Create More Customers

One of the most important things we, as website owners, must do is anticipate and answer our visitor's and customer's questions in advance. This must be done before they either have to spend time looking for the answer or leave our websites because they don't want to spend the time looking for the answer.

Our job is to make our visitor's job as easy and simple as possible. That means we have to figure out in advance, every possible question that might arise, no matter how obvious the answer might be seem to us.

We can't sit back and say, "Well, of course they'll realize that, who wouldn't?" And, yes, the answer might be obvious to most, but there will be those for whom it's not obvious, and their money is as green as everyone else's. Let's not forget that.

Does an FAQ page solve the problem?

Let's assume we have anticipated every possible question (not likely) and we've placed them all on a specially designated "Frequently Asked Questions" page. Is that good enough?  Does that take care of it?

My feeling is that it's not sufficient, it's not enough.  Here's the reason why: we're still making our visitors have to work to find the answers to their questions.

Now I understand, we've put all the FAQs into one neat little section of our websites. This does make our visitor's jobs easier, however they still have to look for the FAQ page and click on it and look for the subheading that covers the area of their question. (I do hope, that at the least, your FAQ page uses heading and subheadings to make their search easier).

We can go one better

How about monitoring the FAQ page to see which questions are clicked on the most? If we find that there are a small number of questions that are viewed more frequently, I think that means that the answers to those questions would be better placed in the copy of your web page rather than on a special Frequently Asked Questions page. It might even make sense to answer those questions right upfront on the homepage. These are obviously issues that concern your visitors.

Takeaway

The important thing to keep in mind is that your website is your top salesperson, your top customer service representative, your greeter, your cashier, etc. It's the public face of your company.  In most cases, your user will probably never phone you or email you or look beyond your website.

Help yourself, by helping them. Make sure you've anticipated and answered every question they might have and have posted those answers in the best possible areas of your website. 

Comments...

Please post your comments down below.

Thanks for visiting the Create More Customers blog. If you like this blog, please be sure to add it to your feeds by choosing the orange RSS icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen- Google Reader, My Yahoo!, etc. This will allow you to keep up-to-date with the latest blogs effortlessly.

Rick Henkin
IncreaseOnlineProfits.com
TheSolutionMovie.com

Thanks for visiting the Create More Customers blog. If you like this blog, please be sure to add it to your feeds by choosing the orange RSS icon in the upper right hand of the screen, Google Reader, My Yahoo, etc. This will allow you to keep up-to-date with the latest blog posts effortlessly. Tell a friend!

Last week I wrote a blog post entitled "Treat Your Friends Like Customers." You'll noticed it's not entitled, "Treat Your Customers Like Friends." That notion is a given and there have been many books and articles on the subject of treating your customers as if they were your friends.

The reason I took the opposite tact is that I feel sometimes we might be remiss in the way we act toward our friends. Since this blog is targeted toward other website owners, I felt that a reminder to try and treat our friends as well as we (hopefully) treat our customers, might come in handy. (At the same time, this post and last week's post serve as a devious, sneaky reminder about how we should act toward our customers as well).

5 More Principles of Superior Customer Service

Last week we examined 5 principles of customer service and wondered what would happen if we applied those principles to our friendships. I think it was pretty much agreed that applying them would only strengthen and deepen those friendships.  Let's look at 5 more:

