Introduction
Many organizations employ a multi-step sales process. Potential customers pass through a series of steps or stages before making a purchase. The best example of this is used by many participants in the Software as a Service (SaaS) industry. Using digital marketing techniques such as workflows, lead scoring, email drip campaigns, webinars and free content download offers, SaaS companies move leads through their funnel until they are warmed up to the point where a live person starts making outbound phone calls.
Businesses who are in more traditional businesses may benefit from using a multi-step sales process as well. If your business is dependent upon customers finding you and then calling you or visiting your physical storefront, your website should be selling that loud and clear. Use of appropriate calls to action is critical.
Back in the Day …
When local businesses used to rely on the Yellow Pages for phone calls or walk-ins, the result was exactly what the business wanted. If a potential customer found your advertisement in the book, the phone would ring or a customer would walk in the door … just what the doctor ordered.
But Today …
No one uses the physical book version of the Yellow Pages any more. Maybe if your clientele is senior citizens – or super seniors – you still need to be in the printed version of the Yellow Pages. Otherwise, people are looking for you using Google and the other search engines. Their fingers aren’t doing the walking … their mouse is doing the clicking.
What does your website tell people to do when they find it?
When potential customers find your website, what does your website tell them to do? These visual cues – also known as calls to action or CTA’s – are a vital part of your digital marketing strategy. Sophisticated digital marketing companies like the SaaS providers mentioned above might want their customer to first watch a video or download a white paper. They then use those activities to change the potential customer’s “lead score” and to trigger follow on actions like sending an email inviting the potential client to a webinar. Of course, these businesses have teams of marketing people focused on this stuff because getting it right is the difference between their success and failure as a business. Note: Getting it right is just as important for you, you just might not realize it yet.
Take a look at your website and ask yourself two (2) questions:
- What do you want people to do when they find your website?
- What is your website currently asking people to do?
If these aren’t one in the same, then it’s time to tweak your website and your digital marketing strategy to match your sales process.
Who’s your best salesperson?
If you’re like most small business owners, you’re the chief cook and bottle washer. You wear many hats including sales/quoting. You are most successful when you are on the phone with a potential customer answering their questions and selling them on your product or service. Think about a phone call like an at bat in baseball. The more at bats you get, the more business you will have. If getting customers to call you is what you want, then your website’s calls to action should SCREAM, “Call me!”
Do you have a killer store?
When customers walk in the door of your store, do they stop and say, “Wow!” Do their wallets fly open and credit cards start slinging about? If that’s the case, your digital marketing strategy needs to be about selling VISITS not about selling PRODUCTS. Oh sure, you can use product-based cues like SALES and DISCOUNTS to get people to come in, but it’s all about driving the visits not necessarily selling any individual product or service.
FREE Digital Marketing Assessment
If you’re worried that your website’s calls to action don’t match your multi-step sales process, give us a call at 413-458-1721 today. We will review your website and then conduct a brief 10-15 minute phone call with you to discuss your sales process and your digital marketing strategy. Then we will provide you with a written assessment of your website’s calls to action versus the process you are trying to utilize.