You have an e-mail address and your company has a Web site. You’re prepared to do e-business.

Well, not quite. Many organizations have yet to maximize the Internet as a tool for improving business processes, as well as to reinforce their identity and promote their e-business capability. Here’s a checklist:

Domain Name

Pick a domain name that’s easy to remember and spell. If you are well-known in your industry, ideally this should be your company name. While a zillion Amazon wannabees try to establish brand identity with names like “whatever.com,” you should take best advantage of your existing brand. Examples include nike.com, cnn.com or nytimes.com.

Another successful Web branding strategy is to select an address based on a product name that identifies your product (shoes.com) or your well-known trademark (whopper.com). Do the “telephone test” — say it out loud to others and decide if it is easy for them to understand and remember.

It’s likely that your desired domain name was snapped up by somebody else years ago. Try adding numerals to your choice (mydomain2008.com) or hyphenate (my-domain.com).

Domain Name E-Mail

All employees with Internet access need an e-mail address at your organization’s domain. An address like “joesmith@mycompany.com” is likely to appear more professional and easier to remember than the same employee’s personal e-mail address, which might be “cutejoe@aol.com.”

To make multiple e-mail addresses easier to manage, you can set up e-mail forwarding accounts. Your Internet Service Provider can automatically forward Joe’s e-mail to his personal address, even though your customer sent the message to his “work” address.

E-Mail Protocol

Develop a company-wide protocol for e-mail addresses, such as people’s first initial and their last names, or the first three letters of their first names, followed by the first three letters of their last. You could even use people’s full first and last names. Examples:

johnsmith@ourcompany.com
jsmith@ourcompany.com
johsmi@ourcompany.com

All employees should use a standard signature line in their outgoing mail, possibly including a company slogan or product reference. Be sure to include a telephone number, too. Most e-mail software can automatically include the signature with every message. Example:

John Smith
Sales Director
Our Company
Jsmith@ourcompany.com
www.ourcompany.com
800.123.4567
“We’re your source for widgets”

Generic E-Mail Addresses

Nobody stays in a job forever. When Joe Smith leaves his job as customer service manager, where will his e-mail go? For busy customer-contact functions, it is advisable to create generic e-mail addresses and set up e-mail forwarding to the appropriate departments or people. Examples:

info@ourcompany.com
sales@ourcompany.com
customerservice@ourcompany.com

Responding to E-Mail

Create companywide standards for responding to e-mail. For example, you might require that customer-contact employees check their e-mail every two hours. You might set a standard that all e-mails get a response within four hours, or sooner.

Use the Web site

Proper integration of your Web site with your business process should reduce telephone calls and provide your customers with more direct, convenient contact with your company, around the clock, without any ongoing involvement of your staff. Make sure your Web site is able to:

  • Receive and process orders;
  • Provide technical information about your products; and
  • Answer frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Just like the company directory in your lobby, your site should have a detailed e-mail directory, complete with job functions, so correspondents know to whom they should send their e-mail.

Finally, use all of your print material to publicize the message that customers can do business with your company on the Internet. If appropriate, include your e-mail or Web site address in voice mail messages.

Here’s a checklist:

  • Newsletter
  • Brochures
  • Advertisements
  • Invoices
  • Letterhead
  • Business cards

Sara Marberry co-authored this article, which originally appeared in b3 magazine .