Let me introduce you to your most qualified online expert and critic—your customer. They’ve raised their standards, sharpened their personal preferences and expect you’ve done the same. Now more than ever, effectively creating a personalized online customer experience can mean the difference between a signed deal and never even getting to the table.
Keeping up with customers is no easy task and a good Web site just doesn’t cut it anymore. To succeed, you need to focus on online greatness.
So, where do you start? I suggest the following three-step process.
Step 1: Understand the difference between good and great.
Step 2: Ask the right questions.
Step 3: Plan for greatness.
Step 1: Understand the difference.
I asked a handful of people what they think makes a great Web site. I heard responses like “Clean, professional design,” “Intuitive navigation,” and “Updated content.” Sound familiar? It’s usually after “updated content” that I gloss over.
Why? Let’s be honest. A professional looking site with clear navigation doesn’t automatically constitute greatness no more than new tires and a nice paint job make a great car.
To really get at what makes a great Web site, I changed the question to “What does a great Web site give you?” The answers changed drastically and the difference became obvious. After all, the Internet is more about purpose and function than presentation.
Here’s the better answer—one I’ve seen drive online success time and time again.
A great Web site makes each visitor feel like it was designed and built specifically for THEIR individual needs.
Sound impossible to achieve? Maybe you’re not asking the right questions.
Step 2: Ask the right questions.
Moving from good to great can be accomplished by asking four primary questions.
Question 1: Who are your online visitors?
Begin by identifying each visitor type that accesses your company’s Web site. I like to keep it simple by focusing on three identifiers.
- Who are they? Look at all the different people that come to your site. What are the primary visitor types? Are they current customers, prospective customers or channel partners? Are they investors, job seekers or researchers? At a minimum, list the top 4 visitor types.
This initial step may seem challenging if you have limited data regarding your current online visitors. That’s okay. Instead, think about the different types of people your company interacts with on a day to day basis. Use those “visitor types” to get started.
- What role do they play in their organization? Are they the CEO, a manager or someone delegated with simply finding out more information? Are they typically decision makers or information gatherers?
- Where are they coming from? Another way of asking this is “How did they find you?” Did they reach your site from a search engine or a link from another site? Did they obtain your Web site address from traditional marketing efforts?
Question 2: What are they seeking on your Web site?
Once you know the who, take a closer look at the what. That is, what specific online information is relevant to each visitor type?
Take an inventory of your content. Is it primary words, pictures, video or downloadable files? Maybe it’s access to information stored in a database? Are you planning to create new content that will address a specific visitor type?
Once you understand what content you have available, group it into categories according to each visitor type.
Question 3: What do THEY want to accomplish?
After you’ve identified the visitor types and know what content applies to them, you should decide what each visitor type wants to accomplish with that content.
Are they simply interested in taking away the main points from the text? Are they looking to download a brochure? Do they want to request more information? Do they need to complete an online transaction?
Also, think carefully about what they ultimately need to accomplish. Are they comparing you against your competition? Are they charged with organizing this information for someone else?
Question 4: What do YOU want them to accomplish?
This final question is a critical part of the puzzle and a question many forget to ask.
Let’s say you have a prospective customer (Question 1, visitor type) who’s highly educated in your industry. They’re looking for some very specific information about your latest product, (Question 2, the what). Their goal is to download the information and review it in detail at a later time (Question 3, what they want to accomplish). Going through the exercise of answering the first three questions puts you in a much better position to address that customer’s intentions.
Yet, what about your intentions? How do you entice your customers to take a specific action? Some action examples would be to submit a request for a salesperson to contact them directly, sign up for a live demonstration, register for an event, sign up for your enewsletter, or buy a product.
To elaborate, imagine that your company has been very successful converting prospects into customers once the prospect has an opportunity to see a live demonstration of your product. If a prospective customer comes to your site with interest in your product and an objective to download more information, how can you convert their intention into your desired outcome?
See the difference? Knowing first what the visitor wants to accomplish and then using that initial action to make progress towards your end goal is critical.
How do you actually do it? You have to plan for greatness.
Step 3: Plan for greatness.
To continue with the example from step 2, a visitor intends to download a brochure, yet you want them to participate in a live product demonstration. How do you increase the number of product demonstrations through your Web site?
Maybe you record one of your top people performing a demonstration of your product and turn it into a Web cast event. It could be as simple as promoting this product demo Web cast on the same page as the download of the PDF. Or maybe you promote a live Web cast event that customers and prospective customer register for online. Your top salesperson or product manager demonstrates the product live online and then answers questions afterwards.
The possibilities are endless.
To achieve online greatness, don’t dwell on each tactic…for example, “creating an online product demonstration.” Instead focus on the process of online greatness.
- Know the result you want to achieve by asking the right questions.
- Brainstorm online tactics to achieve that result.
- Implement one tactic at a time.
- Track the results.
My hope is that this exercise has changed the way you look at your online presence. Do you like what you see? What kind of experience does your site provide each visitor type? How can you improve it?
By asking these questions about your online visitors’ desired action and your desired result, you tap into the true nature of your Web site as a dynamic tool. The result will be a more useful and functional site that exceeds your customers expectations… and drives them to take action.
One final thought… achieving online greatness is an ongoing process. At Aware, we’ve built upon the three steps I’ve outlined in this article to help our clients make continuous progress forward. Our Online Strategic Analysis reviews five critical evaluation areas for your Web site, ties each area to your business goals with ROI and other intangible valuation measurements, and compares them against your top competitors. In addition, this analysis provides enhancement recommendations to empower you with decision making capabilities regarding the future of your online initiatives in light of your competition and ROI opportunities.
Interested in learning more? Contact us today.
Trevor Olson is President of Aware Web Solutions, a Twin Cities based full-service e-business consulting firm, providing design, development and application solutions.
If you have any comments or questions about any Aware InSites, feel free to contact us at info@awarewebsolutions.com or call 800-783-8919.