1. Make customers feel valued and appreciated- If you can create an environment where your customer feels valued and appreciated, you've not only increased the lifetime value of that customer (because he's going to keep coming back to you) but he's also going to tell everyone else he knows about your service.  How about making sure that your friends feel valued and appreciated? When's the last time you told your buddy, "I'm sure glad that we're friends. I really am grateful for our friendship," and meant it. Wouldn't that make you feel good to hear that from someone?
2. Avoid interrupting and over-talking- One of the last things you want to do is cut off a customer in mid-sentence by interjecting your own point-of-view. The reason you wait until they've finished is because a) it's rude; b) it sends the message that what they have to say isn't all that important to you; and 3) you might learn something valuable if you just wait and listen before speaking. I definitely think that this principle applies to friendships as well and probably even more so. More so,because your friendships will probably last longer than than the relationships you have with your customers.
3. Welcome customer complaints- Customer complaints are constructive, not destructive and should be welcomed and not avoided. They inform you and educate you as to where your service or product is lacking. By having this information, you're in a position to improve your service or product and hopefully reduce complaints in the future. It's the same thing with friendships. If our friends don't tell us where we're letting them down, or behaving poorly, how will we ever improve ourselves and become a better friend?
4. Solve the customer's problem- Solving their problems is really all that most customers want. No one wants to have problems in the first place, if they can avoid it, but when they do come up, your job is to help them solve it. I realize that this might be a little different with friends, because while friends may come to you with a problem, they may only really just want someone to listen to them, not try and solve it for them.But even that, is it's own solution. By listening and being there when it's needed, you're helping them and eventually the solution will surface.
5. Act ethically and with integrity toward your customer- I think this principle speaks for itself and can certainly be applied to our friendships as well. There's nothing that feels as good as going to sleep at night, knowing that you've treated everyone you met that day, honestly, ethically and with integrity. It's got to be very hard for those people who end up having to sleep with one eye open. You know what I mean?

Better, Worse or Unchanged?

I think, just as in the last post, applying any of these principles can only have a positive affect on our personal relationships as well as our business relationships. I'd sure like to hear from you with any other examples you can think of that can be applied equally as well to customer relationships and personal friendships.

Comments...

Please post your comments or other examples down below.

Thanks for visiting the Create More Customers blog. If you like this blog, please be sure to add it to your feeds by choosing the orange RSS icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen- Google Reader, My Yahoo!, etc. This will allow you to keep up-to-date with the latest blog posts effortlessly.

Rick Henkin
IncreaseOnlineProfits.com
TheSolutionMovie.com

Tell a friend!

I recently came across 2 articles, both discussing the idea of treating your spouse the same way you, hopefully, treat your customers, with exemplary service.  The 1st article, "Manage Your Marriage Like a Business," was written by Louis Upkins, Jr. for Business Week magazine. The 2nd article, "Treat Your Spouse Like a VIP Client," was posted on the Gene & Julie Show blog.

Both articles suggested that our marital relationships would most likely improve if we were to treat our spouses with the same courtesy and respect that we show our customers.  The Gene & Julie Show blog post used the example of a Nordstrom salesperson following a customer all the way to the airport because that customer had accidentally left their airline ticket in the store. I call that great customer service.

They then asked the question whether or not you would feel inconvenienced or put out if your spouse had accidentally left his or her airline ticket on the kitchen counter and you had to drive all the way to the airport to give it to them.  Chances are a lot of us would probably be upset and give our "loved one" an earful, even though it wasn't done on purpose.

These articles got me to thinking about the relationships we have with our friends. I know that for me, my friends represent my extended family and are certainly every bit as important. After all, I chose them and they chose me.

5 Principles of Superior Customer Service

So, what would happen if we applied some of the principles of superior customer service to our friendships? Would the relationships be better, worse or unchanged? Let's look at just 5 of these principles:

1. Treat your customers the way you'd like to be treated- We've all been on the receiving end of poor customer service. We probably found it hard to imagine that any company could stay in business for very long when they treated us so poorly. How about the way we sometimes treat our friends? Now, our friends may be more forgiving than a customer in a store, but still, do we always treat them the way we'd like to be treated?
2. Realize that it costs much more to acquire a new customer than to retain an old one- Your current customers are always your best source of new business and they cost a lot of money and time to acquire in the 1st place. We don't come by friends quickly and easily either. Deep and meaningful personal relationships take time, sometimes years to cultivate. They're not easily replaceable and, certainly to me, far more valuable over the long run. I would much rather have 5 "best" friends than 25 acquaintances. It's all about quality, not quantity.
3. Understand your customer's needs- To be successful in business you have to know what it is that your customer wants. Your job is to provide it for them to the best of your ability. The same thing applies to friendships. In order to have a friend, you have to be a friend. How do you find out what your customer or friend needs? You listen, you ask questions. You be quiet. You be empathetic and understanding. You stop selling for a moment.. Realize that it's not all about your product (if they're a customer) or you (if they're a friend). It's about them.
4. Exceed the customer's expectations- There's a certain level of service that all customers expect. It's when you go beyond that expectation that you build loyalty. Loyalty is all about relationship building whether it's with a customer or a friend. Isn't it great when you know that you have friends who have your back, who will be with you through the good and the bad times?
5. Say "please," "thank you" and "I'm sorry"- 3 little phrases that go a long way with customers and friends. As a customer, I know that on those rare occasions that the representative I'm speaking with utters any of those 3 phrases, I feel that I'm being heard, that I'm being listened to, that I'm being respected. Sure, some people come off sounding as if they don't mean it, but for those who are sincere, it goes a long way toward defusing a situation and enhancing the relationship.

