Ask for the First Date before Proposing Marriage
Don't miss a thing. Subscribe to the 1Cat.biz RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
A good friend of mine, Mark Widawer, is a list building and landing page specialist. He loves to use the analogy that attempting to sell customers before getting to know them is like proposing marriage before asking for the first date.
It sounds pretty ridiculous right? But a lot of people treat their online businesses this way. Instead of asking permission to get to know the prospect better many web sites go straight for the sell.
The number one goal of your web site should NOT be to “sell” your visitors on your products or services on their first visit.
The number one goal of your website should be to start a relationship with your potential customers/clients on their first visit.
Think about it. When’s the last time you made a non-routine purchase on a whim, or the first time you saw something? Most people do not purchase the first time they see a product or the first time they hear about a company’s service.
We check them out, we do some research, compare prices, etc…
So, if you know that’s normal human behavior and you don’t do anything to start a relationship with your web site visitors the first time they visit your site then you are losing out on a lot of potential business.
Let’s say that someone does come to your web site and they are genuinely interested in what you offer but like all good shoppers they decide to do a little more research first before buying from you.
What are you relying on that this potential customer will ever return to your site? Memory? A search engine? Bookmarks? That’s not enough. What happens when they find a better price or a slightly more appealing offer on the next site that they visit?
The good news is that they probably won’t buy from your competitors the first time they land on their site either. So, if you’ve found a way to start and continue a relationship with them then you will have the advantage over your competition.
Need some methods you can use to start a relationship with your website visitors?
- Free giveaways – offer something your visitors can really use, and get them to sign up for it.
- Product demos – if feasible, allow prospective buyers a free trial on your product that expires in 3 days (or 30). If they like it, they’re not likely to go to your competition.
- Free webinars – offer them your knowledge and expertise for free. Teach them something valuable, and they’ll remember you.
- Create fun promotions or contests – most creative video (or comment, or whatever) on how they’d use your product wins it! They’ll check back regularly to see if they’ve won. And if they don’t, they’ll be familiar with you and your company.
- Free Membership – Offer a free trial membership for a limited period of time.
Make sure your websites’ design appeals to the type of customer you attract. Make sure your copy really speaks to them. If you’re not sure the copy you’ve written is right, or whether the run-of-the-mill web designer you hired really knows how to appeal to your customers, hire a professional you know will do it right. This is not the place to skimp. If your customers don’t feel like you understand them, they will move on to the next guy. Having design and copy that makes your customer feel comfortable will pay for itself very quickly.
Also, during the “Courting period” if you use auto-response, send letters that are friendly and always asking about them, and give them opportunity to easily contact you through many media outlets, plus my favorite the telephone
Chuck,
You bring up some good points. Especially the phone part. In my opinion too many online businesses make it too hard for their customers or prospects to get in touch with them. There are some things I just won’t buy online unless the company makes their contact info, including phone number, readily available.
Barry O.