I’m always surprised when I hear that people don’t care about website conversions. I hear it all the time, “We hired a web designer to build our website… isn’t that enough?” Unfortunately not. Yet, so many people believe that by having a WordPress website, they’ll magically get more sales, more customers and if the SEO gods look pleasantly in their direction, they’ll be able to spend a month in the Bahamas, as a result of very little effort on their part. To expect that YOUR website visitors will “figure out” what action you want them to take on your website, is like tossing a dime in a shopping mall fountain, making a wish, and expecting a pony to be in your backyard when you get home because you “wished it so.” If you haven’t noticed already… I’m passionate about helping people rethink their website workflows so that they can improve their conversion rate. And in this short email I’m going to give ya a few (FREE) things you can do to improve your bounce rate… as early as today! Experts say that your online business could be losing 7 out of 10 potential purchases. Website abandonment is a silent killer. And it happens without you ever noticing a thing. Think of your bounce rate as the “carbon monoxide” of your online sales. This loss we’re talking about happens after YOUR CUSTOMER has already added an online item to their shopping cart (or in a freelancers case considered hiring you for their project)! In this short email, I’m going to give you the #1 factor that keeps your customers from buying/moving forward. And I’m going to show you 3 ways to reduce Website Abandonment Syndrome in the process. I’ll cut to the chase…
Most lost sales in every industry come down to one thing. FRICTION. Fiction keeps people from buying. When it’s hard to take a certain action, we are less likely to do it. Think about friction in your own life. What happens when the remote is all the way across the room? How about if the gym is more than 10 minutes down the road? Heck, sometimes I procrastinate going to bed because it means I will have to spend time to walk to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Too much friction kills action. And friction kills sales. But when you make taking action EASY – customers will do it! That’s why your goal is to eliminate friction during the buying (or negotiation) process. And the TOP three ways to decrease contract abandonment are all focused on getting rid of friction for your customers. Here’s the first step to keep your customers buying.
Step #1… Make it EASY to buy.
Have you ever gone to a website, then when it’s time to check out, you get stuck? You know the drill… you have to leave the website, login to your email, validate your account… reset a password that you forgot or possibly register for a new account altogether.
As a business owner it is your job to take away any and all barriers between your future customer… and the hoops they have to jump through to buy your product! That’s why step number one is to make it EASY to buy.
Step #2… Take care of every single possibility
(so your customers don’t have to think about it).
The best customer experiences are the ones when your customers are only one click away from their desired action AT ALL TIMES. To do this you must take care of every possibility and think through how you setup your checkout workflow and what product options are offered by default. If you’re a freelancer you must think about how your freelance website is architected.
If your business can handle 10 of the steps that your customer currently has to jump through… and you can turn their required steps into only 1 or 2 steps, you will make more money (and have happier customers in the process). By eliminating decisions your customers have to make, you’ll automatically minimize the chances your customer will experience attention deficit disorder on your website. You’ll also drastically improve your conversion rate). Decision fatigue is alive and running rabid on the web… quit monkeying around with too many options!
Here’s a few quick tips on what this could look like:
- If you’re going to sell them furniture… give them the option to have it delivered to their home and assembled!
- If you’re going to sell them web design packages… offer only two or three packages!
- If you’re going to require them to sign a big contract… have them sign it automatically on your website after they select their desired web design package (instead of a third party document signing website… after a thousand emails).
“If you want your customers to take action, you should take care of every option that runs the risk of averting or overwhelming your customer.”
Don’t make them work once they’ve decided to buy. Take care of every possibility on their behalf. Become your customer’s advocate!
Step #3… Leave no doubt in their minds.
You want to leave no doubt in your customers’ minds that this purchase is the right decision for them (if it is the right decision for them).
But what does that mean actually? Once you remove the biggest obstacles to purchasing; “RISK” is the final thing that will make your customers jump ship.
Risks like… “will my boss approve of this purchase?” “Will I look dumb later for buying this?” “Is this secure and trustworthy?” Risk is basically “mental friction.” And friction stops sales. Zappos.com is an online retailor that sells shoes. And they offer free shipping – both on the way TO the customer and if the products are returned. Why? Well, if you’re about to buy a pair of shoes online, you can’t try them on. So the RISK is… “What if I hate these? What if I get them and the colors look different in person? What if I need to send it back because they’re the wrong size?” These are the risks. But then Zappos says “Shipping is on us – both ways.” And now their customers have zero reason not to buy! Zappos just left no doubt in their minds. This purchase is zero risk.
For another business, it could be SECURITY. If I decide to sign a contract, how do I know if my signature, name, or data is protected on a document signing website? That’s a BIG risk.
And if you want to leave NO doubt in their minds, you’ve got to address that risk.
Now you’ve learned all three steps to keep customers from abandoning your contracts:
- Make it easy to buy (get rid of any friction)
- Take care of every possibility (get rid of any needless steps)
- Leave no doubt in their minds (get rid of any risk)
Tomorrow, I’m going to share with you a simple plugin that can cover ALL THREE of these steps.
I want to help you achieve all three steps we’ve covered, every time a customer decides to buy from you.
This solution has helped save business owners thousands of dollars a year… and I’ll show you how tomorrow.
Plus, I’ll reveal a limited time bonus just for those who are part of this email series.
For now, let me know – what are the RISKS that your customers face when they buy from you? What do they worry about?
Reply to this email, and I look forward to talking to you tomorrow.