This guide outlines three steps from our GETS LEADS framework that deliver:
- A way to save money on marketing
- An effective way for your website to generate more leads and enquiries
- A proven method for building trust and credibility
If this is the first time reading this guide then I do strongly and humbly recommend you read it all. There are nuggets of information I hope you find valuable scattered throughout that could provide the missing link in helping you to take your business to its full potential. However, if you’ve read it before, here’s some links to get you to where you want to go:
- Introduction- Becoming outcome driven
- Step one – Your one liner
- Step two – Refine your paragraphs
- Step three – Obvious call to actions
- Summary and link to our GETS LEADS service page
Preamble
You might not be open for business yet, but people are checking out your website, wondering where to shop once lockdown is eased. If you know your website isn’t as good as it should be then it is most likely costing you money. Ask yourself, how many potential sales am I missing out on because customers come to my website and don’t connect with what they see? Don’t lose out to your competition because you don’t know what to do with your website. This guide has been created to help.
We’ve all had to tighten our belts during this time, and in the coming months we’ll be trying to do more with less. Probably one of the first things that some of you will be doing, will be reducing your advertising budget and trying to ride out the storm with the customers that find your website via search results or from word of mouth. Therefore, the importance of having a good website has never been so important. You want and need a website that represents your business in a credible way, resonates with customer’s problems and brings in leads and enquiries.
That’s why I’ve created this guide so you can save money while maximising the leads and enquiries your website will bring in.
My goal with this guide is three-fold:
- Make sure it costs nothing to implement, other than a little time
- Has the biggest impact on the leads and enquiries you can generate.
- Quick to implement and see results
So before you try SEO, Google Adwords or Social Media to grow your business, make sure your read this guide.
Introduction
The purpose of a website is not to promote your business, it is to demonstrate your competence at solving your customer’s problems and call them to take an action. This means that if your website is set up to talk only about your products and services then your website is not going to get the traction with customers you want or that your business is capable of. Don’t worry though, most businesses do this. But if you want to stand out from your competition and connect with more customers then you need start being more customer centric.
People don’t buy washing machines, they buy clean clothes
I’ve started to use this mantra to explain to clients that when customers buy from them, they aren’t actually buying a stove or an electric fire etc. They are buying cosy nights in with their loved ones, they’re buying a sense of achievement that they are making it in the world, they’re maybe even buying to make their neighbours jealous! People don’t buy the products and services you sell, they buy the outcomes you deliver.
If you put time and effort into selling the outcomes you deliver then you’ll start to differentiate yourself from everyone else who doesn’t. This is by far the most impactful change you could make to your business, and if you feel comfortable, you can even implement this change yourself. So how do you go about making this change? Well, it’s all about the message you send to customers.
The purpose of a homepage is to answer the following three questions:
- What is it that you offer?
- How will it make my life better?
- What do I need to do to buy?
The following three steps show you how to implement this effectively to increase the number of leads and enquiries you generate.
(We also do this a part of our GETS LEADS package)
Step one – Your One Liner
Create a one liner in the top section of your website which hooks your target audience as soon as they land on your site.
When a customer lands on your website, you have between three and five seconds to give them a good enough reason to stay. If you don’t, they most likely will leave your site and find the information they are looking for elsewhere… Great, you’ve just lost a potential sale to someone else.
Just like you and I, your website visitors have busy lives. They do not want to burn precious calories having to search your website to see if you can help solve their problem. You’re job is to make sure your browsers get the information they want quickly and efficiently. That’s why you need to outline the following above-the-fold (the part of your website a visitor can see when they land on your website):
- What you do
- Who it’s for – Your Target Customers e.g. a local area you serve
- How it will help your customers lives / solve their problem (Most Important)
You could be the best at what you do, but if your customers don’t know it or can’t see this value within three to five seconds then it doesn’t matter how good you are, you’ve lost them. Implement the above change and your website visitors will know instantly whether you are a good fit for solving their problem and will want to read more, increasing the likelihood of them wanting to do business with you.
