Your Website is Your Silent Sales Partner

I recently spoke at Alan Weiss’ Million Dollar Consulting Convention and Sales Expert, Colleen Francis was also one of the speakers. Colleen shared some vital and eye-opening stats on the percentage of buyers who make purchasing decisions before they ever have a conversation with you.

The important message was this:

The buying process has changed and it now starts without you!

The statistics that Colleen shared are as follows:

• 75% of the buying process is completed without the seller being involved.
• 84% of senior executives and 75% of B2B buyers make purchasing decisions based on social media.
• Sellers who are active on social media receive 10x the leads and 12x the sales as sellers who are not.

Your leads are doing research online to learn more about you and your business before ever making contact.

94% of all B2B buyers do research online before anything else which means if you’re not online, they can’t research you.

Your buyers are pre-qualifying you and your business before you even hear from them. Your social media will lead them to your website, and…

Your website is your silent sales partner.

That couldn’t be any truer than it is today.

There are a few things that you need to keep in mind if you want to create a positive online experience for your potential buyer.

You’re either going to impress your next customer or lose them, so this is important.

1.   A Confused Mind Says No Every Time

In Thought Readers, we’re reading, ‘Building A StoryBrand’ by Donald Miller. One of the main goals of this book is to create marketing that isn’t so complicated. Have you ever been on a website and when you left the site you still weren’t quite sure what the business offered?

Your website acts as a silent salesperson for your business, so your message needs to be on point. Get rid of the noise and distractions that can confuse your buyer.

Show up as the expert, deliver a clear message, and invite them to contact you where you can continue the conversation.

2.   You’re a Best Kept Secret

You need ubiquity – the fact of appearing everywhere or of being very common. In layman’s terms, this means that you need to be seen and known in multiple places. You need to have a presence on social media and be seen at in-person events.

This is important because as mentioned above, 75% of all B2B buyers and 84% of all senior executives are looking at your social media before making ANY purchasing decisions.

Having a presence on social media means that people will feel as though they know and trust you, even when they’ve never met you face to face. When people feel connected to you, they’re going to be much more inclined to invest in what you have to offer.

3.   Be Present & Responsive

Being present and responsive is vital to building trust and creating relationships online. Hiring someone to do your social media can be tempting, but it will only work if you’re present and involved in that partnership.

Be mindful about what you share, how you show up and the value you provide online for your buyers. People will creep you before they reach out to you, and if what they’re seeing doesn’t make them feel confident that you’re able to solve their problem, they’re going to move on to the next person who does a better job at showing them they can help.

As mentioned earlier, according to Colleen Francis, your buyer is 75% through the buying cycle before they even reach out to you.

Think about that statistic for a moment…if you are losing your potential buyer during that pre-qualification period, you could be losing the opportunity to do business with an enormous number of buyers before you even have the chance to engage with them in person or by telephone.

The time to up your game online was a decade ago. The next best time is right now.