBN2 wont become operational in my lifetime and just decided to admire the personal attributes and persuasive charm of someone so committed to telling her story. It was a typically American 'pitch' (well constructed, well credentialed, good collateral proof material, presented with skill and panache and totally, 100% without any shadow of a doubt, insincere). However the meeting was enjoyable and I very much admired the skills displayed and the cleverness of the 'pitch'. Why do I mention this? Because it was the third time in two days that someone had told me that "you absolutely MUST redesign your web site - it must be really holding back your company's development" - or words to that effect. I'm beginning to recall the time I spent with multi-nationals so many years ago and my constant association with 'marketing pitches' and the 'glossiness' that is inevitably associated with them. It's far more up market now than when I was, inevitably, drawn into using some of that flim flammery and almost always deceptive material and methodologies, and incidentally began to develop an intense dislike for all aspects of "marketing" and the people associated with it.....which has only intensified over the years and has reached an almost unhealthy level of distaste (abhorrence?) now. This 'feeling' has also had the effect of making me intensely dislike all forms of marketing including ensuring we never used anything except 'facts' on our web site or our outside communications and never make any claims of who we are or what we offer that aren't immediately provable by even a casual enquirer.....or that's always been my view. So it is not a 'culture shock' (there is no culture associated with marketing - except perhaps haute couture given the possible cost of the Dior business suit worn by the charming American yesterday) but perhaps a 'deception shock' to find myself thinking in terms of agreeing to the 'dumbing down' and 'prettying up' of the main Exetel web site to meet the needs of different views brought to bear by creating the "Exetel Country" sub-web site and the inevitability of re-designing the main web site in the not too distant future. As I created the current version, and all previous versions, of the Exetel web site and have written every word that appears on it, it is hard to accept that my efforts and all the care I've taken has been the major reason that Exetel has developed much more slowly than it should have. So it appears that I'm going to have to admit defeat and allow the Exetel web site to be completely redesigned and at the same time consider ripping up the business plan we have just finished and replacing it with a plan to transform Exetel into a content conduit and forget about re-selling Optus and Powertel/AAPT data links because they are so 2009 and will simply not be viable by next year....or not. It's a hard call, but perhaps I have lost track of the real directions of the communications industry and my sceptical view point on Krudd's NBN2 delivery time frame is way off the money. I am a rational person, except perhaps for my views on the English Premier League and the AFL, and I really do understand that even the brightest intellects (of which I certainly make no claims for myself) gradually dull with age and either refuse to accept, or perhaps simply don't recognise changes that constantly happen as they get older. So: will Krudd's cynical politically driven cover up for the complete failure of his stupid NBN1 election promise with an even more ridiculous NBN2 really turn out a reality and really be delivered in the not too distant future? will 100 mbps to every Australian's home really be affordable? Will such bandwidth availability really instantly consign current usage of data networking by residential users to complete irrelevance? Will Optus and Powertel (and Telstra) really tell Exetel to take their pitiful business elsewhere because they no longer need it and will find a way to transfer all Exetel's "resold" customers to their own NBN2 access? Will.....but my poor tired and aging brain can't cope with so many imponderables with so many multiple branches based on what unnamed "experts" reported by two journalists I've never heard of and utilised by an American who has been in the country for three days are apparently meaning.....and, really, do we really need to spend $A60,000 - $A100,000 to make our web site work as it should? So, now it is early morning rather the end of a longish day and I don't think any of those things are going to happen and, if they ever appear to be occurring, I will gracefully acknowledge that I was wrong and hand over the running of the company to a more able, and much younger, person who hopefully will still have time to correct my errors and rescue Exetel from oblivion. Now where did I leave my zimmer frame - can never remember a damn thing these days.... PS: Rules I have lived my corporate life by (before I forget them): 1) Always be prepared to take the big risk 2) Always confuse the enemy 3) Always have a Plan B (apologies to NB who eventuallly failed to take his own sound advice) Trackbacks
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My gosh. You just set me off on a Seppo rant. Thankfully I've deleted it and not subjected you all to it. Grrgh. What is it about Americans that makes smoke come out my ears?
Comment (1)
Was that all sarcasm or are u actually heeding the advice of others and redesigning the website?
