Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/974109
W EEKLY EDITION APRIL 25, 2018 Decline in Physical Retail Sales Provides Insight for Portable Sanitation …continued By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director Shifts bring opportunities for portable sanitation companies. Our industry is low - tech in many ways. While that has advantages (nobody is off shoring our work!) , it sometimes causes us not to see certain opportunities. Internet shopping may be one of them. Even today, 10% of PSAI Member companies don't have a website at all, and far more than that have sites that are extremely basic, outdated, or both. This tells more potential customers every year that your company is – at best – behind the times. At worst, you never get a chance at certain types of business b ecause pot ential customers can't find you. The opportunities that exist on the web are plentiful if you have the vision to take advantage of changing customer behavior. Look again at the chart on page 2. Customers want to be able to: • Shop any time, any w here • Understand the products and services available • Compare options • Compare prices If you and your website provide this – and provide it better than the other providers of portable sanitation in your area, -- it's a competitive advantage. As time goes by , if you fail to provide it you will simply not be in the running for certain types of business. You may be thinking "I already have a reliable, loyal customer base and they don't shop online. This isn't important to me." You may be right in the very short term. But think about this: • Even if your company's main revenue comes via decisions that are made through bidding or by loyal customers, as time passes the absence of a professional web presence will diminish your compa ny's brand. You may not be asked to bid in the first place if you cannot be found on the Internet. Loyal customers may go out of business or turn things over to younger leaders who lack the loyalty on which you depend. • You may want to sell your business o ne of these days. The absence of a strong online presence and selling channel will probably diminish the value of your firm. The impact of low - or no - tech operations on your selling price will increase each year as time goes by. Buyers will look at your assets, your current customer list, and your history – of course. But buyers are planning to do business in the future, not the past. They are also going to look hard at your business' future prospects. If you haven't invested in things that will grow the company in th e future, they'll have to do it. And the cost of that will come off your selling price. P AGE 3 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4