Selling a feeling comes first,
THEN supply the information
Stay on mission
Although we’re all naturally skilled at selling, when in the process of designing and organising our business online, its digital format can cause a disconnection with that natural process. Perhaps, due to the fact that we have so many “page” options we love to fill them! It’s easy to sense that, because we’re not as present as we would be if we owned a shop on the high street, we feel the need to keep talking online. We all too often share more and more (possibly irrelevant) information because we don’t have feed back the way we would if the person was in front of us. For example, why do we think that our C.V. is important… when was the last time you needed to read about the owner of a shop?
Important Questions
Answer these questions for your customers:-
1. This is what I have.
2. This is what it can do for you.
3. This is how you get it!
4. Help them resolve any problems or obstacles they might have that stops them buying.
1. What is your product/service(s)?
Your product or service is the problem that it solves or the experience it gives a person? It is easy to get caught up in selling “the process” to customers but that is not what they are buying. Your product is an emotional experience not the item you think it is. For example, your product is not a television, your product is the feeling of the escapism and cosiness which you brought the television for. Your product is not a meditation course, it is an easy way to expand your life to have more joy every day. The practice of trying to find time out of your day to find a quiet place and sit there trying to quieten your mind is “not an attractive experience, it takes work. The goal is the sell “what you will get if you make the effort” that is why people will want to give you money.
Ask the question, why would a customer want this… what feeling are they looking to get? What problem exists that they are looking to solve? This is your mission. If you define the experience it helps you choose the right text and images to help sell! Here are some examples of what the product really is:-
Diet Getting into my dream clothes, feel confident.
Art Feeling uplifted when I am in my home/office.
Car Feeling free and the ease of going where I want, when I want.
Website Selling my products and services for me.
Dog training Stopping my dog from biting people, chewing my slippers, going to the toilet on my new carpet.
2. Are you helping the customer to recognise that the product is perfect for them.. and how fast?
The best scenario is to imagine what you would do if you were running a business on the high street. Having one shop window would help you decide more effectively what causes “impact”.
The need for a customer to qualify themselves as a good match for what you’re selling, within a few seconds, is very important. It’s no different from thinking about how you would dress the window of your shop if it was on the high street; there are only a few seconds as they pass in front of the shop window to speak to them as a potential customer.
Whenever we, at BizDoktor, get a potential client for a website design and we feel they can’t take a decision, I just design a frontpage slider and send it to them. They are instantly able to “feel” whether we are a good fit; not only from a visual standpoint but also the energy from the “care” that goes with it. I don’t waste my time explaining what I would put on the slider, I create it so they get the ‘experience’ and see if that works for them. Selling is all about feelings.
Imagine your website front page on the high street – would you go in – do you know what is being sold – are you confident it is for you? Look at your first impression (which is what you can see straight away without scrolling any further down the screen).
3. This is how you get it.
Make sure you link direct to the place a customer can buy. Don’t leave visitors to find the shop and the product in the category. Create a direct link to the product. Even if you refer to a product in content around the site, link that text direct to where they can buy it.
When you create a link, make sure you set the option on your website to “open in new window“. This is a good practice because if a visitor goes to another page to check out the link and closes the tab as they usually do, they lose the place they came from. That is enough for people to give up!
Make sure you create links to “delivery” and “payment options” (and again, set any links to “open in new window“).
Is your website responsive? Responsive refers to your website’s ability to be viewed on all the mobile, tablet and pc options that are available to potential customers. Payment pages must be easily viewed and feel secure to potential customers as that’s where they might be swinging their credit cards which must feel secure. Have you tested your website on your own mobile phone to see what the customer experiences? Don’t expect customers to tell you if there’s a problem, they will just leave.
4. Address all the obstacles
This is very important in today’s market place. Any negative thought a customer has or any question in their head that holds them up from buying, must be addressed. If you want to include these questions in a frequently asked questions section then link to that section (again with a direct link to “open in new window). It’s important to climb into the head of a potential customer and think what questions do they have? Imagine you knew nothing about your product or service, is there anything else they might need? If you don’t provide it, can you recommend where they will get it (and direct link if appropriate – also if you link to any website outside of yours it is especially important that you set the link to “open in new window“).
Example – See screenshot
I have included a screenshot from a product card on my art website. When buying a painting, a customer may want to see the back frame of the painting when they think about hanging it. I have included a picture of the back and of the hanging materials ready to hang. I include four hooks with the hanging materials (and not two) in case something goes wrong! I also know that many people are not visual so I place the paintings in settings so they can better get a feeling for the picture and they can instantly see the size relative to the room (most people can’t instantly translate 100cmx150cms visually).
I include a YouTube video helping them to hang the painting using the hooks I have included; I have not placed the hooks on the painting because my paintings are abstract and may be hung in many different directions as suits the customer. In short, I am demonstrating to the customer that I have thought about them; I have not assumed what way they might like to display the painting! My ultimate goal is to take away all the “bad experiences”.
It’s amazing the things that stop a customer buying and it is very easy to solve these issues, in most cases, without any cost. Just think, if you were buying your product, what might you need to know, what might you be thinking about that’s holding you up from making a decision. The easier you make the decision-making process, the better for everyone.
Click on image for larger view
