Feature Article:
How to use your web site to establish a dialog and create a trust relationship with prospects?

First and foremost, people buy from people they like and trust. They like people who give them the information they need; aren’t “pushy”; and are easy to do business with. They trust people who do what they say they will do; have solved similar problems for companies like them; are open in their dealings; and have a well-documented privacy policy and strictly adhere to it.

So how do you translate this environment to your web site? Somehow you have to project your friendly face to greet them and the power of interactive question and answer dialog to the web. Text and graphics are your only tools. The very first thing to consider is what happens when a visitor “lands” on the page most relevant to their needs. Normally, people consider this the home page, but for web sites that have been indexed completely by the search engines this is not something you can predict. So be sure to design a web site that plans for multiple entry points.

One of the most common traps companies must avoid is leading with a "killer" greeting, likely created as a Flash introduction. We all have seen it. Watch these flashing text and animated graphics run across the screen and sometimes even voice over or music along side. Of course there is often an "escape" key you can enter to exit the forced introduction, which now defeats the purpose of having the introduction in the first place. Marketing is about controlling the message to an audience and often companies that believe too much in this insist on investing in this misguided effort.

This is not to say dump the Flash presentations or give up on trying to funnel the communications down a pre-determined path. They can play an important role in presenting your company's offerings. Without a doubt there is nothing that can compete with a compelling presentation that sets the stage for you. But consider an important design principle. Let buyers discover the solution to their problem at their own speed. The discovery process fosters a sense of confidence, which helps keep you in alignment with the customer. As they discover that your product or service is a potential solution to their problem, they will self-qualify and represent a highly qualified prospect.

The discovery process is even more important in the age of Internet shopping. When a prospective customer has entered a question at the search engine site looking for more information about a solution to their problem or feature to a product offering, they are expecting an answer. If your web site offers answers to a potential customer's problem, don't create barriers to these answers. Treat these answers as web draws offering a buyer real value that they would gladly exchange contact information, such as email address, in return. Once contact information has been given, appropriate and highly relevant information will be provided on an ongoing basis. Buyers will begin to expect and look forward to receiving useful information from you and will feel very comfortable moving from an electronic relationship to a personal relationship.

Once you have created this first level of trust you can then follow-up with either traditional marketing reach methods such as phone calls, or actual visits. If that is "pushing" the relationship too quickly, rely on less direct methods, such as personal email messages, newsletters or even web blogs posting common exchanges. The most important aspect is remaining focused on the service or how you can solve their problem. Translate this concern via your web site and follow-up with real examples before expecting the opportunity to win their business.

 

Previous Articles

• Predicting Ranking
• Reacting to the Google Dance
• 4C's of Internet Marketing
• Developing Trust
• Compelling Web Content
• Permission Marketing via Search
• Internet as Research Tool
• Gap between Sales & Marketing
• Budgeting for SEO
• Measuring Marketing ROI
• Building Brand
• Define Internet Marketing