Better, Worse or Unchanged

I think that by applying each of these principles of superior customer service to the relationships we have with our friends, it could only enhance those friendships and make them better. Even more, when we treat our personal relationships with more care and more respect, we'll usually get the same in return.

Comments...

Have a comment or other examples ? Please let me know.

Thanks for visiting the Create More Customers blog. If you like this blog, please be sure to add it to your feeds by choosing the orange RSS icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen, Google Reader, My Yahoo!, etc. This will allow you to keep up-to-date with the latest blog posts effortlessly.

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Writing online is very different than writing offline. You've probably heard this before, but do you know why and what those differences are?

Why is online writing different from offline writing?

The simple reason that writing online and offline are different is "time invested."  If you or I pick up a magazine or newspaper, we'll spend some time flipping through the pages and see if there's anything of interest, anything worth reading.

When we go online, we search for something specific, some topic or product or service that's of interest to us.  We can't "flip" through the Internet. And, because there's so much information available (more than I'm sure we could absorb in several lifetimes) we want to be able to quickly choose what's deserving of our attention and what isn't.

The only way to do that is to scan web pages. A website might have exactly the information that you and I are looking for, but if we can't discern that in a matter of seconds, we're off to the next search engine result. Which leads us to:

What are the differences?

The easiest way to explain the differences is to show you an example of each. This first example has been excerpted from How the Universe Began, an article from Plus magazine:

"A new theory was needed at the time because the original Big Bang model could not explain some of the most striking features of our Universe. Three problems were particularly bugging cosmologists: the horizon problem, the flatness problem and the magnetic monopole problem. The first of these addresses the fact that many of the Universe's physical features are roughly the same wherever you look. Travel a few million light years in one direction, and you'll find that the cosmic background radiation has pretty much the same temperature as you would have found by traveling the same distance in the opposite direction. If you encountered such a uniform temperature in, for example, a huge pot of soup, you'd conclude that someone at some point must have given it a good stir, so that hotter regions were able to trade some of their heat with cooler ones. Similarly, cosmologists concluded that different regions of the Universe must have been in contact at some point and able to influence each other. According to the original Big Bang model, however, such communication should have been impossible, as not even light could have traveled the vast distances between the regions in the time since radiation was released from matter.

The flatness problem, as the name suggests, involves the geometry of space. According to Einstein's theory of relativity, massive bodies curve spacetime. The shape of space is therefore intimately connected with the density of matter. Extrapolating back in time to just after the Big Bang, cosmologists found that the density of matter must have been very delicately balanced indeed: any more matter and the gravitational force would have been so strong that the Universe would have collapsed in a Big Crunch long before now; any less matter and the Universe would have long flown apart, becoming dark, empty and cold, and eventually dying in a Big Chill. Neither of these has happened, so the density of matter must have been just right. In fact, the value that the density must have taken is precisely the one guaranteeing that the Universe's geometry is Euclidean: it is not positively curved — the two-dimensional analogue of this would be the surface of a sphere — or negatively curved — like, in two dimensions, the surface a saddle — but flat. Surely this apparent fine-tuning is more than just a coincidence and any decent theory should be able to explain it.

The third problem involves unusual particles, including some that are akin to magnets with only one pole. These don't exist, you might say, and you would almost be right: they have never been observed. Unfortunately, Big Bang theory predicts that lots of these particles should have been produced at the birth of the Universe. The big question, then, is where on Earth and in the Heavens they are".

