Come on in!

We were on vacation in Sedona.  We decided to spend a couple of hours shopping.  Main Street caters to visitors and we went from store to store browsing.  We’ve all been to tourist towns.  All of the stores carry pretty much the same merchandise.  There are t-shirts, jewelry, regional artwork or other tourist “must haves.”

Aside from a specific referral, what makes you buy from a particular store?

I was in one store looking at a bracelet and my daughter came up to me and said, “This store understands customer service, I bet a lot of people buy things here.”

When she walked in, she was welcomed.  The person who greeted her asked her how she was and what she was interested in looking at.  They talked with her about her vacation and where to go for ice cream.  As they talked other people came into the store and they were greeted too.  Everyone was smiling.

My daughter went on to tell me that when she went into another store (with the same type of merchandise) the sales person was on the phone.  He gave her a quick smile and went back to his conversation.  My daughter looked around the shop and walked out. There had been no reason to engage.  No desire to stick around.

So what does this have to do with you and your business?

The reality is that there are many other businesses out there that offer the same services as you.  If you have a brick and mortar shop and potential clients come into your space, well then, it’s easy to see how this applies, but what if you have an online business?  It’s not like you’re there all the time.  How do you get people to hang around when they happen to hit your site?

Here are five best practices for your website to help you get people to stick around and whether or not they buy from you the first time, to make sure they have a good experience while they are there and remember you when they leave.

1. Include a picture of yourself smiling on your home page; this is especially true if you’re in a service business.
2. Start a conversation.  Invite them to sample what you do.  Offer them a free report, a top 10-checklist or whatever you think they want and can use quickly and easily. Send it to them electronically so you can get their email address (there are many contact management services you can use to do this automatically, there is no need for you to sit at your computer 24/7).
3. Make your store inviting and accessible.  Don’t try to put every single thing you’ve done or can do on your website.  Keep it clear and easy to navigate.  You know how sometimes you go into a store that is packed floor to ceiling.  It’s impossible to figure out what they have or find what you’re looking for?  The same goes here.  Less is more.
4. Make it easy for your visitors to contact you.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve visited a website, wanted to find out more and instead left because I couldn’t figure out how to ask a question.
5. Invite them to come again. Remember that email address you got?  Use it; that was the beginning of a conversation, not the entire conversation. This is not a license to inundate them with advertisements.  This is your opportunity to share information of value with them so that they get to know you.  Of course you can and should offer them opportunities to invest with you.  Just remember, the more value you share with them, the more likely they will reach back out to you and purchase from you.

By the way, while I was talking with my daughter about customer service she summed up by saying, “Mom, you should write an article about this,” and so I did.

What is something you can start doing now to help connect with your visitors?  Let me know in the comments section below.