Your business is changing whether or not you are ready. The world is entering a second online boom that will catch a lot of companies off guard. While many companies are waiting for things to get back to normal, successful business leaders are partnering with customers to create the new normal. If your idea of normal has not changed in the past year and a half, you will quickly find yourself on the wrong side of the revolution. If you have experienced a drop in business, it is because you have failed to follow the customers.
They are still there and ready to spend money in large quantities. They are not waiting for anything. They are done waiting. It is just that they are doing more of their transactions online than at any other time. You don’t have to keep up with all the B2B trends to realize that more transactions are being done online. People are ordering food from restaurants and grocery stores online. First, it was because of the pandemic. Today, it is because they have discovered they like not having to leave the house every time they get the munchies. Following your customers online means getting your website ready for the biggest online boom of our generation. Here’s how:
Better Documentation
One of the most fundamental jobs of a website is to provide useful and timely information about your products and services. While the internet has been adapted to be a useful business engine, it is fundamentally an information engine. These five examples of technical documentation sites should point you in the right direction with regard to changes you can apply to your site.
Contrary to what you might believe, people do not primarily come to your site looking to make a purchase. That might be your end goal. But theirs is to gather information. Often, that information leads to making a purchase. The better the information is presented, the more likely the result will be a purchase.
That said, you have to be patient. You can’t go directly from the welcome page to the credit card ask. Many products and services are highly technical and require the customer to do a lot of research. Their research might begin with your site and move to many others before they make a final decision. You can’t rush that decision and end up with a happy client. By focusing on better documentation, you are giving your sales funnel a boost, even if it takes weeks before a final sale takes place.
Double Down on the Double Take
If you want your business site to generate paying customers, you have to give them a reason to give you a second look. You have to master the art of the double-take. Getting noticed can be hard. But there is no need to paint your face blue and set your hair on fire. There are much better things you can do.
One of the simplest tactics to get people to give a second look is to ask them to bookmark this page. Not everyone will do it. But the idea will be in their mind that there is something about this site that is worth seeing again. Offer a 10% savings if they make a purchase from you within a week. Offer them free shipping on their first purchase if they sign up for your newsletter. Second looks convert to business, then repeat business. That’s the best kind.
Shut up and Take Their Money
When popular new game consoles are released, the internet loses its collective mind. People are desperate to buy the latest console. Yet console makers have the hardest time getting out of the way and taking the money. Don’t be like the console makers. If someone wants to pay you for a product or service, shut up and take the money. That means removing all of the roadblocks that get in the way. Take all forms of payment including Apple Pay and Google Pay. If the item is out of stock, give them an estimate of when the product will be restocked and take the money. More of your business will be online. So remove the barriers that stand between you and the money that customers are trying to give you.
More of your customers are migrating to an online model. Migrate with them by providing better documentation, give them a reason to give you a second look, and make it trivially easy for them to pay you in the form that makes them comfortable.
