Your Web Site Doesn’t Replace Selling
I try very hard to give business to local entrepreneurs, particularly since I’m a micro biz myself. And, a small company can and does often give the best service. However, they can also be absolutely terrible. People don’t return calls (”My husband must have lost the message.”); they miss deadlines without explanation; and their quality is iffy at best (badly printed and sloppily cut biz cards, for example).
I’ve noticed another disturbing tendency in today’s “Web World” - Thinking a web site will do all the work, up to and including the sale. Recently, I had the following two responses when I called for quotes (ready to do business, including cutting the check.)
Sales Avoidance #1
Me: “Hi, I need a quote for a complete outsource job of printing and mailing. We’ll provide the file and mail data base.”
Answer: “Go to our web site. All of our pricing is there.”
I kept pushing as I needed a detailed quote for a client. The young man finally huffed out a quote for me, which I then asked for in writing. Long story short - I never got the quote and the job went to Kinko’s.
Sales Avoidance #2
Me: “I need to talk to someone about a modular trade show booth.”
Answer: “Go to our web site. All the information is there.”
Now, it’s great that these two small companies have web sites that they’re (trying) to use as a sales tool. But, when you have a real, live person on the phone, asking to do business with you - don’t send them away!
(P.S. Make sure your web site is really, really good. Most aren’t. Just slapping up brochure speak isn’t going to cut it. “All that information” isn’t there. Contact information is hard to find. And, there’s no place to ask for an on-line quote.)
Related Posts:
Why You Didn’t Get My Business - The Web Site List
Small is a state of mind.
Let’s get small! (Or, size does matter.)
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Tags: e-commerce, entrepreneur sanity check, web marketing, marketing, marketing troubleshooting, sales
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March 27th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Wow.
You know, the most striking thing about these two incidents to me is that they make the business owners sound like complete idiots, as if they have to send you to their web site for the information you want because they don’t know or they forgot or something!
Talk about cutting the ground out from under your own feet! My mind has officially been boggled. Now I’m going to spend the rest of the evening trying to figure out why on earth those two business owners responded the way they did.
March 27th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
How to Flush Money Down the Toilet…
Have you ever told a customer to go to your website after they’ve taken the time to call you for information? This is what Mary Schmidt experienced recently with two companies. When you tell your customer to go to your……
March 29th, 2007 at 7:49 am
I’m fascinated by companies who seem content to turn away business because the customers aren’t following “the rules.” As if any customer goes through the trouble of calling or emailing because of some strange whim to “annoy” a company.
I used to think this was something that only bored or lazy employees did to customers, but I’ve found more small business owners who fall into this trap.
My own blog readers (funeral professionals, mostly) will be getting an earful from me later on today about this issue. Too often, we push clients to go to the website or refer to a brochure, as surely we’ve done such a great job explaining EVERY POSSIBLE SCENARIO in our promotional materials that no one could possibly have another question.
Especially in my field (the funeral industry) customers are confused and nervous. Funerals are big purchases and while the owner or the business’ employees might handle multiple funeral arrangements daily, the clients are usually making their very first funeral arrangements. And that’s scary. But my readers often forget that fact and neglect to show the proper understanding.
A recent trip to London pointed out to me the importance of explaining your procedures and processes to potential clients. A visit to a pub made me nervous, as I wanted to get something to eat, but didn’t know how to order. I watched the other patrons to see what they were doing, but most were just visiting the bar to order drinks. When I finally approached the bartender and asked if I ordered food from him, he gave me a bizarre look, as if I’d spoken in a strange language before taking my order.
I thought I’d figured it out, and sat down with my new knowledge. But when the food came, the server told me that she would have come over to take my order if I’d just given her a few minutes.
Talk about confusing and humiliating! I didn’t know the local custom and I was treated strangely when I asked. The bartender, assuming that I knew the way his firm worked, figured I was just being impatient. The server, assuming that all pubs work the same, accused me of not giving her time to do her job.
A few days later, I spent ten minutes in a pub waiting for someone to take my order. Turns out that this pub only lets you order at the bar. They acted like I was crazy for waiting.
Neither pub posted directions for ordering, even though they each had different policies.
March 29th, 2007 at 8:29 am
Good points, Timothy. I know when my Dad died, I barely glanced at the papers and flyers. I basically asked the funeral director to tell me what to do (which coming from a control freak like me is very unusual.)
March 30th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
Yep, I’m hearing this post. I was recently sent to a site in deferred sale.