« Martini in Mauritius? Part 1: Sell more with your website.

Trust me? Yeah right! Part 2: Sell more with your website.

August 23, 2007 | Author: Gian Visser | Filed under: 5 Minute Business Tips, Customer Service, Increasing Website Conversion, Marketing Ideas

What stops someone from buying from you? 

Good Question.

“Why didn’t they go for it?” I hear you cry out. ”Why did they buy the exact same thing from Bert instead?” you wail.

More Good Questions.

In my last post , Martinis in Mauritius, I spoke about what it means to get your website to convert better and sell more.

Today I’m going to focus on one of key areas that you need to wrap your head around and that if used correctly will convince people that you are worth the moolah you’d like them to spend.

We’ve been providing (and selling) web hosting for 7 years and in my experience in I’ve found the biggest source of new business by a huuuuuuge margin is Word of Mouth referrals.

Ya, ya I know you’ve heard it all before. Word of Mouth blah blah blah.

But it’s true.

We’ve advertised in every media possible (except TV). We’ve advertised on radio, in magazines, in newspapers and on outdoor billboards.

Dang, in the early days of Afrihost we donned our guerilla kit (and sometimes still do!) and used most tactics from that arsenal. We handed out pamphlets, snuck around at midnight and nailed posters to trees (EDITOR: No we didn’t – no trees were harmed. OK – Maybe one) and tied posters to innocent lamp posts.

We’ve covered our cars in Afrihost logos and dressed dustbins everywhere with our details.

And yes all of these methods did bring in new clients but…

And it’s a big-ass BUT…

…Consistently, every month, word of mouth brings us in more new business than all of these other methods COMBINED.

You see you can’t fool Word of Mouth.

Either your mate’s telling you we’re great at hosting websites because it’s true or because he’s trying to mess with you. And usually he’s not trying to mess with you.

And you trust him.

Let me repeat that:

You trust him.

You see you know he’s got nothing to gain financially by suggesting you use us. So he’s not motivated by sinister financial motives but by the simple fact that we are good and he wants to help you out if you need web hosting.

And who are you going to believe?

Me (The CEO of Afrihost) saying “Use us we’re the best. Really.” or Filthy Phil your varsity housemate who loves us and swears we’re the best?

If Phil, who you know & trust, knows us then that trust wears off on you and you’re willing to give us a shot.

And that’s the key: People buy from people they TRUST.

And if they don’t know you then they can’t trust you!

So Brave Business Owner that’s your job:

Get them to know you. Show them who you are. Who you really are. Show them your warts and scars. Show them where you shine. And where you don’t.

In the end people buy from people - Show your potential client who you are.

Help them enter your wonderful world of comfort and trust.

So what does Word of Mouth have to do with your website converting better and selling more?

Quite alot actually!

In my next post I’ll show you how we can use the Trust Principle and build trust with your website visitors.

Onwards to those Martinis in Mauritius!

Till next time

Gian

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 and is filed under 5 Minute Business Tips, Customer Service, Increasing Website Conversion, Marketing Ideas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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