Notes from the Hive

Or you can think about it in terms of asking yourself if your website is your competitor’s best friend.

We are often asked to evaluate current websites in order to offer an estimate or even offer suggestions for improving an existing site. I find this a wobbly road to follow as often there are egos tied to the current site and so anything we say can be distorted toward a criticism that is unwelcomed rather than an observation for room to improve. The other pitfall is that since we are in the business of creating and designing websites our opinions and observations could well be perceived as a sales pitch.

We have worked with companies who either think their sites are just fine the way they are or are unwilling to commit budgets to improve. I have written about how the search engines have changed radically and so an outdated site might not get the traffic desired but what I haven’t really emphasized is why your website is such a critical piece of your business.

If you meet someone at an event, someone refers your company to a colleague, a prospect is gathering information on possible vendors, your sales or telemarketing team is reaching out prospects, you want or have done an email or direct mail campaign – or any host of other triggers that brings you to mind, the FIRST thing that a prospect or target will do is go to your website! The very first thing that they see – your very first impression is your website.

So ask yourself – would you put a salesperson on the road to visit accounts and prospects who is wearing a suit from a by-gone era, showing coffee stains on his or her shirt and carrying a plastic bag instead of a brief case? Would it be acceptable if that salesperson didn’t know what makes your company a standout choice over your competitors or about your products or services in detail and couldn’t answer basic questions? Would it be alright if someone called into your customer service department and were put on hold for several minutes only to be told that their question couldn’t be answered at that time but that if they send an email someone will answer or respond in a couple of days? No?

Then I offer this suggestion so that you may take an objective look at your website and review it for at least appearance and function. Take the following steps and review your website – your biggest piece of collateral, your first impression and touch point – to see how well your company is being represented. You may not be ready to examine structure and coding for best practices and SEO tactics but at least you can review your site to see your site as others see it.

1. Pull out your job description for a sales person
2. Pull out your job description for a customer service representative
3. Pull out your employee review for both the sales person and a customer service representative
4. Pull out your training manuals for both your sales staff and your customer service staff
5. Interview your website for a sales position
6. Interview your website for a customer service position
7. Give your website a performance review as a salesperson
8. Give you website a performance review as a customer service person
9. Now go to your car – start the engine and drive to your biggest and most important account
10. Upon arriving go to the person who decides what companies they will work with and say to them “we are conducting performance reviews and your feedback is critical, would you mind giving me 30 minutes of your time to tell us how you experience us?” Ask them how the phones are answered when they call, how their sales and customer service representatives are performing, how about your billing and collections departments and then ask them to bring up your website and tell you what they see and think.

How did it go – is it time to fire your web site? Maybe you just need to redress your site or update some functions. Either way, don’t lose sight of the point that your website is your FIRST impression most often and even if it is a follow up step and the second impression, don’t let it be the impression that kills the deal!