It's 9:00 p.m. The Smith family is all home and safe for the evening. Mrs. Smith notices a jammed garbage disposal and decides to call a plumber to schedule service for the next day—but whom should she call? She looks through the yellow pages and sees plenty of plumbers listed. As Mrs. Smith begins to make calls she is greeted by answering services, telephone recordings that promise a call back sometime soon or perhaps she finds a live dispatcher only to be placed on hold. Trying to line-up next-day service this late in the day can be quite frustrating for a customer. If Mrs. Smith called your company after 9:00 p.m., what would she encounter?

Mrs. Smith notices an interesting yellow-page ad that gives a web-site address— ABC Plumbing.com. She now goes to the family PC or Web TV and types in the ABC address. ABC's home-page brochure pops-up on her screen. Compared to the sterile yellow-page advertising, a home page is a colorful feast for the consumers' eyes. Across the top of the screen the title proudly boasts: ABC PLUMBING. Below the title is a group of thumb-nail-sized pictures (icons), each with a short caption: CALENDAR...schedule service; DOLLAR SIGN...ABC price list; CHECK MARK...services available; CAMERA...diagnostic services; QUESTION MARK...frequently asked questions; and so on. Imagine this home page as a catalog. By clicking on any of these pictures, the customer can literally look ABC over and decide whether or not to utilize their services. Here's an opportunity to capture the customer.

Mrs. Smith clicks on the CHECK MARK icon. The screen changes to an itemized checklist of all the services that ABC offers. She locates Disposer on the list, points and clicks. A picture of a disposal pops on-screen along with a list of the major manufacturers. Mrs. Smith clicks on ISE-Badger, that's what the Smith's have. She clicks on "Service Requested." A registration form now pops on-screen that the customer fills in. These are the questions that would typically be asked by a dispatcher. What the customer types in will have a higher accuracy than traditional calls that are given over the phone and written down. The link between the consumer and the service company is now electronic. Mrs. Smith indicates that early morning service would be preferable. Click, click...done! The Smith's have just placed a call for service without the traditional telephone or waiting for returned messages the next day. The customer also gets the sense that they have done something to bring their problem to a conclusion—they were able to take action.

The next morning, ABC opens at 6:00 a.m. and the head dispatcher checks for overnight requests for service. Mrs. Smith's request is located and she is telephoned to confirm the order. Do think this customer was impressed with ABC? If everything goes smoothly, which depends on ABC's prompt follow-up, the Smith's will certainly make a note of ABC Plumbing.com.

This is not a far-fetched scenario. It's happening as you read this article. Service companies are gathering service calls from the Net. If you're an Internet subscriber already, go to your favorite search engine and type in PLUMBER. You will get a list of plumbers profiting from the Net. Try this one: TOILETOLOGY and get an in depth home page on toilet repairs.