Is Your Website a Good Salesman
Have you considered that your website is much like having a salesman in your store. Your website is responsible for greeting your customers, discovering what they want, helping them find the products they are looking for, and making a purchase. Is your website a good salesman?
If you were hiring a salesman for your brick-and-mortar store, you would interview people who have experience in sales. It would help if they had attended a professional sales course and had the experience and personality to properly represent your business and your products.
The 5 main steps in salesmanship.
1. The Meet and Greet
2. The Discovery
3. Presentation
4. Trial Close - overcoming objections
5. The Close
But, how does this relate to your website? Let's take a look at what a good website needs to do to be a good salesman.
Greeting Your Customers
Every sales starts with a greeting to establish a professional relationship of friendliness and trust. A quality salesman also wants to put the customer at ease and let them know he is an expert in his product line, and that it is safe to buy from him. The customer should feel like the salesman can help them solve their problems and help them find the products they want at the price the looking for. So, does your website do that?
Here are a few ideas for the first page of your website. Remember, it's the first impression your new customer will get about your business.
1. Your website should have a professional look so when customers get there they feel comfortable and safe buying from you. Follow the example set by amazon.com and other big companies.
2. Your best products should be prominent on the front page, along with easy to use navigation menus to your products. The ones that you're wanting to sell today. Your best offers. Then it should be quite simple to click on product categories or subcategories allowing the customer to quickly and easily get to the type of product that they're looking for.
3. Make your customer feel at home, you might add a short video of you welcoming your customer and offering to help them in any way you can.
4. If your company is associated with any organizations that lend credibility to your business, make them prominent. Consider the Chamber of Commerce or any other groups that would lend credibility to your business like the Better Business Bureau. These affiliations make your new customer feel comfortable that they are dealing with someone that understands what they want and need.
5. Social media is very important to a business these days. So if you are not hooked up with Facebook, Twitter and youTube, you are missing out on a big share of the market. Last year youTube.com was the second biggest search engine on the planet. Go social and get your links on the front page.
6. Show your contact Information. Make sure your phone number, email and any other contact information is on the page. The bottom of the page is good for this.
The Discovery - Ask Questions
Now that you've met your customer and have a working relationship, you have earned the right to ask some questions about what their looking for. What would your website do?
1. It should be easy for your customers to find what they are looking for.
2. If you have a lot of products in many categories, you should have a Search box that is easy to use.
3. 24 hour chat line. Implement a 24 hour Chat Line that pops up. Then you will have design experts available around the clock to help their customers find what they need and to insure they don't leave the website.
The sales presentation
Once your customer knows the type of product they're looking for, your website should be able to provide all of the information about the product in a very clear fashion so the customer can make a decision. Here are some tips.
1. A good photo of course is always important. Multiple photos of the product is even better and helps the customer decide whether not what it's looking for.
2. Make sure your product information shows all of the options; small, medium, large, red white and blue, that they might be looking for. Don't confuse your customers with difficult or complex shipping costs. Keep it simple and clearly explain any inventory problems, back orders or unique shipping requirements.
3. Show the add-on products, or related products. There in a buying mood.
4. Make sure your shopping cart clear and easy to understand? Your shopping cart should show a small thumbnail of the product and all of the option sizes and shipping information that goes with it. The shopping cart should also give them the ability to change the quantity they want to buy or remove the item.
The Trail Close - Overcoming objections
A large percentage of people go to websites, pick out an object, add them to the shopping cart and then never buy them. It might be because they had a change of heart or decided they didn't want to buy the product for some reason that you don't know anything about. What should your website do?
1. This could be a great place for a pop-up window inviting them to email you if they have a question about the products.
2. This is another good place to have an online chat service. This is an important point in the sale. This is where most sales are lost when the customer does not have enough knowledge to complete the transaction and just simply leaves your website. You want to make sure that they have the information they need to make a purchase.
The Close
After your customer enters the checkout mode, gives you their credit card and makes a purchase. They've moved into a mind-set where they are now comfortable with you and looking forward to getting there product. Think of all the things that you can now do that you have a customer. You don't want them to leave the website without an opportunity to try to engage them more.
The majority of websites never ask a customer to join a newsletter or sign up on the mailing list. This is a big mistake. Your best customer is your last customer. If someone has bought from you already, they are far more likely to buy from you again in the future. The Internet market is very competitive these days so you need to make your customers your friends so they will come back. Start a newsletter, start a mailer, start a youTube Channel, but keep in touch with your customers.
1. This is a good time to invite them to leave comments about your website.
2. Join a possible newsletter to get more information about upcoming sales and products.
3. Off them a discount coupon for future sales.
4. Make sure you email them a receipt with special offers.
5. Ask them to recommend a friend and get a free gift.
Final Thoughts
A Well designed website will be a good salesman and improve your sales and your relationship with your customers.
If you don't think that is important, consider these thoughts.
In 2011 $973,000,000 was spent on the Internet. And it's growing fast. Wall Street experts predict we will surpass $1,000,000,000,000 in 2012. Over 2.4 billion people around the world are on the Internet. The global marketplace is expanding faster than most can understand it. If you want to get your share, you will find the competition tough and the pathway to success requiring a change of thinking. For those who choose to step up to the challenge there are wondrous financial opportunities possible.
