Start with the Customer and Work Backwards.

Ballymena BID and Chamber support Local Business through Event.

ATTENDEES at a recent exciting digital business breakfast, organised by Ballymena Business Improvement District (BID) and the Ballymena Borough Chamber of Commerce and Industry were told the key to success in getting the most from the internet in a focused and profitable way is to start with the customer and work backwards.

Taking place at the Adair Arms in Ballymena, the event saw over 50 local businesses come together to hear from key note speaker, Gareth Dunlop, Chief Executive of Fathom, the user experience specialists who work with agencies and organisations to improve online performance.

Gareth set up Fathom to advise companies on how to get the most from the internet by seeing the world from the perspective of their customers.

The insightful talk highlighted the importance and benefits of ensuring the user is put at the heart of a business’ website.  In the cluttered digital world that we all live in, it is vital that navigation is easy and that the customer is in complete control of the experience. By ensuring that a customer’s visit to your website is as straightforward as possible, the likelihood of conversion to actual sales is much higher.

BID Manager, Alison Moore with President of the Ballymena Borough Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ronan McCann and Chief Executive of Fathon, Gareth Dunlop.

Gareth advises a wide range of clients from Spar, Post Office UK and BBC on Internet strategy and best practice.  During the event, he used Amazon, Google and ASOS as examples to explain how these companies have ensured their websites are very much focused on the user and how they understand what it is that the customer wants.

In addition to the online presence of a business, it is key that all offline interaction with a customer such as over the phone and face to face is seamless with online engagement, creating the right customer engagement and making your business a success.

Gareth concluded his talk with advice to the local businesses in attendance that they really need to get to know their online customer and ensure the customer’s online journey on the website is quick and easy, because if you get the journey right then you encourage customer loyalty and the user will come back time and time again.

Alison Moore, Ballymena BID manager commented on the event; “We were delighted to host Gareth Dunlop at the BID for Business digital breakfast event.  It gave all of us in the audience the opportunity to find out first hand how we should be using our business’ websites to get the best from the internet in terms of providing a straightforward, clear customer journey resulting in increased profitability and customer engagement.”

Ballymena Borough Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s President, Ronan McCann said, “We had a great turn out for our recent BID for Business event.  The talk by Gareth Dunlop was particularly insightful and enjoyed by attendees.  It reinforced just how important it is to focus on the user experience, starting with the customer and working backwards, to design and build a business’ website.  It really does add value to your business and I hope the attendees today will be confident now to make any changes they feel may be necessary to their own websites to improve visitors’ experiences and drive traffic to their sites.”

Keep up to date with future BID for Business events, run in conjunction with Ballymena Borough Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Ballymena BID on www.ballymenameans.com