{"id":8954,"date":"2011-06-22T05:30:53","date_gmt":"2011-06-22T10:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/37d57f8fa2.nxcli.io\/blog\/?p=8954"},"modified":"2012-03-29T10:34:20","modified_gmt":"2012-03-29T15:34:20","slug":"no-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/sales\/no-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s Killing Your Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems a little bit unfair.<\/p>\n

E-commerce sites induce customers to whip out a credit card and complete a transaction online. But for those of us who offer a service<\/strong>\u2014consultants, accountants, copywriters\u2014that\u2019s not the way it\u2019s done…\"\"It\u2019s hard enough to get people to buy a pair of sneakers online. To think that they would purchase services online<\/strong> from someone they don\u2019t know . . . well, it just doesn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because a service is intangible<\/strong>. There\u2019s nothing you can hold in your hand. It\u2019s hard even to show a picture of it on your website.<\/p>\n

In the early days of the Web, it was pretty cool to have a business website with your contact data\u2014like an online business card<\/strong>\u2014so customers could call for more information.<\/p>\n

Today, that strategy won\u2019t get you very far.<\/p>\n

Online shoppers interpret \u201ccall for more information\u201d as code language that means \u201ccall me so I can pester you until you buy.\u201d Consumers are accustomed to having information freely available.<\/p>\n

A phone call may seem to you like the easiest way to do business. That\u2019s because an inbound call is the easiest thing for you. But your customers may see it differently.<\/p>\n

Prospects need a frictionless way to take a first step toward doing business with you. Once they take that first step, your mission is to keep them engaged and encourage conversions.<\/p>\n

How to making your business more user-friendly<\/strong><\/p>\n

Create dual paths for your prospects to follow.<\/p>\n

Path One<\/strong>: a long sales cycle with many steps<\/em><\/p>\n

Path Two<\/strong>: a shortcut<\/em><\/p>\n

The long cycle gives prospects opportunities to learn more about you and your services at their own pace, not yours<\/em>. The short cycle enables them to move along at a faster pace, if that is what suits them.<\/em><\/p>\n

To design a long sales cycle, education is an important aspect.<\/p>\n

Spend some time brainstorming about one of your clients\u2014one who was perhaps a tough cookie. He took a long time to make a decision on the sale<\/em>; he kept changing his mind<\/em>; he asked dicey questions<\/em>.<\/p>\n