 

Contrast this with my re-write of the same excerpt:

New Big Bang theory needed

The original Big Bang model could not explain some of the most striking features of our Universe.  3 problems in particular were bugging cosmologists:

1. The Horizon problem

According to the original Big Bang model, it would have been impossible for different regions of the Universe to influence each other, because not even light could have traveled the vast distances between the regions in the time since radiation was released from matter. However, cosmologists have found the following to be true:

• Many of the Universe's physical features are the roughly the same wherever you look
• If you travel a few million light years in any direction, you'll find the cosmic background radiation has pretty much the same temperature
• If a pot of soup had similar uniform temperature, you'd conclude that it must have been stirred so that hotter regions were able to trade their heat with cooler ones

Consequently, cosmologists concluded that different regions of the Universe must have been in contact at some point and able to influence each other.

2. The Flatness problem

According to Einstein's theory of relativity, massive bodies curve spacetime. The shape of space is therefore intimately connected with the density of matter. Extrapolating back in time to just after the Big Bang, cosmologists found that the density of matter must have, in fact, been very delicately balanced:

• Any more matter and the gravitational force would have been so strong that the Universe would have collapsed in a Big Crunch long before now
• Any less matter and the Universe would have long flown apart, becoming dark, empty and cold
• Neither of these has happened, so the density of matter must have been just right

Consequently, the value that the density must have taken is precisely the one guaranteeing that the Universe's geometry is Euclidean: it is not positively curved- the 2-dimensional analogue of this would be the surface of a sphere- or negatively curved- like, in 2 dimensions, the surface of a saddle- but flat.

3.  The Magnetic Monopole problem

The Big Bang theory predicts that lots of unusual particles, including some that are magnets with only one pole, should have been produced at the birth of the Universe. However, they have never been observed, so where are they?  The theory of inflation provides an answer to this question:

• Just before inflation started, the Universe was still small enough for all matter and energy to interact and find an equilibrium that guarantees homogenity of physical features
• Inflation also worked to smooth out the Universe's shape: the math underlying the theory shows that any old initial curvature would have been driven close to flatness by the process of inflation

Consequently it's no longer necessary to assume that the Universe started out in a curiously fine-tuned state. Although inflation does not do away with magnetic monopoles entirely, it predicts that they should be so sparse in space that it's no surprise we've never come across them.

Which is more likely to be read?

Whether you read either of the examples above, I think you'd agree that if you were looking for information on the beginning of the Universe, you would be much more likely to read or scan the info in example No. 2.  It's made to be scannable with short sentences, headings, subheadings and bullets.

The  content on your webpage is important. It's what helps sell your product, service or ideas. Don't force your visitor to click away because you've laid it all out in dense blocks of text. Make it easy for them to find the information they need. It's not a magazine or newspaper article. It's not an essay or a book, it's a webpage.

Online writing is different from offline writing. I hope you've found this post helpful. You'll find this other article I've written, Headings, Subheadings, Bullets and Scannability, helpful as well.

Comments...

Have a comment or other examples? Please let me know.

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Boy, talk about a word you hear all the time now. From the Obama administration's issuance of this memorandum on the 2nd day in office to new corporate social media policy to online businesses. Everyone seems to understand that being transparent in your dealings is what's required these day, but a lot of people and companies are still afraid to embrace it.

What does “transparency” mean?

It means being authentic, being real. It means admitting when you don't know or you've made a mistake. It means asking your community, your customers or your employees for ideas and help in formulating better products and services.

It also means taking a risk, realizing that you’re going to get shot down from time to time which is really a good thing. Because if you listen, really listen, your customers will tell you exactly what you need to do to be successful. It’s an opportunity to improve your products or service. And besides, with the quickness that word of mouth spreads these days, you can’t escape compliments or criticisms anyway.

Does transparency apply only to business?

No. When I was in my teens and my 20s, I had friends, who if they liked a girl, debated whether or not they should tell her. I know there were girls who wondered if they should say something if they liked us. Part of it was game playing, part of it was a fear of rejection. What if he/she doesn’t like me?

I’ve always been one to express or be “transparent” about my feelings in this instance. The fact is that one of two things will happen: 1) hopefully the girl feels the same and was just too shy to say anything before and now I’ve made it easier for her: or 2) she doesn’t feel the same, which is information I definitely need to know so I can move on.