Step two – Refine your paragraphs
People don’t read websites, they scan them
People don’t read websites, they scan them. Repeat this mantra and memorise it, as it will win you business.
Think about how you view a new website for the first time. Do you read every bit of information or do you quickly scan the homepage looking for clues that you’ve came to the right place? It’s the latter right?
As humans, at the most basic level, we are programmed to scan the environment looking for clues that guide us towards food and shelter and away from danger. This survival instinct is present in every action we take whether we are conscious of it or not. When we view a website, we quickly scan it for information and try to pool together an answer to the question – how will this website/product/service/company make my life better? Your visitors will have problems in their lives that they are looking to solve or a desire that they are looking for someone to fulfil.
A number of studies have shown that the average human is now subjected to 3000 advertisements a day. If you think this is really high, well its because you’ve gotten really good at blocking out the noise. With the amount of noise we receive through TV, our phones, on radio etc our brains have adapted and filtered out everything but the stuff that really matters to us.
If you want your homepage to resonate with customers then you have to cut out the noise. You need to strip back your paragraphs to only a few key sentences that help deliver the key message: What you offer, how you will make their life better and how they will buy it.
If you have paragraphs around how you are a family business and have been in business for 40 years then I’m afraid, to your customers, this is noise. Do you help your customers solve their problems by talking about your family and business history? Sorry, I know you are proud of this, and rightly so, but your website isn’t there to celebrate your achievements, it’s there to celebrate your customer. So, let your customers know about the value you offer in a way that helps them e.g. ‘With 40 years experience, we have refined a process that delivers stress free fitting and satisfied customers every time’.
Make each and every paragraph on your site customer centric, focus on the outcomes you deliver and keep them short and relevant to your target audience. By doing this, you come across as empathetic to your customers problems and they will listen to what you have to say.
Step three- Obvious calls to action
Once you’ve managed to get your website visitors to stay on your site long enough to be interested in what you’re offering, it’s time to call them to action. You might think it is obvious what your customers should do next but trust me, if you don’t give them a direct call to action then you are losing out on customers.
As I’ve mentioned above, visitors scan read your website. This is typically done in a Z pattern where the reader starts off at the top left of your page then scans to the right, then down across your page and repeats the left to right scan. This is how someone typically reads a website, and the best, most successful businesses know this and make sure their website design makes the most of this behaviour. That’s why you’ll see most often, a logo in the top left corner, a call to action button in the top right corner, then, their one liner below, along with another call to action button. This winning formula works for businesses across industries and for all sizes of business. This call to action should be replicated where appropriate, as the visitor scrolls down the page.
Think about what call to action is most important for your business. Here’s three examples that could work for you:
- Enquire Now
- Book An Appointment
- Book Free Survey
By letting potential customers know what you would like them to do next you are eliminating the risk of them being confused and going to a competitor’s site who makes it more obvious. Increase your chances of getting more leads and enquiries by making sure you have call to action that are clear, relevant, and obvious.
Summary
If you implement all three of these steps and take a proactive effort in becoming a more customer centric, outcome driven business then your website will deliver more enquiries and leads.
You’re website is the best marketing tool you have. Whether people find your business through word of mouth, Google or social media they’ll visit your website to learn more about your business and how you can help them. It is your website that does the heavy lifting these days, there’s no point buying advertising or spending money on SEO if your website isn’t resonating with your customers. If customers don’t ‘get’ why they should buy from you then there are going to spend money elsewhere.
Invest in your website, you will get more leads and enquiries.
I hope this guide will prove useful to you and provides a simple framework in which you can make changes to your website that help you sell more and save money.
All the best for the coming months ahead,
Chris R Boyd
P.S If you are serious about investing in your website, generating more leads and enquiries, beating your competition, and growing your business then visit our GETS LEADS service page and request a questionnaire.