He calls the front desk and no responds. After several attempts he does reach them. They apologize and tell him that someone will be up shortly to change his room. Fifteen minutes later (which to him seems like forever) a porter shows up and takes him over to another room, which upon entering, has obviously not been made up. Is he ever going to return to your hotel?

Well the same can be said for your web site. The degree to which you successfully understand who your web site users are, what makes them tick, what their key drivers of satisfaction are, and what they value and what they want most - in other words, taking the time to listen to them and respond to their online experience, will determine the success of your online initiative. To successfully build long-term loyalty and generate increased sales from the web channel, your web site must be able to emulate the same relationship development characteristics that you employ with all person-to-person direct channels. Amongst other things, this means you must be able to establish a loyalty relationship with your user/ customer and quickly and easily respond to their needs and wants. The successful conversion ...