Web 101 – Using Your Website to Deliver

There's a new restaurant in Los Angeles called Kogi whose use of the web gives a whole new twist on the concept of delivery. Kogi (kogibbq.com) has a unique menu combining Mexican / Korean foods. Their head chef, Roy Choi, is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America whose experience includes working in a number of four star restaurants. And did I mention Kogi operates out of a taco truck?

Within a few months of launching their venture Kogi has managed to build a ravenous following, keeping their patrons fed and happy, by broadcasting their location via Twitter (twitter.com/kogibbq).

Twitter (twitter.com) is a free web service that allows people to keep in touch with one another through the exchange of brief text messages broadcast over the Internet. Posts on Twitter are known as tweets.

Some examples of tweets from Kogi:

Roja on 110 and 6th. do you see us? honk if u do. well b at JANM on 1st and central at 5 40. [4:18 PM]

Verde is creeping to Yuris in Melrose in 15 min. [5:35 PM]

This article is not meant to be a treatise on Twitter, tweeting or taco trucks but rather to point out that everyday businesses are using the web to connect with and serve their customers. Some, like Kogi, are creating new paradigms, but most are using good old common sense and applying what they already know in solving business problems and providing better service to their customers.

This applies to any and all industries. For example, Digestive Disease Associates of Rockland County was experiencing high call volumes resulting in long hold times and frazzled receptionists. Their solution? Offer patients the alternative of handling common inquiries through their web site (myddar.com). In addition to FAQs and instructions for common procedures and preps, DDAR customers can request prescription refills, appointments and test results through the office's web site.

United Process Service, Inc., a New York City-based legal services company, had the idea several years ago to offer customers the ability to track the status of their assignments via the web. The idea wasn't exactly a new one, for FedEx and UPS customers had been tracking packages for years, but United Process Service (unitedprocess.com) became one of the first process service companies in Manhattan to use the web to allow customers to track the status of the subpoenas and other legal documents being served.

Your business is about serving, selling, communicating, informing and educating your customers. In one word, connecting. The Web is one of the most powerful connecting tools ever invented (aside from duct tape) and it’s available to everyone. Here exists the opportunity to augment and enhance some of the services you provide through creative use of the Internet.

It doesn't replace person-to-person interaction and you don't need to come up with paradigm-shifting innovations. It requires taking what you already know and applying it to a new marketing venue. Who knows... there's a guy in LA selling tacos out of a truck, making headlines around the world. Too bad they can't deliver a taco as an e-mail attachment – at least not yet…