Last Friday I held our monthly Main Street Inner Circle “Office Hours” where members can call me directly.  One call stands out in particular because the member called me from her car while sitting in the parking lot waiting to pick up her kids. Now that is what I call making the most of your day.  She literally only had a couple free minutes and rather than “zone out,” she seized the opportunity to help grow her business.  That impressed me.

On the call she quickly explained her situation and how she’s having trouble closing some deals.  Who isn’t right?

From her perspective, she believed it was a pricing issue.  So her questions were related to pricing and offer strategy to close more deals.

But the problem is not the price point.  I know because she’s pricing her services too low.  Some of my advice was to raise her prices, but that alone is obviously not going to close more deals.  So what is the real problem here?

Without knowing anything else about this member’s business, can you take a guess?

I’ll give you a hint… The problem originates on the website.

 

Is Your Website Giving You ‘Layups’ or ‘Hail Marys’?

Most prospects are going to research your business online by reviewing your website.  Even if the majority of your business is generated offline via networking, referrals, telemarketing, direct mail, or any other non-internet tactic, your prospect will eventually make her way over to your website.  That’s where prospects go to do their initial research.

That means your prospect’s first impression of your business will most likely be your website, not you, your receptionist, or your storefront.  And your website is either going to work hard to pre-sell you and give you a “sales layup,” or it’s going to give you the dreaded “sales Hail Mary.”  In other words, your website now plays a critical role in sales. If it’s not set up properly, then it can cause a ripple effect, which makes selling much more difficult than it needs to be.

 

Your 24/7 Receptionist

You can think of your website like your 24/7 receptionist.  And what should a good receptionist do for you?

Well, let’s take a look.  She should…

…Obviously explain what you do and how you can help your prospect.  Most websites do that already.

…Collect the prospects contact information so you can follow up. In my experience most websites do NOT do a good job of collecting contact information.

…Pre-qualify and pre-sell the prospect so you or your sales team is only talking to high quality leads.  Again, most websites do a poor job at this important job.  This is where the real problem is with the member I spoke to last week.  Her website is not pre-qualifying and pre-selling her services so she’s wasting time selling to folks who aren’t ready and aren’t convinced she’s the right person.

So if you’re in a similar situation where you’re struggling to close deals, I urge you to take a closer look at the top of your sales funnel.  Remember, you only get ONE chance to make a great first impression.  Is your website helping or hurting your sales efforts?

 

“Guide to Websites That Sell”

I just created a brand new online marketing guide, called The Step-By-Step Guide to Websites That Sell, which provides detailed instructions for how to increase your website conversions, so you generate more leads and customers. And until Sunday, June 16th at midnight, you can grab your copy at a special discount…

Click here to learn more and claim your copy

 

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