ProBizTips Newsletter
** ISSUE #236 **
March 31st, 2003
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| ProBizTips Feature Article |
Do You Make Your Prospects and Customers Jump Through Hoops?
by Marty Foley
Picture this: Your prospect has just learned about one of your products or services, and is now ready to buy from you. How you handle the next critical step can make or break the sale.
Always keep in mind that most consumers are understandably wary. They won't hesitate to abandon an intended purchase if they encounter doubts or inconvenient snags in the process.
I invite you to do a bit of honest self-examination when considering the following tips, since problems in this area may be costing you dearly in lost sales, right this very minute.
Acting to improve on what you discover could very well help boost your sales immediately.
1) How Easy Is It for Your Customers to Access Information Needed to Buy From You?
a) For example, does the design of your web site make it hard to navigate, or is the majority information needed to complete a transaction within easy access to your customers, with minimal mouse clicks?
Poor navigation is but one of many, many different snags that hinder web site sales. Problem is, most site owners, designers, and webmasters don't realize how much more a site could sell, if it were only more user-friendly.
b) While you may wisely reduce the amount of repetitive customer service issues by answering questions through a FAQ, (an acronym for Frequently Asked Questions) etc., some prospects may yet have additional questions not covered in it.
Do your prospects have a way to contact you to have such questions answered, and do you have an efficient system in place for answering them, promptly and efficiently?
Is the form of contact convenient to your prospects?
2) What Forms of Payment Do You Offer Your Customers?
a) Do you require your customers to send payment to you by check, cash or money order only via regular postal mail? If you're selling online and not accepting credit cards, you're likely losing many sales.
b) What types of credit cards do you accept? Virtually any type of business can increase sales by accepting payment by Visa and MasterCard.
But even businesses already accepting Visa and MasterCard may still be losing sales by not also accepting Discover and American Express, especially in the U.S.
True, Visa and MasterCard encompass the vast majority of all credit card transactions. But there are many consumers who instead prefer to use Discover or American Express.
Do you want their business? If so, your existing merchant account provider is most likely equipped to easily get you set up to accept them.
3) How Easy Do You Make It for Customers to Submit Payment?
a) Suppose that you DO accept credit cards. Even though the risk of online credit card purchasing has been exaggerated, and isn't necessarily more risky than offline transactions, many consumers are concerned about submitting their credit card data online.
With this in mind, in addition to being equipped to accept online credit card orders through a secure server, do you provide alternate ordering options for those who hesitate (or refuse) to order online by credit card?
What about options to order with check, money order, or credit card, by phone, fax, or postal mail?
b) Are your order forms simple to use and understand, or confusing and inconvenient to use, even for the most inexperienced users? How do you know?
Do you work hard to eliminate all guesswork for customers, provide complete order details, and guide them simply and gently through the ordering process?
Remember: Any extra hoop you require prospects and customers to jump through is an extra obstacle in the way of a sale; another reason to change their minds about buying from you.
Now don't feel bad if you find areas for improvement in the points above. Look at them as an opportunity to increase your profits, and do something about those that apply to your situation.
If there's one thing I've learned, it's that there is always room for improvement - in every business in existence.
Unfortunately, there's not enough room in this article to cover all the obstacles that could be hindering your sales, of which there are literally hundreds!
But the basic lesson behind the above tips is this: Make it as easy as possible for customers to do business with you. The easier you make it, the more likely they will.
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Marty Foley's Internet marketing techniques and resources have helped set the standard in e-commerce, and are often imitated by other famous online marketers. They can truly help you succeed online:
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BizTips by Dr. Kevin Nunley |
Add the Right Amount of Spice to Your Advertising
Certain advertising techniques are like strong spices in the right proportions; they can be very effective, but if you use too much, you can overwhelm the delicate balance and end up with something nobody wants to touch.
Some of these advertising techniques to be used sparingly include pop-up and pop-under window ads. They are effective because they force the viewer's attention, even if it is just to close the window. However, they are annoying and if employed too often, can alienate your prospects.
Your use of giant ads should also be limited. Ads should not be so big that they rival the real content of the page. You should also be wary of putting too many ads on a page. Some advertisers think, "the more the merrier," and end up with a dozen or more ads scattered across a page in varying formats. This is just too much for the viewer to take in, and he/she will probably click away to avoid the chaos.
Banner ads, though one of the most popular forms of Web advertising, have a low click-through rate. Don't spend too much money designing and implementing banner ads that won't bring you results. Save your marketing budget for more effective forms of advertising.
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Kevin WRITES your professional copy--web site copy, sales
letters, ads, press release and more! See http://DrNunley.com.
Reach Kevin at kevin@drnunley.com or 801-253-4536.
