Getting Website Customers to Respond
Introduction.In my life, prior to the internet and websites, I sold burglar alarms. All the competitors, with major names in the industry, emphasized their "prestige & quality". At the other extreme, hundreds of electricians were selling extremely cheaply.How do you get customers to buy from you, with so much competition? Building a business.Yes, word of mouth eventually becomes your mainstay. However, it took seven hard years to gain the bulk of work from recommendation.Last year, the same set of problems arose again. I had to start on the road again, from scratch. The answer is, as always, put yourself in the customers shoes! What do they want? What do they think? Delivering value.Why do some people always go for the cheaper quote? Answer. They assume the goods are identical. All you have to do is convince them otherwise! Impossible? No, quite simple really. Here is an example...Convincing the prospect."Sure, we match any price. We buy the goods from the same alarm wholesaler. All I have to do is get our engineers out in a single day instead of our normal two!" "Do you really want us slapping wires together and leaving a mess, or do you want a quality job?" What would you choose?Customers on websites are the same. Show them the corners you cut to match the price of others! Transparent pricing.Publish a price list. Let people choose. They may like your quality, but perhaps they cannot afford you. Break your work down into small affordable chunks. Let them pay for what they really want.Keep it simple.Explain what you do in simple terms. I used to explain how a passive infra-red sensor worked. This included an explanation of its advantages and disadvantages, over other forms of detection. The customers appreciated my honesty. More importantly, they respected my knowledge. This gave them confidence in me.Build confidence by giving customers, on websites, the pros & cons of different technologies. Explain what they are. Don't say - "he's not an expert, he uses Front Page Express!" These are just meaningless words. Show them your work. Demonstrate different approaches, to similar problems. Gain their respect. Conclusion.Now, if I had said "keep it simple" in the first place, would you have dismissed it out of hand? Old technology - bah! No, the written word (plus pictures of course!), not the internet, is your weapon of choice.Xanga Myspace LiveJournal | free pics images | free My space Backrounds |