Another example is when you might have said or done something that was unintended or misconstrued. Isn’t it better to apologize or explain yourself upfront rather than letting the other person possibly think ill of you? Isn’t it better to at least talk about it and clear the air?

What do personal relationships and business have in common?

By putting yourself or your company “out there” and being willing to accept whatever feedback you receive, you can either learn that you’re doing a good job or a not so good job. Chances are you’ll have customers from both ends of the spectrum. Just like the personal relationship example above, it’s information you definitely need to know.

By apologizing for an action that backfired or explaining why the company is taking the steps that it’s taken, you’ve helped defused the situation and at least opened a dialog.

So, is transparency another word for confidence?

I think so. It’s much easier to hide and not take responsibility for your company’s actions. Easier, but unwise.

It takes confidence and an appreciation that by being transparent, especially in these times of fast communication, you not only enhance your public image, you also stand to benefit from the input received.

That’s confidence, that’s being transparent, that’s stepping up to the plate in this day and age.

Have another word or idea to express the meaning of transparency?- just leave a comment.

Thanks for visiting the Create More Customers blog. If you like this blog, please be sure to add it to your feeds by choosing the RSS button, Google Reader, My Yahoo!, etc. This will allow you to keep up-to-date effortlessly with the latest blog post.

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Is Google "the Man?"

I grew up in the 60's where you weren't supposed to trust anyone over 30 and certainly not big, greedy corporations.  Big corporations and big government represented "the Man," the enemy. And "the Man" was always trying to keep you down while taking all the advantages and profits for himself (well, I guess with respect to some corporations, things haven't changed at all).

I realize that Google is gigantic and that's a scary thing. Because we can't control something that large (AIG), we're at it's mercy (to a point) and we can only hope that it's kind and benevolent. Google's stated mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful, but does that make Google "the Man?"

Perhaps it does in some contexts, or even in a lot of them. But, because the focus of this blog and the purpose of  my company, IncreaseOnlineProfits.com, is about helping online businesses attract more visitors and create more customers, let's just focus on Google's search function and whether or not it's an ally or an enemy to our businesses.

Gaming the system

Many people try to cheat the search engines. They find ways to artificially get their website ranked higher for a short period of time. They load their pages with invisible keywords, where the font color and the background color are the same. Or they purchase multiple domains and post the same content on each and link to each other, or a whole host of other blackhat (as opposed to whitehat) SEO tricks.

The problem with trying to cheat the search engines is that you will be found out. Don't even begin to think that you can outsmart Google or the others. You can't. You might get by for a little while, but once they catch on, you just might see your website completely deleted from their databases and/or be blacklisted without any chance of returning.

You say to yourself, "So what? I'll just get a new domain name and do it again." But what about your customers? What about your personal sense of integrity? If that's how you want to operate, always looking for a new angle because you got caught using the last one, that's up to you. Personally, I like to go to sleep at night not having to look over my shoulder, knowing that I'm right with the world, that I've treated everyone the way I'd like to be treated.

Is it possible that you and Google want the same things for your website?

Google is a business. It only remains in business for as long as it returns search results that you and I find relevant to our search. If we search for information or pricing for a Flip camera and Google's search page results just returns a listing of electronic stores, is that relevant? Does that help us out?

No, it doesn't.  If we continued to received results that didn't save us time and didn't match our query, would we continue to use Google? No, we wouldn't. So, it's in Google's best interest to give it's searchers the most relevant information it can based on the  search terms used.

How does this relate to your website?

Google has created a Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide as well as Webmaster guidelines to help improve your site's interaction with users and search engines. Within those guides are suggestions such as:

• Offer quality content and services- write easy-to-read text, stay organized around the topic, use relevant language, create fresh, unique content and create content primarily for your users, not search engines
• Make your site easier to navigate- create a naturally flowing hierarchy, use mostly text for navigation and use "breadcrumb" navigation
• Think about the words users would type to find your pages, and make sure that your site actually includes those words within it
• Offer a site map that points to important parts of your site
• Write better anchor text- that's the clickable text that tells users and Google something about the page it's linked to
• Optimize your use of images- use brief, but descriptive filenames and alt text, supply alt text when using images as links, store images in a directory of their own
• Try to use text instead of images to display important names, content or links. The Google crawler doesn't recognize text contained in images
• Check for broken links and correct HTML

While these suggestions (and there are many more) not only  help your website to be found in the search engines, they also help those users who actually click through to your site.

