One thing that every business needs above all else is customers, yet getting them and keeping them can be harder than you imagine. In fact, there may even be things you are doing that are driving them away! Luckily, in the post below you can find out what puts customers off so you can eliminate these from your business. Read on to find out more.
Hard sell
No one ever really liked pushy salespeople apart from other pushy sales folks in the same industry, but with the online business revolution, the sharply suited shark that is waiting to grab your money has been all but phased out entirely.
Of course, that isn’t to say that the hard sell doesn’t still happen, even online. In fact, if you are continually trying to sell to your customers on your website, with special offers, through adverts, and via social media is likely they will become fatigued and fed up with what you’re offering, even if it is the best deal ever.
That is not to say that these techniques shouldn’t be used, but the balance needs to be right; otherwise, you risk putting your customers off. To that end, stop the hard sell and replace it with a mixture of interaction, valuable content, and sales propositions that even the playing field between customers and your business a little more. Your profit margins will thank you for it.
Unsuitable website
Another massive mistake that you can make when it comes to putting customers off of your businesses not having a suitable website. Now, it is essential to first clarify what we mean by suitable and it is one that is designed primarily with your business and your customer base in mind.
In fact, there are two things that your site will need to cater to your customer base and they are good UX and UI. UX or user experience, as it’s known is all about how your site visitors will interact, navigate, and access information on your site. The idea behind it is that you want them to have a comfortable, enjoyable, and if possible entertaining time.
Then there is UI or user interface, often confused with UX but not the same. In fact, UI is more about the visual side of things and is more likely to be handled by a designer that deals with graphics and visuals rather than hardcore programming.
Think colours, typography and layout here, all important aspects of website design that affect how a user can access the information content and services that you are providing.
Of course, by going into detail with UX and UI, you can see how you can build a better website, one that your customers will enjoy using and come back to time and time again. Something that is essential if you do not want to drive them away.
If your site is built on WordPress consider investing in a professional-looking theme.
Not authentic
Authenticity in business is, and there is most definitely a right and a wrong way to do it. One way in which you can enhance the authenticity of your business is by authoring the story of its creation.
This can work exceptionally well for small businesses because it allows potential customers to connect and relate to the founder and the problems they encountered that lead them to go into business themselves. After all, a good business idea will be one that solves a problem for a significant group of people; otherwise, there will be no one to market to.
Another way to enhance authenticity in your business is to humanise it wherever possible. That means using real workers as spokespeople in written blogs, in video content, and on social media.
Of course, it’s not about giving them free rein to say whatever they want, but it is about providing a perspective and answers that are not full of corporate nonsense and that appeal on a person to person basis.
Being difficult to contact – Long waits on hold do not happy customers make
Last, of all, you could be driving your customers away if your business isn’t easy to contact. In fact, there’s no excuse for this in the current market as there are so many easy, and low-cost ways to allow your customers to contact you.
With this in mind, improve customer retention by using social media, email, contact forms and even instant messaging apps to answer queries as quickly as possible. After all, it could be something this simple that can make the difference between keeping your customers and driving them away.
