| Validate Your Business’s Trust Factor | | | | your prospective audience an opportunity to |
| | | | | experience you, the owner, before making a |
| For those business owners who sell products | | | | commitment to you. If your audience feels |
| online, making sure that interested prospects find | | | | comfortable with you and your business, and if |
| their websites – and competitive pricing – | | | | you project yourself as the expert in your field, |
| is really all it takes to grow a successful | | | | you’ll automatically see an increase in qualified |
| ecommerce site. | | | | enquiries. |
| | | | | |
| Not so with service providers. Selling yourself is | | | | Many successful sales people know that they |
| not quite the same thing as selling a book or a | | | | must sell themselves first. The rest is relatively |
| bouquet of flowers. | | | | easy. |
| | | | | |
| Many people are looking online for doctors, | | | | When someone visits your site, what do you |
| dentists, lawyers, and other service professionals | | | | want him or her to do? Many sites are designed |
| to help overcome life’s everyday challenges. | | | | with very little thought as to what the |
| And when it comes to trusting someone with | | | | visitor’s experience will be like. Searching |
| your health, home, or future, it may not be pricing | | | | through pages and pages of text or sitting |
| that counts as much as trust. | | | | through a fancy Flash show really doesn’t |
| | | | | achieve the ultimate purpose of the site, which is |
| People who search for service providers online | | | | getting your Web visitors to call or email you for |
| are looking for a comfort level that will compel | | | | more information. It has been proven time after |
| them to trust you enough to call or email. | | | | time that if a user has to click more than three |
| | | | | times to find what he or she is looking for, that |
| Trust-ability is an attribute that is hard to convey, | | | | user will log off and look elsewhere. |
| especially with a Yellow Pages ad or other print | | | | |
| ad. With television, radio, and now the Internet, | | | | |
| you have the opportunity to stimulate your | | | | What are most people interested in when |
| prospect’s senses by giving them a glimpse | | | | searching for a product or vendor? Think about it |
| into the business behind the business. You, the | | | | from your perspective. If you were looking for a |
| owner, can speak directly to your audience. This | | | | new dentist or attorney, where would you look? |
| gives the prospect a better picture of your | | | | The Yellow Pages? An ad sent to you in the mail? |
| business, which works in your favor, as long as | | | | Perhaps…and if great Aunt Gloria hasn’t |
| the production is of high quality and you can | | | | convinced you that her dentist is the world’s |
| convey integrity. | | | | greatest, then perhaps you’d look online. |
| | | | | |
| Always remember that product knowledge | | | | The great thing about the Internet is that |
| breeds enthusiasm, so you must show that you | | | | marketing power that was once only affordable |
| are very knowledgeable about your product or | | | | for a large corporation with a substantial |
| service and why a customer should buy from | | | | advertising budget is now available to the small |
| you and not your competitor. | | | | business owner for a fraction of the cost. |
| | | | | |
| Using technology to bridge the credibility gap online | | | | And all it takes to leverage that power is a little |
| is now making headlines. Why? Because it gives | | | | trust. |