Don't you want to attract more visitors by being more easily found in the search engine result pages? Don't you want to create more customers by having better quality and content, a site that's easy to navigate, easy-to-read text, etc.  Aren't these all things that make for a website that people want to visit, stay on, link to?

Is it possible that you and Google are on the same page in this respect? Doesn't it benefit them if you have a quality website with valuable content? Isn't that what they need for their search results? Remember, if Google can't return relevant search results, they lose customers.

Perhaps, they are an ally or can at least be seen as an ally and not the enemy.

Comments...

Have a comment about Google, a different point of view? Please, let me know.

Thank you for visiting the Create More Customers blog. If you like this blog, please be sure to add to your feeds by choosing the RSS button (the orange icon in the upper-right of the screen).  This will allow you to keep up-to-date with the lastest blogs effortlessly.

Rick

Tell a friend!

We've all heard that "content is king." Good content or hopefully, great content is what separates you from the rest of the pack. You can design the most beautiful website in the world, but without good content,  it won't really matter how cool your website looks.

What is good content?

It's very simple- good content is "valuable" content. If you can enhance your reader's life with the knowledge you bring to them, that's valuable content.

It doesn't have to be about making more money (although that's a good thing and probably the first thing that came to mind). It can be as simple as a new perspective on something your readers deal with in their daily lives, a new way of looking at things. It can be about a hobby, a passion you have for something, a zillion other things.

The benefits to you of valuable content

Let's look at the benefits of having valuable content on your website:

• It engages your readers
• It gives your readers a reason to keep coming back
• It gives your readers a reason to stay longer
• It gives your site credibility
• It can establish you as an authority in your area of expertise
• The media may come to see you as an expert in your field
• Quality content will be ranked higher in search engine results
• More websites are likely to link to your site which will place you higher in search engine rankings
• Conversion rates increase which equals more revenue

 

What do you think are some additional benefits of valuable content? Leave a comment.

Wishing you the best,

Rick

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I just read in the Los Angeles Times today about the new "in-your-face Web ad formats." According to the article, these new formats are "designed to be both more obtrusive and interactive."

There are 3 types of these new supersize ads

1. Fixed panel- which looks like part of the page but scrolls up and down with the user
2. XXL box- which allows users to turn pages within the ad
3. Pushdown- which opens to display a larger ad

The reason for these new type of ads?

The reason is because all of us have learned to tune out banner ads. We've all developed "banner blindness."  In fact, we've become so good at it, that according to usability expert, Jakob Nielsen, in his 2006 book, Prioritizing Web Usability (VOICES) - "Banner blindness has expanded beyond the deliberate act of not looking at banners to encompass avoidance of anything that usually signals irrelevant information or advertisements...In fact, anything that's overly large or colorful risks being ignored, particularly if it includes animation." We must have had a good reason for becoming so skillful at ignoring ads. Perhaps, it was because we're more interested in the content of the page and learning something of value to us? I realize that print advertising is falling by the wayside, and you have to find some way to attract the attention of your intended audience.  We all do, even if we're not purposely trying to monetize our audience.

Will bigger and more intrusive work?

But are supersize ads that take up a large portion of your browser screen, the answer? If I visit a particular website to learn more about a subject, will I be likely to have more or less goodwill toward that website and it's owner if my screen real estate is obscured by these giant ads? My guess is less. For now, these in-your-face-advertisments are being used or will be used by publishers such as the New York Times, CNN, CBS, ESPN and the Wall Street Journal.

What's the answer?

I'm not sure what the answers are to the dilemma confronting these online publishers. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. What are your thoughts on this subject?

Tell a friend!

The world has changed.  On a daily basis, we're bombarded with more advertising messages than ever. It's no longer an issue of standing out among your competitors. It's become an issue of standing out at all.

Your customers, my customers, ourselves included, can't possibly deal with the massive amount of information being constantly thrown at us. So, what do we do?

We tune it out. It's really the only way to deal.

