YOU WANT THEM TO BUY FROM YOU, RIGHT?Closing the On-Line
Keep 'em Home and Boost Conversion Ratios
It took a long time to get here. To the point of sale (POS). The visitor has browsed, added several items to her shopping cart and is ready to make a purchase. Are you ready to capture that sale? Does your site instill confidence and deliver benefits visitors won’t find at the local mega-mall? No?
Well, here’s an eye-opener for you. An Australian study revealed that 86% of web users employ their computers to:
- learn more about product features and benefits
- comparison shop for the lowest prices
- locate the local brick-and-mortar
- read product reviews from journals and buyers
- make buying decisions – plural. Web users decide what to purchase and where to purchase – two critical decisions that affect your site’s commercial success.
If you’re wondering why you’re seeing great traffic flow but not converting at anticipated ratios, part of the problem might be your closer. How can you keep visitors from using your site for information only to make the purchase from a real-world store? Real world is faster, the consumer can touch the product in the store and ask questions of a salesperson or customer care representative.
So what can you do to close more sales. You’ve spent a lot of time and money to get buyers to this point. It’s a shame to lose them so late in the buying cycle. You need to close the deal.
The Value of On-Line Shopping
To close and make the sale, consider the reasons above that people give for web shopping and browsing. You can turn each of those negatives into a positive by properly and positively positioning the buying process on your site in the mind of the buyer.
Okay, web shoppers use your site to gather information. Once that information is collected, off they go to make the actual purchase at a store in town. Remember, you’re asking the potential buyer to make a couple of sacrifices: to purchase from an unknown vendor and to wait three to five business days before receiving their purchase. Oh, and you can throw in the hassles of on-line returns into that mish-mash, as well. Buying on line can be a hassle – unless you sell the value of shopping on-line as part of your web design and text.
What Can You Offer to Close the Deal?
1. Well, start with the convenience factor. Sure you can run down to the mall, battle the traffic and the crowds, scour store after store or you can click “Add to Cart” and make life easier. Buying on-line isn’t just convenient, it’s a time-saver making the buyer more productive.
2. Offer shipping options. Offer overnight delivery for those emergency items that absolutely, positively must be there in the morning. This is especially true of companies selling B2B where room for error is non-existent.
People will pay extra to get their new “toy” the next day. They’ll pay an extra $20 to get their laptop tomorrow instead of by the end of the week. However, some buyers are more cost conscious so offer either free or low-cost shipping. Free shipping on orders over $XXX is useful in getting the buyer to toss one more item in the cart.
3. Offer personalized service. You can outsource this task but make sure your phone “reps” know your products, policies and company philosophy.
This will cost both time and money. You, the site owner, will have to prepare scripts for the reps who answer telephones for hundreds of different companies to provide customer services. So, all products should be immediately accessible to the rep with product specs for callers with questions.
These reps should also be set up to take the order and close the deal. They should offer to process the order as part of their script. Think about it. If a potential buyer has taken the time and trouble to call you, you’re close to closing. You just need that little nudge to turn a “No Thanks” into a “Thanks for all your help.”
4. Offer guarantees. Product guarantees, shipping guarantees, satisfaction guarantees. And don’t hide these benefits in the fine print. Shout it from the roof tops. “If you aren’t happy, we give you your money back no questions asked within 30 days of sale.”
Guarantees are trust builders.
5. Keep the checkout simple; provide assurances at each step. Your buyers – especially repeat buyers whose information you already have on file – should be able to make a purchase with a click or two.
At each step of the checkout process: (1) assure the buyer that he or she is on the right pages and that all is in order to this point; (2) provide a prominent back button; (3) allow buyers to change items and quantities without having to back out of the check-out and (4) assure buyers that they are on a secure site in both your site text and through the use of trust-building logos from the BBB, VeriSign and other security-focused companies.
6. Provide an immediate invoice with order number. These invoices are generated automatically and delivered to the buyer’s email inbox. Indicate all order information, including anticipated ship and arrival dates and be sure to provide a telephone contact.
7. OFFER BOUTIQUE SERVICES. Worth repeating even with the big letters – offer boutique services. Why? Because more than any other single factor, these services differentiate you from the Wal-Mart across town. Wal-Mart may have their greeters but you can deliver lots more in the way of personalized service and convenience.
Offer Gift Certificates
The gift that says “I don’t have a clue what to buy you,” but always appreciated by the recipient.
Offer Personalized Greeting Cards
If the purchase is a gift, the ability to send a hand-written, personalized note is a great closer. Many on-line buyers, including many companies around the holidays, want to send along a personalized note along with the gift.
Gift Wrapping
Offer special gift wrapping options for grandparents and parents, kids, the corporate world, and other buyers with special gift-giving needs. A nice selling feature is to show the different wrapping options on that page in the check-out sequence. A picture is worth a lot more than a thousand words when it makes the buyer look good, too.
Personal Shoppers
A lot of men are clueless when it comes to things like jewelry and frilly things. We never learned. No one ever told us. And a lot of buyers could use some help. The customer contacts the personal shopper (you know the inventory better than anyone) by email or phone, describes the gift recipient and leaves the choice up to the personal shopper.
Same with a lot of wives who keep missing those hints for a jumbo-sized HDTV. Most consumers, men and women, don’t know what to look for in high-def. But your business’s personal shopper can find just the right TV to make the whole family happy.
Email Reminders
Buyers who always forget birthdays, anniversaries and holidays will appreciate the personalized email you send two weeks before the couple’s anniversary. And where are these buyers going to make their purchases? From the nice web site that reminded them that now was the time to buy.
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