Strategic Concepts Inc. (Web Review)

Strategic Concepts Inc.

www.strategy5.com

A home-grown software company, Strategic Concepts Inc. in Bentonville designed its own Web site to distribute general information and offer customers a peek at its services. Our reviewers thought www.strategy5.com does a pretty fair job of both.

SCI earned a whole point (mouse) for its super-quick response to our e-mail inquiry for information. Within probably five minutes of being notified that a review was under way, Dave Stevens, the firm’s president of sales, called us and offered his personal assistance.

How many companies would like to have a sales manager who’s that responsive? If we had been a trucking firm looking for software, chances are Stevens would have made a sale.

Named for SCI’s latest generation of proprietary software, the URL leads surfers to a home page that, according to its counter, had received 5,814 visitors. We’re told 4,880 of those hits came over the last year.

We don’t generally think posting a site counter is a good idea, since traffic lulls can hurt perception. But in the case of SCI — a creator of customer software for truckload carriers, freight brokers and logistics providers — its target is a niche audience that’s probably far more concerned with service than the site’s popularity.

Designed and maintained in-house, the site debuted three years ago and has had some tinkering but no major upgrades. The coolest additions are hyperlinks to Internet demonstrations that show customers how shipments may be tracked via a global positioning system. The situations are static 1999 demos, since SCI couldn’t actually divulge current customer transactions.

But the point is made that Strategy5 can help shippers and carriers operate more efficiently. The firm, formerly of Rogers, was also relatively easy to find using two popular Internet search engines.

The only real criticism offered concerned aesthetic aspects of the site. One reviewer said using some animations and some photos was inconsistent, as was mixing serif and sans serif fonts.

One technician said, “Looks like a great software tool, but you expect more on the Web from a technology-related company. [SCI] doesn’t represent the probable quality of their product via this site.”

We liked the links to SCI’s customers and business partners and thought its “press room” and “development opportunities” sections were both well-done. Having a password-protected training section is smart. Having the firm’s address and phone number prominently posted is also a good strategy.