I know it hurts to think all your efforts are for nothing, but that's life. Things change and unfortunately the Exetel site is outdated and well ugly and really needs replacing. Here's to hoping the new site is alot better (especially for the money to be spent) Comment (1)
The trouble with Exetel's web site is that it works, in terms of results, better than any other on line web site that the people who tell me it's useless have ever designed themselves or can point me too.
What is "ugly" about the current site? Perhaps the people who criticise it in general terms would be able to persuade me to their point of view if they could actually tell me what's wrong with it? And, no, I wasn't and am not being "sarcastic". ....equally, I'm not going to make a change to the life blood of the company based on casual and unquantified remarks by people who aren't involved in ensuring Exetel continues to remain financially viable. Comments (4)
From the article: " e v c p o i e s o l n e t b n l t g t e a a g o d f e e t e v c s, o u a r s t e " o l w i e" h t h f d r l o e n e t' $4 b l i n h l s l n t o k o l p o i e, p n l o d h A s r l a F n n i l e i w' B o d a d o f r n e e t r a ."
Oops -- they have an insane copy protection scheme involving on paragraph floated over another, containing the odd and even characters respectively. It looks as though they don't consider their content to be valuable enough to be indexed by Google or quoted. To suggest that "on demand software and technology services for small businesses" would be bundled by a particular ISP seems ludicrous to me -- no provider of such services would sacrifice economies of scale by restricting their customer base to a particular ISP. Comments (2)
I guess the Exetel site might look old and tired to those that have been looking at it for years (although the member portal is where current users should be looking anyway) but to a new user would they know the difference if the site was changed, sure it might be more pleasing to the eye to anyone that has seen the current site for the last few years but would it bring any new business just because of a redesign, unlikely, would it bring enough new business to justify the costs involved, even less likely I would think
With month on month growth since the start I can't imagine there's any compelling reason to redesign it anyway Comment (1)
Given that your website is a very important part of your business, it would be worth doing some formal usability testing: get some people who fit your desired customer demographic and ask them to perform tasks which a potential customer would wish to perform -- e.g. "find out the cost of a three minute VOIP call to Manila" etc. Watch them while they do it and see what can be improved.
Comments (2)
I can see both sides of the exetel web page argument.
It does work well, especially the automated applications and change/order services functions. As a customer I also know that if I find something questionable on the site I can raise an issue on the forum and Shady will look into it within 48 hours and it is sorted. The problem that I see with the site is how a new customer, especially one who has no idea about computers and the internet, finds the information to get started. Before you spend any time re-designing anything, employ someone to test drive the site, someone who has never heard of Exetel and has never ordered an ADSL service from anyone else, and see what they report to you about the Exetel web site. My opinion is that it is this first contact with the website that needs to be cleaned up, and that all the real stuff behind it is perfectly O.K. Comment (1)
After a little discussion, my sister decided to get an Exetel mobile sim today.
She was able to navigate the site ok and place her order (without any assistance from her big brother at all). So there's one more positive mark for the current site! Regards, Harry. Comment (1)
Exetel's website is good, but by far the best ISP website I've seen is from the small Adelaide-based company, EscapeNet...
http://www.esc.net.au/ It's clean, bright, polished, readable, consistent and INVITING. Everything is clearly and logically laid out (e.g. notice how you don't have to do a lot of scrolling?) Everything that existing or potential customers might need is incredibly simple to access with minimal clicking (product info, contact details, online tools, etc.) Nice finishing touches like: well thought out information presented in the browser page headings; browser independence; passes the W3C validation test (http://validator.w3.org/) Most of the above points are true of Exetel as well, of course, but sometimes I feel like I'm drowning in small-font facts whenever I visit. Comments (2)
What is "ugly" about the current site?
