By John Hennessy
Google has enjoyed great success, but it isn't content to simply be a great search engine. They entered email with their gmail services. They offer a terrific map service and even have a ride finder service that shows cab locations in real time.
One of their latest prototype customer offerings (found at labs.google.com) is a personalized home page called Google homepage. This service lets Google provide an expanded level of service for their customers. It also makes sense as a convenient way for customers to access Google search, their gmail account, content and whatever else Google has up its sleeve.
This personalized home page prototype also puts Google in more direct competition with Yahoo! and AOL for visitors and ad dollars. Not lost on these companies and advertisers is that this convenient collection of resources will give customers even more reason to rely on Google to satisfy a broad range of needs.
Moderator's Comment: What else can businesses do to expand the benefits they deliver to customers and consequently get customers to rely on them more?
In considering what makes sense, don't start by considering what makes sense to you. Try to figure out what would make sense for your customers.
Just because you can do it doesn't mean your customers will see value in it. Just because you and no one else has done it yet, doesn't mean your customers won't find great value in it.
Hot dogs at Home Depot come to mind. There's nothing in their core business that suggests selling hot dogs. But when you're doing a project and running back and forth for stuff, being able to grab a dog and keep moving is a huge plus. - John Hennessy - Moderator