A conversation is always much more interesting if the other person has a genuine interest in you and your interests. We all respond to that. The same is also true in a sales conversation, customers respond to that too. Potential customers will be much more likely to buy from you if they feel that you are genuinely interested in them and the problem or need they have. However, it must show by being clearly visible in the language that you use in your website’s text content.
How do you do that? Focus all your content on your customer. That means communicating with them as individuals, via your text, about things that they are interested in and want to hear about. And also by using words like “you” rather than “we” or “our” in your text, you will make them feel that you are speaking directly to them as an individual, rather than some vague corporate text that speaks to nobody in particular.
Get personal. Show them that you are indeed focused on them and ready to help in any way you can.
So, how can you easily tell if your website is focused on your customers now? Well here’s a simple technique that will give you an excellent indication. Just do the following steps:
Step 1 – Select webpage(s) to examine.
Step 2 – Count how many times “we” or “our” or other words used to describe your organisation appear within the page(s). Write the total number down.
Step 3 – Count how many times “you” or other words used to describe the customer appear within the page(s). Write the total number down.
Step 4 – Add the two totals to give you an overall total of appearances. Write it down.
Step 5 – Compare the results. It is a matter of balance. The more “you’s” you have the better, because that will indicate a clear focus towards your customers rather than your organisation. If you have more “we” and “our’s” then your focus is more on your organisation rather than your customers and you need to work to change that.
Aim for at least twice as many “you’s” than “we” and “our’s” to reflect your high focus on your customers. Ideally though it should be higher at three or four times as many to indicate your complete customer focus.
Just ask your customers what they think of your newly focused website after you’ve done it. They’ll be delighted and much more likely to buy from you and you will see the results in your sales figures.
Good luck as always!
Peter Simmons is editor of the DYNAMIQ EZINE. GET MORE SALES FROM YOUR WEBSITE STARTING RIGHT NOW at http://www.dynamiq.co.uk/ezine or email me anytime to find out how i can help you at peter@dynamiq.co.uk