I think for the most part the current site is fine. I reckon Rick has hit the nail on the head. could actually tell me what's wrong with it? I don't mean to be critical, however... I think that any website should allow the user to see where they want to be, and get there, with a single click. Unfortunately, the Exetel website doesn't always work this way. As an example, for a person seeking "no frills ADSL1", your front page offers a single click to residential, but once arriving there, the user has to "guess" that they need to click on residential again (or hover), to see the choices of residential services and then choose ADSL1. On choosing ADSL1, the user then has to start searching again for the link to "No frills" ADSL1. Personally I think it would be much better if the contents of the residential dropdown menu were already available down the left side of the "residential" page. After choosing "ADSL1", the choice should be either "Full featured" or "No frills" (with a brief explanation of each), with either type of plan being a clickable link. Then, it would be a single click each time to get where the user wants to go... residential/ADSL1/No frills... single click, single click, single click, and you're there. Easy and simple, even for the most tech-challenged user. There are many similar examples on the Exetel site. It does work OK the way it is and I think the look of the site is fine, and it's relatively easy for those of us who are familiar with it, but I reckon your site can be a little challenging to navigate for many non-expert users. Comments (2)
Another small criticism is that sometimes in your efforts to not provide "anything except 'facts' ", you inadvertantly provide mis-information.
An example of this is in your Exetel Residential Services "blurb". You have a dated listing of accomplishments, one of which is... 01/01/09 - An increase in the number of free SMS from 20 to 30 on every broad band plan Of course this is not true, as many plans (in particular HSPA and no frills) do not include this feature. So it should be re-written to say something like "on full featured broadband plans" . Another example is... 01/03/09 - An increase to the 12 midnight to 12 noon included downloads from 48 gb to 54 gb. This is fine, but there is no similar updated statement about this figure being upgraded to 60 GB on current "full featured" plans. Comments (2)
"you absolutely MUST redesign your web site - it must be really holding back your company's development"
What a load of BS! The current website is functional. Sure It could probably be improved. Every website can. What attracts customers to Exetel is the plans and services you offer. The website is secondary. Potential customers quickly click through to the plans and services info they need before making any decision. Surely they are not so shallow as to look at the home page and go... NA! Comment (1)
"It's clean, bright, polished, readable, consistent and INVITING"
http://www.esc.net.au/ looks OK Stanley except it looks like a copy of the Telstra website. I don't think John would be to happy with that! ;- Comments (2)
They look similar (i.e. professionally designed) but navigationally/functionally EscapeNet is superior. Even the most elementary stuff like "I have a sales enquiry, what's your number" is presented on Esc's front page, but buried 4 clicks deep on telstra.com.
bigpond.com is an utter shambles so ghastly I shan't mention it further... Comments (2)
John ,
the site works -- I can navigate it easily - but it just does not like a 2009 professionally designed site. No disrespect - but John , your forte is creating and running a successful ISP. A professional website designer could do wonders in cleaning it up and modernising it a bit. my 2 cents worth. cheers bill Comment (1)
I am not offended in any way - I just don't think like that.
The triumph of nonsense over substance has no appeal for me - it never has. Comments (4)
Bit off topic John...
I was just reading where Internode are releasing "no frills" type plans... Seems they must have been reading you mind!...or blog! Comment (1)
They seem to copy quite extensively - either that or there are few options on anything.
Comments (4)
Why spead $60,000 odd dollars. At best, it could probably do with a face-lift and wouldn't there be willing Exetel members with competance that would be willing to 'freshen' it up, perhaps for a few months ADSL credit? Maybe a register your interest link in the members area for those willing and able.
Comment (1)
bigpond/optus sites are tragic...
I find the Exetel website certainly very functional, but there appears to be a lack of continuity (style/navigation/appearance) between certain sections. I imagine this is because of the various changes the website has gone through within even my relatively short time of being with Exetel. I find the user facilities one of the best, most straight forward web service pages, but the sales/marketing portion less so. JL, Maybe it could be worth putting 'some' of that money into professional graphic designers? This is always the hardest part for me to visualize (and most technical people) and graphic designers usually approach things from a different angle and can have really great input. You obviously have the skills within Exetel to develop a well functioning site. Comments (2)
Change the website "look" if you must.
However, please leave the no BS and truthful content. It so so refreshing not to see * or # after every sentence, followed by the smallest possible font in the next shade of colour above white at the bottom of the page. If you lose customers with your no BS marketing, perhaps they deserve to be lost... Comment (1)
The site looks just fine imo.
And the members page is extremely good and easy to use. The only thing that I would say needs some work would be the residential, business, corporate, and agents links on the main page. When Aunt Tillie goes to the main page and clicks on "Residential", she does not want to be taken to a page which has Business and Corporate links. Instead of the "Current Specials", it should have the contents of the current Residential drop down menu. Comment (1)
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