You remember your Mom telling you that, right?
You never get a 2nd chance to make your first impression, so make it good!
This has to do with your person, your social media impressions and even with your site.
I just went to a recommended service providers link. (No, I’m not telling you which one – but they got rave reviews from a couple of associates of mine.) Here was my experience…
- No rates or service plans visible. No list of services offered.
- Opt in required for pricing, services offered, etc. No ‘bribe’ just ‘Ready to Start? Download our Rates and Terms of Service’ Had a rubber stamp graphic (not sure I want to be ‘rubber stamped’) but I press on…
- Thank you page page had a typo & no further instructions on what to expect next. (not convinced they can help me with admin needs at this point)
- Auto email required an extra step for confirmation (which I wasn’t told was going to happen)
- When I clicked to confirm (which, most of your prospects will NOT), it took me back to home page – NOT rate sheet, NOT download and still no further instruction. To quote Glenda from ‘Wicked’ – that was ‘confusifying’
- In my email I eventually got an email with a ‘Download this Link’ and please let’s get on the phone & chat
- Title of Document was ‘Welcome Pack Generic’ — I am feeling pretty special now
- Had rates, services, breakdowns, etc that would have been compelling had they been on their website
Process took 27 minutes.
How many prospects are going to spend that long? Very few. In this case, I only hung in there because my friends said this was a great service and I was in awe at all the complications and missteps.
My suggestions?
- If you are a service business, don’t hide your rates. It discourages trust. Your goal is to tear down the walls of mistrust, not add bricks.
- Opt-ins and Name Captures should offer a report or information to educate your client before they take the next step. Suggested topics for this site ‘Avoid These 3 Mistakes When Hiring Your Virtual Team‘ or ‘4 Non-Negotiables When Interviewing Your Virtual Power Team‘ or ‘Work Less, Get More Done, Increase Profits: Why Having a Team is The Best Investment Ever‘
- Proof it! Have a 3rd party walk through the process (like I did). Typos do NOT encourage confidence in a virtual admin team. Truthfully, they always chip away at confidence, no matter what the market. I have my share, I know. But I’m not offering to type your documents and prepare your marketing materials. Ouch.
- Always let client or prospect know what next step is. Thank you pages should THANK THEM and say, now watch your email or, watch this video or make sure you click on the confirmation link in your email from us. The From line will say ‘XYZ Service Biz’
- Get rid of extra hoops. This should have been a 4 minute process today. The more clicks you require, the less likely they will stay. They want less work, not more. If this is any indication at the ‘seamless-ness’ of services they provide. I’m not interested. It should be painless to check you out.
- Don’t require a phone call. I want to work virtually with people because I’m busy. Because I have too much on my plate. And I want to know you can communicate with me virtually, on my terms. I’d much rather see ‘If you’d like to have a phone consultation, a Skype chat or even an email discussion about how we can best work together, here’s how we proceed…’ Give me some options.
Some of these suggestions might be appropriate just for a virtual service provider…but overall – these are several things you might keep in mind when looking at your prospect and client intake system.
Just a random thought today. And that’s 27 minutes I can never have back – but maybe it will help YOU see from a different angle!
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About Carrie Wilkerson
