Your website is a powerful tool in helping clients/customers choose your option rather than a competitor’s, but making it effective takes time and effort. I’ve outlined here the part your website can play at each stage of your sales process. It’s really important to remember that your website should be a continuously evolving business asset, not a ‘once and done’. Ongoing time spent close to your site will pay dividends, not just in development savings but also in ultimate ROI.
Lots of people invest (sometimes) a huge amount of money in a website only to end up disappointed at what their website does for them. There are lots of possible reasons for this. Any regular reader here will know that I’m a bit sceptical about how websites are sold and wish that could change. However, to stay on point, one of the things that will help you plan your website better and be happier with it as it evolves is knowing where in your sales process your website could add value. This list isn’t exhaustive, but it’ll give you some pointers that should help.
A website can play a crucial role in a sales process and should be strategically positioned to support your sales funnel at various stages. Sales processes typically consist of several stages, and your website can have different functions at each stage to guide potential customers through their buying journey. Here’s how a website might sit in a sales process:
1. Awareness Stage: At the initial stage of the sales process, potential customers become aware of their needs or problems and start looking for solutions. Your website should focus on attracting and educating these prospects. This can be achieved through:
High-quality content: Publish informative blog posts, articles, and guides that address common pain points and questions your target audience may have.
Search engine optimisation (SEO): If people are likely to search for your solution on a search engine like Google (which isn’t always the case) optimise your website to rank well in search engines for relevant keywords, so people can easily find your content.
Social media presence: Share your content on social platforms to expand your reach and engage with potential customers.
2. Interest Stage: Once prospects are aware of your business and offerings, they move to the interest stage. Now, they want to learn more about your products or services and how they can benefit from them. Here’s how your website can support this stage:
Product/Service pages: Provide detailed information about your offerings, their features, benefits, and use cases.
Case studies and testimonials: Showcase real-world examples of how your products or services have helped others to build trust and credibility.
Lead magnets: Offer valuable resources like e-books, white papers, or webinars in exchange for prospects’ contact information to build your email list – and don’t forget these need to be REALLY valuable otherwise your efforts are wasted.
3. Consideration Stage: During this stage, potential customers are actively comparing different options and evaluating potential solutions. Your website can assist them by:
Comparisons: Create content that compares your offerings with those of competitors, highlighting your unique selling points.
Pricing and packages: Clearly display pricing information and different packages to make it easy for prospects to understand their options.
Live chat, chatbots or easy contact info: Implement live chat or chatbot functionality to provide instant answers to questions and address concerns. If this isn’t up your street, at least make it super easy for your site visitor to contact you.
4. Decision Stage: At this stage, prospects are close to making a purchase/next stage decision. Your website should focus on converting these leads into customers:
Clear calls-to-action (CTAs): Use compelling CTAs to prompt visitors to take the desired action, such as signing up for a free trial, making a purchase or booking time with you.
Trust elements: Display trust badges, security certifications, and payment options to instill confidence in the purchasing process.
Customer support resources: Offer easy access to customer support, FAQs, or a knowledge base to help potential customers finalise their decision.
5. Post-Purchase Stage: The sales process doesn’t end with a purchase; maintaining customer satisfaction and encouraging repeat business is crucial. Your website can continue to support the post-purchase stage through:
Order tracking: If you’re selling a physical produce online, it’s important to provide a way for customers to track their orders and stay informed about delivery status.
Customer feedback and reviews: Encourage customers to leave feedback and reviews, which can help attract new customers and build trust.
Upselling and cross-selling: Recommend relevant products or services to existing customers to increase their lifetime value.
Remember, by aligning your website’s content and functionality with the needs of potential customers at each stage, you can enhance the effectiveness of your sales process and improve overall conversion rates.
And finally, don’t forget that Rome wasn’t built in a day, and in most instances it’s best not to build a website in one go either. When you adopt a step-by-step approach to building your website, you’ll get a much better result. Why? Because you’re closer to it; you invest more thought in it’s content and purpose and it’ll more than likely cost you less.
Need help?
Would you like help to ‘Get comfy and confident on LinkedIn’ or to ‘Get your website looking and sounding like the real you’? Yes? Then book a chat directly in my diary. That way we can have a virtual coffee together to see if/how I might be able to help you. The call will cost you absolutely nothing, you’ll be under no obligation to do anything further AND I GUARANTEE you’ll get value from our call – otherwise I’ll pick up the tab for the virtual coffees 😂