If you doubt the power of communicating with your customers consider this. Anne Rice, the author of the Vampire Chronicles, spends hours every day on her Facebook Fan page. She has 697,000 followers of which at least 5,000 to 10,000 are chatting with her on a daily basis. How many of these fans will probably b
If you were hiring a salesman for your brick-and-mortar store, you would interview people who have experience in sales. It would help if they had attended a professional sales course and had the experience and personality to properly represent your business and your products.
The 5 main steps in salesmanship.
1. The Meet and Greet
2. The Discovery
3. Presentation
4. Trial Close - overcoming objections
5. The Close
But, how does this relate to your website? Let's take a look at what a good website needs to do to be a good salesman.
Greeting Your Customers
Every sales starts with a greeting to establish a professional relationship of friendliness and trust. A quality salesman also wants to put the customer at ease and let them know he is an expert in his product line, and that it is safe to buy from him. The customer should feel like the salesman can help them solve their problems and help them find the products they want at the price the looking for. So, does your website do that?
Here are a few ideas for the first page of your website. Remember, it's the first impression your new customer will get about your business.
1. Your website should have a professional look so when customers get there they feel comfortable and safe buying from you. Follow the example set by amazon.com and other big companies.
2. Your best products should be prominent on the front page, along with easy to use navigation menus to your products. The ones that you're wanting to sell today. Your best offers. Then it should be quite simple to click on product categories or subcategories allowing the customer to quickly and easily get to the type of product that they're looking for.
3. Make your customer feel at home, you might add a short video of you welcoming your customer and offering to help them in any way you can.
4. If your company is associated with any organizations that lend credibility to your business, make them prominent. Consider the Chamber of Commerce or any other groups that would lend credibility to your business like the Better Business Bureau. These affiliations make your new customer feel comfortable that they are dealing with someone that understands what they want and need.
5. Social media is very important to a business these days. So if you are not hooked up with Facebook, Twitter and youTube, you are missing out on a big share of the market. Last year youTube.com was the second biggest search engine on the planet. Go social and get your links on the front page.
6. Show your contact Information. Make sure your phone number, email and any other contact information is on the page. The bottom of the page is good for this.
The Discovery - Ask Questions
Now that you've met your customer and have a working relationship, you have earned the right to ask some questions about what their looking for. What would your website do?
1. It should be easy for your customers to find what they are looking for.
2. If you have a lot of products in many categories, you should have a Search box that is easy to use.
3. 24 hour chat line. Implement a 24 hour Chat Line that pops up. Then you will have design experts available around the clock to help their customers find what they need and to insure they don't leave the website.
The sales presentation
Once your customer knows the type of product they're looking for, your website should be able to provide all of the information about the product in a very clear fashion so the customer can make a decision. Here are some tips.
1. A good photo of course is always important. Multiple photos of the product is even better and helps the customer decide whether not what it's looking for.
2. Make sure your product information shows all of the options; small, medium, large, red white and blue, that they might be looking for. Don't confuse your customers with difficult or complex shipping costs. Keep it simple and clearly explain any inventory problems, back orders or unique shipping requirements.
3. Show the add-on products, or related products. There in a buying mood.
4. Make sure your shopping cart clear and easy to understand? Your shopping cart should show a small thumbnail of the product and all of the option sizes and shipping information that goes with it. The shopping cart should also give them the ability to change the quantity they want to buy or remove the item.
The Trail Close - Overcoming objections
A large percentage of people go to websites, pick out an object, add them to the shopping cart and then never buy them. It might be because they had a change of heart or decided they didn't want to buy the product for some reason that you don't know anything about. What should your website do?
1. This could be a great place for a pop-up window inviting them to email you if they have a question about the products.
2. This is another good place to have an online chat service. This is an important point in the sale. This is where most sales are lost when the customer does not have enough knowledge to complete the transaction and just simply leaves your website. You want to make sure that they have the information they need to make a purchase.
The Close
After your customer enters the checkout mode, gives you their credit card and makes a purchase. They've moved into a mind-set where they are now comfortable with you and looking forward to getting there product. Think of all the things that you can now do that you have a customer. You don't want them to leave the website without an opportunity to try to engage them more.
The majority of websites never ask a customer to join a newsletter or sign up on the mailing list. This is a big mistake. Your best customer is your last customer. If someone has bought from you already, they are far more likely to buy from you again in the future. The Internet market is very competitive these days so you need to make your customers your friends so they will come back. Start a newsletter, start a mailer, start a youTube Channel, but keep in touch with your customers.
1. This is a good time to invite them to leave comments about your website.
2. Join a possible newsletter to get more information about upcoming sales and products.
3. Off them a discount coupon for future sales.
4. Make sure you email them a receipt with special offers.
5. Ask them to recommend a friend and get a free gift.
Final Thoughts
A Well designed website will be a good salesman and improve your sales and your relationship with your customers.
If you don't think that is important, consider these thoughts.
In 2011 $973,000,000 was spent on the Internet. And it's growing fast. Wall Street experts predict we will surpass $1,000,000,000,000 in 2012. Over 2.4 billion people around the world are on the Internet. The global marketplace is expanding faster than most can understand it. If you want to get your share, you will find the competition tough and the pathway to success requiring a change of thinking. For those who choose to step up to the challenge there are wondrous financial opportunities possible.
If you doubt the power of communicating with your customers consider this. Anne Rice, the author of the Vampire Chronicles, spends hours every day on her Facebook Fan page. She has 697,000 followers of which at least 5,000 to 10,000 are chatting with her on a daily basis. How many of these fans will probably b
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