Visitors to Customers

Visitors to customers
5 ways to make your website sell

Compiled by Steve Binos

Steve’s career as a corporate brand strategist
has spanned three continents over more
than 20 years. He has a particular passion for
helping companies unlock the potential of the
web for their businesses. His current role is
Chief Imagineer of Dreamsmiths Marketing.

Follow Steve on Twitter: @steveBinos

Please feel free to reproduce and distribute
this material with suitable acknowledgement
to eLead.

www.elead.me

Distributed by eLead as part of eLead’s
“Visitors to Customers” campaign.

Contents

Introduction ................................................................................ 1

Treat your website as integral to your business’ success ..... 2

Make the most of your prime real estate................................ 7

Aim to swop, not sell ............................................................... 10

Nurture relationships without trying ..................................... 12

Make all roads lead to Rome .................................................. 15

eLead Visitors To Customers 5 ways to make your website sell

Introduction

Are you throwing away
valuable leads?

Try this quick test …

Imagine that I just gave you a thousand dollars in a stack of crisp $10 bills.
Now let’s sit down by a cozy fire and review the last 100 visitors who came to
your website. For each visitor who gave you their contact information (through
a web form), you are allowed to keep a $10 bill. For every visitor who left your
website, never to return, you have to toss a $10 bill into the fire.

At the end of this exercise, most small businesses would have less than $100
in their hands and a small inferno in the grate. The remaining $900 that could
have been in your pocket is now gone, for ever.

This is what happens every single day on your website when you don’t have an
effective lead-capture strategy in place or any viable method of following up
these visitors to convert them into customers.

It’s a crying shame.

I’m using this test to grab your attention for my first major point, which is
coming up next.

eLead Visitors To Customers 5 ways to make your website sell 1

Number one:
Treat your website as integral
to your business’ success

Everything rises or falls on leadership. What leaders
pay attention to becomes important to everyone in the
business. What leaders take seriously, enjoys the same
attitude from everyone.

2 eLead Visitors To Customers 5 ways to make your website sell

Are you providing web You can boost
leadership for your company? your business in
all these ways by
As recently as 10 years ago, a company website simply having a web
was still largely considered a ‘nice-to-have.’ presence
Today. a mere 10 years later, more than 70%
of people with internet access research online • Improve the quality of
before making a signiﬁcant purchase. (Nielson) leads.
• Reduce sales costs.
Are you capitalising on this?
Are you seducing them on to
• Increase close ratios.

your website? • Reduce inbound calls for
information by moving
interactions to the Web.
Probably not.
• Eliminate expensive
It’s time to begin treating your online presence marketing channels.
as an integral part of your business. We • Reach prospects not
recommend you set business objectives for it, found via other media.
appoint a leader to be accountable to manage • Add online services that
it, approve a plan and allocate resources to make your offering more
it and agree measures to regularly review valuable.
progress in the same way you do with other
• Increase cross-sells and
areas of your business.
up-sells.

So, I’m appealing to you ﬁrstly, for the sake of • Increase average sales
the future of your business, to make a quality price.
business decision that your online presence • Steal market share and
is core to your future business, and your mind share from your
marketing effort. competitors.


Define your online business objectives
There are a truckload of potential and valid uses for your web presence, but I
believe in keeping things simple, and in keeping the main thing the main thing. So, I
recommend having one main objective and a handful of secondary objectives. Decide
what they are, and write them down.

Your main objectives could include:
1. Building brand awareness
2. Communicating product info, and other useful information
3. Selling widgets (e-store)
4. Displaying your products/services. (e.g. property listing websites)
5. Generating quality sales leads

Here’s my experience: for 90% of small businesses, selling or displaying isn’t
relevant. When you think about what’s left, it becomes pretty obvious that, although
you want your brand to look good, (and of course you want to include a map to your
ofﬁces!), the main objective you’re after is generating quality sales leads. To put it
bluntly, you want to sell, not tell.

So, I recommend you simply write a mission statement
for your online presence. Here’s an example:

Our primary website objective is to:
• Generate quality sales leads. These goals are
clear and concise.
Our secondary website objectives are to: Now we know what
• Provide comprehensive product information.
we’re shooting for.
• Provide a customer complaints facility.


How are you going to know whether
you’re succeeding?
A word on measurement

The simplest measure to use here is ROI (Return on Investment). You simply add
up all revenue on sales from leads generated via your site, then divide it by the
total cost of running your web strategy (including staff cost, agency fees, online
advertising, technology cost, etc).

A lot of people swear by the CPL (Cost Per Lead) measure. Although it has merit in
comparing channels, it can be misleading in that it doesn’t factor in the quality of
the lead - [IE] - the percentage of leads that ultimately convert to sales. It’s simple to
calculate: Total cost of operating strategy, divided by the number of leads generated
(per month, or whatever).

Another one I really like is PPDI (Pipeline Dollars per Dollar of Investment). It’s a bit
of a mouthful, I know, but it’s simpler than it sounds! Basically, it measures revenue
up to the step before an actual sale. In sales lingo we talk about a lead becoming an
opportunity (when a person requires our product/service and is open to engaging),
before it becomes an actual sale.

