Stop Screwing Around

How to Convert Every Web VisitorInto a Loyal Customer

[It’s funny, that guy on the cover page had a full head of hair before he started his web business.]

Howdy…Does your website suck?Don’t despair: I’m about to tell you what I use to help even clueless rookies turntheir sales site around, literally overnight.It’s simple and it’s basic: Your website needs to be more like your real life store oroffice… It needs to be alive.This is the most overlooked art of figuring out what your web visitor desperatelydesires…earning his trust and establishing your credibility…and deliveringinformation to him that

nails

his “passionate sweet spot of need”.This should be common sense for all business owners... and yet it will be your

secret

weapon. Because most of your competition will forever ignore thefundamentals of good salesmanship, or screw it up (since they've never bothered topay attention to the lessons).Here is the first part of the secret…

Live Chat is the fastest growingcommunication medium for business websites.

Why? What is so specialabout live chat? Well for one, it’s live, which is a good start but really it’s becausebusinesses are no longer content with allowing their website to be just a windowshopping experience.Business owners are now realizing that their online presence needs to mirror that of their offline store or office.Let’s imagine for a minute…that you are in the market for a new car. So you andyour better half begrudgingly head out to the car lot. You sulk out of your oldbeater and start walking the lot looking for the one that really catches your eye.Let’s say you’ve been touring the lot for about five minutes when you find a car thatyou are really interested in and in fact, you’d like to take for a test drive. So youstart looking around for the sales guy…you know the one who’s usually breathingdown your neck within seconds of you stepping foot on the lot. The fat guy withthe comb-over… The guy with the taco sauce on his shirt…the one who says “what’sit gonna take to get you in this beauty today?” We all know the guy… But much toyour surprise there’s no sales guy to be found. So you walk up to the office andstep inside only to find that it is vacant too. You quietly say “hello” expecting to bepounced on like a wounded gazelle in hyena town but nobody comes out…Louderthis time, you yell “HELLO!” and still nobody is around. It seems the place isdeserted. You walk over to the receptions desk and notice a clip board which reads “If you’d like any information about any of our cars or service please kindly leaveyour name, email and phone number and we’ll get back to you.”

Are you freaking kidding me! You don’t want to be contacted at their convenience.You are in the market for a car right now and if they had someone available toassist you you’d probably buy it right here on the spot. How could anyone run abusiness like this, you wonder?Did I make my point? I can go on…Listen, the brutal fact of the matter is that as a business owner your website needsto be alive. It needs to have salespeople available to help people who want to giveyou money. That’s what a visitor to your website represents, someone who may bewilling to give you money but only if you can earn their trust and establish somecredibility.If you have a fancy showroom but nobody there to assist shoppers you will not sellvery many cars… it’s just that simple.Not everyone is so clueless… Some companies have come to their senses and theseearly adopters of live chat technology, are harnessing the power of the web to offerreal-time service and support to online customers and would you believe it but theyare also reporting improved customer satisfaction, reduced costs, and increasedrevenues… Hallelujah!

The need for Live Web Support

I don’t know about you but I don’t think the internet is a fad…chances are it’s notgoing away.I mean, take for example real estate, some reports say that as high as 90% of allhome shoppers start their search using the web…90%!!! And yet I bet 99% of realestate websites don’t have live chat or any way for the shopper to connect with anagent to ask a simple question. Oh they can ask a question but only after theyhave answered a bunch of questions about themselves…you’ve seen those emailforms: what’s your name, give me your email, phone, blood type, we need a urinesample… No, No, No, these businesses have it all wrong. The home shopper isgiving them the opportunity to earn their trust and establish credibility [side note:more than 80% of home shoppers end up working with the first agent the contact]and yet they are not taking advantage of it by simply being available.I told you at the start of this, that this is simple and it’s basic but luckily for youyour competition has their heads up their… let’s just say, buried in the sand.In my not so humble opinion, real-time support and service through live chat is anabsolutely essential part of a business’s customer service strategy. Businesses canprovide chat-based assistance to customers by setting appointments, helping themwith online purchases, filling in forms and guiding them around their website. Nowall of a sudden your website has been transformed from a picture on the wall to aninteractive experience, a guided tour, a wonderfully helpful and pleasantexperience.