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Are You Really
Trying To Make Sales Online?
© 2004 By Willie Crawford
Picture this... a person sees your link
SOMEWHERE and clicks through to your site. When they get to
your site, it's a real challenge figuring out what the site
is all about. There's just a lot of talk on the site about
"the opportunity," or "the president of the company."
Forgive me for bursting your bubble... but I know beyond a
shadow of a doubt that if you have a site like this you'll
NEVER make any real money. Most people aren't going to
struggle trying to figure out if the site is really about
what they're looking for. Instead they'll just click back to
the search engine and look at the NEXT site.
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If
they think they've figured out what your site is
about, and they think they're interested, they
wonder how reputable the company is, but can
they find any information about the person or
company behind the site? If not, you don't have
a snowball's chance in purgatory of making a
sale. People buy from people they know, like
and trust. If your site doesn't tell them who's
behind the site they CAN'T feel this way about
you.
But suppose.... even with two strikes against
you, they consider contacting you with a few
questions, but they can't find any contact
information. All they find is a very cold,
impersonal form that they assume will take weeks
to be responded to. They wonder if they
should even bother and most people won't.
But suppose... that they DO think that they
really want what you have to offer? So they're
ready to proceed. However, your online form
asks for 50 pieces of private information. They
look at all of the information you're requesting
and decide to look
elsewhere. You should ask for only as much
information on
your contact form as necessary.
But "FRANKLY, I'm Confused!" Why do you make potential
customers jump through hoops in the first place? If you're
trying to get people as customers, why are you doing
everything you can to make it extremely difficult for them
to become your customer? |
BEAT the Cold Winter of 2007 ARIZONA'S NEWEST WONDER
Kartchner Caverns State Park opened in 1999. This stunning limestone cave system is one of the top in the world. Visit Sunny Southwest this cold winter |
For your site to be a "selling machine," it
needs to be just the opposite of the
all-too-common site that we've just described!
When a person first gets to your site, they
should instantly know what it has to offer
that'll make their lives better. They should
also instantly know what they should do to take
advantage of the benefits your site offers
them.
Your site should tell enough about the person or
company behind the product or service to build a
feeling that they know, like and trust you. That
generally means that they need to know
something about WHO is personally behind the
site. People relate to other people,
one-on-one! Even if it's a
business-to-business site, the person making the
buying decision relates to individuals.
Tell your potential customers who you are, why
you're qualifiedto solve their problems, why
OTHERS say that you provide top-notch service,
and why you're the ONLY choice for them.
Then, make it incredibly easy to purchase from
you, and incredibly easy for them to
contact you if they have questions. Give
them an email address, a physical address, and a
phone number. Alongside your physical
address, confirm what time zone you're in
and give them your business hours if you conduct
business over the phone.
You should consider offering them the option to
order by phone or fax.
BEAT the Cold Winter of 2007 ARIZONA'S NEWEST WONDER
Kartchner Caverns State Park opened in 1999. This stunning limestone cave system is one of the top in the world. Visit Sunny Southwest this cold winter |
Consider offering them a toll-free number.
If you live in the continental United States,
you can offer your customers this option for as
little as $39.95 per month. That's all I pay to
offer this option to my customers :-) For
a little more than $1 per day, your customers
can just pick up the phone, speak to a
reassuring voice on the other end, ask a quick
question or two, and give you their order.
If you'd like to know what service I use, it's
at:
http://TheRealSecrets.com/toll-free-numbers.html
Since you should be offering them a toll-free
number, you probably also want to be able to
just jot down their order right over the phone.
That means you need a merchant account that
allows you to key in orders from your virtual
terminal or into a physical terminal. You can
get set up with merchant account, virtual
terminal and gateway for less than $100 if you
live in the US. So you have no real excuse
there either.
If you'd like to know what company I use for
taking my order right over the phone if I want,
just visit:
http://TheRealSecrets.com/really-cheap-merchant-account.html
One final thing you need to do to make it REALLY
easy for them. Give them a printable order form
that they can fax or mail to you. There are
people who still don't trust online forms for
some reason. Don't make it hard for them to get
your stuff. You ARE trying to make a sale
aren't you?
If you see yourself making any of the mistakes
above, then you've just figured out why you're
not making 1/10th the sales that you could be
making. You've also just discovered how to FIX
the problem. Now all you need to do is just do
it!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Willie Crawford has been teaching others how to build an
on-line business since late 1996. Frequently featured in radio, magazine
and newspaper articles and interviews, Willie teaches the average guy
what the top marketers are doing but seldom talking about. Willie
provides detailed how to information in his newsletter, through his
personal coaching, and at his annual how to workshop. Learn more at:
http://InternetMarketingHowToWorkshop.com |
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