Using Your Website to Convert Visitors to Business
The June 2009 issue of Fast Company Magazine had another terrific article by Dan and Chip Heath, authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die say goodbye to the interview process, the Heaths’ article Hold the Interview notes “interviews are less productive of job performance than work samples, job-knowledge tests, and peer ratings of past job performance.”
Rather than hoping you’ll have a chance to speak with your next client or customer, start a meaningful conversion process by showing them proof of your performance. This can happen right on your website.
Work Samples. These can take many forms online. Photographs of an event you organized or of your products make them tangible to your business prospects. For writers or technical companies, PDF files of published works and white papers are useful to show samples. My client Geri Zatcoff, a Westport nutritionist, recently spoke as an expert on News 12 and she had audio recordings of a radio show she hosted. They are now on her website as samples of her poised and knowledgeable work.
Job-Knowledge Tests. How do you show tests on line? Your credentials are the best examples of acquiring job-knowledge. Does your website list your degrees, certification, and continuing education courses? Another approach is to review past business and create a list of client problems and the solutions you’ve implemented—several paragraphs online will give web visitors a good idea of your skill set.
Peer Ratings of Past Job Performance. If you’ve been collecting testimonials or have Thank You letters from happy customers, posting them on your website reveals to others satisfaction with your performance. Have you found LinkedIn.com? LinkedIn not only links you with your client’s and associates but also provides an area to collect “recommendations” from people you’ve done work for and people you’ve worked with.
The Fast Company article concludes that job applicants who interview do just as well as those who don’t, the personal interview is probably not dead. However, demonstrating your shining qualities online can assist the decision process to work or purchase from your business.
copyright 2009, Design to Spec LLC
