- Previously: https://nv8v.com/the-bare-minimum-needed-to-extract-revenue-from-your-website/ we talked about the Seven Dwarfs of effective websites.
- Then https://nv8v.com/get-found-by-a-sufficiently-large-number-of-people-with-a-reasonable-likelihood-of-being-interested-in-doing-business/ we looked at the first of these dwarfs, finding qualified visitors.
- https://nv8v.com/keep-the-visitor-for-more-than-one-second/ We discussed ways to keep them beyond a second
- https://nv8v.com/get-the-visitor-to-initiate-further-contact/ Get the customer to to make contact
- Qualify the visitor via BANT or similar rules: https://nv8v.com/qualify-the-visitor-under-bant-or-similar-rules/
The most important thing about getting people to commit to purchasing online, or agreeing to a pitch is to give them confidence that they are under no threat while motivating them with a promise of real benefits that solve a problem or meet a need or desire for them.
In the last blog, we talked about a strategy for learning gradually about your potential customer’s needs before approaching them with a proposition of any sort.
The difference for a visitor to your website is that learning about a potential solution to their motivation for visiting is a powerful reason to keep the conversation going, whereas volumes of emails is a reason to hit the unsubscribe button.
Now nobody gets these things right all the time and this is why I am slow to recommend recommendation engines and so called AI for this purpose, because many internet users including the author can recount too many experiences of the determined marketing system that has got it all wrong and won’t be convinced otherwise.
There is not substitute for listening nevertheless.
If you are relying on eCommerce, it is always wise to have at least an email or better still a phone number in the very first add to cart step and an alert system to let you know about abandoned carts. In my experience a trained person calling the owner of an abandoned cart with a useful coupon perhaps and a helpful attitude can convert a high proportion of these abandoners into customers and won’t upset the others. The exercise is also a vital feedback for UX people who can gradually improve the presentation and feedback ideas to product managers. These feedback loops are the most vital thing by far for product managers striving to improve sales revenues.
A well drafted email for situations where a phone call does not work, is also a very powerful way to convert some of those abandoned carts back into customers, especially if you can offer a small incentive.
Just remember that “Add to cart” is not the end of the game, more than half of customers abandon after that point. It is simply an invitation to pitch.
- Nothing had better veer from the promise.
- Nothing new had better be added.
- No extended attempts to con a little more money out of the prospect who is still suspicious.
- No broken processes, no huge demands for data.
The Cart process must be honest, transparent, clean, easy and reassuring, but well come back to that another time.
If your process involves generating leads and following them up in some way, we discussed in the last episode the subject of qualifying these potential customers before imposing on them or investing your time to ask for an appointment to pitch them.
There is a fine line between building an understanding via profiling and qualifying prospects. Integration with a good CRM is a useful step to support good decisions about when is a good time to make a call and learn a little more or send focused content to support their buying process. To learn about using funnels to manage all of this download this guide on using funnels or this product comparison guide or book a free consultation to explore whether it might fit your purposes.
We talked about personas previously and I would strongly recommend making a start and building your personas over time to inform you about how different segments like to buy from you, how to spot them and how best to support them.
If you have a good system in place and are producing qualified prospects but struggling to get an invitation to pitch, then perhaps you need to think carefully about a way to reward them for engaging. The Free trial was originally born out of this very needed, but many other methods are available that might also work for you. The important thing is that is only to overcome inertia, never use it to pitch people with neither need nor show interest.
If you have a hybrid approach such as SaaS whereby you use a cart to sign people up for a free trial and convert them later when they have grown attached to your product, all the same rules apply equally.
The bottom line is that people who purchase from you, regardless how the conversation may have seemed to go, will have been through a process that involved some form of the classic AIDA sequence that we mentioned elsewhere.
Gain their Attention, often the toughest part, Get them Interested and researching and deciding whether it fits their needs, build Desire to own your product or use your service, the emotional side of the decision which also incorporates an element of trust and finally, when and only when the previous three are in place, ask for the appropriate Action such as clicking the buy button, or arranging a meeting.
Some things can be assumed for all buyers, there is a list of well known fears or objections people have and if these are unfounded, then you can provide content to help them explore the reality, or you can provide assurances of some sort to put them at ease about certain fears. For example many software vendors offer a full refund within a certain period. Using FAQ type presentations or Bots to answer questions is a useful approach.
If you understand your typical customer’s buying processes and your Information Architecture and navigation are supportive of each persona type, if you seek the problems and provide solutions, if you engender sufficient trust and provide some desirable benefits there is a reasonable chance that when your user arrives at the Add to Cart button, or other CTA, they will be motivated and confident to carry on with the conversation.
The benefits of following this process are many, the primary one being that it is a practice run for making the final decision which happens within the shopping cart or after you have delivered your pitch using this same known and trusted process.
Furthermore, a no at the enquiry stage is not always a no never and handled right you can stay in touch, learn a lot more and discuss that or a better fitting solution at some time in the future with your now familiar and friendly audience.
Just in case it had not occurred to you by now, using a standard “website” in the 1995 mode to service expensive traffic form PPC or content marketing is not going to work out for you. Modern Digital marketing has to be a streamlined two way conversation with a targeted audience on a specific subject. But you also need the traditional website.
Happy trading!
If you would like some a free consultation to find out how we could help you achieve your goals or take some of the burden off your hands, please feel free to call Edward on 0844 8842310 email us at customers@nv8v.com or drop your email and well get in touch to organise a chat
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