Oftentimes, people who are dogmatic, unwilling to listen to new ideas or try something new, don't do it because their belief is that strong. They do it as a way of dealing. It's easier to just say this is who I am and this is what I believe. That way, you don't have to take the time to listen to new ideas, consider them and possibly change your own point of view. You believe in "X" and that's that.

What does this have to do with marketing on the Internet?

I'll tell you.  It's a struggle for attention. You're own website might even be your enemy. It might be so full of "noise" that your visitors turn and run because they can't break through all the clutter.

And even if your website scores high for usability, is clean and intuitive, it may not be enough. You might have the killer content of all time and it might still not be enough.

So, what's the answer?

Aside from the  necessary and important search engine marketing and optimization tips and tricks that will hopefully drive traffic to your website, you have to provide a solution for your intended audience. You have to fix whatever is ailing them.

Be a solution, solve a problem. Just the same as you and me, our visitors want simple, easy to follow, easy to understand answers to their problems.

Organize your content into a method, a process, that shows your prospect how they can get from Point A to Point B. As James Connor wrote in his brilliant book, The Perfection of Marketing,- "...You see, Peter, there is just too much information in the world. Ironic- because the marketplace is primitive. If people can't quickly understand what you stand for, then you won't break through. There is just too much competition. If you tell too many ideas, people will gravitate rapidly to the competitor who makes it simpler for them- who communicates one idea. To win, you have to keep it simple..." 

On my own website, IncreaseOnlineProfits.com, we're going through a re-design right now for this very reason. Our current homepage is too "noisy." And our valuable content needs to be arranged in a simpler fashion for the ease and use of our customers. We should have a new version up in a couple of weeks and you can compare them for yourself.

I suspect our website will be constantly evolving and changing, as it should and as yours should as well.

I welcome your comments

Tell a friend!

In an earlier post,  How Do I Improve My Customer Service?, I suggested that the answer lies in looking at your website from your customer's perspective.  It's the only viewpoint that really matters.

I recently had  an offline experience that's worth describing to you:

A Personal Story

About a year ago, I installed new maple kitchen cabinets in my house. The company was professional, they showed up on time, the workmanship was superior and I was very pleased. The cabinets looked like fine furniture.

In November, I noticed that the finish began developing blemishes in some areas. In California, finishes need to be water-based rather than oil-based to protect the environment, a good thing. Unfortunately, most water-based finishes are just not as durable and long-lasting as the oil-based ones. At the time of installation, it had been raining pretty steadily, and I thought that maybe the finish hadn't dried sufficiently.

I called the company, they sent someone out and agreed that the cabinets needed to be repaired.  The worker took one of the cabinet doors with him to show to his supervisor and told me that I would be called later that day.

By the end of the next day, no one had called, so I called and left a message. After calling each day for 4 days, someone finally returned my call and told me that new cabinet doors were being made.

A week later I called to check on the status of the repair. Guess what? No return call. I waited 3 days and left a voicemail for the owner, thinking surely he would call back and apologize. No dice.

Then I received a call setting up an appointment for installation, which was great. No one showed up.

I then called my sales rep who I hadn't spoken to in a year. He said that he would get to the bottom of it and call me back. He did call and told me that no one was returning his calls either. ( Now, this is a guy who had been with the company for over 10 years and was their top salesman bringing in over $15 million in sales during that time).

A couple of days later, the rep called to say that the company had closed its doors and they still wouldn't talk to him. At this point, all I wanted was my original cabinet door back. He said not to worry, he had contacts and could get another one made if necessary.

Keep in mind, he had suddenly lost his job, didn't know if he would receive his commision checks and really didn't  have any obligation to me at this point. He had his own problems to worry about.

End of story- a few days later, on his way to file a grievance with the Labor Board, the sales rep stopped by the shuttered business and prevailed upon a security guard to look for my  cabinet door. He found it, called me and I got my door back.

I was so impressed that even after he told me that he was getting out of the remodeling business after 18 years, I told him, "Whatever you get into next, if you think I might be a potential client, please call me."

Sometimes, the only difference between you and your competitor, is customer service. My earlier post on customer service offers several examples of things you can do on your website to separate yourself from the rest of the pack.

What are some of your own experiences of outstanding customer service, both online and offline?  Please comment below.