Is Your Website Soft?

May 2008

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May 2008

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ARTICLES

IS YOUR WEBSITE SOFT?

Every salesperson is taught how to sell the benefits of a product or service. They learn how to identify a customer's needs and how to relate them to what they sell. Your website needs the same lessons.

"You should think of your website as an extra member of your salesforce"

You should think of your website as an extra member of your salesforce. It has the potential to attract and qualify customers, educate them on the features and benefits of your products and generate real interest that could lead to sales.

But this potential won't be realised unless your website has an intelligent, well thought-out design with good quality content and intuitive features.

A few simple guidelines will help to make your website work harder.

	Who are your visitors?
	A good salesperson will alter his pitch to make it relevant to each individual client. Your website should do the same. By learning a little about each visitor, you can show them the information they are looking for and direct them to products and services that match their requirements. You can do this by simply asking a couple of questions or providing different sections of your site for each individual audience. For example, a firm of solicitors could provide one page of information for each of the industries they work with the most. And a recruitment agency will normally dedicate one part of their website to clients, the other to job seekers.
	What do they want?
	It is very unlikely that anyone wants to read your glossy brochure-style sales pitch. Give them good quality overviews of your company and its services, along with detailed product information and anything else you think they may need. Don't be afraid to include a lot of text or images in your website. As long as you break them up and organise everything well, you will not overwhelm your visitors - only satisfy them.
	Why should they buy?
	Your website's most important role is to give potential customers a reason to buy from you and not from your competitors. It should identify your USP's (Unique Sales Points) and promote the benefits your products offer. Give examples of work you have done in the past and include testimonials from happy customers whenever you can. These can be very effective sales tools.
	What do they think of you?
	It is true that 'people buy people', but in the faceless world of the Internet, 'people buy websites'. Your website's appearance, professionalism and usefulness will all be taken into consideration when customers are deciding who to buy from. Take a good hard look at your site. There will be countless ways that you could improve its design or ease-of-use. Compare it to your competitors' websites - your clients certainly will. Good quality content and features are useless if they aren't packaged properly.
	What do they do next?
	Just as a salesperson should try to 'close' the sale, your website should make it easy for visitors to make contact, register their interest or buy online. Wherever you give details of a product or service, tell the customer how they can purchase it. This could be as simple as giving a telephone number, providing an enquiry form or letting them add it to a shopping cart with a single click. Too many websites don't take the opportunity to close the sale.

"If you view your website as an online brochure, you are overlooking its potential"

If you view your website as an online brochure, you are overlooking its potential.

Customers use websites to make buying decisions. A poor impression could lose you the sale.

Make sure your website is designed to look great, promote your services, meet your clients' needs and close the sale. Only then can you expect any results.

Any feedback or comments on this article?

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