The reason this measure is useful is that, although your web strategy may be highly
effective in generating high quality leads, either your salespeople may suck (not
converting opportunities to sales) or your value proposition may suck (too expensive,
not competitive, etc). So if all you measure is ROI, you might incorrectly assume your
lead generation is the problem.


Pipeline Dollars per Dollar of Investment

Lead Source A Lead Source B

Investment $25,000 $45,000

Lead Count 1,000 1,000

Cost Per Lead $25 $45

Conversion Rate 7% 15%

Pipeline Opportunities 70 150

Pipeline Opportunity Dollars $126,000 $375,000

Pipeline Dollars per Dollar of Investment $5.04 $8.33

So, I pretty much recommend looking at ROI as a measure of sales and marketing
effectiveness and Pipeline Dollars per Dollar of Investment as a measure of your
online marketing effectiveness.

Okay, so now we’ve made the right decisions, what now follows are what I believe to
be the most important pointers to help you succeed in implementation.


Number two:
Make the most of
your prime real estate
Your company website homepage is your prime piece of
digital real estate. Specifically, ‘above the fold’ (the portion
of your homepage that visitors can see without scrolling
down) is your most valuable space.


Why is it prime?
On average a new visitor will spend around 30 seconds on your site and this portion
of your homepage determines what they do next.

Many sites use up this precious space with
nonsense like:
• A self-serving historical narrative “Established in 1967, XYZ Plumbers
has a proud history”.
• A badly chosen, generic stock picture taking up a lot of space.
• Too many elements or too much copy, making it tricky to know where to
start.

You need to have your big idea in the front and centred
This is your ‘Compelling Difference’, your unique Value Proposition - crafted and
designed with flair and appropriate to your brand.

As I arrive on your homepage, I need to take in this pitch and have a good sense of
“what’s in it for me?” It must be customer-focused, not company-focused. Here’s an
example:

Company-focused
Our computing products provide significant benefits for preserving the environment,
by improving energy usage, eliminating harmful substances, and reducing material
consumption.

Customer-focused
Your need to reduce costs by “going green” has appeal…conceptually. But you can’t
afford to lose speed to save energy. We can prove to you that going green will not
cost you one ounce of productivity.


A couple of pointers on developing this homepage pitch:

1. You must resonate. 3. You must substantiate.
It’s got to speak to my felt needs, or You’re saying all the right things,
points of pain. It’s all about putting but why should I trust you? How
yourself in your customers’ shoes, can I be sure you’ll deliver on your
talking about their needs, aspirations claims? Anticipate these questions,
and challenges, rather than talking and provide ‘Social Proof.’ Social Proof
about your company, its history and includes testimonials of satisfied
achievements. It’s talking client customers, endorsements from
benefits, not product features. influential publications, membership
of associations, and so on. There’s
2. You must differentiate.
nothing quite like a couple of strong
Okay, so you’re connecting with me;
quotes from satisfied customers who
you’re offering what I need, but how
represent solid businesses. Pop off an
are you different from the five other
email asking your best customers for
companies who offer similar service?
a quote today - you can offer a link to
Why should I choose you rather than
their website if that’s appropriate.
them? If you can’t answer this, you’re
going to compete on price – nasty! 4. You must be imaginative.
Create an ‘Offer You Can’t Refuse’ and Don’t be boring. Get help to translate
find some angle on your service that your Value Proposition into an eye-
has value to your customer. catching, compelling layout.

Are you a persuasive communicator?
Make sure you have included as many of these psychological persuasive
techniques in your web pages as possible:

• Use testimonials • Take an authoritative position – set
yourself up as an expert.
• Speak from their perspective – use
the “you” approach. • Create likeability e.g. through social
or environmental efforts.
• Do them a favour so that they will
reciprocate - for instance, give them a • Get potential clients to do something,
free eBook. like fill out a form or take a survey.


Number three:
Aim to swop, not sell
Very few people decide to buy from you 30 seconds
after they encounter your website. In our work on
websites, we never aim at an instant sale. Our goal is to
persuade the visitor deciding to give us their name and
email address after 30 seconds.


Think about this!
If a visitor willingly gives you their
contact details (and opts into further
communication), you move from having Ideas for ‘ethical
30 seconds to make a sale, to three bribes’
years to make a sale! Remember:
people buy when they’re ready to buy, • Write an eBook.
not when you’re ready to sell. • Create a ‘Downloadable
Kit” (worksheets, videos,
Ethical bribe articles/eBooks)
• Give away a free
The way we encourage people to consultation
part with their details is to offer an
• Dish out free samples
‘ethical bribe,’ or a swop. We’ll give you
a useful, free resource in exchange for • Activate a free trial
your contact details and consent for • Produce a video/video
further communication. (You probably series
know exactly what I mean, given you’re
• Provide an informative
holding this eLead resource!) white paper

Your ‘ethical bribe’ can be in the form • Invite to a live webinar
of any digital media that’s useful for • Invite to an event
your potential customers - ebooks,
white papers, articles, video clips,
audio interviews, and so on. I like the
eBook angle, because you’re able to
create a great visual of a ‘book’ on your
homepage, and it just feels as if I’m
getting something valuable for free.