7 Ways to Market on a Tight Budget
by Kevin Nunley
Here's a catch-22 for you: When business is at it's slowest and the money is barely trickling in, that's when it becomes mandatory to focus your attentions on marketing. However, these are the times when you have the least money to invest in marketing. What's a business owner to do?
There are always going to be rough times in any business. But those business owners who sit on their hands and do nothing, idly waiting out their dry spell, will wake up one day to find that they are out of business. The wise business owner will cultivate ways to deal with these rough times without going under. In other words, you must learn to market your business on a budget.
Here are a few cheap and easy marketing methods that won't drain your bank account:
1. Get on talk radio and promote for free. There are talk radio stations in every community across America, and most music and news radio stations feature at least one talk program each week. These shows need a steady stream of interesting guests and experts to add content to the program and get listeners calling in.
Most radio hosts are happy to let you plug your business, product or service at the end of the show. Speak your phone number and web site address clearly so interested listeners can jot them down.
To find out what opportunities exist in your area, start by finding talk radio stations in your area. Look through the yellow pages, tune up and down the dial, and listen to individual shows to learn more about the topics discussed. Call the station and ask to talk to the host or show producer, then tell them about your expertise and what information you could bring to their listeners. You'll find that most are more than willing to at least hear you out.
2. Create your own marketing materials with desktop publishing programs. These programs are easy to learn and use, so after a few hours of study, you'll know your way around well enough to create simple marketing materials. If you aren't confident in your design skills, find a sample piece to model yours after.
3. Get a toll-free number and watch your calls increase overnight. Long distance is pretty cheap these days, but most people will still hesitate to call a long distance number. If you have a toll-free number, there is nothing standing between you and your potential customers.
4. Advertise in specialty and neighborhood newspapers. These papers are usually lying around for anyone to pick up, which means they are picked up frequently. Whenever someone is stuck waiting for a friend at a coffee shop, or in the line at the post office, they will flip through these newspapers and see your ad.
5. Buy cable TV ads. Now anyone, no matter how tight their budget, can advertise on television. Cable rates are incredibly cheap, and you can even target your commercials to specific parts of the city.
6. Get the cell phone package with the most minutes and give your number to everyone. When customers can get a hold of you anytime of the day or night, you can connect to more person-to-person sales.
7. Give away or sell your own video. Statistics show that even the poorest people in the United States own a TV and VCR. One friend of mine sold hundreds of his videos, telling how he earns a living selling antiques on eBay.
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DrNunley's Free Advice! Need help or ideas to promote your
product, service, or idea to greatness? Call or email now
for free advice from Kevin and his staff of friendly experts.
(888) 429-6203. mailto:kevin@drnunley.com. Find answers to
questions at http://DrNunley.com
ProBizTips Tip of the Week |
Get Their Attention
by Bob Osgoodby
Studies show that you have less than five seconds to get the attention of a reader. Think about your daily newspaper. Most people scan the paper. If the headline gets their attention, they will probably read the rest of the article. If it doesn't, they probably skip over that story, and continue scanning until they see something of interest.
The first thing that should be seen is your headline. If you look at your Newspaper, the headlines are usually short, in a larger type, bold print, and give a good idea as to what the article is all about.
The same holds true when writing an advertisement. If your headline is weak, your ad probably won't get read. Your headline can make or break your ad campaign.
Probably the most difficult copy to write is for a classified ad. You only have four or five lines to get your message across including your headline. If you can put your headline in bold print, that will make it stand out. If you can't, consider adding special characters such as - ## your headline ##. We are conditioned to read letters and numbers, but not special characters. This will help your headline to stand out.
Another trick is to use white space. A headline that is centered on the first line of the ad is more noticeable than one that is buried in the rest of the text. If your headline is short (3 or 4 words) consider using ALL CAPS. Notice I said - consider. Never put your entire ad in all caps as we are not conditioned to read something written that way. Also, many people take offense to something written in all caps. That is considered as SHOUTING, at least on the Internet.
So how do you develop an effective headline?
First - write your ad. Make it as long as you want, and make sure you get all of your ideas included. Then, without mercy, cut it to about 5 lines of 65 characters per line. "But", you might say, "I can't get all of my points across in something that short". Face it - you are not trying to sell your entire program with this one ad. You are however, trying to get someone's attention. If they respond, you can send them all the follow-up information necessary.
After you have your ad written, then try to develop some catchy headlines. Keep them short and try to grab your readers attention. After you have written a few - test, retest and test again. If your ad is in a place that is normally read by your target market, such as an E-zine or Newsletter, you should be able to determine which ads are pulling. You should concentrate this initial advertising in one or two well known publications, so as to keep your costs to a minimum while you are experimenting.
When you find an ad that is working, then you can expand your ad program. In the advertising programs we offer, we see many people competing for the same customer base, with the same product. Good headlines can increase the responses you receive.
Great headlines can ensure that you are getting business while others who are running basically the same ad copy, but with a " blah" headline don't.
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