Learn how to generate sales on your website
Your website can and should generate sales and new business. The days of building a website just for the sake of building a site are gone. So, how to generate sales on your website? In this post, we explain how your website can help in the sales process. We are going to start at the beginning by looking at two key factors for setting yourself up for success. The foundation can be summed up by (1) Goal Development (2) Task Marketing.
#1 Goal Development
You live and work in the real world of expecting results. You can't afford to have a "Build it and they will come" mentality. You've got to have success measures, and it all begins with goal setting. Goal development begins with identifying the structure of your organization and uncovering the true realities of your products and services. Ask your company key questions such as:
- What are we selling?
- How do our customers buy?
- How can we interact with our customers in the sales cycle?
- How long does the sale take?
- What kind of information does the customer need?
- Is this a long term or short term buy?
- Is this a one time or repeat buy?
Whether your website is used to sell a baseball glove or a contract labor crew, every website should have a desired outcome in mind for the users coming to the site. These key questions will help you develop one of two goals for your website (1) ecommerce (2) conversion information. Both goals will lead to a sale; however, the structure of your site, user experience and overall conversion expectation will be tailored. Knowing what the end result looks like and what happens next is the key to a well-functioning website.
Ecommerce Website: If you’re selling a $10 widget, an ecommerce site can get the user through the sales cycle and potentially secure the purchase right away.
However…
Conversion Information Website: If the end result is selling the end user a $200,000 software package, an ecommerce website likely won’t get you there. The site can certainly help you land that business by legitimizing your product/service in existence and demonstrating the value your product/service brings in the competitive landscape. The Conversion Information Website should focus on: (1) mirroring the normal sales cycle and leading the customer to the desired outcome (2) sharing a narrative to demonstrate your value, expertise and create trust.
In either case, by examining your organization and the goal of your website, you dramatically increase your chances to use your website to generate sales.
#2 Task Marketing
Even the greatest websites in the world only function if traffic is generated to them, so make sure there is a supporting marketing strategy to drive traffic to the site and ensure the site is optimized for that traffic. No, just building it doesn’t mean they will come. You’ll need to refer back to your organizational questions to drive meaningful traffic.
Real Life Matters:
Proximity Marketing’s client recently went through a website redesign. The average new sale is roughly $50K +. Therefore, they chose a Conversion Information site. The purpose of their site is to demonstrate to their prospects their qualifications for the projects, show them examples of their work, establish credibility and then take them to the next step in the process which in their case is to have a representative follow up with them to quote their specific project.
It was critical not only to provide relevant information, the client also ensured:
- Clear calls to action for each user interaction.
- Lead captures and prospect qualifying using Q/A in a lead generation forms.
Yes, your organizational website can lead to new sales. Site development based on organizational and goal review supported by on-going strategic marketing is critical for bringing in those new business dollars. Proximity Marketing understands there is not a one size fits all model for website creation and marketing. Instead, Proximity Marketing’s approach starts with the foundations – what’s your goal and ensuring an objective marketing strategy to support website and business development goals. If you still wonder how to generate more sales on your website, please contact us, and we’ll be happy to discuss it in more detail.