What Information Are Your Site Visitors Looking For?
Your website can be designed to be a stand alone sales site, or as an introduction to your business products and services. As a business owner, you must keep your focus on the needs of your potential clientele while developing your website and supporting marketing literature.
When you approach business prospects, do you take the time to find out what their specific business needs are and incorporate that business intelligence into your web presence?
The experts at Miller Heiman say seeing things from your customers view point should be your top priority when it comes to reaching your business potential.
“The first step to increasing your effectiveness in prospecting is to learn to view sales opportunities from your customer’s perspective. Knowing what your product can do for them, or how it will save them money is not quite the same as understanding their critical business issues-what they are looking to accomplish, fix or avoid.“
You’ve heard it from us before: Ask questions and listen!
Open up a conversation to find out how your business solution could benefit your existing and new clients. Remember client ‘Hot Buttons’, make note of them and be sure that your website remains current and reflects the changing needs of your client base.
We are doing business in volatile times and the businesses that stay close to their client base and respond to their challenges and changing needs are the ones who will prosper.
“When you take the time to understand the root of the problems your prospect is looking to solve, you are in a better position to create solutions for solving those problems. The key is to act as a true business consultant as opposed to a transactional vendor.”
That last line is pivotal.
Remember, you’re so much more than an salesperson. You are a business owner and as such you have a vested interest in the continued success of your clients. You have the opportunity to introduce fellow business owners to solutions that can benefit their business at a time when small and medium-sized businesses need all the help they can get.
When a client expresses appreciation for your products and services, ask them for permission to post the testimonial to your site. In the world of online retail and product research, testimonials and product reviews are golden. Put them up on your site. Google and other search engines, troll for new content to index. Customer reviews and testimonials are a great way to get fresh content on you site. Site-based user surveys are a great way to start an online conversation and gain an understanding of what individuals and business need and expect from you as a vendor.
Even if your business has a professional sales force, as the owner of the business, you need to actively seek out the “decision makers’ in your existing and prospective client base. A recent article by Miller Heiman has some powerful information about the consequences of speaking to people who aren’t Decision Makers.
“Our research shows that 43% of salespeople admit they are not identifying and reaching key decision makers…it is imperative that you determine who your (Decision Maker) is and target your efforts at this level.”
Writer Tim Connor is a little more blunt in his assessment of reaching Decision Makers. The title of his article says it all: “If you are not selling to Decision Makers, you are losing valuable time.”
“One of the biggest time wasters in sales is when salespeople fail to get to the real decision makers and present their products and/or services to people who cannot say ‘yes’ or can only say ‘no’.”
As always, your Pleiades Publishing Services team is here to help you update and up-grade your website and companion marketing literature. Send your questions and comments to info@PleiadesServices.com.
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