Like just about everyone else who’s forked over a fair sized chunk of their
year’s marketing budget to achieve a killer online presence, you’re looking
forward to a rush of new sales, right?

Bad news: it isn’t going to happen. And that doesn’t mean your website isn’t
good – it’s more likely because your website’s been left to go it alone.

The simple truth is that for most businesses, a website is a sales tool, not
a sales vehicle. So if you want to dramatically boost sales and see your website
as an ideal place to find new prospects, you need to incorporate the same
techniques used in face-to-face selling to make them convert. That, of course,
begins with prospect follow up.

About 80% of the sales initiated through website contact are made
after several contacts have been made. Why ? Because people
rarely visit a website and immediately buy (unless it’s an e-commerce site), so
if you don’t maintain ongoing contact you’ll miss out on a significant amount of
potential new business. Don’t let that happen – make the most of every selling
opportunity by offering your site visitors information of value so they will
tell you who they are in order to get it. Case studies, white papers, check
lists, guides and e-publications encourage visitors to come back regularly
looking for fresh content – ask them to identify themselves and you can actually
notify them when that new content becomes available, along with whatever else
you’d care to promote. Once you’ve established the contact, follow up with more
of the information they’re looking for and your chances of getting them to buy
will be far greater. Here’s how to begin:

• Credibility = Trust
  The more useful and relevant
  information you provide to prospects, the more belief they will have that your
  business can be trusted. By offering credible information that delivers value,
  you demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about. As a result, site
  visitors will be willing to provide you with their email addresses so you can
  give them even more – they may even fill out short surveys to tell you what they
  really want. Before you know it, Presto! A brand new prospect list is
  born.
• Playing With Emotions
  With every message you send to
  your new list, you should emphasize the “want” your product will satisfy. Saving
  money? Saving Time? Adding convenience? Remember that people buy first because
  they want and second because they need, so your messages need
  to address both the emotional and the tangible.
• Building Value
  Each time you contact your prospect the
  value of your “offer” should grow. It might be a limited time bonus, special
  discount or something else you know your prospect will appreciate. By limiting
  the time available to act, you work to push your prospect toward making a buying
  decision.
• Making it Real
  Once you’ve hit the emotional element of
  decision-making, be sure to focus just as pointedly on the practical. Give
  prospects sound, logical reasons to buy, based on facts. Pinpoint the results
  they will see, the savings they will realize or the efficiencies they’ll gain.
  Be specific and use examples – pie in the sky just isn’t credible.
• Positive Reinforcement
  Testimonials in the form of case
  studies work well to attract prospects with similar “pain” to your customers.
  Because, if you can eliminate your customers’ pain, it stands to reason you can
  do wonders for your prospects’, too.

Now – take a good hard look at your website. Does it offer value? Does it
give prospects an opportunity to ask you for more? Does it give you an
opportunity to learn about them? If it doesn’t, shouldn’t you be doing something
about it?