Is Your Website Listening?
Your customers have something to say. Are you listening? Is your website capturing this valuable information?
Your small business website is an excellent tool for hearing from your customers and prospective customers, and for engaging with them. What is on their minds? What are new challenges of theirs that you can solve for them?
How is your website configured to hear from your customers?
- Do you have a feedback form?
- Do you conduct surveys or polls?
- Do you list your contact information clearly, including email and phone number?
- Do you allow product reviews, or other types of user-generated content?
- Do you have a comments-enabled blog?
- Do you offer multiple forms of engagement?
Once your site visitors have communicated with you, it is important that you respond with a personalized follow-up. Customer input is valuable in helping you understand how to better serve your customers, and correspondingly how to build your business. Therefore, you should invest the time in a one-on-one dialog, whether through email or otherwise, with those who generously took the time to provide you with feedback.
January 12th, 2009 at 10:10 am
I couldn’t agree more, Tom.
It is imperative to make your site as user-friendly as possible. This definitely includes the contact options. Make them visible! allow several ways of contacts (Form, Email, Phone and even a physical address)
I also agree that you should give a personal response to people who contact you. There’s nothing more annoying than hearing an automated response, or even worse, a general one.
I feel so discourage to do further business that gives me a general response to my specific case.
Your customers are one of your most valuable assets. Don’t lose them!
Jmes
January 12th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Thanks for the advise. I think it is always important to get feedback from both clients and potential clients. There are many ways of structuring it, and this is a great reminder of using technology to get that feedback.
January 12th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Very true.
Connecting with the customer is essential - although the best ways to do so vary depending on the context. For example in the realms of eCommerce, building customer trust is critical - therefore clear display of valid, relevant contact details (and easy ways to connect) are vital.
For us, it’s more important that we make it clear to the customer how to get in touch, as well as offering them lots of information to digest! At the end of teh day, websites are by and large sales tools - and if they don’t connect you to the customer, what use are they?
January 14th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Tom- Your article was great and very timely for me. The Entrepreurs Club of America is building a new site and now will at the very least have a blog, right on the home page.
Thanks
January 14th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Thanks everyone for your comments and feedback!
Kip - fantastic to hear that you will be including a blog right on the home page. A blog can be a powerful way to connect with your audience. For example, if you enable Comments, readers will be able to respond immediately to blog posts. Also, you can include polls, surveys, requests for ideas, etc. in your blog to deepen your two-way communication with your audience.
-Tom
January 18th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
It looks like I have some work to do.
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Thanks for the reminder to do more of this! Our cleaning business consulting website is very interactive, but can always be more so!