Number four:
Nurture relationships
without trying

Here’s the ‘secret sauce’ in our recipe.
Ready? Email marketing. Yes, email marketing.


Email marketing
Typically, the second I mention the word email, I get an audible sigh followed by
a comment about spam, their overﬂowing inbox, and how I’m contributing to the
problem.

This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Usually I’ll explain how permission-based email marketing works, and then they will
realize that they have signed up to receive (and have enjoyed!) at least one type of
regular email communication from a company without even knowing it was “email
marketing.”

”Email is the fastest, most flexible, cost-efficient,
personalized, and targeted communication medium in
the world today.” – Peppers & Rogers Group
In its simplest form, email marketing is about creating and sending out a series of
pre-authored emails, sent at pre-determined intervals, and personalized to each
recipient, based on their expressed interests. Done properly, they are non-spammy
and add value to the recipient’s life by providing further ‘thought leadership’ on the
given subject.

Email marketing, frankly, delivers the highest return on investment (ROI) of any
marketing approach available. Don’t be deterred by spammy examples you’ve been
exposed to! It’s measurable, it’s very targeted, it’s immediate, and the calls to action
can be powerfully linked to your other online assets.


What you’re doing is building relationships.
Gradually, but consistently over time, you begin to become a Subject Matter Expert in
the recipients’ minds. Done skillfully, you’ll just be ‘on the radar’ enough so that, when
the day comes that they (or a friend of theirs) need your product or service, you’ll
come to mind.

Most importantly, email marketing forces you to put yourself in your customer’s
shoes, to think through their challenges, aspirations and concerns, and then to draft
your best, most thorough communiqués. These represent you at the top of your
game! Once your programme is in place, you can get on with other demands while
your prospects lap up your pearls of wisdom.

Where to start?
Our team has years of experience in the subtle nuances of writing email journeys in
order to get results. I therefore would encourage you to get in touch, and let us get
your business’ online marketing supercharged!

Allow me a moment to shamelessly punt eLead. I honestly am relaxed about giving
away our technological secrets because I’ve learnt that it’s about technique not
technology. Content is the coal that fuels the furnace of your technology platform.


Number five:
Make all roads lead to Rome

Great! Now, all that’s needed is feet through the door! Contrary
to popular belief, there are a significant number of ways of
attracting traffic without spending a fortune.


Here are a couple of ways to drive
traffic to your site
You now have a strong web framework for grabbing visitors’ attention and inducing
them to give their details. You’ve also got your automated email journey in place that
nurtures your relationship with these prospects.

Get your website noticed in Google results
This is pretty technical, but there are simple things you can do to help your website
feature better in Google search results. For example:

• Identify the common phrases customers use when searching for your
product or service and then use these phrases in up to 9% of your
homepage text. There is nothing Google loves more than fresh, original
prose! Remember, Google reads everything on the net, and so cut and paste
counts for nothing. Write original text, with key phrases featuring in normal
sentences.
• Put keywords in your domain name. Google puts a lot of emphasis on
domain names. If your business is Rob’s Plumbing, and you’re based in
Austin, don’t go for www.robs.com if www.austinplumbing.com is available.

Beyond this, eLead or another specialist online company can perform higher level
SEO to improve your search engine rankings.

Put your website address in email signatures
I’m always amazed at how many businesses miss this simple trick. If you’ve got 100
people in your business, each sending 10 emails per day, that’s 1000 exposures
daily! Get help to make your email signatures look good.


Start a blog
Google has upgraded blogs in its search results. Choose a blog name that is close to
a key-phrase for your business. Mandate a small group of people (say five) and have
each one write one original article every quarter and to source two good articles
every quarter. That will give you five posts a month. Make sure you include your key
phrases somewhere in each of these blog posts, with a hyperlink to your homepage.

You can start a blog on www.wordpress.org for free.

Tweet and post on Linked-in
Establish personal profiles on Twitter and Linked-in, and then post links to your blog
articles. Actively build your social network profiles - you won’t regret it! Use a tool
like www.hootesuite.com to schedule your future posts, which will save a lot of time.

Comment on industry blogs
Many blogs provide the opportunity for comment, which usually includes the
opportunity to include your URL. However, do make sure that your contribution to the
blog is meaningful.

Launch a Google Adwords campaign
This is the most immediate way to get feet through the door, although you pay
for these feet! A basic Adwords campaign can be set up by a novice. It is highly
recommended that you get an expert (like eLead) to craft your Adwords campaign as
soon as you begin to invest a significant Adwords budget.


That’s all folks!
Wow, you’ve read this right to the end! I’m honoured. More importantly,
you’re obviously pretty serious about all this, which (as I mentioned in my
ﬁrst point) is a major step towards success.

Let us know if you need help! The good people at eLead are passionate
about helping automate marketing for businesses with big ambitions and
little spare time.

To your success!

Steve

PS: Follow me on Twitter for marketing DIY tips: [twitter: @stevebinos]

Tel: +27 21 529 4750 E-mail: info@elead.me
Fax: +27 21 529 4625 Website: www.elead.me

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